Will a Renovated Sharon Springs be Affordable?

Picture it now: The Imperial Baths and Spas and the Adler Hotel (where a teen-aged Ed Koch bussed tables during the Summer), returned to their former glory, bustling with tourists, lit up with life once again. Picture Main Street’s shops and restaurants overflowing with people. Streets so crowded with pedestrians you can barely squeeze through them.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Sharon Springs was the preferred resort locale for a who’s who of New York’s elite, cutely referred to as the “knickerbocracy”. Later, many Jews came to Sharon Springs to bath in the healing springs after the Holocaust. But into the 1950s and 1960s, interest in Sharon Springs began to wane heavily, and soon the only patrons of the massive, stately hotels and spas were the termites.

But a plan recently proposed by a group of New York City-based Korean investors with experience in the tourism industry hopes to change all that. What started out as a plan to invest $10 million dollars for renovations of two hotels has expanded into a $30 million dollar planned investment that would renovate most of the dilapidated resort facilities in the village. If these plans are carried out, which is a huge “if”, it could spell drastic change for this tiny rural village.

By and large, that change would be positive, a virtual rebirth. However, current residents see more than just a local renaissance in the making. They see cause for concern. High among these concerns are the potential for gentrification and rapid unmanaged growth. If there is a resurgence of interest in the Sharon Springs area, will it mean development along the scenic Route 20 corridor? If there is an influx of new residents, what will happen to local housing prices? Will the people living in Sharon Springs presently be able to afford to live in a renovated Sharon Springs? Can Sharon Springs be revitalized without dislocating its most vulnerable residents?

These are questions that deserve answers. A sustainable community that meets the needs of all of its citizens should be the goal that leaders aspire to. Any development or “progress” that fails to recognize this, is no progress at all. Revitalization should not come at the expense of displacing poor people.

Gilmore's Return

Former Cobleskill Mayor William Gilmore has announced that he will be seeking a seat on the Village Board of Trustees in this November's election. The seat is currently held by Rebecca Thillet, of the Community Matters Party, who was appointed by Mayor Sellers when Trustee Brinkman stepped down.

Mayor Gilmore was perhaps best known for his decision to extend water and sewer services to the proposed Lowe’s development even though it was to be located outside of the Village of Cobleskill. That decision was reversed soon after Mayor Sellers took office.

In the two years since Gilmore left office, Cobleskill’s politics has become especially bitter, with rivalries between Deputy Mayor Sandy MacKay and Tea Party activists Mark Galasso (a village trustee) and Bob LaPietra (a 2005 candidate for Mayor). Furthermore, the decision not to extend services to the proposed Lowe’s development has caused a rift between Town and Village officials.

Most likely, Gilmore will exploit these rifts in order to position himself as a moderating or healing force in Cobleskill politics. If he wins a seat on the Village board, no doubt he will try to get his old job back in 2009.

A "Slaughter" Conspiracy?

In a recent Times-Journal article covering the Republican nomination of Roger Cohn for the position of Cobleskill Town Supervisor, the term “Schoharie County slaughter” was briefly mentioned, with very little background information to explain its meaning.

For all of you who were left scratching your heads as to the meaning of the term “Schoharie County slaughter” let me explain. The term “slaughter” refers to a resident of Schoharie County who can trace his or her family back as having lived in Schoharie County for a significant number of generations. These people are not just locals or natives, they are the community’s “supreme elders”. These are the people who can tell you about Cobleskill’s first ever motor car, or when Schoharie County was first electrified, or about events that transpired during the Revolutionary War as if they themselves were there.

I’d be willing to bet that a group of these so-called “slaughters” get together in some barn somewhere in the dead of night every year to plot out the future of Schoharie County. It’s not hard to imagine, all things that happen in Cobleskill and Schoharie County being decided in advance by a top-secret gathering of “Slaughters”.
Will Lowe’s get village water and sewer? A majority of “slaughters” shake their wise and learned heads and give the idea a thumbs down. Should Cobleskill village ban skateboards on village streets? Most definitely, agree the Slaughters, the Slaughters can’t stand those little whippersnappers and their wheely-boards. Will the Town of Cobleskill consolidate with the Village of Cobleskill? This one has the slaughters tied. Too bad, they’ll have to vote on it next year.

Still many other questions are brought up by the less sage-like Slaughters and are quietly dismissed, such as: will the Warnerville Roller Rink ever be re-opened, or will the Park Theatre ever play anything except G-rated Disney movies, or will Cobleskill ever have a gas station that stays open past 11 FREAKIN’ P.M.!!! Have any of you ever left the house after 11 PM and looked down at a near-empty tank of gas only to drive by countless gas stations with the lights turned off, wondering if you’ll make it home, or end up stranded on the side of the road until morning?

