Coeymans Town Board Brushes Off Citizens – Clean Air Coalition of Greater Ravena

TWO REQUESTS FROM RESIDENTS

December 22, 2020 – Referendum petition: The Clean Air Coalition submitted a petition with 254 signatures to Town Hall requesting a Permissive Referendum on November amendments which gutted the Coeymans Clean Air Law. The referendum would allow people to vote on the amendments. The revised Coeymans Clean Air Law now permits tire burning at Lafarge and overrides the Albany County Clean Air Law.

January 14, 2021 – Delay public hearing on the draft Comp Plan.
Over twenty people wrote to the Town Board asking them to delay the start of the public hearing on the draft Coeymans Comprehensive Plan set to be held at 6pm on January 28th for half an hour before the Town Board meets at 6:30. The letters said the Comp Plan is too important to be rushed and needs a full debate.

COEYMANS TOWN BOARD REJECTS BOTH

Referendum petition rejected

The petition for a referendum was rejected outright on 31 December. A referendum can only be held for specific reasons laid out in Town law. Amendments to a Law are not one of those reasons. The Board could have allowed further discussion on such an important issue and had the authority to repeal the Clean Air law altogether. It chose not to do either.

The Board claims they never saw the petition, although every Board member received a copy. They also said the decision to reject the petition was made by the Town Clerk alone. In fact, the rejection letter was drafted by the Town’s attorney and sent out in the Town Clerk’s name.

Comp Plan Hearing will NOT be delayed

Last Thursday, 14 January, the Town Board rejected calls to delay the Public Hearing on the draft Comp Plan, scheduled for January 28th at 6pm. According to the Town’s announcement on the 14th of January, this hearing will last 30 minutes until the Board holds its regular hearing at 6:30 on January 28th.

At the Board meeting on January 14th, members of the Town Board said they would keep the public hearing open but did not say for how long. Given their rush to pass the amendments to the Clean Air Law only FOUR days after that public hearing, it is hard to trust their word. Watch their performance on Facebook.

CLEAN AIR COALITION CONTINUES!
on Tuesday, February 9th, 7pm-8:30pm
First Coeymans Community Forum
ZOOM link to follow soon
_{This online forum will give everyone a chance to quiz knowledgeable people about clean air in Coeymans.}

Check out the new What’s Up Coeymans Facebook page!

Stay tuned and send us the names & email addresses of people who should be added to our email list. Please tell us if you live in Coeymans or outside the Town.