SusanCampriello: My Works

Lesson 1 for schools:
How to stop swine flu
District officials encourage students, teachers to use common-sense hygiene practices to curb spread of H1N1
The Daily Mail
Sept. 8, 2009
The Windham Journal
Sept. 10, 2009

CATSKILL — As schools reopen, area educators and administrators are readying their buildings for learning, playing and perhaps spreading germs like those that could spread the H1N1 flu virus.

School administrations in Greene County are encouraging students and teachers to use common sense hygienic practices and are stepping up cleaning regimens to keep their buildings and grounds clean.

Hand sanitizing products will be available to students in every district, and staff will meet with health care professionals to learn the best way to keep classroom areas clean and students healthy.

School administrators said they will also follow guidelines set forth by the State Education Department and State Department of Health and keep in touch with the County Department of Health.

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Overall, administrators said they would increase cleanings and reassess practices if students

“We are going to hope for the best and prepare for all the contingencies that we can,” Anne Rode, principal of the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School.

Each district has its own procedures in place.

Cairo-Durham Central School District

Ron Agostinoni, assistant principal of Cairo-Durham High School, said nurses will remind students the proper way to wash their hands and prevent the spread of germs.

Hand sanitizer dispensers, like the ones in elementary classrooms, have been installed in classrooms in the Middle School and High School building. Sanitizers will be available to students before lunch period, he said.

He said students and staff will be encouraged to stay home if they exhibit flu-like symptoms.

As with procedure set last spring, bus drivers sanitize buses before, after and between runs, he said.

Catskill

District Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Farrell said the daily cleaning routine will be enhanced with extra cleanings of commonly touched surfaces such as water fountains, keyboards and doorknobs. Cafeteria areas will also receive extra attention, she said.

Hand sanitizer dispensers will be installed in every classroom, school office and common area, she said.

Farrell said staff will use hand-washing solution that shows dirty spots missed to demonstrate how to properly wash hands.

Farrell said as per request of Greene County Public Health, parents would not be notified of every student who presented severe flu-like symptoms. That could change, Farrell said, if the number of students with those symptoms increases.

Coxsackie-Athens

Coxsackie-Athens Central School District Superintendent Dr. Earle Gregory said at a recent Board of Education meeting that school nurses would be vigilant and aware of any illnesses.

Students will be encouraged to encouraged to thoroughly sanitize their hands.

He said staff will follow protocols set forth by Greene County Public Health and the State Department of Health,including increased cleaning schedules, encouraging students and staff with flu-like symptoms to remain at home for 24 hours after the symptoms disappear, and encourage students not to cough or sneeze into their hands.

District schools would not be closed, he said, unless a large absentee rate was seen.

Greenville

Greenville Central School District Director of Curriculum and Communications Colleen Hall said teachers in her district had already completed a training course on showing students how to keep themselves healthy. Classrooms have been stocked with hand sanitizers, she said. Buildings and grounds crews will continue to keep the buildings clean.

Hall said parents would receive a letter that included information on when a child should be kept at home and information would be posted to the district’s Web site.

She said student health would be monitored so that the schools would know when students were kept home for flu-like symptoms or for other reasons so she schools have a sense of why a student might be absent. Additional building and bus cleanings could be added if needed, she said.

Hunter-Tannersville

Hunter-Tannersville Central School District Superintendent Patrick Darfler-Sweeney said his building is constantly being cleaned due to several varied construction projects at the school.

High School students will meet with nurses during gym period to review universal precautions. Elementary class teachers will underscore the same precautions, he said.

Darfler-Sweeney said parents would be sent guidelines on when to keep students out of school.

The district’s Web site will be updated with information as the year continues, he said.

Darfler-Sweeney said students will be provided with alcohol-free hand sanitizing products and parents will be encouraged to give their children alcohol-free products if they feel the need to give their children anything.

Windham-Ashland-Jewett

Anne Rode said teachers and staff will meet with staff from Greene County Public Health to discuss how to prevent germs from spreading in the school building and on buses. Bus drivers would have an additional training to revisit safety checks and additional cleanliness protocols.

The school has ordered bottles of hand sanitizers for distribution as well as dispensers for all classrooms, common areas and offices in the school building.

She said the school reminds students to wash their hands and be mindful that they will be around many other children every year.

Information regarding the district’s procedures and the virus will be posted on the district’s Web site, she said, adding that information will also be included in a parent newsletter.