It may be fun to joke around, but we have to ask ourselves: does having long-standing generational ties to a particular area make one fit for office? The reality is, for a lot of people, it does. This may be hurting these communities because it disqualifies many talented and intelligent individuals from serving in public office. Hopefully, Cobleskill’s Democrats will nominate a candidate for Supervisor with more credentials than being merely a “Schoharie County Slaughter”.

Village Must Take a More Active Role in Mineral Springs Road Development

There’s no denying it, the pressure to build along the Mineral Springs Road corridor, especially where it runs roughly parallel with the Village, is intensifying! There are already two major residential projects in the early planning stages. Last spring, the Village annexed the property for these proposed developments so that the developers would have access to Village water and sewer services.

The largest of the two projects, proposed by Maximum Equities, is a residential development which will include 130-200 units, according to village planning board member Niles Voyer-McGiver. However, according to Voyer-McGiver, the developer has yet to specify whether those units will be in the form of an apartment complex, row houses, condos or townhouses.

While Village planning board members and village officials are at odds over how best to handle the situation, the stakes for the Village could scarcely be higher. At 130 or even 200 housing units, this project will be largest in the Village’s history. Moreover, it will permanently shape the landscape that serves as the Village’s southern gateway. This being the first major development along Mineral Springs Road it will also set the tone for future development, which make no mistake, will be coming.

Village trustee Mark Galasso is foolish to insist that the Village should be “begging on a bended knee” for such developments. Yet Larry Weintraub’s (of the Department of State)
suggestion of a 6-12 month building moratorium may be excessive.

Instead, the proper course is for the Village to steer these projects in a direction that is beneficial for all involved, but mostly for the future of the Village. According to the Times-Journal, Village planners have discussed the possibility of establishing design standards. Well..what’s to discuss? Of course there should be design standards for this project. Remember, not only will this development form the southern gateway into the Village, but it will be entirely visible from I-88.

Instead of just kneeling down to every developers’ proposal, the Village of Cobleskill needs to become aware of the opportunities that exist for the development of this project. Instead of ending up with another cluster of suburban sprawl like that of the East End, Village officials must insist on a more sustainable, pedestrian-friendly design, one that is integrated with the Village’s Downtown.

First off, Village officials should take the necessary measures to create a land use zone that allows for higher densities and that prescribes a neo-traditional or “new urbanist” style of development. Apartment complexes and condos should be out of the question. Townhouses or row-houses with minimal setbacks along a grid-iron street pattern, and with plenty of trees and maybe even a small park would be best. The Village should also make it a priority to connect this development to Downtown via a pedestrian or bike trail. The Village’s main objective should be to demonstrate that this project is linked up and integrated (functionally, architecturally and aesthetically) with the Village, and not the just the first of many more poorly planned residential and commercial projects to sprawl out along Mineral Springs Road. There are lot’s of opportunities here, let’s not let them slip by.

It is especially important for the Village to take a pro-active role here, because of the fact that the developer of the project seems uncertain as to what exactly to build. As a community, let’s get up off our knees and tell the developers that we want a Cobleskill with a sustainable future and NOT more sprawl.

wind turbines are your friends

With the recent discussion of proposed electricity-generating wind turbines in Schoharie County there has been a virtual hurricane of nasty lies and disinformation blowing around. Given what we know about wind power battles in other communities, the disinformation campaigns are most likely going to get a lot uglier.

Ironically, the main argument against wind farms is that they are bad for the environment. People who make this claim and/or buy into it are misguided at best. We've all heard the claims that wind turbines will spoil those scenic mountaintop vistas that we all know and love. However, as an industrialized society we need to generate power. Even those of us living in remote, rural locations use electricity (much of the energy we take from the grid is generated in someone else's backyard). Of the options for generating power that we currently have before us, wind power is not only the least-polluting, but it also has the smallest impact on its neighbors and the surrounding environment. Some may object to living near windmills, yet what of those who have had coal-fired plants, nuclear plants, or incinerators sited near their homes or in their communities? Can we take seriously the complaints of exurban homeowners about diminished views when so many children living in inner cities experience skyrocketing asthma rates due to traditional electricity-generating power plants? The impact of windmills both in terms of actual measurable effects and visual impact is minimal by comparison.

