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Where Did The Water Go?
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ROTTERDAM
Business park, town search for lost water
Meter readings don’t match usage
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter


    More than 31.6 million gallons of water was pumped into the Rotterdam Corporate Park last year, but no one seems to know exactly where the majority of it went.
    The amount used — about enough to fill 48 Olympic-sized swimming pools — resulted in an $14,732 water bill from the town to the park’s owner, the Galesi Group. And because the town bases sewer service rates on water usage, Galesi was also assessed a staggering $127,723 sewage bill.
    Though the park has plenty of large tenants — such as Railex USA and Price Chopper’s frozen foods distribution center — none of the companies leasing space have high water demands. The amount of water metered at the park from the town’s Water District 5 in 2012 was more than twice what was registered in 2011 and nearly nine times the amount recorded in 2010.
    “The number is astronomical,” town Supervisor Harry Buffardi said of the 2012 water usage. “It’s obviously more than a leaky faucet somewhere.”
BILL CONTESTED
    The problem apparently came to light after Galesi contested its utility bill last year, when the town assessed the company $3,531 for water and $58,160 for sewage. After a year of nonpayment, unpaid water and sewer assessments are forwarded to Schenectady County for collection through property taxes, in accordance with town code.
    Town officials met with the company to discuss the problem Tuesday. Deputy Supervisor Wayne Calder said the meeting was among several the town has had with the company in an effort to get to the bottom of the high usage.
    “Things haven’t changed over there to a degree that would have caused this that we’re aware of,” he said following the meeting.
    The only thing clear right now is that the town’s sewage treatment plant on West Campbell Road isn’t contending with tens of millions of gallons of sewage flowing from the corporate park. Calder said the degree of effluent associated with that level of water usage would almost assuredly cause capacity problems for the plant.
    “It would be an issue,” he said.
    Part of the issue could fall on the aging infrastructure at the sprawling 245-acre park. Parts of the park and its infrastructure date back to the early 20th century, when the property served as an Army depot.
    David Buicko, Galesi’s chief operating officer, said it’s entirely possible some of the water use recorded by the town simply leaked from pipes and returned to the underlying aquifer from which it was pumped. He said there’s also a chance the town’s meters are incorrectly gauging the usage or that another user has been inadvertently tied into the complex network of piping.
    “There’s a variety of scenarios,” he said.
    Buicko said Galesi’s engineers are now trying to find the source of the inflated readings. He remains confident Galesi and the town will reach an amicable solution to resolve the issue or any overpayment discovered.
    “We want to pay our fair share,” he said. “We don’t want to subsidize things we don’t use.”
    In the event the company is found to have overpaid its water and sewage bill, either the town or county could be responsible for a refund. Unpaid water and sewage bills later collected by the county are forwarded back to Rotterdam, but it is unclear whether this has occurred with any of Galesi’s bills.
    “As with any overpayment, based on error, pursuant to court order or stipulated settlement, it would be up to the municipal entity receiving the overpayment to refund that portion of the bill that has been overpaid,” Town Attorney Kate McGuirl said in an email. ................................>>>>..............................>>>>...................................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01101&AppName=1
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OMG!!! isn't this the sewer issue from the apartments? or the smell that emanates around The Villa and that end of the park???


...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.


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OMG!!! isn't this the sewer issue from the apartments? or the smell that emanates around The Villa and that end of the park???


Obviously the water went down the drain, seeing as the entire county is heading that way.

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“We want to pay our fair share,” he said. “We don’t want to subsidize things we don’t use.”


PRICELESS


...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.


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ROTTERDAM
Golub challenging assessment
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.

