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The Curry Road Shopping Plaza Saga
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ROTTERDAM: Board spars over land use

Posted on: 02/21/07
Written by: Jessica Harding, Schenectady County Reporter
email: hardingj@spotlightnews.com

The Rotterdam Town Board approved a resolution for Chazen Companies to prepare a request for proposal for the development of the Curry Road Shopping Center Plaza at its regular meeting Wednesday, Feb. 14. The town is going to pay Chazen Companies up to $4,500 to complete the proposal.

Board member Robert Godlewski questioned the resolution because he said the Golub family gave the property to the town to be used for town purposes. In a telephone interview, Godlewski said he thinks the town should use the property to consolidate its services, which could mean building a new town hall, police station and senior citizen center.  

“The town should consolidate all its buildings and services in one area. Right now they are all spread out and in older buildings,” Godlewski said. “I told them (the board) the maintenance and energy costs are going to start eating you alive.”

Supervisor Steven Tommasone and the rest of the board disagreed with Godlewski.

In a telephone interview, Tommasone said, “As supervisor, it is my desire to see as much property in private hands paying taxes as possible in order to alleviate the tax burden from our residential taxpayers.”

Mona Golub, spokeswoman for the Golub Corp., said the only restrictions the family put on the land when gifting it to the town was that there couldn’t be any food store or supermarket there. The Golub family kept the land parcels where a Trustco Bank now stands, the land where the family has a print shop and some land in the front of the property.

“We kept a little less than 1 acre and gifted the remaining 10 acres for the town to develop as they wish,” Mona Golub said.

Tommasone said he hopes Chazen Companies will complete the request for proposal and then the town will turn it over to a private developer. He said he would like to see some form of senior housing on the property.

The land is zoned as business, which under Rotterdam’s zoning laws means anything could go there — from commercial development to multifamily residences.

Godlewski said Clough, Harbour & Associates did a similar study on the property three years ago and came back with four different scenarios to develop the site for town purposes. He said the cost of each was between $8 million and $15 million, which the previous administration thought was too high. Godlewski said the current administration hasn’t looked at that study.

“Why would you want spend another $4,500 when we’re facing a reval. We’re spending money we don’t have to spend,” Godlewski said.

Tommasone said he is working to consolidate the buildings and services in the town.      

“There are buildings that we have now that we shouldn’t and we’re still lighting them and heating them,” Tommasone said.

“These are long-range decisions that will impact the town for 50 to 60 years,” Godlewski said. “For Tommasone to say there is nothing wrong with the current town hall is like sticking your head in the sand and ignoring what is going on.”
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ROTTERDAM
Firm hired to study plaza development

BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

   Rotterdam officials have contracted with a private firm to investigate development opportunities at the Curry Road Shopping Center Plaza, nearly three years after a study determined the construction costs of a new municipal facility on the town-owned plot would be prohibitive.
   Board members last week approved a $4,500 allocation hiring the Poughkeepsie-based Chazen Companies to prepare a request for proposal to develop the 11-acre property donated by the Golub Corporation in 2003. Supervisor Steven Tommasone said the study should help guide future economic development of a plaza that has remained largely dormant since 1980.
   “This property needs to go back on the tax rolls,” he said Thursday. “We have to have economic development to offset future tax increases that residents can’t afford.”
   Once the study is completed, Tommasone said the town will likely seek out a private developer to build the site. Once developed, he said the town would then sell the property for funds to be used for public benefit, such as to offset the cost of building a new police station or to purchase park land.
   “We want to have something there that will add to the community and quite frankly, refl ect the generosity of the Golubs,” he said.“We’re looking to get something redeveloped out there in such a way that it fits within the characteristics of the surroundings.”
   Studying the development of the property is a departure from a previous $38,700 study conducted by two private companies in 2004, which explored options to convert the largely barren plaza into a combined police station and court building or a municipal complex grouping both with the town hall.
   Board member Robert Godlewski was critical of the sudden change in plans for the plaza. He said developing the land commercially would deprive the town of an ideal parcel of land that could be used to consolidate some of Rotterdam’s aging and inadequate municipal facilities.
   “The town doesn’t have any property that is centrally located to consolidate the town hall, police department and justice court,” he said. “You can only do so much with the way you’re configured now.”
   Rather than spend more money on a study, Godlewski said the board should have considered methods to construct a new municipal complex in a piecemeal fashion or at least investigated grant funding possibilities for such a project.
   “I know their feelings about that site but, to me, it’s up to us to gather the resources to make that a feasible project,” he said. “Here we have all this vacant land, so why should the town give back a piece of property they got for nothing?”
   But Tommasone said the plot of land off bustling Curry Road would be impractical for emergency vehicles to use. And given the cost of construction, he said building a large municipal facility would be impractical for taxpayers, especially in the wake of a recent renovation project at the existing Town Hall. All but an acre of the original 12-acre parcel was originally donated to the town by Golub, after the company was unsuccessful in securing tenants for the site.  
  
