BETHlEHEM PUBUC UBRARY

l~~·~),~:, 12/0~~::/91 ~:3!"i 1 Hi": TH !·'Ul-:1. 1 C .1 Lit·· "~1:,: II .. '-' :-.: \'"}mber 19, 1990 ' ~·. XXXIV, No. 52 fl""" The weekly newspaper NOT CrRN H .&n · serving the towns of ..-~gftt'ehem and New Scotland Sewage plant rehab tagged at $3.1 M By Mike Larabee $1.8 million in the early 1970s, according Seventeen years after Bethlehem's to Fraser, the facility has been operating sewage treatment plant opened in Cedar non-stop since 1974 and, though still Hill, an expensive maintenance and re­ functioning up to par, needs $3.1 million pair project is about to hit the fan. At its in predictable but unavoidable upgrade regular meeting last week, the town board and maintenance. set Jan. 9 as the date for a public hearing on a $3.1 million expenditure to refurbish the aging facility. "Just like many people, "Just like many people, when I flush when I flush the toilet I the toilet I think that's the end of it, when think that's the end of it in fact that's the beginning of it," said Councilman Charles Gunner as the board when in fact that's the reviewed a presentation by James Fraser beginning ofit." of J. Kenneth Fraser Associates, the Charles Gunner engineering firm recently charged with evaluating the plant, and Public Works Commissioner Bruce Secor, at the According to Secor, the effect on town Wednesday, Dec. 12, meeting. As the sewer taxes will be smaller than might be board found out, that may seem like the expected -a result of foresight during end of it for 85 percent of Bethlehem plant design and the gradual maturity of residents linked intQ. the town's expan­ current bond payments, he said. Secor sive sewer network, but the true finale said he expects the project to add from 30 arrives with a diffusion structure sub­ to 50 cents to sewer tax rates, currently merged below the Hudson River. $5.55 per $1,000 assessment in the Del­ Between the two is the town's waste­ mar Elsmere Sewer District and $7.66 water treatment facility. Built for roughly per $1,000 in Sewer District Extensions. SEWAGE/page 26 NEW SCOTLAND New zoning proposed By Debi Boucher purchase a parcel o{ land at the junction The New Scotland Planning Board has of routes 85 and 443, where it has pro­ Dennis Dragon, Bethlehem's sewer plant chief, and Public Works sent a draft of a new zoning ordinance for posed building a convenience store. an area north of the hamiet of Clarksville Commissioner Bruce Secor survey one ofthe facility's two settling tanks. An application for a Stewart's shop in a on to the town board in advance of town­ Mike Larabee different area of Clarksville was turned wide zoning changes still in the prepara­ down earlier this year, according to Gra­ tion stage. A local hydrogeologist, mean­ ham Franks, real estate manager for State crunch on schools while, has warned of ecological sensitiv­ Stewart's. The two-acre parcel on Route ity in the area encompassing the new zone. 443 the company now wants to build on is could have been worse occupied by Tamtom Pizza, owned by Dubbed "Neighborhood Commer­ Tom and Tammy Lamoree. By Dev Tobin , districts, VoorheesvilleandRavena-Coey­ mans-Selkirk, the revisions were slight. cial," the zone is being pushed ahead Franks approached the planning board For local school districts, the good largely to accommodate Stewart's Ice in late August to ask for a recommends­ news is that the bad news could have In Cuomo's proposal, Bethlehem Cream Shops, which has an option to ZONE/page 26 been worse. State aid reductions, while would have lost $394,347, or 6.58 percent, not as large as originally proposed in of its state aid. The legislature trimmed November, will still put a crimp into the that to $338,871, or 5.83 percent of what districts'plansforthecurrentschoolyear. was expected. ~~~~- In an unprecedented move in the wee "The reduction is still a major problem hours of Friday morning, the state legis­ for our district," said Leslie Loomis, lature approved a $190 million cut in Bethlehem's superintendent. "This is school aid in the middle of the school o_bviouslyrevenue we counted on and the year. The action was a result of a looming state had made a commitment to pro­ $1 billion state deficit for this fiscal year, vide." which ends on March 31, 1991. Loomis said that the district has insti­ Gov. Mario Cuomo's proposed cuts in tuted a "very aggressive freeze" on ex­ the $9 billion school aid package were penditures for the rest of the year, and generally reduced by the legislature, with that he was in the process of consulting no district losing more than 1.5 percent of with staff leaders on how to meet the its total budget. shortfall in aid. The formula for aid reduction for the "We'd like to do everything possible to average wealth district was reduced by avoid layoffs, but we may not fill vacan­ the lawmakers by 1.8 percent from $77.11 cies for the rest of the year, • Loomis said, to $75.69 per pupil, according to the State adding that he would be presenting a Education Department. preliminaryplanfordealingwith the situ­ For Bethlehem Central, the largest atloil at tonight's (Wednesday) school school district in southernAlbany{;ounty, board meeting. the revised budgetreductionswere quali­ Loomis explained that the district's fied good news, but for the two smaller SCHOOLS/page 5 r---"'------~---:------. Voorheesville to check .We take the hassles NiMo transmission lines By Susan Wheeler near the school were no greater than those found in an ordinary The Voorheesville School Dis­ home. out of mailing your trict is planning to retest the mag­ netic field levels in overhead trans­ Measurements of the school mission lines near the elementary transmission lines taken after schoolnextspring,Superintendent lunchwerehigherthanthosetaken Holiday gifts! in the morning, but both were Alan R McCartney said. "typical" of similar measurements We pack wrap and ship your gifts • We ship: UPS The findings from an inspec· NiMo has received, Ordon said. tion made earlier this fall by Niag­ • · the most economical and quickest way .•• DHL, USPS "We're concerned about a relative FEDERAL EXPRESS ara Mohawk Power Corp. were risk here." 'P.t•• hassle-free! · presented to the board of educa­ tion at a recent meeting by NiMo's "We're in a position of concern, Thomas Ordon, a specialist in but we don't know the facts yet, • overhead transmission line design. said Daniel Driscoll from the New He said a statistical relationship York State Public Service Com­ between childhood disease and mission. "We have no good answer magnetic fields exists, though no about what all these numbers laboratory evidence has been mean. The measurements depend found.· on activity through the wire." McCartney said the risk in­ McCartney said the district is creases directly under the power · "keeping up with research on the lines. He said the district is plan­ subject" of dangers of magnetic ning more testing in May or June field levels. He said the levels found to "stay on top" of the situation. Voorheesville schools get new administrator Anthony Marturano, now fin. "experience and qualifications." ishing up as the superintendent of "In the times we're in, • McCart· Richmondville Schools, has been neysaid, "we needed someone with appointed as the school business a great deal of experience. • administratorforthe Voorheesville School District. He will begin inJanuaryof 1991 Superintendent Alan McCart­ at a yearly salary of $56,000. The i $1DOLLAR OFF-, ney said Marturano was chosen to position has been open since An­ 1 GIFT WRAPPING : fSave-$1~ooi fill the vacancy because of his thony Cashara left in October. 1 With A Minimum $5.00 I :on Custom Packing of I Video celebrates BC's 60th birthday any shipment I 1 Gift Wrapping Purchase 1 A videotape tracing the history collection of old photographs nar­ I Must be llmlted to one package I rated by past and present students, L limit On~Coupon Per Custo~r_j L percoupon _j . of the Bethlehem school system is now available for checkout at the teachers and support staffers. ------Bethlehem Public Library media Originally a