Stewart’s donates closed store to local group

By Melanie Lekocevic

Capital Region Independent Media

NEW BALTIMORE — Agriculture is a huge part of the area’s heritage, and the annual Agfest celebrates the culture of farming and its place in local society.

This year’s Agfest was held this past weekend, June 3 and 4. The event is held at the Van Etten Farm each June.

“We have been doing this for 31 or 32 years,” said Shelly Van Etten. “We’ve always done it — it’s a great event. We like to give back to the community what we can and that’s why we do it.”

The two-day Agfest, also known as the Antique Machinery and Agricultural Festival, puts a spotlight on farming equipment dating back as far as 100 years or more.

Brothers Tom and Ed Curtis had a display of engines that were used to power farming equipment a century ago.

“These are hit-and-miss engines,” Ed Curtis said, pointing to a United Type A, 4-horsepower engine manufactured in 1914. “They would run water pumps or feed grinders, buzz saws and corn shellers. They power other equipment on a farm.”

The brothers also brought a 100-year-old Case steam engine that runs on burning firewood.

“It was sold to a quarry for rock crushing and freighting — moving wagons of stone,” Ed Curtis said. “It still runs.”

Tom Curtis said he and his brother got started as collectors of antique farm machinery through their grandfather, who introduced them to the hobby when they were kids.

“My grandfather got us started in this and we just kept on going,” Tom Curtis said. “It does take a lot of maintenance. We work on them all the time.”

Agfest also had something new this year — a competitive car show for owners of antique and classic cars and trucks.

Richard Mueller won in the Best Car category with his ’68 Mustang. Visitors to the car show voted to determine the winners. Mueller’s car has won trophies at numerous car shows around the region.

“I’ve got quite a few (trophies) so far — 26 of them,” Mueller said. “I’ve had the car since high school, for 53 years. It was six months old when I got it. I did a total restoration on it. It needed work — it sat outside since the day it was made and that took its toll on it, so I had to restore it.”

Charlie Biers, owner of Charles Biers Enterprises, sponsored the contest.

“This is the first time we did a car show at Agfest,” Biers said. “Our company donated the awards and the second-place shirts that were given out. We didn’t know how big this was going to be and it was put together at the last minute. The promotion didn’t start until two months ago, but we had a little over 30 cars and five trophies were given out.”

Biers’ 1986 Chevy won first place in the Best Truck division with the most People’s Choice votes in the category.

The number of cars entered into the contest was gratifying, he said.

“For the first year, this was a very good turnout,” Biers said. “I hope everyone who was here this year comes back next year.”

Richard Snyder, who grew up in Coeymans Hollow but now lives in Cobleskill, said he comes to Agfest each year — and it brings back memories.

“I come every year. I used to work on this farm as a kid,” Snyder said. “I didn’t get paid, but I came and hung around. It’s awesome to come back here and see the farm again, and I get to see people I haven’t seen in 40 years.”

Throughout the two days of the festival, there were also demonstrations of radio-controlled airplanes by the Flying Knights RC Club, and some visitors got to try their hand at running a training plane.

“Yesterday I had more girls here than when I was coaching softball,” quipped club member Joe Messina. “Usually, the girls are better at this than the guys.”

The club was looking to let people know about the hobby and give them a chance to give it a whirl.

“Part of what we do is to expose people to this — anyone can give it a try or they can just watch,” Messina said.

Flying conditions were better on Saturday than on Sunday, as high winds on the festival’s second day hampered the planes’ flights.

By Melanie Lekocevic

Capital Region Independent Media

GREENVILLE — The town council voted at its May meeting to adopt modifications to the local law governing commercial solar projects in the town.

The public hearing was held April 18, but the vote on the law was tabled pending approval by the Greene County Planning Board.

“We tabled approving Local Law No. 2, the solar law, at last month’s public hearing because we hadn’t received from the county their blessings,” Town Supervisor Paul Macko said at the May 16 meeting of the town council. “It came after the meeting.”

Town Councilman Joel Rauf made the motion to approve the amended solar law, seconded by Councilman John Bensen. The law was adopted unanimously.

The new solar law amends the existing regulation that was originally adopted in 2018, and was drafted by the planning board in conjunction with input from town attorney Tal Rappleya and several members of the town board.

The changes only apply to commercial properties, not solar energy generated at individual homes.

Greenville and other communities in the county have become increasingly popular sites for commercial solar projects, with several sited or planned in Greenville, Coxsackie and Coeymans in neighboring Albany County.

When planning board chairman Don Teator presented the town board with the proposed changes in April, he said there wasn’t one particular issue that prompted the revisions to the existing law, but rather the changing nature of the solar industry and the community’s attempts to regulate it.

The modified law clarifies several issues that may arise, including clarification on the requirement that commercial solar facilities have “minimal adverse impact” on the natural, environmental and historic resources of the town. The new regulation also mandates that solar projects be designed and constructed to be “as compatible as possible with the character of the surrounding community.”

Changes to the commercial solar law also include the timeframe for a developer to add trees and landscaping to a site, modifications to how toxic and other hazardous materials are handled, and how soil samples are collected for testing, among other regulations.