Many also complain that wind turbines are unfairly subsidized compared to "other businesses". Well, wind power is subsidized, as it should be! So many of the costs and subsidies of other forms of energy, like oil, are well beyond measure. You will never see a protestor with a sign saying "no blood for wind". Subsidies for wind power help to encourage green companies that might actually put silly things like saving the planet over the bottom line. Do you think that garaunteeing access to middle eastern oil doesn't require "subsidies"? How much will we spend in the future to ensure access to oil in the mid-east? The numbers are quite staggering. According to some estimates as much as a third of the 300 bil dollar defense budget is needed just to protect our access to mid-eastern oil (http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2001/october24/energyvantage-1024.html). And people want to bitch about wind power companies making payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) instead of paying taxes directly.

Most of the arguments against wind power are not very rational. Instead, what most opposition boils down to, is nothing more elegant that good old American NIMBYism and a myopic fear of lowered property values. Many people in rural areas also have an instinctive resentment of outsiders coming in and changing the landscape.

I urge all residents to take an honest look at their conscience and their own energy consumption and consider the long-term effects of oil consumption on our economy and our environment. Any honest evaluation of the pros and cons of wind power should have wind power on top. If you can't see that, then you need to become better informed. Hopefully wind farm opponents will quit their scare tactics and realize that wind turbines are our friends!

Tilting at Wind Farms in Schoharie County

In one community after another, recent efforts to develop “wind farms” in the United States have resulted in a storm of controversy. Like Don Quixote, Cervantes’ literary protagonist who believed that windmills were giant monsters trying to attack him, today’s wind farm opponents have similarly made monsters out of the industrial-sized, electricity-generating windmills being proposed throughout the country. In many ways, there concerns are only slightly more grounded in reality than those of Quixote.

Few would argue that there is a critical need to free ourselves from our dependence on foreign petrochemicals. Wind is a renewable energy resource that does not pollute or contribute to global climate change, or help to prop up fundamentalist governments that support terrorism. To be sure, wind farms alone will not save the planet, but they are undoubtedly a step in the right direction. Yet wherever they have been proposed, property owners have risen up to say: not in my backyard! Citing lowered property values, spoiled view sheds, loud noise and even disrupted bird migration routes, wind farm critics have mobilized quite effectively to prevent wind farm developments.

In nearby Cherry Valley, residents successfully blocked a proposed wind farm citing many of the fears mentioned above. The same company who proposed the Cherry Valley wind farm –Reunion Power of Vermont – has recently been in negotiations to develop a wind farm on county-owned land in the Towns of Fulton and Richmondville. Do residents have an obligation to inform themselves of the details and potential ramifications of this project? Do Town and County officials have an obligation to listen carefully to the concerns of residents? Needless to say, the answer is yes!

But let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture here: diminished property values and negatively impacted views should not be deal breakers when there’s a much higher public good involved. Any major public works project, new development or piece of infrastructure carries the risk of negatively impacting some of its neighbors. However, if NIMBY was the rule we went by, we’d have no airports, power plants, highways, trains, mines, or anything else that might negatively impact somebody’s property values somewhere. If something has the potential to catastrophically diminish a community’s quality of life, with no significant public good, then by all means, most people would and should oppose it. But I don’t believe that’s the case here.

That being said, critics are right to point out that residents and property owners should get involved. There are ways of mitigating the negative effects of wind farms. But these will only be proposed and implemented if people educate themselves and get involved in the process. So by all means, read up on this and get involved.

But after all is said and done, we can’t lose sight of the fact that young men and women are making the ultimate sacrifice everyday in Iraq to support our dependence on foreign oil. Therefore, don’t expect me to feel bad for somebody who complains that a wind farm is going to lower their property values, all the while tooling around in their SUVs sucking in that Middle Eastern oil like it was going out of style.

Too Much Caffeine for Tea Party Activists Bob LaPietra and Mark Galasso

Local real estate speculator Bob LaPietra and Cobleskill Village Trustee Mark Galasso are both heavily active in a local Cobleskill political party they have created and dubbed the “Tea Party”. However, listening to their ranting and raving and their plans for the Village of Cobleskill, one thing is clear: the last thing they need is more caffeine.

At a luncheon held at LaPietra’s Colonial Diner last Spring, the two spoke to an enthralled audience where they laid out their vision (or lack thereof) for the Village of Cobleskill. Calling himself an “extreme conservative Republican that would make Rush Limbaugh look liberal”, Mark Galasso called Cobleskill an “automobile-centered community” that shouldn’t worry about Downtown redevelopment and urged building a road bypassing Downtown, apparently so people could drive straight to Wal-Mart and the future Lowe’s and not even have to look at our crumbling downtown. Mark Galasso is president of Lancaster Development, a highway construction company, so building useless roads and other infrastructure is his bread and butter. It’s no surprise that he would have an instinctive urge to support any project that increases the sprawl that is parasitically sucking the lifeblood out of our communities.

