GLENVILLE – Glenville Supervisor Chris Koetzle will deliver this year’s State of the Town address this week, which will highlight the four areas the town will be focusing on this year.
Koetzle will give his address Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the town’s Municipal Center. He’ll discuss economic development, infrastructure, finance and operations and parks.
“It’s a little bit different coming out of a pandemic, and into arguably a recession, certainly high inflationary times,” Koetzle said of this year. “It’s really put a stress on operations of all municipalities and so I think it’s different from the past because there’s a delicate balance making sure that we’re able to afford all these projects that we’ve talked about, and then continuing to move the community forward as we have in the past.”
Koetzle said some projects have been looked at for a while, but had been put off or delayed because of the pandemic.
“But now, 2023 is the year we think we can finally move them [projects] coming out of the pandemic,” Koetzle said.
The town will be addressing economic development through projects like the redevelopment on Freemans Bridge Road and the Route 5 corridor between Vley Road and Amsterdam.
One project that’s been delayed is the redesign of Town Hall, Koetzle said. The town has been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the state for this project. In February the town will be receiving proposals from developers for a new Town Hall concept, he explained.
“There’s a lot of projects going on across the town,” Koetzle said. “Both in pedestrian-friendly walkable sidewalks and paths. There’s a lot going on in the parks in particular.
The town plans to install sidewalks on Dutch Meadows Lane to connect Route 50 to Freemans Bridge Road. There are also plans to fix the Glenville bike-hike trail that runs along the Mohawk River. Sidewalks in parts of Alplaus are also being worked on by the town.
The State of the Town address will go over a number of improvements to the town’s parks system. This year, the town plans to add electricity and water to the softball, football and lacrosse areas at Indian Meadows. At that park, there are also plans to build a disc golf course and construct additional parking. At Maalwyck Park this year, the town plans to construct a boat launch, a walking perimeter and begin the construction of softball fields.
The address will also discuss the town’s finances. The supervisor called the town “strong and healthy.” The town’s debt load has been reduced by more than half (56%) from $23.1 million in 2010 down to $10.1 million at the end of 2022. The town has not used its federal relief funding from the pandemic as some municipalities have, Koetzle said. He said it is important to keep Glenville the lowest-taxed municipality in the county, something he believes is possible through fiscal management.
The town has seen dramatic growth in businesses and jobs in the past 15 years, Koetzle said.
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