School administrators said physical contact — hallway greetings or during athletic events and gym class — will not be prevented or banned.

As Hunter-Tannersville’s Superintendent Patrick Darfler-Sweeney said, common sense hygiene practices will prevail, echoing what other administrators said.

“If we do a really good job with that, we will take care of 99.9 percent of the other stuff,” he said.

Cash for Clunkers earns mixed reviews
Auto sales increase, but program’s management is criticized
The Daily Mail
The Register-Star
Sept. 4, 2009

Two weeks after the Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS, program ended, dealerships in Greene and Columbia counties are reporting positive sales but mixed feelings toward the program’s management.

The CARS program, known familiarly as “Cash for Clunkers,” was meant to promote economic wellness by giving Americans an incentive to turn in their gas-guzzling cars for new, more environmentally friendly models.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported that nearly 700,000 “clunkers” were taken off the road and replaced by newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles during the month-long program. The program began in July and ended Aug. 25.

According to the U.S. DOT, dealerships across the nation submitted rebate applications worth $2.877 billion, out of the available $3 billion, with roughly $156 million from dealerships in New York.

“We sold a lot of cars; it was a big boost,” said Peter Backlund, the general manager at Village Dodge, in Hudson, who had to replace more than 40 cars sold off the lot.

“It was much better than I anticipated,” he said.

He said the program was great because it put money back into the hands of the people on the street, “where it belongs.”

“Out of all the programs that the government has been funding,” said Backlund, “I really do not see why they had to debate about spending $3 billion on a program like this,” he said about discussions in the U.S. Congress prior to that body’s June approval of the program.

But not every dealer agreed.

Lenny Romeo, owner of Catskill Buick GMC Pontiac, which serves Greene and Columbia counties, said the way the program had been run was “disgusting” and “ridiculous” and he would not want to participate again.

“The way they ran the program was a total joke,” he said.

Romeo said the program’s false start — it had a brief hiatus in July — and computer system overload had soured him on participating.

Romeo said in August that he had not been paid for the vehicles he sold even those sold early in the program.

The government had promised dealers payments within 10 days.

By this week, Romeo had received payments for only four of the 27 vehicles he had sold through the program. He said a total of $90,000 should come to the dealership.

“If we ran our business that way, we would be out of business,” he said.

But, he admitted, the program did enable people to get financing for new cars, and that more cars moved off his lot than during a regular monthly sales period.

And, he said, about half of the customers who traded their large vehicles, trucks and sport utility vehicles for new Pontiacs and GMC pickup trucks told him they did so only to take advantage of the CARS program.

Phil Thorpe, of Thorpe’s Pontiac GMC, said more than 20 car and truck owners had tried to take advantage of the program at his Tannersville dealership. Only six “clunkers” qualified for the program, he said, characterizing his participation in the program as “limited.”

A car eligible for trade-in had to meet the criteria including being manufactured less than 25 years before trade-in date, have a combined city/highway fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon, had to be insured and registered a year before trade-in and had to be driveable.

Consumers could receive either a $3,500 or $4,500 dealer discount. The price on a new vehicle selected could not exceed $45,000.

Thorpe said last week that he was confident that the government would come through with payments for his vehicles, although he did not say how much he was owed. This week, Thorpe said he had received the entire payment owed him.

Unlike Romeo, Thorpe said he would participate in the program again if it were offered.

Dan Lacy, co-owner of Catskill’s R.C. Lacy Ford Lincoln Mercury Subaru declined to comment about the program until he had been paid by the government, offering only that he had “a lot to say” about it.

Larry Siracusano, owner of Sawyer Chevrolet in Catskill, said the program had gone “OK” and he was low on inventory, but was unavailable for further comment.

Staff at Marchese Ford, in New Lebanon, said the program had seemed to help sales, but could not comment further.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called the program “wildly successful” because of how it had helped consumers.

“American consumers and workers were the clear winners thanks to the cash for clunkers program,” LaHood said in a press release. “Manufacturing plants have added shifts and recalled workers. Moribund showrooms were brought back to life and consumers bought fuel efficient cars that will save them money and improve the environment.”

According to the U.S. DOT, top trade-ins were the Ford Explorer 4WD, the Ford F150 Pickup 2WD, the 4WD Jeep Grand Cherokee and the 2WD Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan.

The most popular vehicles purchased included the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Toyota Camry, Ford Focus FWD and the Hyundai Elantra.

