A resident, Randy Lent, of the Town of New Baltimore is seeking approval to open a business in the Town of New Baltimore. His application is currently before the New Baltimore Planning Board, and Mr Lent’s application is being considered. The Town of New Baltimore is in Greene County, NY. How is it that Robert Nolan, Aaron Flach, and Michael Biscone of Ravena, in the Town of Coeymans (Albany County), are appearing before the New Baltimore Planning Board opposing a New Baltimore resident’s plan? What business do these well-known thugs and bullies from the Town of Coeymans and the Village of Ravena have pushing New Baltimore Planning Board chairman, Robert vanEtten around like the marshmallow he is? The Town of New Baltimore is a sovereign, municipality independent of Albany County, and particularly independent of the Town of Coeymans and the village of Ravena. New Baltimore can handle its own business, Thank you! New Baltimore doesn’t appreciate the interference of the Thug Squad from Coeymans, Biscone, Nolan, Flach, or McHugh. Furthermore, if the New Baltimore Planning Board chairman, Rob van Etten can’t keep his sights on New Baltimore and avoid his own business interests and pals in Coeymans, we think he should resign from the Board or, failing that, he should be fired by the New Baltimore Town Board, and replaced by someone who can do the job honestly and ethically. Now that would be a 180º turn for New Baltimore, wouldn’t it? Honestly and ethically? Now that would be news.

New Baltimore may be a little backward but some more evolved residents will not put up with the invasion of the Coeymanazies! One resident stood up and addressed the New Baltimore Planning Board at the public meeting on August 13, 2020, and, directing his no-nonsense comments straight to shyster attorney Michael Biscone of Ravena and his lapdog Robert Nolan with some pretty clear words:

“It’s not right that thugs from out of town are allowed to come to New Baltimore and tell New Baltimore what to do. Just because people think they have money…doesn’t mean they can come bully us in our town. If the Board is not able to push back, they need to be replaced.”

Residents came out in big numbers in support of local businessman Randy Lent of Albright’s Garage, a landmark historical business in the Town of New Baltimore and in Greene County. Residents spoke out against the unprecedented invasion of the so-called Coeymanazis, the thugs from the Town of Coeymans, and the Village of Ravena. The thugs’ mission: to bully the New Baltimore Planning Board, under the chairmanship of the marshmallow-fluff chairmanship of Robert Van Etten, owner of VanEtten Excavating, a well-known collaborator and business associate of the thugs. Van Ettan was recently accused of official misconduct (see below). Marshmallow-man vanEtten offered no resistance to the thugs — Why would he? Too much to lose if he does his job for New Baltimore and the residents of New Baltimore! That is, until the courageous New Baltimore resident and business owner stood up and put vanEtten, the Planing Board, Biscone, and Nolan, the in their kennel crates à la mode.

Resident puts two dogs, two mutts in one crate and ships them out.

The speaker went on to ask Mr Biscone, a known local shyster attorney operating in the Town of Coeymans and Ravena, asking Biscone, “Did  Nolan pay for your nice car?” He was referring to the local scandal that Biscone likes to drive his ostentatious and overdone Bentley around town like some juvenile with an expensive toy. Some locals call the Biscone Bentley the Biscone Bloodmobile, probably because his scurrilous and leechlike law practice paid for his toys with the blood and tears of local residents.

Biscone is a mercenary and would sell his mother — but not his Bentley — for a price. His loyalties are well known in the area and he’s a legal whore, professional harlot who would do anything for a buck. Now that his pal George McHugh is sitting in the Town of Coeymans Supervisor’s office buttering his coneys’ bread, Biscone is kissing Carver Laraway’s hairy butt (Carver Companies/Port of Coeymans) as counsel, a post George McHugh held before stepping down to run for Town Supervisor. More on that scandalous plan below.

