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The Town of Greenfield unveiled a new “green” playground at its Brookhaven Park & Golf Course at 333 Alpine Meadows Road on June 6. 

The playground features materials made by Kompan, an Austin, Tex-based manufacturer of commercial playground equipment. It features Kompan’s new GreenLine products, developed from repurposed materials such as ocean waste and fishing nets. 

Greenfield was the first in the country to purchase and install Kompan’s new GreenLine products, according to the company.

Kompan said it uses recycled materials, including textiles, food packaging, plastic bags, and discarded fishing equipment to create its raw materials and reports that its emissions have reduced 50 percent from before the introduction of the new method. Kompan proudly uses a verified method to specify CO2 emissions through Bureau Veritas, a world leader in testing, inspection and certification services. 

Kompan launched its GreenLine products in 2021.

“We are pleased to offer our residents an environmentally state-of-the-art playground and outdoor recreation space at Brookhaven,” said town Supervisor Kevin Veitch. “It is part of our vision to expand our recreation spaces while preserving the natural integrity of our beautiful, wide open spaces here in Greenfield.”

The playground, which cost the town $130,000, includes a large climbing piece with two slides and a fire pole; a swing set with infant, single and multiple user options; a spica spinning pole; an arc tunnel climbing net; and five free-standing GreenLine pieces including a toddler train and carriage; an albatross seesaw; a dune buggy rocking toy; and a tipi carousel spinning toy. 

Sunrise Management & Consulting in Latham has grown its multifamily apartment portfolio with the purchase of Halfmoon Garden Apartments in Clifton Park and Canfield Apartments in Gansevoort. 

The sale was brokered by Dean and Ryan Taylor of Continuum Commercial Realty, and SEFCU financed the transaction. 

Sunrise will manage the communities.

“Halfmoon Garden Apartments and Canfield Apartments are valuable assets that fit nicely into our portfolio,” said Jesse Holland, president of Sunrise Management & Consulting. “We were impressed with the way the longtime owners cared for the properties and wish them well in their retirement. We look forward to getting to know the residents.”

The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Hudson River Valley Greenway announced that two projects were completed to improve a total of 4.2 miles of the Empire State Trail in the Capital District, to assure the trails remain accessible to bicyclists, walkers, and runners of all ages and abilities.

In Waterford, the state Hudson River Valley Greenway partnered with Saratoga County to rehabilitate a 1.2-mile section of the Empire State Trail. The project, which is part of the Champlain Canalway Trail, improved a 20-year-old trail section that runs north from Main Street (Route 32) in the village and town of Waterford. Saratoga County constructed the improvements. 

A new stonedust surface, safety fencing, and improved trail entrances were installed to facilitate public use. The Hudson River Valley Greenway provided a $275,000 grant to Saratoga County to fund the project, which began in September. 

The Waterford trail is built on the towpath of the original Champlain Canal, which operated from 1823 to 1918, until the modern canal was relocated to the Hudson River.

“Improvements to these historic trail corridors provide a great new place for cycling, running, walking and cross-country skiing in Albany and Saratoga counties,” State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid said. “New York xtate continues to lead the way in enhancing our parks and trails and connecting more people to outdoor recreation.”

The Saratoga Regional YMCA may be more than 150 years old, but its commitment to environmental sustainability and stewardship is very much rooted in the realities of 2021. 

The organization recently enrolled in the Nexamp community solar program, subscribing to a solar farm in Pendleton, Niagra County, and offsetting up to 90 percent of its annual electricity usage, generating valuable savings that enable more programming and services across its multiple locations. 

With a 900 kW subscription, Saratoga Regional YMCA will save up to $13,500 each year through the discounted rate it pays for community solar credits applied to its National Grid bills, realizing more than a quarter million dollars in savings over the course of the contract. Community solar farms generate clean energy that is fed directly to the grid, earning credits that are allocated across the subscriber base and billed at a fixed discount to create customer savings, officials said. 

“We support more than 25,000 members in the region, offering a wide variety of services focused on overall wellness for families and individuals of all ages,” said John Pecora, CFO, Saratoga Regional YMCA. “As part of our mission, we recognize the importance of a healthy environment and the role of clean energy in making that possible. Enrolling in a community solar program provides us with the dual benefit of saving money that makes our budget go further while also participating in the growth of much-needed clean energy on the grid.”

By Susan Elise Campbell

She didn’t realize it at the time, but when Jesse Peters was invited to bid on a local airport habitat restoration project, her sustainable landscape business, Jessecology, would soon take off in a new direction.

Jessecology grows and sells thousands of native plants annually to civil engineers and construction companies for projects like roadside, highway median, post-construction and municipal landscaping.

“I didn’t win the bid on the plant piece of the project, but it was illuminating to me how great a need there is for propagating seeds of native plants for projects like these,” said Peters, an ecologist now in her 16th year of business.

Peters has been growing plants from seed for 10 years for wholesale use and do-it-yourself gardeners. But she said harvesting seeds for resale “was basically a hobby until that project for 90 acres shed light on the need.”

Any surplus she had in the past she typically donated to organic farms in the area to sow native plants around the fields.

“The wildflowers help bring in more pollinators to the farms and improve their crops,” she said.

By Christine Graf

Attorneys Michael O’Connor and Elizabeth Little of Little & O’Connor Attorneys PC of Glens Falls have merged their practice with FitzGerald Morris Baker Firth PC. 

Both attorneys and their paralegals have made the move to 68 Warren St. where FitzGerald Morris is headquartered. Prior to the merger, the firm employed 14 attorneys and a total staff of 32. 

According to FitzGerald Morris Baker Firth managing partner John Aspland Jr., he and O’Connor have been friends for many years. The idea of merging firms began to take root 10 years ago.

“We had some communications about 10 years ago where we started discussing some of the synergies between what he does and what we do and the clients that we have that have some common interests. We started that conversation and occasionally over the years revisited the discussion. He is an icon in the local legal community and has some fantastic clients that are very active,” Aspland said.