Halloween, Easter, or Christmas

The Lebanon Valley Seniors held a Halloween party on October 17th, my birthday, and had 5 witches, 3 wise men, and a bunny.

Named first place winner.

Five ravishing witches fit the theme.

Carrying gold and incense.

Jackie Salvatore as both a judge and a speaker on senior safety.

 She's running for office and took time to judge the costume parade and mingle with participants.

She is not Rosie the Riviter but she glows along with Mary.

Thank you to Sally for a ride to the event.

Back to the Future.

Hillsdale Expands

As proponents of Public Comment early in Town Board meetings, we were pleased to see Public Comment scheduled by the Hillsdale Town Board immediately after its Call to Order and muted Moment of Silence. Several town residents raised concerns about traffic safety, including County Route 21, aggressive drivers, 4 ladies injured in a roll over, unenforced 35 mph zones, and other intersections. The NYSDOT is the final arbiter of requested changes in speed limits. The board also heard a presentation on the Columbia County Office of Aging senior survey. Supervisor Mike Dvorchak reported the Sewer District has an $88,000 balance and a $477,000 project targeting absorption bed issues, 7 pods with fabric that clean water. The board subsequently discussed and passed a resolution authorizing the use of funds for the Town of Hillsdale General Fund for rehabilitation of absorptions fields. Highway Superintendent Brigbudget the cost as part of the Building Inspector contract in the 2026gs reported a planned cemetery database is going nowhere. Speed limit resolutions were passed by the board concerning County Route 21 and Texas Hill Road. They approved purchased of 2 Caution signs, 2 Winding Road signs, and 2 Sharp Turn signs. An allocation of $2,500 was approved for the Hillsdale Holiday Tree Lighting scheduled on December 6, 2025. Short term rental monitoring through Columbia County with hotline services of Granicus was discussed. Lee Heim, Hillsdale Building Inspector, recommended it be handled in- 295 and the proposed acquisition house as volume in Hillsdale does not justify the cost. Instead, the board voted to engage the Host Compliance Hotline at a rate of $1,789 per year and make it part of the Building Inspector budget in 2026. The board discussed plans to acquire a .27 acre property behind Town Hall with potential for expanded parking and possible space for a building to get town employees out of the basement. The board went into Executive Session to discuss negotiations with Teamsters Local 295 and the proposed real estate purchase.

Another Town Board

We are off to another town board meeting, this time in Hillsdale. Our prior experience was enjoying the Hillsdale Library and its fabulous views, plus discovering the sculptures of Bijan at the Circle Museum on Route 22.

We are anticipating one difference from other towns we cover for The Columbia Paper, namely, Public Comment at the beginning of the meeting. A welcome difference!

The Races Begin

On our way to the Austerlitz Town Board meeting, we passed a well known dinner that sits in front of a farm on Route 203. We had been alerted to a plethora of election signs, however, this was the sole sign we saw on most of the route.

This is not a Green candidate and is a bipartisan linkage. Amazing.

Bijan

 

A treasure sitting on the west side of Route 22 south of Austerlitz, NY is the sculpture of Bijan, one of the wealthiest men in the world and head of Bijan fashion and fragrance business.

We refer to it as Omni East on a smaller scale. Stop in the next time you are in the area. Personal guide is available if you email broccolisoupllc@gmail.com at least a week in advance.