Robert Nolan is another thug. Nolan runs a fuel business and has a basic monopoly in the region supplying propane gas to businesses and residences. He is opposing the New Baltimore resident’s plan to establish a propane distribution business in the Town of New Baltimore, apparently feeling that the NB resident might break Nolan’s strangle hold on the propane business in the region! Local consumers might have a choice; God forbid!

Michael Biscone of the Biscone Bloodmobile is Robert Nolan’s attorney. The question that raises its ugly head is this: Why is Nolan interfering in New Baltimore business, and why is he bringing in a shiftless, evil shyster like Michael Biscone? This isn’t the Town of Coeymans or the Village of Ravena, where they run and hide when the thugs appear. This is New Baltimore where we eat thugs for breakfast, and then deposit them properly by flushing in the local sewerage treatment plant.

New Baltimore Resident Tells them To Get Lost; Stay out of New Baltimore’s Business!

Editor’s Note: The Town of Coeymans (Albany County) and the Town of New Baltimore (Greene County) are pretty much one-horse towns. Local town governments grant franchises to local providers, who then suck residents dry because there’s no choice, no competition! The area is looted by a single telecommunications company State Telephone, cable services are provided by a single provider, MidHudson Cable, who regularly up rates and drop services, most recently discontinuing email services but not adjusting local residents’ and businesses’ bills to reflect the loss of service.Electrical power is supplied by a single company, Central Hudson. With no competition, the infrastructure is constantly failing. It’s Third World at best.

It gets better. Aaron Flach, local parasite so-called businessman, the guy who got seed money from his father, and now tries to make the impression he’s self-made. Flack would be sleeping under some bridge if his father, whose methods were not always the most ethical or honest, didn’t make the money that Flach boys later used to go into their businesses. Anyone who knows the local history and characters will laugh in Flach’s face if he were ever to try to say he made his money by the sweat of his brow!!! He’s a phony, and like Biscone and Nolan, is sucking the area dry. Flach is chairman of a local business association (surprised?), on the board of directors of a local bank (still surprised?), and is a member of the local Rotary Club. Don’t let the Rotary Club thing fool you; the local RC is a farce and a hotbed of hypocrisy and backstabbing; just another beaverly hillbilly country club.

The problem we see is that Robert Nolan — Yes! The same Nolan of Nolan Propane and the same Nolan bullying Robert vanEtten on the New Baltimore Planning Board — is also on the Town of Coeymans Planning Board/Board of Zoning Appeals. That’s an unusual name for the Town board that oversees development and land use, zoning, the comprehensive plan, and other matters in the Town. There’s a story of corruption behind that, too. Here’s what happened:

Coeymans Center for Un-American Activities

And Michael Biscone, Robert Norton, and Aaron Flach want to do the same for New Baltimore.
With a little help from their friends Rob vanEtten, Jeff Ruso, and Nick Dellisanti, they may succeed!

HAS NEW BALTIMORE TOWN HALL BECOME
THE NEW BALTIMORE CENTER FOR UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES?

Say what you like about Phil Crandall and Tom Dolan and the Crandall Board, at least they didn’t have their hands up LaFargeHolcim’s and Carver Laraway’s butts up to their shoulders. At least Crandall and Dolan were unbeholden to big business and did not stand to profit by any official actions they took while in office. At keast Crandall and Dolan gave residents a voice in how the town was run and there was an independent Planning Board and a separate Zoning Board of Appeals. That can’t be said of George McHugh. What can be said about McHugh is that this is a replay of his last one-termer, and the scandal after his first term in office back in 2000-2001, when he set himself up to make big local real estate deals and remap Ravena-Coeymans to his advantage. And it can’t be said about McHugh’s current term, when he’s already taken steps to benefit his former clients, who will still be his clients when he leaves office, and they’ll be owing him big time. We’re watching and biding our time; we expect the Feds are, too.

Flag as flown at King Georgie’s Coeymans Town Hall.