    Price Chopper is arguing that its nearly empty former headquarters off Duanesburg Road should be assessed at about 10 percent of its current value, according to a grievance fi led with the town.
    Assessor John Macejka Jr. said the Golub Corp. maintains that the building is worth about $80,000 since it is no longer being used for offices and will likely be demolished in the future. But until the company levels the building or wins a court challenge, he doesn’t see any reason to lower the assessment.
    “They’re always free to rent the space,” he said Tuesday during the town’s grievance day.
    Golub is also disputing the value of several properties it purchased as part of the Dunnsville Road relocation project. The company demolished the residences it purchased on Duanesburg Road so the corridor can eventually be widened as part of a plan to expand warehouse space at its distribution hub.
    The grocer is among about 100 commercial and residential property owners disputing an assessment with the town. Macejka said the number of grievances is about normal for the town, which hasn’t seen any appreciable rise or decline in property values this year.
    “For the most part, Rotterdam hasn’t seen any significant drop in value you may see in other parts of the Capital Region,” he said.
    Many of the usual companies are disputing their assessment. For the fourth consecutive year, the General Electric Co. has contested the value of the 325 acres it owns in Rotterdam. The site is now assessed at $141 million, and GE want it to be assessed at $14.1 million.
    The owners of Wellington Gardens, an apartment complex built near the town’s sewage treatment plant on Campbell Avenue, are also disputing its assessment. The 64-unit apartment complex is valued at $4.3 million, but the owners are arguing it is worth only $3.8 million.
    Rotterdam’s equalization rate — the percentage of fair market value the town is assessed at — will remain at 100 percent this year, and the overall value of the town’s taxable property isn’t expected to change much.
    Rotterdam’s taxable property was valued at about $2.54 billion before the grievance process. Macejka said the town gained about $4 million in value between 2011 and 2012.
    Macejka said the town’s value also refl ects the elimination of about $2.5 million in assessments from Rotterdam Junction. The hamlet was ravaged by flooding last summer, leaving many of the homes uninhabitable and others destined for demolition. ........................>>>>..........................>>>>......................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01000&AppName=1


...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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ROTTERDAM
Firm suing over Sync land zoning
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    A Galesi Group subsidiary has filed a lawsuit against Rotterdam and Sync Realty, claiming that town officials engaged in spot zoning when they approved a rezone of the former military housing complex off Duanesburg Road.
    Rotterdam Ventures claims the Town Board changed the Sync-owned property’s zoning from industrial to multi-family residential without conducting any of the necessary studies prescribed under state law. In addition, the company alleges the zone change contradicts the town’s comprehensive plan and doesn’t fit with the character of the surrounding area.
    “The comprehensive plan has consistently designated the area for light industrial uses and the rezoning is inconsistent with and contrary to decades of consistent planning and zoning designed to preserve the industrial character of the neighborhood surrounding the property,” attorney Jeffrey Baker stated in the 22-page challenge fi led in Schenectady County Supreme Court last month. “The zoning change was not calculated to benefit the community as a whole but adopted solely for the benefit of Sync without regard for any consideration proper to the Town Board’s exercise of its delegated zoning power.”
    Board members approved the rezoning of the eight-acre property in mid-April, despite the Schenectady County Planning Board, the Rotterdam Planning Commission and the town’s Comprehensive Plan Committee all recommending against the change. Prior to the approval, an attorney from the Galesi Group indicated the company would bring legal action if the zone change were granted for the property, which includes six apartment buildings, a two-story duplex townhouse and a singlefamily ranch-style residence.
    Andrew Brick, an attorney representing Sync in the case, scoffed at the lawsuit. He questioned why Rotterdam Ventures would claim the property is not suitable for multi-family residential uses when there are roughly a half-dozen occupied homes located on the Galesi-owned Rotterdam Corporate Park property at the end of Westcott Road.
    “It’s the most hypocritical lawsuit I’ve ever seen,” he said. “[The lawsuit] also fails to take into account that the property was never analyzed for comprehensive plan purposes because it was government-owned at the time.”
    Town Attorney Michael Godlewski said he’ll work with Sync’s attorneys to defend the case. He referred all other comments to Brick.
    “We will coordinate with our co-counsel to make sure a viable defense is put forth,” he said.
    David Buicko, Galesi’s chief operating officer, declined to comment.
    If the legal challenge is successful, Sync would be back where the company was in July 2008. For nearly two years, Sync rented apartments at the complex illegally, since it wasn’t zoned for residential uses.
    Sync outbid Galesi to purchase the property at auction for $1.92 million in April 2008. The purchase was followed by pair of unsucessful lawsuits Sync waged agains Galesi and the town.
    The first lawsuit was aimed at preventing Galesi from shutting off a sanitary sewer pipe running from the complex to the corporate park. In June 2009, the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling in favor of Galesi. The complex is now connected to the town’s sanitary sewer.
    Sync filed another lawsuit against the town challenging the Zoning Board of Appeals’ decision that the military’s residential use of the property did not carry over when it was purchased at auction. A county Supreme Court judge upheld that decision during a ruling in October 2009, which compelled Sync to fi nally file a zone change application for the property later in the month.
    But the zone change application remained “dormant” from the time it was filed until February, according to the lawsuit. When a new Town Board took office, the application was revived and then hurried through the approval process without any environmental impact studies, the suit says. ....................>>>>.......................>>>>.....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01102&AppName=1


...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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BUMP


...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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>


...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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