By EMILIA TEASDALE
VALATIE—The Kinderhook Town Board heard from Town Justice David Kolb at their regular meeting on February 3. Mr. Kolb was elected to the position in 2024 and took over the cases of retired justice David Dellehunt. The town has two justices, Mr. Kolb and Lisa Miller, who is in her 14th year in the elected seat. Mr. Kolb said the town has one of the busiest courts in the county.
He told the board he has a great relationship with the county District Attorney’s Office and the Public Defender’s office. He also told the board that he has closed a significant number of criminal cases, saying that he now has 35 open cases down from almost 100 when he started.
But he stressed that there are about 1,000 traffic cases open, some that go back years. He pointed to the Covid pandemic causing an issue with cases piling up. He said he has some cases that will be dismissed because of the long waits. Justice Kolb said that was the only “fair.”
“Our cases are fully addressed,” he said of the work of the court and the work of the ADA and Assistant Public Defender. The court handles town cases and cases in the Village of Valatie (the Village of Kinderhook still has its own court).
The courtroom is in the basement of Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building. The justice talked about safety issues in the space. He said he purchased, and was reimbursed by the town, metal detector wands for the Sheriff’s deputies at the court to use. The court has applied for a state grant to upgrade the doors for safety as well as fix issues with the heating in the courtroom. Mr. Kolb said that sometimes it gets so hot in the space that they have to run the AC in the winter.
During the meeting, the board approved sending out bids for work on upgrading the heating system throughout the municipal building, a separate plan for the courthouse grant application. The building is a former school, built in the late 1920s, that the town and Village of Valatie bought from the Ichabod Crane School District in 2012.
As for the court, Mr. Kolb said that his goal for this year was to get through the traffic cases. He praised his clerks, some of whom are new to the job.
He said he came to the meeting because it’s “important to keep an open dialogue with the [Town] board.”
Information about how to contact the court and the hours are on the town’s website at www.kinderhook-ny.gov/departments/court.html
One resident who spoke at the meeting said that she recently found out that you can plead and pay traffic tickets online. There is information about that on the county’s website at www.columbiacountyny.com/trafficticket.html
Also at the meeting:
*The board passed a motion written by Town Historian William Better proclaiming February as Black History Month, . The proclamation reads that this year’s theme of Black History Month is “African Americans and Labor” and that the town recognizes “that the African American community has a long history of providing meaningful labor both free and enslaved, skilled and unskilled, compensated and volunteer to the community and fabric of the Town of Kinderhook”
*Town Attorney Andy Howard said he will discuss a contract with the Valatie Rescue Squad’s attorney for the rescue squad to purchase land at the town’s Volunteer Park. The land includes the former state buildings at the site
*The board set the date for a public hearing on Local Law #1 of 2025 to “amend the law providing real property tax exemptions for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers.” Supervisor Tim Ooms said this will cover more volunteers and workers, regardless of what town they live in and where they volunteer. The public hearing will be before the board’s next meeting on March 3
*Board member Sally Naramore reported on the Comprehensive Plan Update meeting held on January 26 at the Ichabod Crane High School. She said 115 attended the meeting and there many people spoke about their concerns for housing in the area, the need for a community center and worries about solar farms and wanting more open space. The meeting was part of the process to get the community’s input before the committee, with their advisor Michael Allen from ReGrowth Planning, puts together a survey for residents to fill out. Ms. Naramore said the survey should go out in March. This is the first phase of the process of updating the town’s 20 year old Comprehensive Plan
*Councilwoman Naramore also announced that the town received it’s Pro-Housing Community designation from the state (see press release in side bar)
*The board started the meeting with a moment of silence for Walter Simonsmeier, who died January 17. Until very recently, Mr. Simonsmeier served on the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
The next board meeting will be Monday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building. The agenda is posted on the website at www.kinderhook-ny.gov
Town of Kinderhook receives Pro Housing Designation
KINDERHOOK–The Town of Kinderhook has just received the designation as a Pro-Housing Community from the Homes and Community Renewal office of New York State. This designation acknowledges the town’s commitment to providing more opportunities for affordable housing within the town. The program from New York State provides an opportunity for the Town of Kinderhook to access state grants from six different programs. These programs support infrastructure, recreation and renewal of business districts among other initiatives.
Timothy Ooms, Kinderhook Town supervisor, commented, in a press release, that, “We are very hopeful that this application will help The Town of Kinderhook secure funding to help assist with more affordable housing in our area. Thank you to the Columbia County Economic Development Corporation, and our comprehensive plan committee for making this possible.”
This designation will help secure future funding for projects identified through the town’s Update Comprehensive Planning process.