In November 2019, after a scandalous and tumultuous local election, the Coeymans Town Hall became the Coeymans Center for Un-American Activities. With the election of local shyster attorney, Georgie Deflumer McHugh, backed by a number of local thugs calling themselves the Friends of Coeymans, but actually three local bullies, and with the glamour of two young, inexperienced local boys — pet puppies — George Deflumer McHugh ran for the office of Coeymans Town Supervisor. McHugh was elected, as were his two puppies. The writing was on the wall but the illiterate sheeple of Coeymans couldn’t read it. So then, McHugh crowned himself King Georgie of Coeymans.

Lefevre, McHugh, Collins, Langdon
They’re The McHugh Puppet Show..

Shortly after being elected, McHugh, not yet supervisor and not yet sworn in to office, announced by letter on his law firm letterhead, that he, McHugh, intended to abolish the Town of Coeymans Planning Board. The letter was dated December 20, 2019, and sent to the incumbent members of the Coeymans Planning Board. He also advised the Town of Coeymans CAC, the Conservation Advisory Council, that they, too, would be abolished. The Coeymans Planning Board’s responsibilities included reviewing of proposals for development and land use, and developing the town’s comprehensive plan. The CAC, or Conservation Advisory Council, was a panel who advised on and planned environmental issues.

The Ravena News Herald, the local rag formerly owned by McHugh and now owned by close McHugh friend, Mark Vinciguerra, reported in its January 1, 2020, issue:

“Incoming town officials hit the ground running New Year’s Day with several changes, including dissolving the Coeymans’ Conservation Advisory Council. The new Coeymans Town Board voted Jan. 1 to abolish the CAC, to propose a law to dissolve and combine the Coeymans Planning Board with the Zoning Board of Appeals, approved a five-year Payment In Lieu of Taxes agreement for an incoming business … Three men [McHugh, Lefevre, Collins) were sworn in 9 a.m. New Years Day to a packed room at Coeymans Town Hall, 18 Russell Ave., Ravena, for their new term on the town board.”

McHugh wasted no time in keeping his promise made even before he took office, that he would abolish the Planning Board and the CAC; both actions would pave the way for McHugh’s handlers to have free reign over the Town of Coeymans. McHugh and his Coeymans Town Board, now packed with his Republican puppets, passed Local Law 1 of 2020, which reads:

“The purpose and subject of this Local Law is to: 1) Abolish the Town Planning Board, 2) Transfer all Planning Board functions and duties to the existing Zoning Board of Appeals, 3) Rename the Zoning Board of Appeals to the ‘Planning Board/Zoning Board of Appeals”, and 4) Amend the Town of Coeymans Code where necessary to effectuate these changes.”

With that one law, the people of the Town of Coeymans lost any say in how their Town was to be developed, how land was to be used, how zoning and re-zoning was to be done. The power was transferred to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which was then packed with McHugh supporters and local thugs, including Mr Robert Nolan of Nolan Propane. We see a conflict of interest here. Now the Board and local McHugh supporters and clients had nothing in their way. Even the Conservation Advisory Council was abolished; there’s nothing to stand in the way of how land is used, zoned, or developed. The people of Coeymans have no say!

Since McHugh increased the number of members on the Board from 5 to seven (?!?!), he also ensured that his clients now and in future have a packed board to do their bidding. That’s because the members on the board serve terms for the number of years that there are members on the board. How’s that for a sucker punch, Coeymans?

McHugh’s setting himself up to make big bucks after serving this term, and setting up his recent and future clients to have their way in Coeymans. He’s also setting up residents and small businesses in the Town of Coeymans for the ride to hell. Just keep an eye on the Port of Coeymans (McHugh/Biscone), Carver Companies (McHugh/Biscone), Collins & Son Fuel  & Hauling (Zach Collins, VP, Collins & Son, fuel and hauling), LaFargeHolcim (watch Daniel Baker, who works for LaFarge), Yannis, Trickey’s Scrapyard, and others in the Town of Coeymans, including Nolan Propane (Rob Nolan is a member of the Town of Coeymans now combined Planing Board/Zoning Board of Appeals). And then there’s board member Ken Burns, Wimp-Waffler, who’s anybody’s for a price.