Paul Crossman contributed to this report

Schools to get stimulus funds
Money will be used to support improvements to teaching methods, learning environment
The Daily Mail
Sept. 3, 2009

CATSKILL — New programs and program features could be coming to the Catskill Central School District through more than $260,000 from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 as well as from other grant sources, according to District Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Farrell.

The district will receive a preliminary estimate of $263,324 available over a 27-month period through the stimulus measure, according to the New York State Education Department and the Office of Gov. David A. Paterson. The money can be used to support teaching and learning improvement efforts. Final allotments will be announced later in the year.

“Any penny we get goes a long way,” Farrell said of the coming money.

She said the money, and additional funds through the Dyson Foundation in conjunction with Greene County Mental Health, will help implement an extended-day elementary school program that could be used for tutoring sessions or homework assistance.

She said the district will begin a search for additional staff to provide more opportunities for secondary students to prepare for Regents examinations or attend tutoring sessions, to receive counseling and to possibly pass failed courses through Online instructional services.

Farrell said further funds would come to the District through the Individuals with Disabilities Act.

According to the department, approximately 700 New York schools, mostly in lower-income areas, will receive more than $900 million through the Recovery Act.

Greene County schools will receive $788,464 in the following amounts:

- $138,042 for the Cairo-Durham Central School District;

- $263,324 for the Catskill Central School District;

- $133,728 for the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District;

- $122,019 for the Greenville Central School District;

- $85,132 for the Hunter-Tannersville Central School District;

- $46,219 for the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School District.

But, as Cairo-Durham Central School’s Business Manager Lissa Jilek pointed out Wednesday, the funding is not guaranteed. Schools must still apply for the funds, she said.

Allocations were determined based on a “No Child Left Behind” program count of qualifying children including those in families living below the poverty line, living in foster care or in institutions for the neglected and who are receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

According to program data gathered, 6.86 percent of qualifying children in New York reside in Greene County with the following break-down:

- 1.15 percent in the Cairo-Durham Central School District;

- 2.40 percent in the Catskill Central School District;

- 1.14 percent in the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District;

- 0.96 percent in the Greenville Central School District;

- 0.80 percent in the Hunter-Tannersville Central School District;

- 0.41 percent in the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School District.

Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, D-NY, said in a statement that education is one of the most important investments that can be made for the future of New York.

“These federal dollars will help give New York students the education they need to succeed in the 21st century by providing more early education, extended learning opportunities, better training for teachers and a stronger role for parents,” she said.

Second flotilla to visit Catskill and Coxsackie
Hudson’s anniversary marked with arrival of Dutch ships
The Daily Mail
Sept. 1, 2009

CATSKILL — The actual 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s sail through the region is coming in mid-September — and so is a fleet of Dutch flat bottomed boats.

This parade of ships is being sponsored by the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ NY400 project and is organized in partnership with the Dutch “Stichting ter Promotie van het Traditionele Schip” (Foundation to Promote Traditional Ships, or S.P.T.S.) according to the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation. The Foundation has organized several events in New York and the Netherlands to celebrate Hudson’s voyage.

According to the Foundation, the 19 low-slung “skutsjes,” or cargo boats, fishing boats and barges participating in the flotilla are direct descendants of ships that could be seen along Dutch coastlines in the 17th century.

The ships left Amsterdam, Holland, Aug. 20 and are scheduled to arrive in New York City today. They will linger Downstate, visiting waterfront communities in Westchester County and on Long Island, as well as New York City harbors until Sept. 14.

The flotilla will leave New York City Sept. 14 and is scheduled to arrive in Albany Sept. 20. But between Sept. 18 and Sept. 20, boats from the flotilla will be anchored in Catskill and Coxsackie.

Henry Hudson and his crew sailed the Half Moon into the mouth of the river that now bears his name on Sept. 12, 1609. On Sept. 15-16, the crew stopped near Catskill, then proceeded north, nearly reaching Albany before turning around and returning to New York Bay.

Local officials said celebrations will be planned for when the boats drop anchor.

Catskill Village President Vincent Seeley said the village will welcome the boats, although with a smaller celebration than was held for the arrival of the Half Moon on River Day in June.

“I think it is another great historic moment for the Village of Catskill,” Seeley said of the planned visit.

Village of Coxsackie Mayor Mark Evans said the anticipated stop in Coxsackie would be great because the June flotilla did not come to his community.

Coxsackie Town Supervisor Alex Betke said it would be exciting to have the types of ships that sailed during the time of Henry Hudson come to Coxsackie.

