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Supervisor Runion's Notes
November 2009
 The change of seasons is certainly upon us as we move into November, and things are busy within your Town government.
The Guilderland Highway Department is busy with its annual leaf collection operation. The large leaf vacuum trucks are circulating in all of the areas of the community where they are able to operate. Pick-up schedules were included in the Town newsletter, which was mailed to all of our residents in September. If you didn’t mark your calendar with the collection schedule for your neighborhood, you can check for the correct date for your street on the Town website, www.townofguilderland.org, or you may call the Town Highway Department direct at 861-5108. Please be considerate of both the Highway Department work crews and of your neighbors (particularly the children!) by avoiding leaf and brush piles or stacked leaf bags that can obstruct the vision of
drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Also, please remember that brush placed by the side of the road for pickup needs to be cut into lengths no longer than 4 feet, and tied securely into bundles that can be picked up by a single worker.
The McKownville Park project at the site of the former McKownville Reservoir is well under way. This project will serve two purposes. The first is to reduce both the frequency and the severity of flooding along Western Avenue in front of Stuyvesant Plaza by increasing the ability of the water body on the site to hold water in a severe storm situation, and to move that water downstream more efficiently. The second is to create a neighborhood-scale pocket park on the site for the
enjoyment of both neighborhood residents and shoppers and workersin the Stuyvesant Plaza area alike. The project should be complete before the start of winter. We are extremely grateful to Assemblyman John McEneny, the New York State Department of Transportation, and to Stuyvesant Plaza for their help in providing the financial assistance needed for the completion of this project.
The Guilderland Town budget for 2010 has been submitted to the Town Board, and can be viewed by anyone interested in the details on the Town website. Copies may also be obtained through the Town Clerk’s office. The budget will be voted on by the Town Board at its meeting on November 5. Budget preparation in the difficult economic climate that everyone - individuals and families, businesses, and government at every level - is in at this time is a real challenge. We have taken a conservative approach to estimating 2010 revenues, and have been equally careful about approving spending requests in creating the 2010 budget. I am pleased to report to you that the proposed budget does not reduce Town services in any meaningful way, and that it calls for the current Town tax rate of 26 cents per thousand dollars of assessed
valuation to remain unchanged in 2010.
The Zoning Review Committee appointed by the Town Board in August continues with its work of reviewing the Town Code and discussing various aspects of it with interested people throughout the Town. The group’s efforts involve assessing the current zoning law that Guilderland has on its books and recommending to the Town Board any changes to that law that it may consider to be appropriate. The group is also reviewing the forms and procedures used by the Town in the processing of various permit applications in the Planning and Zoning Departments to determine if changes to forms or procedures should be considered as a way to make the handling of such applications more efficient and user-friendly.
 November is the month when Thanksgiving occurs. We all have much to be thankful for in a community like Guilderland, and I would like to extend my personal best wishes and those of the staff of the Town of Guilderland for a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving for all of our Town’s residents and their families.
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