McHugh and his thugs didn’t stop there. They then passed laws requiring permit applicants to post escrow to cover the experts’ and consultants’ fees for reviews done by the Planinng Board/Zoning Board of Appeals, in order to have a permit application reviewed. What this does in practical terms is prevent many landowners from developing their properties because of this new requirement to post escrow to pay for experts and consultants to review the permit applications. Why do we need a Board if we have to pay for their experts? Well, that’s not the point, really. The only ones who can afford that kind of money have that kind of money and they’re names are Biscone, McHugh, Collins, Nolan, Carver Laraway, and a handful of others! Oh, did we forget to mention the Yanni’s restaurant extension and how that got pushed thru thanks to Carver Laraway (owner of the property), Michael Biscone, and George McHugh. They’re all in bed together, even picking up leftover wives (McHugh and Laraway).

McHugh and his thugs then passed laws redefining what a garbage disposal facility and a transfer station are. Remember the Clean Air Act? McHugh and his thugs hate it but said they would not repeal the law but they didn’t say they wouldn’t redefine it! Just another shyster lawyer trick with language and Coeymans fell for it — flat on their sheeple faces!

Bullies LaQuire-Hagen-Boomer

McHugh and his thugs passed laws in early 2020 putting a moratorium on solar energy development in the Town, a new law on how citizens can gather and assemble, a law controlling what noise can be produced in the Town, and the list of new laws limiting freedoms in the Town of Coeymans and favoring big business goes on and the first year isn’t even over yet!!!

A new law passed by McHugh and his puppets, LOCAL LAW 7 OF 2020 (Adopted July 23, 2020), regarding how citizens can meet and assemble, is Mini-Me McHugh’s version of a scandalous law passed in England in 1714 that prevented groups of more than 12 persons to meet; it was King George I — King George of England, not King Georgie of Coeymans — way of preventing public expression. The act allowed local officials to declare any gathering of more than 12 people “unlawfully, riotously, and tumultuously assembled.” The Riot Act, if ignored by the assembly, was punishable by death. King Georgie McHugh’s — now isn’t that ironic that McHugh’s name is George, too —  new law reads in part:

“No person shall take part in or join or aid, assist or abet any riotous or tumultuous assemblage or unnecessary crowds upon the streets or in doorways or stairways adjacent thereto or loiter about such places.”

It’s the responsibility of the drafters of laws to be very plain and clear about what they mean; when they make a law that’s vague and ambiguous, it’s probably so that it can be very freely interpreted and abuses. Watch out! Other than that, the law as written, is a pretty serious violation of people’s protected Constitutional right of freedom of assembly. The problem with McHugh’s law is that it does not define any of the terms it uses. This means that the vagueness and ambiguity of the terms make the law open for abuse or, if challenged, useless! Read more about the historical Riot Act here: What Does It Mean to ‘Read the Riot Act’?

McHugh and Bisccone, together with their handlers Aaron Flach and Carver Laraway, and a handful of others including Rob Nolan, have the Town of Coeymans tied up, bagged, and slung over their shoulders.

We are watching this scenario very closely because we see charges of abuse of public office in the making and possible corruption and conspiracy activity that might land some of these guys either in professional limbo or in the new county jail. 

Now they have their eyes on the Town of New Baltimore, the neighboring town to the South. it’s not enough that they have bullied and controlled Coeymans, they’re now trying to tell New Baltimore what to do and how to do it.

Rob Van Etten whenever Michael Biscone is in the Room.

Some residents won’t stand for that, particularly those residents of New Baltimore, who have businesses and property in the Town of Coeymans, and who know what’s going on there. The resident we quoted above is one of many who are up in arms at the arrogance and nerve of Robert Nolan and Michael Biscone skipping into Town Hall thinking they can call the shots. Well, at the public meeting on August 13, 2020, both Nolan and Biscone, were shown the door, and told not to let it hit them in the ass on their way out.