“It is a great community event for us all to get together and utilize our beautiful Riverfront Park,” he said.

Betke said a celebration in Coxsackie would be planned.

The flotilla will also make stops in Nyack, Peekskill, Cold Spring and Kingston, according to the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation.

Catskill hires tech firm
The Daily Mail
Aug. 31, 2009

The Village of Catskill has hired a new information technology maintenance provider to help streamline and unify the village’s computer system.

For $1,500, intelligent technology solutions, inc. will assess Village computers and servers as well as develop a five-year plan for system maintenance, according to Catskill Village President Vincent Seeley.

Seeley said costs for maintaining the system may increase.

“You really don’t know how much something will cost until you have somebody come in and evaluate the system,” he said.

The contract was approved by the Village Board last week.

I.t.s. will help the Village create backup systems and keep virus protection software up-to-date for more than 50 computers in five Village buildings and the Village court.

Only computers for the Catskill Police Department will be serviced by a different provider, Seeley said, because the State Division of Criminal Justice software in uses is unique and complex.

The Town of Catskill also has a contract with i.t.s., which, Seeley said, will benefit both municipalities should any Town or Village entities begin to consolidate services.

I.t.s., which is located in Coxsackie, was selected for the contract because of its costs and guarantee that one of its nine employees will respond quickly to Catskill’s emergency calls.

Trustees Joseph Kozloski and Patrick McCulloch agreed that speedy service was a plus.

“We need someone to be there within a reasonable timeframe,” McCulloch said.

In the past, Catskill has worked with individuals to maintain the system and that of the Police Department.

The Village also considered Catskill’s Smart Systems for the contract.

Black Bridge proposal spans the arts
An artist’s rendering of how the Black Bridge could look next year. Susan Campriello/Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
Village plans for safer, more attractive walks
The Daily Mail
Aug. 25, 2009

CATSKILL — Catskill’s walkways could become safer and more beautiful since the Village Board announced Monday the creation of a crosswalk and its support for an art project centering on a footbridge in the Village.

Catskill Village Department of Public Works Superintendent Lewis O’Connor confirmed with Allen Street resident Jessie Able that a crosswalk would be painted at the junction of Allen Street and Route 23B, next to Ace of Burgers.

“It is still going to happen,” O’Connor told Able, adding that the work would be done in the next few weeks.

The project could be completed within a day, he said.

Able’s husband, Brian Kehoe, approached the Board about the crosswalk and the lack of sidewalks on Allen Street in May, when he read a letter that illustrated the dangers their family and others faced while walking on the block. Shortly after, Able said, Catskill Village President Vincent Seeley met with the family to discuss the safety issues on Allen Street. And more recently, she said, Trustee Joseph Kozloski and O’Connor told Kehoe that a crosswalk was coming.

O’Connor said Monday he was unsure the final costs for paint and crosswalk signs that would be installed at the intersection.

Able also appeared in front of the Board to help friend and local artist Dina Bursztyn, of Open Studio, present a beautification project for the footbridge known as the Black Bridge that spans the Catskill Creek.

The pair said the idea was born from they enjoyment of the bridge and hope that it can be made into something beautiful through the introduction of plantings and other artistic touches.

“It would be great to have [the bridge] as a tourist destination,” Bursztyn said, adding that a beautified bridge would be nice for the children who cross it on their way to and from the middle and high schools on West Main Street.

Bursztyn created a ceramic and glass sundial for Dutchmen’s Landing park a few years ago.

She said other local artists, professionals and possibly school children will be active in the bridge project. In the future, she hopes other organizations, including the Catskill Community Center, the Catskill Garden Club, the Washington Irving Senior and the Catskill Community Garden, will be involved, as well in this and future projects.

She plans to plant decorative creeping vines that would crawl along the structure’s beams, to make and hang whirligigs from upper beams as well as to stencil birds and butterflies on the bridge’s floor next year. The garden club could hang plants on the structure as well, she said.

Then the rest of the bridge could be painted, she said, adding that she could appear again in front of the board once plans for that aspect of the project was planned. More research on how the project could be completed safely, she said, was needed.

Over the years, there has been talk about embarking on projects to rehabilitate or beautify the bridge, which carries beneath it a water and sewer pipe.

“If it looks like people are taking care of it interest in [the bridge] will grow,” Jessie Able said.

Bursztyn said she planned on funding the project through the Greene County Center for the Arts and other avenues.

