WILTON – With the Nov. 7 elections behind them, members of the Wilton Town Board voted this week to approve an $8.2 million budget for the 2018 fiscal year.

The three largest expenditures in Wilton are $1.7 million for government support; $1.3 million for employee benefits, and $1.2 million for culture and recreation. The spending plan also includes $900,000 for road improvements in Wilton, and additional funds for a town salary increase of $2,800 plus bathroom upgrades at the popular Gavin Park.

Supervisor Arthur Johnson praised town board members and Comptroller Jeffrey Reale for ensuring that Wilton does not impose a general town tax, which has been the case for 36 years. The town derives 75 percent of its revenue from retail sales taxes.

During a budget workshop on Oct. 18, Councilwoman Joanne Klepetar had discussed reinstating the funds for a town planner position in Wilton.

At the Nov. 9 meeting, Klepetar made a motion to amend the town budget to allocate those funds, following several minutes of related comments made by Nancy Dwyer, who earlier in the week had lost in her campaign to unseat Johnson as supervisor.  

Councilman John McEachron voiced his concern about Wilton's low "growth rate," which he said does not currently justify spending money on a town planner.

"If the need arises, I'd absolutely be for it," McEachron added. 

Klepetar's motion did not receive a required second, which negated her budget amendment proposal.

The town board then approved next year's $8.2 million spending plan, with only Klepetar opposed.   

Photo by www.photoandgraphic.com. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS – A $6 million project at Saratoga Hospital to install a new linear accelerator machine, as part of a wider expansion of its Radiation Oncology Center (ROC), has received city approvals but may not begin until spring 2018.

Kevin Ronayne, vice president of operations and facilities at Saratoga Hospital, indicated by email this week that finalizing the required state approvals for the project seems “more and more unlikely” as the month of November proceeds. Ronayne said he expects the work to begin next March or April, and to finish nearly six months later.

Every day, more than 40 patients receive cancer treatment at the main ROC location on Church Street or related off-site facilities.

Ronayne said Albany-based AOW Associates, which has completed projects at the Wesley Community as well, would be the construction manager and general contractor for the $6 million ROC project.

Front photo: A crowd listens intently to Stephan Wolfert on the final night of his "De-Cruit" program in Ballston Spa. In gallery photos (left to right): Veteran Steve Cipitelli reads from his prepared script; a De-Cruit particpant with Shakespeare in hand; and Wolfert offering some remarks. Photos by www.photoandgraphic.com.     

BALLSTON SPA – On a balmy Thursday night for late October, Stephan Wolfert advised everyone in the small room to act as people do after leaving a popular gambling city in Nevada, whose unofficial motto is ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.’

“We’re asking you to remember that this is part of a healing program, so hollering at the grocery store, ‘Hey! You were the one that talked about such and such.’ Not preferable,” Wolfert said. “The idea is to hold this space for the people who are coming up here to speak in front of you.”  

Wolfert, a U.S. Army veteran and positively energetic actor, was giving a few introductory remarks on the final night of his “De-Cruit” program inside the new Veterans Peer Connection building off of Route 50 in Ballston Spa.

He found a way to control the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by immersing himself in the classic ideas and words of William Shakespeare. Now Wolfert devotes himself to reaching out to other veterans and offering them the same opportunity.   

Every year, thousands of military veterans in the United States are committing suicide, in proportions that are sharply higher per capita than the civilian population. That reality has given rise to many different therapeutic programs, including De-Cruit.   

Veterans Peer Connection Program Coordinator Amy Hughes said she first saw Wolfert perform his widely acclaimed show “Cry Havoc” two years ago in Massachusetts. Last year, he appeared at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs, after which, Hughes said, she began coordinating directly with Wolfert to establish an annual event.  

Thirteen veterans signed up for the seven-week De-Cruit program, which was created in association with academic PTSD researchers. It concluded on Oct. 26.

Wolfert prefers a maximum of 15 participants at a time, and this year’s event drew in veterans ranging in age from 24 to 83, according to Hughes.

“They can relate to each other’s stories…regardless of when they served,” she said.    

Starting in September, Wolfert had worked individually with each local veteran, teaching them how to be candid about their own traumatic experiences in the military and then couple their memories with lines chosen from Shakespeare’s literary record. 