The Town of New Baltimore has it’s own serious problem: Robert vanEtten, owner of a local excavating company, and the chairman of the New Baltimore Planning Board. As we mentioned above, he has marshmallows for balls, and marshmallows don’t secrete testosterone. It’s pitiful how he lets himself be pushed around and doesn’t push back. What’s he doing on the Planning Board anyway if he can’t defend the interests residents of the Town of New Baltimore?

Van Etten has some skeletons in the closet and isn’t as honest or ethical as we’d like to expect a public servant to be. He’s running a business and is voting on proposals coming before the Board, and in which he has an interest. He stands to make money on some of those projects if they go through. We caught him in 2018 doing work for a local developer, William Brandt, who is developing a senior housing project in the Town of New Baltimore, and, incidentally is represented by Michael Biscone.

What do you think is going on here?

We demanded records of the operations of the Town of New Baltimore Planning Board in another matter and, in the course of our investigations, came upon documents that showed that Robert VanEtten, while on the New Baltimore Planning Board, had done work for Brandt, and  vanEtten had participated in Board voting on the Brandt project!!! Michael Biscone also represented Brandt. That’s not only unethical, it’s illegal, and we notified the Town of New Baltimore Town Board and Supervisor Jeff Ruso but vanEtten was never fired and never resigned. Was that because his wife, Shelly van Etten is a sitting board member. We guess he has too many friends — one of them his own wife, Shelly van Etten, on the NB Town Board —, and stands to make more money before he leaves the Board. Not if we have anything to say about it! We reported on our findings in our article, “New Baltimore: Pick up rocks, find snakes. Part I.”

Marshmallow Balls!

Robert vanEtten is limp, impotent, a man with marshmallows for balls. He does’t and won’t stand up against thugs like Nolan, Biscone, Flach, and others, and he let’s himself be pushed around like a jailhouse bitch! The resident addressing the New Baltimore Planning Board hit the nail on the head: If you can’t do the job, if you can’t push back, if you don’t have the cojones to stand up for New Baltimore, get the hell out of Town Hall, vanEtten, and take your dummies with you!

Our advice to Mr Robert Van Etten, Chair of the New Baltimore Planning Board.

The Editor
And the People of New Baltimore

Totally Ridiculous!

What are we paying these people for? It’s as bad as paying the Town of New Baltimore Dog Catcher, Joe Tanner, more than $4,000 a year when he can play dog-catcher only after he gets off his other job! Even if we wanted to vet the information we have, it should be noted that only limited information is available, since the minutes of the Planning Board are not up to date and appear not to have been transcribed or posted for some time now. Although New Baltimore has half the population of the Town of Coeymans, New Baltimore has approximately twice the number of town employees! Still, not a lot seems to be getting done in NB Town Hall. It’s ridiculous that with so many people taking up space, they can’t keep the public informed or minutes properly transcribed and published.?!? It appears, if the Town of New Baltimore website is correct, that the last transcribed/published meeting minutes was for February 14, 2019 Pacheco et al. Public Hearing Minutes. That’s ridiculous and unconscionable! (Much of the Town of New Baltimore website is out-of-date, and poorly maintained.) The situation is similar in the case of the New Baltimore Zoning Board of Appeals!!!  One Ms Marjorie B. Loux is the clerk/secretary for both the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals. We think she has some explaining to do, as do Supervisor Jeff Ruso and his deputy/croney Nick Dellisanti. What is going on in Town Hall or should we say, Town Country Club?

For Our Readers’ Information, Here are the Members of the New Baltimore Planning Board

Rob VanEtten, Chair (12-31-20)
Patricia Bruno (12-31-20)
Robert Court (12-31-20)
Frank Orlando (12-31-21)
Lee Salisbury (12-31-23)
Michelle Stefanik (12-31-23)
Ann Marie Vadney (12-31-23)
Marjorie B. Loux, Clerk