Catskill Village President Vincent Seeley said research into whether existing paint on the bridge needed mitigation was necessary before the artistic embellishments could be made.

“From my perspective, I think it is a great project,” Seeley said. Village Trustees in attendance Angelo Amato, Patrick McCulloch and Joseph Kozloski agreed.

Firefighters turn to a higher power
Catskill volunteers hope to use solar panels to heat firehouse
The Daily Mail
Aug 14, 2009

CATSKILL — Last winter, the Village of Catskill installed two wood-burning stoves in its water treatment facility. This winter, village officials hope a solar unit will help heat the Village Fire House.

Catskill Village Board President Vincent Seeley and Fire Chief Jack H. Ormerod Sr. met Thursday with Bill Fitzmaurice, of Upstate Solar, to discuss purchasing a Cansolair unit for the station.

“The Village is always looking for new ways to adopt green technologies to lower the operating costs of the Village,” Seeley said. “This is going to be part of an overall strategy of saving.”

The interior tubing in the panel is made from recycled aluminum cans, each can has inside of it two fins that spin to heat air up to produce an average of 10,000 BTUs per hour.

Fitzmaurice said the unit uses about 31 watts of electricity to run, for an electric bill of about $8 per heating.

The until retails for about $2,700 and has a life of about 20 years.

Energy-saving technologies have been factored into the Village’s budget, Seeley said, although Seeley estimated that the Catskill unit would pay for itself well within the average of two years. He said the unit could decrease the station’s heating bill by $3,000.

Fitzmaurice said for every 500 gallons of oil saved is roughly 11,000 pounds of carbon dioxide that is not emitted into the atmosphere.

“You are doing everything at once; helping the planet, saving money and recycling, too,” he said.

Seeley said the Village Board, Fitzmaurice and Ormerod still need to settle on some details concerning installation and pricing but he hopes the unit could be in Catskill by November. He said fans to circulate the warmed air throughout the station could be installed, as well.

Ormerod said installing the unit at the station was a good idea and fit with the Village’s plan for going green.

“It perfect opportunity for us to cut our costs and promote solar energy,” he said.

Upstate Solar, located in Catskill, has a residential customer in Catskill and other clients in the Capitol Region and the Hudson Valley.

Summer sunny and cloudy for Main St. businesses
Mixed blessing due to economy, rainy weather
The Daily Mail
Aug. 12, 2009

CATSKILL — Catskill business owners are reporting mixed sales figures for this summer but sales are driven by a customer’s need rather than an impulse.

“I saw a surprising increase in the month of May,” Jade Thornton, of Looking Pretty, said. “I am very satisfied.”

Thornton sells dressy women’s clothing and jewelry priced between about $30 and $260.

Although Thornton did not present sales numbers, she said sales for the months of June and July roughly equaled those of June and July of 2008.

But, she said, comparable sales for most businesses equates to losing money because rents and other expenses have increased in the last 12 months.

Thornton said shoppers this summer have not come into the store to browse her racks. They come, she said, to purchase outfits for specific events and they buy matching jewelry.

“It is a need,” she said, that brings customers in.

David Miles, who owns the kitchen and home furnishing store Hood and Company, said he has stopped ordering ornamental home items in favor of cookware, serving dishes and bath items.

“If it is functional, it will sell,” he said.

Miles said one of his best sellers is a picnic basket kit that retails for $70, although most customers spend $10 or $20 per visit.

Even so, Miles said, sales from May through July were 19 percent lower than his sales last summer. Sales were roughly 10 percent higher in June and July than they were in May, he said, adding that August is usually a very good month.

Tina Gagliardy, owner of Mahalo, said her stock of small items and jewelry have been the summer’s hot sale items.

Her keychains, suncatchers and scarves sell for less than $30, although some customers purchase multiple items at a time.

She said her May sales were “way up,” June sales were up 2 percent and July sales were up at least 3 percent from last summer’s figures.

Lillian Johnson, who owns the pottery shop-studio Imagine That, said sales this summer had almost doubled from last summer.

Ceramic animals and plates can be bought and painted there for between $5 and $60. Johnson said customers buy a creative outlet or an experience at her studio as much as they are purchasing home decor.

In January, Johnson traded a two-story studio space on Main Street for a much more open one and began hosting special events.

She also extended her hours to remain open seven days a week so customers could return to the studio finish their projects at their leisure.

“When times are rough, you have to go outside of your box and put in more hours, you need to offer more services and you have to be able to follow the trends” she said.