He also traveled frequently, returning to his home base in New York City or visiting other small towns in the region to coach more veterans in the same manner. He was accompanied on Oct. 26 by two women actors who sat calmly in the back row of chairs, assisting Wolfert as needed.      

“Here’s what we’re asking,” Wolfert explained, before yielding the floor to all 13 local veterans. “For you to come up, take up the time and space you need to speak what you feel and not what you ought to say…Plant your heels into what I call the toddler pose, breathe, share your truth and seamlessly transition into the Shakespeare monologue.”

“It’s an apology-free zone. We do enough of that out there," Wolfert said, gesturing toward the window behind him. 

“For those of you who are family or friends of vets in here,” he added, “thank you for loaning them to us for seven weeks—and thank you for being here tonight. Because this is hard, showing up for stuff. There’s a lot of yellow ribbons on cars, but very few people are doing what you’re actually doing, which is showing up.”   

Jill Hoffman was the first military veteran to speak. Her hands shook mildly, yet Hoffman stayed mindful of Wolfert’s breathing instruction as she clutched her papers and patiently proceeded to finish her difficult presentation.

Later, during a smoke break, Hoffman offered that Wolfert has a real knack for making people feel comfortable expressing themselves. She said the De-Cruit program should be expanded to help more local veterans.  

In between the brief performances, Wolfert would make comments such as “I’m so proud of you” and “beautiful breathing, beautiful grounding.”

Jesus Santiago, who served in the U.S. Army for eight years and the U.S. Air Force for five, said “there’s not enough adjectives” to describe how much the De-Cruit program helped him control his own PTSD symptoms.   

Military service can lead people to be “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Santiago said, which often explains the onset of PTSD in the first place.

The De-Cruit program in Ballston Spa is just one of many means through which local veterans are provided assistance. Wolfert even said November "has become Veterans' Month." 

“We really do appreciate the participation. Without you, this is nothing,” Frank McClement, director of the Saratoga County Veterans’ Service Agency, informed the De-Cruit participants in his opening remarks.

McClement said the various programs that he and Hughes offer to local veterans are supported annually through a $180,000 state grant.

Usually, McClement said, nonprofit organizations perform much of the same work, but Saratoga County takes a more direct approach by enlisting the veterans’ agencies.

A separate trust fund covers additional expenses, McClement explained. “These funds go to veterans” and do not cover salaries or administrative expenses, he said.

Funds are raised through such events as the sixth annual 5K run that the Veterans Peer Connection organized on Saturday, Nov. 4 between 10 a.m. and noon in Schuylerville. (More details are available at https://veteranspeertopeer.org/.)

Hughes also coordinates coffee nights between 5 and 7 p.m. every Tuesday at Saratoga Coffee Traders on Broadway, which gives veterans the freedom to share military stories. She said 10 to 20 individuals show up regularly for that event, even in stormy weather.  

“There is a program out there for everybody,” Hughes said. “I just want veterans to know they’re not alone and that people out there have their back.”

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A rendering of the planned Saratoga County public safety complex provided by David Pacheco of H2M architects + engineers; and (left to right) Deputy County Administrator Chad Cooke, Chairman Ed Kinowski and County Administrator Spencer Hellwig. Photo by Larry Goodwin. 

BALLSTON SPA – On Wednesday, county officials presented a tentative $320 million spending plan for the 2018 fiscal year. It includes $20 million for countywide road improvements and $32 million for the long-planned construction of a public safety complex.

Projected sales tax revenue of $119 million will remain a reliable driver of Saratoga County’s favorable fiscal ratings, says County Administrator Spencer Hellwig.

In the last year, Hellwig said, there also was $786 million worth of new construction and home or business improvements, bringing the total value of property in Saratoga County to over $25 billion.

Yet “revenue from that growth,” he explained, is offset by “a greater demand” on the county’s public services; and further complicated by reductions in state aid along with the imposition of various “unfunded” state mandates.

“What we have to do is go back and reduce our operating costs,” Hellwig said.         