  
  
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June 19, 2007, 7:57pm Report to Moderator
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Give it back to Golub.......


...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......

The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.


STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS

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Quoted Text
“These are long-range decisions that will impact the town for 50 to 60 years,” Godlewski said. “For Tommasone to say there is nothing wrong with the current town hall is like sticking your head in the sand and ignoring what is going on.”


WAIT! Is this Mr. Godlewski talking about sticking one's head in the sand? Oh my God! The dems have had their heads in the sand for decades and have been dragging it's residents right under with them. And that, Mr. Godlewski, is why this town is in the mess it is in today! Look who's calling the kettle black!


When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM
In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche


“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.”
Adolph Hitler
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BIGK75
June 19, 2007, 8:04pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from bumblethru


WAIT! Is this Mr. Godlewski talking about sticking one's head in the sand? Oh my God! The dems have had their heads in the sand for decades and have been dragging it's residents right under with them. And that, Mr. Godlewski, is why this town is in the mess it is in today! Look who's calling the kettle black!


And think about it this way.  Is Mr. Godlewski going to be here, working for us in 50-60 years?  No.  Is Mr. Godlewski going to be around long enough to vote on what is actually going to happen at the Curry Rd. Shopping center?  Probably not.  Who's the one acting now like the inept person wo would not do anything while sitting on the board?  Well, Mr. Godlesk, thanks for keeping the seat warm for the next person, who will HOPEFULLY finally do their job, SHUT UP THE STUPID QUESTIONS, and get Rotterdam moving in the right direction!
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bumblethru
July 3, 2007, 9:08pm Report to Moderator
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So let's do the math here....$4500 study in 2004 + $38,700 study in 2007 = $43,200.00 total in 3years. WOW!

The first study suggested a Rotterdam Municiple Complex. To house the town hall, police dept and the town court. Well anyone with a half of brain would realize that Curry Road could never handle that traffic. Not to mention the firehouse right next to it! And what happened to the area the Rotterdam Industrial Park was going to give us for a police station?

So what will be proposed now? A senior housing center? Right next to the fire house? Well now that would scare the b'Jesus outta them...don't ya think? Although it would beat the sewage smell and contaminated land on Campbell Rd's apts..


When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM
In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche


“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.”
Adolph Hitler
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July 4, 2007, 10:52am Report to Moderator
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The town wants to put the area back on the tax roles but they have a big problem, no business wants to locate there so the land just sits there.
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Wasn't there some environmental issue about the cleaning solvent from when there  use to be a cleaners there? I know it use to be an issue, but I don't remember if it  has been resolved or not. In any case, it will be interesting to see what could go there. How about a small office building like the one near the old Republican Club? There doesn't seem to be a ton of traffic from that one. And they are like 9 to 5'ers, Monday thru Friday. I really don't want to see another MFH go up there...or anywhere else for that matter.


When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM
In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche


“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.”
Adolph Hitler
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GIVE IT BACK TO GOLUB.......OR GIVE IT TO SOMEONE ELSE FOR $1.00.....


...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......

The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.


STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS

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Maybe Mr.Santabara would like to do something with it.....along with Hamburg St........


...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......

The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.


STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS

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bumblethru
July 5, 2007, 2:35pm Report to Moderator
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I watched the town board meeting on channel 16 today. Mr. Tomasone stated that...and I am not quoting word for word here...that there are some irons in the fire, referring to Mr. Santabarbara/IDA. But he wasn't at liberty to say.
Mr. Godlewski did his usual aray of open ended, endless questions that go absolutely no where! Please, if there is a God, don't allow him anywhere near the county legislature seat! Let him 'retire in peace'.


When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM
In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche


“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.”
Adolph Hitler
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July 5, 2007, 3:19pm Report to Moderator
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It seems that there are always some irons in the fire, how come we never see any of the irons produce any results.
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Who is in charge of the bellows????


Quoted Text
Main Entry: bel·lows
Pronunciation: 'be-(")lOz, -l&z
Function: noun plural but singular or plural in construction
Etymology: Middle English bely, below, belwes -- more at BELLY
1 : an instrument or machine that by alternate expansion and contraction draws in air through a valve or orifice and expels it through a tube; also : any of various other blowers2 : LUNGS
3 : the pleated expansible part in a camera; also : a metallic or plastic flexible and expansible vessel


Maybe the definition:any of various other blowers----is referring to politicians.......


...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......

The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.


STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS

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bumblethru
July 5, 2007, 6:40pm Report to Moderator
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We need to keep their feet to the fire and make sure they follow threw with all they promise.


When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM
In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche


“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.”
Adolph Hitler
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I would also like to know "what orifice would be used",,,,there are specialized ones


...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......

The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.


STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS

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