The $6.7 million endowment New York City is providing for the upgrade and maintenance of septic systems in the hamlet of Shandaken can be expected to last anywhere from 55 to 75 years, engineer Henry Lamont said at the September 9 town board meeting. When the funding runs out, homeowners will again have to pay for their own maintenance.

The Woodstock Town Board once again discussed offering overnight parking permits in municipal lots for long-term apartment tenants and short-term renters while one Mountain View Avenue resident says it will only invite more problems.

Former Woodstock Supervisor Jeff Moran is giving the job another go, challenging incumbent Bill McKenna with a write-in campaign for the November 5 election.

Woodstocker Jeff Collins says he decided to throw his hat in the ring for the Democratic Party nod to run in 2020 against incumbent state Senator George Amedore, a Republican seeking a fourth two-year term, based on his “desire to make a difference in what’s happening in our New York legislature.” Collins first announced his candidacy on July 2 in Kingston. 

A pair of lawsuits have been filed against the town’s volunteer land use boards and building department in recent weeks, one seeking damages for an alleged jumbled process that resulted in clearcutting of trees and the installation of a highly reflective roof in Woodstock’s cherished scenic overlay district, and the other a “placeholder” involving ongoing planning controversies at the former site of the Woodstock Lodge, now owned by the international work/stay company Selina.

Woodstock may be the first small town in the state to issue municipal identification cards, making it easier for undocumented immigrants and others without paperwork to conduct town and other routine business.

Selina Woodstock, the new owners of property formerly known as The Lodge, were told they must study connection to the town sewer and water lines and resolve issues with the neighbors before further site plan consideration.

The Woodstock Zoning Board of Appeals has been in the midst of an existential exercise of late. Following deep analysis and key decisions on the propriety of several code enforcement issues in recent months, they’re currently weighing the pros and cons of new signage for the changing Bradley Meadows shopping center and its growing main business, Sunflower Natural Foods, while simultaneously taking into account a growing push by Woodstock’s Commission for Civic Design (CCD), as well as the town’s Tree Committee, to straighten up the look of the town.

The Woodstock Town Board voted unanimously to set a cap of 340 short-term rentals for the remainder of 2019 and will limit units in 2020 to the number registered by the end of this year.