“The 2018 Saratoga County tentative budget still maintains virtually the lowest property taxes in the state with no major cuts to services,” Hellwig concluded in his formal budget statement. “In addition, Standard and Poor’s bond-rating service continues to give us their highest New York State rating of AA+, citing our healthy financial position and low tax burden.

“At this time,” Hellwig added, “I am happy to report that the 2018 tentative budget is fully balanced and provides the services our residents demand while addressing the planning for our long-term needs.”      

Stillwater Supervisor Edward Kinowski, who chairs the Board of Supervisors, said a months-long review of the budget revealed to him how “complex” the process of preparing it is for Hellwig and Deputy County Administrator Chad Cooke.

Kinowski said a number of “outside” factors are driving up costs, but that a thorough review of expenses and revenues by supervisors and each of the county’s department heads enabled Hellwig and Cooke to make the necessary arrangements.

The supervisor also expressed caution about unexpected downturns in the state and national economies. “We must never forget how quickly the financial tide can turn,” Kinowski said, noting how various committees will continue to review the county budget through November.

The full board of supervisors will vote on the final spending plan on Wednesday, Dec. 13, according to the official schedule.

A total of $32 million has been budgeted for construction of a new public safety complex on County Farm Road west of Ballston Spa, which was first proposed in 2006. The facility will help consolidate the administrative functions of the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office, a call center for 911 dispatchers, emergency and health department workers and probation staff.

The existing county jail complex will remain. Once the project begins, construction of the new complex is expected to last 16 to 18 months. 

In his budget statement, Hellwig indicated that the property tax levy of $2.29 per thousand dollars of assessed value—a slight decrease from the 2017 fiscal year—is projected to yield more than $58 million in 2018, the second largest source of county revenue after sales taxes.    

“As was the case in 2017, all of our property tax revenue will be spent paying for unfunded state mandates,” Hellwig wrote. “The projected net cost of these mandates next year is more than $60.7 million and will consume every penny of the 2018 property tax levy, plus an additional $2.1 million from other general fund revenue.”   

He added, “Every year our Board of Supervisors travels to Albany to meet with our representatives in the New York State Senate and Assembly to urge them to work toward financial relief in the area of costly, mandated state programs that we are being forced to subsidize with no input on how these programs are managed.”

The largest state mandate involves Medicaid spending of $26 million, with the next largest being $9.2 million for county pensions, according to the budget summary.  

Cooke pointed out that state aid has decreased by more than $3 million in the last year alone. It will be down to $27.1 million in 2018. 

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STILLWATER – Four large energy-storage units resembling shipping containers will be installed next year in the Luther Forest Technology Campus, as part of a statewide effort to supplement the existing electric grid with alternative sources of power.

A Texas company, Key Capture Energy, announced in late October that it has received the necessary site-plan approvals from planning officials in the Town of Stillwater for its battery-storage units.

The four oversized units will utilize “cells” or “modules” and lithium ion to supply 20 megawatts of power to an existing New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) substation.

Dan Fitzgerald, the chief development officer and co-founder of Key Capture Energy, said the state’s energy grid “needs to respond faster” to fluctuations in electricity supply as more projects get approved involving renewable sources of energy, such as solar panels and wind turbines.

The installation of individual lithium-ion battery units is part of New York’s plan to generate 50 percent of the state’s electricity needs with renewable sources by 2030.  

Pending further approvals from NYSEG and local officials, Fitzgerald said Key Capture’s 1.5-acre project in the Luther Forest Technology Campus is expected to be complete by the summer of 2018.

On Oct. 23, Stillwater planners conditioned their approval on the provision of fire safety training as well a letter of credit by Key Capture Energy. An additional 100-foot buffer from Cold Springs Road in Stillwater must also be factored into the final site plan.

“We are delighted to assist Key Capture Energy in advancing this next-generation facility, which represents a significant investment in the economic, energy and environmental future of Saratoga County,” offered Marty Vanags, president of the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, in an Oct. 26 statement.  

He is working with other members of the county agency to move the Key Capture Energy NY 1 project forward.   

Vanags indicated that he is familiar with other types of battery-storage units, including the solid-oxide fuel cells that reportedly will be installed near the Home Depot in Wilton to supply that particular store with 210 kilowatts of electricity.

