NYS’s Insurance Fund HQ taking shape
First Columbia LLC, is seeking approval from the town of Colonie to demolish one building, renovate a second and build a third for the new headquarters of the New York State Insurance Fund. The development totals 175,000 square feet on 17 acres in Latham, a story in the Albany Business Journal says.
Food truck corral in Clifton Park?
A physician assistant who dreamed of owning a cafe, has an idea for a corner in Clifton Park: A parking lot for food trucks, with picnic tables, space for dogs, and maybe cornhole games and fire pits, the Albany Business Journal is reporting. She bought a 3-acre wooded lot at the intersection of Balltown Road and Riverview Road, hired an engineer and is now in the process of working with the town to plan and develop.
Masons want daycare
The Masons of Queensbury own land that is zoned residential in the town and are looking for a rezoning. The public hearing at the town board is set for Dec. 20. The zoning would change to allow the group to rent space to a daycare provider in their building, the Post-Star is reporting.
Counties balk at mask mandate...
Leadership in Saratoga, Fulton and Montgomery counties said they won’t enforce Gov. Kathy Hochul’s mask mandate, the Daily Gazette is reporting. The mandate began Monday and runs until at least Jan. 15. Companies may require masks or ask for proof of vaccination under the mandate or be fined $1,000. Saratoga County’s Supervisor Theodore "Todd" Kusnierz Jr. said in a statement that the county will not focus on the mask mandate but keep the public health resources on vaccinations and booster shots, the story says. Kusnierz said that under no circumstances will the county enforce the “harmful provision” that bars schoolchildren from taking breaks from wearing masks. He also said the mandate does not give school children a break from the masks, a decision he called “harmful” in a statement the Gazette says.
While hospitality goes with the flow...
The hospitality industry, though perhaps annoyed at Gov. Kathy Hochul’s new mask mandate, is largely making the choice to check vaccination status or force people to wear masks, the Times Union is reporting. The paper spoke with a number of restaurant and bar owners on the subject who are mostly taking it in stride.
The fear of reassessments is real
In Mechanicville residents will have their real estate reassessed this year after boom year last year, and they fear the prices are inflated and so will their tax burdens, the Times Union is reporting. The firm that will run the reassessment says that about one-third of the assessments go up, one-third down and the rest remain the same, generally. The city currently has an equalization rate of 93%, meaning houses are assessed at about 93 percent of their value, the story says.