Mayor’s Message – March

Mayor’s Message
The Village Board and I are very grateful for our public safety departments, particularly during the blizzard this month. This was an especially difficult storm, with snowfall rates at times reaching 3 – 4 inches per hour and whiteout conditions making travel extremely dangerous. Our Police Dept. responded to over 35 calls during the storm, in addition to patrolling and assisting the DPW with getting cars moved that hindered snow removal. The Menands Fire Dept. began preparing for the storm on Monday night and had a crew standing by at the fire station all day on Tuesday to ensure the fastest response time for emergency’s. The DPW began plowing at 3 am on Tuesday and continued until 2 pm on Wednesday, returning early Thursday to continue clean up. We are very fortunate to have such dedicated members of these departments working tirelessly to protect the residents of Menands.
Congratulations to Pay-It-Forward Together community group for volunteering their time to make fleece blankets for the Ronald McDonald House and AMCH. Over 25 blankets were made by the volunteers and committee members. The PIFT Prom Closet is now open. For more information, see their notice in Activities.
Menands School held their production of James and the Giant Peach, Jr. on March 18th. The cast and crew did an amazing job and the set design was awesome. Congratulations to all! On Thursday, March 23rd, Menands School also held a Multicultural Celebration. The 2017 Cultural Fair, a Passport to the World, celebrated nineteen countries, representing the nationalities of the students at school. The students carried national flags, had information booths and performed dances and songs of their nationalities. The PTA sponsored this event and those who participated and attended enjoyed a wonderful evening.
2016 End of the Year Review Continued (I inadvertently omitted the following from my report)
Village Court:
• Menands Village Court, by volume, is one of the largest Town and Village Courts in Albany County in part to our geographic location
• In 2016, the Village Court heard 4,400 cases, (including 3,806 traffic and 189 DWI cases), as well as criminal and civil cases, with revenues over $475,000
• Court was held four or five times per month, hearing upwards of 300 cases on traffic court nights
• Judge Proskin and Judge Becher attended mandatory Judges school and Court Clerks Susan and Kim attended two training session in 2016 staying up to date on policies and procedures in the Unified Court System
• Working closely with the Menands Police, the Court increased security measures and reduced times for arraignments

Building Dept.:
• In 2016, the Building Department was very busy with projects in Menands
• 72 building permits were issued
• Code enforcement worked closely with developers on building projects in Menands to ensure all requirements were met and expedite projects, including the Albany Lofts and Mohawk Hudson Humane Society
• Paul and Lyle attended the NYSBOC training conference and added 19 hours of credit towards the required 24 hours per year, both exceeding the required number with over 30 hours of training in 2016
• Paul attended the monthly sessions with the Stormwater Coalition as our MS4 officer and the CDTC Planning Committee Meetings on behalf of the Village

A special thank you to Sheila Hyatt, Editor of the Menands Activities for a great job with publishing the Newsletter.
Until next time,
Mayor Meg