He also admitted to his own personal use of a battery-operated lawnmower, which captured the attention of at least a few people who approached Vanags to inquire about such a quiet machine. 

The Key Capture project and others similar to it are “not big job producers,” Vanags added, but they do help maintain the state’s electrical supply and, in general, stimulate economic growth in local areas.

“You’re going to see a lot more of these…attaching themselves to the grid,” he said.    

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Saratoga Unites moderator Lois Shapiro-Canter; the audience inside the H. Dutcher Community Room; and local political candidates (left to right) Justine Culora, Nancy Dwyer, Paula Tancredi Penman, Tracy O’Rourke and Emily Mastrianni. Photos by www.photoandgraphic.com.   

SARATOGA SPRINGS – A new political action group called Saratoga Unites, formed by local women and men in the wake of last year’s presidential election, held one of its first public forums Tuesday night in the Saratoga Springs Public Library.

Every other week since late in January, the members of Saratoga Unites have coordinated their efforts mostly at private homes in the city or near Saratoga Lake, according to President Lois Shapiro-Canter, a Saratoga Springs attorney.

“We have a great group of people,” she said, noting how eight members make up the Saratoga Unites leadership committee. (The website is https://saratogaunitesny.org/.)

Shapiro-Canter moderated the group’s “March to the Polls” event this week inside the library’s H. Dutcher Community Room.

More than 50 people were in attendance as ten women running for local offices were asked to describe the evolution of their political views in recent months, as well as the importance of electing more women candidates in general.

“Women are tired of always being put in the back seat,” Shapiro-Canter said. Saratoga Unites will support “progressive-minded women who want to preserve the rights that have been secured,” she added.  

Shapiro-Canter pointed to the fact that men hold 80 percent of 535 seats in the U.S. Congress and comprise 75 percent of the governors or state legislators nationwide.

Of more than 40 total seats on the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors and the governing boards of Ballston Spa, Malta, Milton and Wilton, women occupy only four seats, or about 10 percent.  

Saratoga Unites organized two separate panels of women running for local offices. All of the women are either registered Democrats or endorsed by that party.  

Shapiro-Canter asked each of the candidates if they had attended the popular Women’s March in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, Jan. 21. At that event, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand had reportedly called on women nationwide to run for office.   

The first panel included Justine Culora, who seeks a seat on the Stillwater Town Board; Nancy Dwyer, who is challenging incumbent Wilton Supervisor Arthur Johnson; Paula Tancredi Penman, running for Wilton Town Board; Tracy O’Rourke, running for Malta Town Board; and Emily Mastrianni, running for Greenfield Town Board.  

Mastrianni was the only panelist who traveled to the nation’s capital for the Women’s March, together with two of her three daughters. “It was an incredibly moving event to be surrounded by all these families,” she said. “It was part of the reason why I’m here.”

Early this year, after current Wilton Councilwoman Joanne Klepetar had announced her intention not to run again, Tancredi Penman explained that she and Dwyer started meeting to discuss forming their respective campaigns.

“That’s the minute that I knew I could raise my hand and say, ‘I want that spot,’” Tancredi Penman said.

“We have a slate of candidates for the first time ever” in Wilton, she said a few minutes later, to a round of applause. “We know how to work as a team.”  

“Please tell your friends and neighbors: Your votes count,” Dwyer said at the end of the first panel discussion.    

The second panel included City Court Judge Francine Vero, who aims to win her first election for that position (Vero is the first woman to serve as a Saratoga Springs City Court judge); Tara Gaston, who is seeking a county supervisor seat; Deputy Mayor Meg Kelly, in a heated race for mayor; Patricia Friesen, who also seeks a county supervisor seat; and Elizabeth Fairbanks-Fletcher, running for Greenfield Town Justice.

Sergia Coffee and Meg Stevens, both of whom are competing for two open seats on the Milton Town Board, were invited by Saratoga Unites but did not attend.

“I have always been empowered by the women in my life,” offered Kelly, when asked for her input on the march in Washington, D.C.

Vero informed the audience how “judges cannot attend anything political,” or even speak publicly about such events as the Women’s March.

Vero added that she agreed to be a Saratoga Unites panelist only because her participation conformed to a “window” that judicial rules allow for campaign promotion. 

