The following is from an e-mail sent out regarding tonight's Troygle event in Monument Square to attract Google's experimental ultra-high-speed broadband network to the city.

***THE NEED FOR SPEED - Special Troygle Event!***
Featuring The Hellions of Troy. The Albany Bombers
and 100 Uncle Sams

Competing for the "Google Cup" (a Growler

donated by Brown's Brewing Company)

TONIGHT - RAIN OR SHINE!!!!
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Monument Square, Downtown Troy

Bring Google Ultra-High-Speed Broadband to Troy!
www.troygle.org
APPLY BY MARCH 26th!

We need YOU to come dressed in Google or Uncle Sam related attire (think - red, white and blue, flags, "techie ware," "speed ware," "Google ware" - we welcome your creative interpretations!) We need a GIANT CROWD for this celebration to show the world that TROY WANTS GOOGLE and that means YOU!

Bring your friends and neighbors!

FREE UNCLE SAM HATS FOR THE FIRST 100 ATTENDEES!

To apply to bring ultra-high-speed broadband to Troy go to www.troygle.org

Some residents have raised concerns over trees being taken down near Knickerbacker Park in recent weeks.

According to city officials, no trees are being being removed from the park itself, but rather the area just above the bike path nearby, in the city's right of way.

The trees are being removed to create a drainage ditch in order to prevent flooding at Lansingburgh High School.

The is no word yet on when the work will be finished.

The City Council will be working with the city to hold several public meetings on the topic of a city-wide reassessment this month before they vote April 1 on whether or not to authorize a $1 million bond resolution for the city which would kick-start the process.

The meetings will feature both city officials and a representative of the state Office of Real Property Services to answer questions about reassessment.

Future meetings include:

Monday, March 15 - 7 p.m. at Rensselaer County Historical Society, 57 Second St.

Monday, March 22 - 6:30 p.m. at Franklin Terrace, 126 Campbell Ave.

Tuesday, March 23 - 6:30 p.m. at St. Mary's Church, Third and Washington streets

Thursday, March 25 - 6:30 p.m. in the Sacred Heart School cafeteria, 308 Spring Ave.

Mayor Harry Tutunjian will hold a public meeting tonight to discuss the city's application to be one of the test sites for Google's ultra-high speed broadband networks.

The search engine giant announced in February that it would deliver download speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second through fiber-optic connections, offering an Internet experience that the company claimed would be more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today.

According to Google officials, the company plans to offer the service “at a competitive price,” to between 50,000 and 500,000 people to provide speeds which would allow them to more easily download high-definition video, stream three-dimensional images, and much more.

Google will be accepting responses until March 26 and will announce its target communities later this year.

The meeting will be held tonight at 5:30pm in the second floor conference room of City Hall, located at 1776 Sixth Ave.