None of the proprietors advertise heavily but rely on e-mail blasts and word-of-mouth to draw customers.

Miles, Gagliardy and Thornton said they have noticed fewer pedestrians on Main Street, and blame the trend on a combination of the economy and wet weather.

Thornton said her 30-year tenure on the street has helped bring shoppers through her door, and suggested that newer business owners might have to work harder than she to attract their clientele.

Catskill Village Board President Vincent Seeley has decided to invite all business owners in the Village to a business summit to be held in October to brainstorm how to bring shoppers to the Village.

Seeley said he also wants to begin a “guerrilla advertisement” campaign to reconnect with adults who may have visited Catskill as children but who now live downstate.

“I will stand on a corner in New York City and hand out leaflets if I have to,” he said.

Seeley said Catskill has a number of residents who can bring their marketing ideas to the summit.

Not waiting for the meeting, Miles suggested that businesses along Main Street could keep consistent hours or more stores could open during the weekend.

“We need more things for people to do once they are here,” Gagliardy said.

Seeley proposes full-time village manager
The Daily Mail
Aug. 11, 2009

CATSKILL — The Village of Catskill took the first step toward restructuring its government Monday by deciding to research hiring a full-time business manager to help run the Village’s day-to-day operations.

Catskill Village Board President Vincent Seeley said a business manager or administrator could oversee department heads but be answerable to the Village Board. He said the board would no longer need a president.

“The Village has outgrown its structure,” Seeley said Monday. “As we are growing, we are finding we cannot keep up with our current staffing.”

Seeley said he and the other board members do not have the time to manage all aspects of the village.

“It is getting to the point that we cannot do the village justice and do the department heads justice,” he said.

An administrator could keep track of available grants and maintain financial records as well as manage human resources, Seeley said.

An administrator could also keep the Village in compliance with accounting recording requirements from the Office of the State Comptroller and work with or take a leadership role with the Heart of Catskill Association/Chamber of Commerce, Seeley suggested.

The position will not be a political appointment but would be open to any interested party with appropriate financial experience, Seeley said.

“I think it is about time,” Trustee Joseph Kozloski said of the idea.

Trustee Patrick McCulloch said the Village Charter would require modification before any managerial position could be created. And any changes, he said, would be put before Catskill residents in a referendum.

Seeley said he and the board will begin researching how such a position could work into the village by looking at how other municipalities of similar size and demographics function with an administrator.

He said the study may find that an administrator will not help the Village function.

The Board will prepare a package of job specifications, parameters of the power given to an administrator and salary to present to the public in January.

Bank gains new signs, Main St. loses historic clock
First Niagara switching to blue, yellow and silver markers
The Daily Mail
Aug. 4, 2009

A new look will be coming two First Niagara Bank branches in Catskill.

The Lockport, N.Y., company has changed its corporate logo from the familiar blue and white waterfall logo to a blue, white and yellow waterfall design that will soon be appearing on its 113 bank branches.

Last month, Pat Boni, of Saxton Sign Corp., met with the Catskill Village Planning Board to discuss the signs and ask for the board’s permission to erect the signs.

So, later this year, the signage upon which people on Main Street have come to depend for the time and temperature will be replaced.

The new blue, yellow and silver signs will also replace the exiting signs at the bank branch on West Bridge Street.

Boni said the new signs will be roughly the same size as the existing ones, but in some cases lower to the ground or shorter width-wise. For example, an existing 12-foot sign will be replaced with a seven-foot sign. The sign on Main Street will be 14 square feet. Free-standing signs will not be flat but convex, he said.

The lettering of the main signs at the branches will be lit from within, Boni said. Currently, the entire main signs light up.

“Less is going to light up now than is lighting up right now,” he said.

Planning Board Chairman William Zwoboda said he did not like the colors of the new signs and Board Member Michelle Pulver said she would miss having a large clock on Main Street.

Boni said certain signs could not be manufactured in varying sizes in ordering for the lettering and logo to be the correct size. He said the Catskill signs would have to match all First Niagara signs.

“The good news is what we are putting us is a lot smaller than what is there,” he said.

Pulver said she had heard of instances whereupon corporations would work with municipalities to produce signage that fit the needs and approval of the business and of the locality.

“We have tried to maintain a Main Street with historic feel,” she said, adding that she would prefer if the company hung with with three dollar signs on it or a bronze plaque outside the entrance of the Main Street branch.

Pulver cast the lone dissenting vote on both sign resolutions.