In general, Vero said, she hopes more women “will be inspired” to take on “leadership roles,” citing her own experience in the Adirondack Women’s Bar Association. 

Gaston, a Saratoga Springs attorney, was perhaps the most determined member of the second panel to make inroads in male-dominated local governments.

Gaston said her main goal is “putting sunlight on the Board of Supervisors.” If elected, she would support conducting a thorough review of the county budget to find out “where to save money.” 

As the spouse of a U.S. Navy veteran and mother of four, Gaston explained, she had to move repeatedly around the country after her early life in Alabama. Her parents, she recalled, had devoted themselves to helping others. Those past experiences factor deeply into her analysis of Saratoga County’s current needs, she said.

“I saw governments all across the nation that didn’t serve their people,” Gaston said.

The day after the 2016 election, when both Gaston and her daughter were expecting the first woman to be elected president of the United States, the daughter asked what would happen next.

“What else are you going to say?” Gaston remembered, telling her daughter: “We’ve gotta take it over.”   

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An aerial view of the SKS Bottle work site off Geyser Road; and work crews preparing the “pad” for construction. Photos by www.photoandgraphic.com. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS – In recent weeks, drivers on Geyser Road definitely noticed when whole stands of trees were cut down and the operators of heavy machinery created an access road to the future site of the SKS Bottle and Packaging, Inc. warehouse.

A 118,000-square-foot facility will be the permanent home for a family business that has grown steadily and moved numerous times since it was first created in the 1980s, says company President Ken Horan.

The new SKS Bottle warehouse will be close to the train tracks on the eastern edge of the W.J. Grande Industrial Park. This week, crews were busy grading the “pad” on which it will be located.

From its existing warehouse in Watervliet, SKS Bottle supplies the multi-billion dollar trade in glass, plastic, metal and cardboard containers, as well as the associated caps and labels. The company does not manufacture the products it distributes to cosmetics, personal care, pharmaceutical and various other industries. 

Horan said he expects the $15 million project on Geyser Road to be completed by late in the summer of 2018. He said the interior of his new warehouse and headquarters will offer a total of 143,000 square feet of space, including two stories of offices.

Horan added that he and his brother Steven are “extremely excited” that the project is coming to fruition for their family.   

Most of the 112 employees at SKS are involved in “pack and ship” activities, Horan said. Other staff members manage the company’s sales, marketing and accounting, or develop in-house computer software used for tracking inventory.

All of the SKS jobs will be transferred from Watervliet to Saratoga Springs. The addition of a half-dozen jobs may be necessary by 2020, Horan said. Plans are also in the works to add 125,000 square feet to the main warehouse at a later date.

Munter Enterprises is the general contractor for the site work, according to Horan.

John Munter Jr., when reached for comment this week, said he and his brother Michael still own 50 to 60 acres of “developable” property in the Grande Industrial Park. Their father, John Munter Sr., had originally owned or sold much of the nearby land.

“We’ve had a very good, steady demand for the past seven or eight years,” Munter said, referring to a recent expansion of business in the industrial park.   

The Horans bought 22 acres for their project. Two smaller properties, on either side of the SKS Bottle access road, are still available for development. 

In a May 25 letter to Kate Maynard, the principal planner in Saratoga Springs, the Saratoga County Planning Board found that the SKS Bottle project would have “no significant county-wide or inter-community impact.”

“The site is relatively flat and comprised of grass and brush with a treed perimeter,” the letter states. “The Geyser Brook runs above the north property line and parallel to [the] eastern boundary and the site gradually slopes down toward the brook. Such conditions result in runoff not being of a major concern.”

In April, according to the planning board letter, the Albany engineering firm Creighton Manning issued a “traffic assessment” for that section of Geyser Road, which is a short distance from the warehouse shared by Artisanal Brew Works and Upstate Distilling Co.

The Creighton Manning assessment indicated that truck drivers who exit the SKS Bottle access road may experience some difficulty turning left on Geyser Road, due to the proximity of a bridge over the train tracks.

The county planning board endorsed the idea of city officials further monitoring the traffic situation if projects for “the other two parcels to be developed” are approved. 

On July 3, Mark Torpey, chairman of the Saratoga Springs Planning Board, signed the official “notice of decision” that allowed construction on Geyser Road to commence. 

