Source: Should you still be wearing a mask?

FEBRUARY 14, 2022 @ 6:00 PM 

1. Call Meeting To Order

2. Pledge of Allegiance

3. Roll Call

4. MOTION/DISCUSSION: To Accept Reports from all Departments: (Water/Sewer/Valcour; Highway; Town Clerk; Dog Control; Youth Department; Code/Zoning; Supervisor’s Report; Court; Website; JCEO; and Banking Reports).

5. MOTION: Approval of Minutes for the Town Board Regular Meeting of January 24, 2022 and Special Meeting of January 28, 2022.

6. Community Input 

7. DISCUSSION/MOTION: Declare Water/Sewer Dept. 2002 for F-450 Dump Truck as Surplus for Sale. 

8. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION:  Approval of Bid and Purchase of New Truck for Highway Dept. 

9. DISCUSSION:  AES to Put Lagoon Project Out For Bid on March 8, 2022. 

10. DISCUSSION/MOTION: Walking Trail Extension Property. 

11. DISCUSSION/MOTION: Approval of Rifenburg’s Pay Application #10. 

12. DISCUSSION: Youth Commission Bylaws and Members.

13. DISCUSSION: Bell Tower at Heyworth Mason Park.

14. DISCUSSION: Sewer Project Update. 

15. DISCUSSION: Other Business. 

16. DISCUSSION: Public Comments on Agenda Items Only. 

17. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION: Pay Bills

18. MOTION: Adjourn to Executive Session. 

19. MOTION: Return from Executive Session. 

MOTION:     Adjourn

Source: More Vietnam vets now qualify for disability benefits, but it may be years before they see the money | NCPR News

This story is 10 days old Global Foundries announced yesterday that it will invest $180 million at its Essex Junction plant, $500 million at its Malta, NY plant; nevertheless this is a very informative story. 

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Assemblyman Billy Jones, “With Governor Kathy Hochul’s announcement today lifting the mask mandates for businesses, I want to thank local business owners and patrons for their patience over the past couple of months.  I agree with both New York State United Teachers and New York State Council of School Superintendents who have called on the Governor to provide reasonable and achievable metrics for when the mandate will be lifted. All institutions that still have mask mandates also need clear guidance for when the requirements can be lifted. It’s also important to note that the best defense against COVID-19 is getting vaccinated and boosted.”

State Senator Dan Stec, “The decision by Gov. Hochul to lift the mask mandate on small businesses was long overdue,” Stec said. “Much of the country has been easing COVID-related restrictions for weeks and the mask mandate seemed more about political science than trusting the actual science.

“I encourage the governor to take the next step and end the mask mandates for schools,” he added. “Numerous studies have shown the detrimental effects masks have had on students’ social, emotional and intellectual development. Rather than postpone a decision on this for another month, we must move forward and repeal this mandate on our students and teachers.”

Hochul said she remained reluctant to lift New York’s school mask mandate in part due to the low COVID-19 vaccination rate among children ages 5 to 11, with just 38% of kids in the group receiving at least the first of Pfizer-BioNtech’s two-dose vaccine series as of Tuesday.

“This is all about looking out for the health of our children,” Hochul said Wednesday, asserting the mask mandate in schools in part helped New York limit outbreaks and sustain in-person learning this fall and winter.

Source: Gov. Hochul lifts mask mandate for NY businesses, but schools have to wait. Here’s why

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            Senator Dan Stec (R,C-Queensbury) joined several of his Senate Republican colleagues in calling for the Department of Health to conduct an audit into the March 2020 directive to place COVID-positive seniors back into nursing homes. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo and the-DOH Commissioner Howard Zucker authorized this directive and in its aftermath, thousands of death were revealed to have occurred. These deaths were covered up by state officials, leading to widespread outrage and calls for an investigation.

During her confirmation hearings last month, newly appointed DOH Commissioner Mary Bassett stated she had no plans of investigating the nursing home policy. Stec noted that failure to conduct one is a disservice to the thousands of families who lost loved ones due to this directive and urged the commissioner to take action.

“Thousands of families impacted by the former governor’s nursing home decision are still searching for answers,” Stec said. “The DOH owes these men and women those answers and must provide accountability. I urge Commissioner Bassett to do the right thing and conduct an audit into the mistakes made by her predecessor. It’s the only way we can move forward from this scandal and ensure similar mistakes don’t happen again.”

Video of Senator Stec discussing the need for the DOH to conduct an audit can be found at: https://youtu.be/VQGC-0DABRM

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik joined her colleagues in sending a letter to the Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) requesting the total number of records on file in all ATF databases following concern that the Biden Administration is circumventing federal law to keep records on gun owners. Stefanik joined her colleagues in writing a letter in November expressing concern that a proposed rule to require federal firearm licensees (FFLs) to preserve firearms transaction records would allow ATF to have records on almost every American gun owner, creating a national gun registry, which is prohibited by law. In the ATF’s response, the lawmakers learned that the ATF has 865 million firearms transaction records on file within the Out-of-Business Records Imaging System (OBRIS), only one of sixteen ATF-managed databases. “Current regulations authorizing FFLs to discard records after 20 years were first published in 1985 and have not been changed in the nearly four decades since then. This regulation was enacted to ensure that the federal government complied with existing law restricting the creation of a federal gun registry. It is therefore concerning that the Administration would seek to repeal a decades-old rule without citing any research or data justifying the need for retaining firearm transaction records in perpetuity. Indeed, the only basis for the proposed rulemaking is that firearms are durable and can be operational and in circulation for more than 20 years. Durability, though, always has been a characteristic of firearms,” the lawmakers wrote. “We would urge that you consider rescinding the proposed regulation that would require FFLs to preserve firearm records older than 20 years. Indeed, the evidence provided by ATF thus far demonstrates that such records likely have little utility in prosecuting crime, yet raise serious concerns about whether ATF is creating a prohibited national gun registry,” the lawmakers concluded.

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 Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay Lake) announced he introduced a bill that would create a Strategic Site Readiness Fund. The fund would provide grants to counties and municipalities for costs related to creating “shovel-ready” sites for new development projects (A.9114). The legislation would increase the number of geographic sites available to attract and expand businesses in New York State and would appropriate $500 million for the fund in the 2023 fiscal year.

“After a prolonged economic downturn due to the pandemic, New York’s economy is finally beginning to rebuild and regrow,” Assemblyman Jones said. “However, a lack of development-ready ground will hinder localities’ ability to attract new businesses and promote the expansion of existing ones. Providing grants to localities that increase the number of ‘shovel-ready’ sites in their area will incentivize the creation of more sites and attract new and expanding businesses to the state, leading to local job growth and further economic development.” Read more »

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