Governor extends school closings

By Melanie Lekocevic

Capital Region Independent Media

COEYMANS — A nascent grassroots group has formed to present a united front and seek changes in the community.

The Coeymans Neighborhood Association held its first meeting this month at the RCS Community Library and is looking for more members to get involved.

The group looked at a number of issues at its inaugural meeting, including truck traffic, speed limits on town roads, town government, industrial development and localized issues including the clearcutting of nearly 30 acres of trees on Bronk Road.

The association is aimed at giving residents the opportunity to gather and freely express their opinions and seek solutions, organizers said.

“There are a lot of questions going around right now about what is going on in our community and in our neighborhoods and how it affects our homes and our families,” said Ashley Redfield to open the meeting. “If we all get together and share little pieces of the puzzle, we might figure out what is going on.”

Speeding and truck traffic, particularly along Route 144, was a common concern for meeting participants.

“The one thing that has always concerned us is River Road is a superhighway,” Jim Evans said. “Thank God for school buses — it slows traffic down twice a day. That’s about the only time it slows down.”

Diane Evans echoed her husband’s concern about safety on Route 144.

“I couldn’t tell you how many times I have put a blinker on to turn left into our driveway and I was passed on my left,” she said.

Resident Debbie Oatman voiced concern about how town board meetings are handled and how residents are treated when they speak up at those meetings.

“I feel like nobody is really listening and at some point, we have to get people to understand what is happening in our town and how it is happening and by whom,” Oatman said. “We need to make sure people will make their voices heard and take action at the ballot box.”

Several group members also voiced concern that candidates step up to pose a challenge to the existing town leadership.

Another issue raised at the new group’s meeting was the clearcutting of nearly 30 acres of trees by property owner Carver Companies on Bronk Road. Carver’s representatives attended a town board meeting and said the space was being cleared to transform the land into a meadow and homestead, but neighbors and other residents have expressed concern and skepticism.

“We realized a lot was going on behind our house in the middle of January,” said Redfield, whose house abuts the land that was clearcut. “I started to sound the alarm — I started questioning things and I have still not gotten any concrete answers about what is going on behind our home. It looks like a war zone. I am not very happy about it and I just want some answers. I am not anti-industry, I am not anti-business, I just believe in balance.”

“It feels like we are being invaded in our neighborhood and we don’t know how far it is going to go or when it is going to stop,” she continued.

Barbara Heinzen said there are two critical issues the neighborhood association should address — traffic and speed on town roads, and what she perceives as town leadership’s failure “to look after the town and its people.”

Resident Robert LaCosta said the group should focus on coming up with what residents want their town to ultimately look like.

“What I would recommend that people do is to jot down on a piece of paper three or four of the things you like about where you are, things that you love about this area,” LaCosta said. “That would probably explain what your passion is, what your stake is in this fight, and then we can start uniting around what we like about Coeymans, and then start defining what we want Coeymans to be. We can all then unite around that.”

The Coeymans Neighborhood Association is expected to meet every few weeks to discuss issues of importance to the town and how to address them.