In photos (from left): Jason Foden and Jim Petrecky of Plug Power demonstrate "GenKey" hydrogen fuel cell technology at Logistics One on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. Photos by Larry Goodwin. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Jason Foden seemed eager to jump on the forklift for a quick lap around the Logistics One warehouse, as he demonstrated for a small audience the hydrogen fuel cells being marketed by his company.

Foden, the regional service representative for Latham-based Plug Power, was joined by colleagues in an event organized at Logistics One on Friday, Oct. 13 by the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC).

Ryan Van Amburgh, SEDC’s development specialist, said it was the first time Plug Power representatives held such a demonstration in the W.J. Grande Industrial Park.

The Plug Power hydrogen fuel cell is “literally a drop-in replacement” for forklifts powered by similar lead-acid battery units, explained Teal Vivacqua, the company’s marketing director. She said Plug Power offers many different fuel cell designs, depending on the type of forklift.

Vivacqua added that Plug Power finds ways to ensure that switching to hydrogen fuel cells for warehouse use is “a very seamless process for customers.”

The company’s promotional brochure describes it as a “GenKey solution,” which provides the fuel cell units, hydrogen and fueling infrastructure and long-term service. 

“Within no time, your lift truck fleet will be operating with enhanced efficiency and increased productivity,” the brochure reads. More information about the technology is available at www.plugpower.com.

In addition to providing information about fuel cells on the forklift and an airport luggage hauler, the Plug Power representatives briefly demonstrated how to use a hydrogen “dispenser” that companies can install inside warehouses to make refueling the units more efficient.

Jim Petrecky, Plug Power’s vice president of business development, said “very small particles” of platinum act as a catalyst for hydrogen gas inside the fuel cells. That scientific reaction yields 3 kilowatts of power for each forklift unit and more than 20 kilowatts in the larger airport haulers, he said.

Depending on the actual loads being handled, Plug Power's hydrogen fuel cells can last up to 12 hours on a single fuel up, Foden said.

Vivacqua indicated that, so far, Plug Power has tracked well over 8 million fuel-ups. The company's hydrogen fuel cells are now powering more than 16,000 forklifts in warehouses owned by such companies as Amazon, Wal-Mart and Home Depot, she said. 

Stacie Dina attended the Plug Power demonstration on behalf of U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Willsboro). She expressed a sense of fascination with the fuel cell technology, though admitted that her knowledge of it was limited.

Afterward, Dina said Plug Power representatives had discussions recently with the congresswoman in her Washington, D.C. office.  

Saratoga Springs Mayor Joanne Yepsen also made an appearance, referencing previous attempts on her part to “encourage the private sector” to invest in various clean technologies as a means to “benefit all of us.” 

Her goal, the mayor said, always has been to make Saratoga Springs a “more progressive, clean place.”

BALLSTON SPA – The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors voted on a resolution Tuesday declaring itself lead agency in the environmental review of a proposed $30 million public safety complex.

Galway Supervisor Paul Lent, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said the full board would consider including the proposal in its budget for the 2018 fiscal year.

“We’ve got to make a determination here very quickly” for the measure to be included in next year’s spending plan, Lent explained. 

Lent added that his committee forwarded a positive recommendation to the Buildings and Grounds Committee, which is chaired by Northumberland Supervisor Willard Peck and is currently reviewing the proposal. 

BALLSTON SPA – On Tuesday, acting on the complaints of Wilton homeowners who claim that bullets from target shooters are hitting their homes, the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors voted to set a public hearing next month regarding a proposed law that would ban target practice on 64 acres of county-owned land north of Louden Road.   

The public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 4:40 p.m., in the Board of Supervisors meeting room at 40 McMaster Street in Ballston Spa. 

“Target shooting on the northern section of Louden Road . . . poses a risk to the health and safety of users of the recreational trail through the parcel, of customers of the Wilton Mall, and of area residents residing on Carlyle Terrace, Ingersoll Road and Bog Meadow Run,” states the proposed law.

The county’s proposed ban for the Louden Road land does not apply to people “lawfully hunting wildlife during the applicable small or big game hunting seasons annually established by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.”