Meanwhile, Bob LaPietra, who ran for Mayor in 2005 levels a series of general complaints about local taxes and regulations. LaPietra owns numerous commercial properties in the greater Cobleskill area. It’s unclear if LaPietra is asking for relief from taxes or from his own bad investments.

However, the real focus of their talk and their efforts is the consolidation of the Town and Village of Cobleskill. But this is the right idea for the wrong reasons. Town officials (and village-based developers) are licking their lips at the thought of gaining access to the Village’s water and sewer systems so that they can build out the rest of State Route 7, Mineral Springs Rd. and State Route 145 to the south and east of the Village. Dissolving the Village or even making the Town and Village borders contiguous would likely mean the extension of water and sewer lines to areas where there is presently development pressure.

To LaPietra and Galasso, I say, calm down, there is no rush to turn Cobleskill into another Long Island or North Jersey. Do everybody in the county a favor and switch to decaf!

Historic Homes Along Main Street Soon to be History

In late 2006 the Cobleskill Village Planning Board began hearing proposals by Diamond Development to build a Rite Aid pharmacy and a 7500 square foot office building on property between Legion Drive and Campus Drive.

If built, the new pharmacy and office building would front on Main Street, where four residential homes now stand. These homes, all in the Victorian style, are presently not protected by the local historic district, although they contain many features and elements that make them worth protecting. Not only that but they provide sorely needed residential space in Downtown Cobleskill. Yet the owners of these properties have already agreed to their sale and development.
I think we have to seriously question the wisdom of allowing this project to be built. Not only will we lose 4 historic homes that are crucial to the Village’s heritage to another ugly suburban-style box, but the building of Rite Aid may result in the closure of the Eckerd’s Pharmacy down the street, as Rite Aid recently purchased Eckerd’s.

In essence we would be trading four architectural gems for an ugly box and potentially another large empty building to sit vacant. Not only is this bad for architectural and appearance reasons, this may be bad for fiscal reasons. Does Cobleskill need another big empty store? It’s been months since Advance Auto vacated it’s location on West Main street for it’s new store on Burgin St, and it still sits empty as it probably will for the foreseeable future.

I urge all concerned residents to get involved and question this project, and demand that Village trustees explain why this project has been approved and/or why they think it’s a good idea.

Empire Zone or Twilight Zone?

In late 2006, portions of Schoharie County were awarded Empire Zone status by the Empire State Development Corporation, New York State’s industrial development agency. Areas designated as Empire Zones enjoy tax benefits for companies to set up or expand their business and therefore increase local employment. Ever since, county leaders have been excitedly hailing the program as a panacea for Upstate’s economic woes.

However, across the state, a growing number of critics of the Empire Zone program are suggesting drastic changes to the current system, some going as far as to urge getting rid of it. One major criticism is the use of Empire Zone exemptions to attract retail businesses, which seldom make decisions about where to locate based on tax benefits. Many of these businesses would choose a location regardless of the Empire Zone benefits it receives. Further, retail businesses often take business away from existing businesses, thereby reducing the net creation of jobs.

Further, there are no conditions or requirements associated with the awarding of Empire Zone benefits. There is nothing to stop a company from taking advantage of the program and then cutting jobs. A report released by the New York State Initiative for Development Accountability in May, 2007 claimed that in 2005, of the nearly $400 million in tax exemptions created by the program, 70 percent went to companies that cut jobs!

However, the biggest problem with this program is that it only reinforces the inter-municipal competition for development (also known as the race to the bottom) throughout the state. Upstate’s major cities (Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo) are actually a patchwork of numerous municipalities that each must compete for industry for its own small tax base. Doing away with this fragmented system of municipal government would create multiple benefits for economic development. First, Upstate’s regions would experience less duplication of services which would enable them to lower taxes. Secondly, region-wide planning and development agencies could create a unified and coherent vision, which would eliminate the need for each town, village and city to fight over every tax ratable that comes along. Incidentally, companies facing such a unified front might be a lot less inclined to request outrageous benefits packages if they couldn’t pack up and move to the neighboring town and village.

In the face of all these fragmented municipal governments, perhaps creating even more “zones” to intensify inter-municipal competition is not the smartest policy, especially if we’re going to be handing out tax exemptions like candy with no strings attached.

And while New York State is focusing all this effort on a program to create tax exemptions for companies, they are nearly ignoring other strategies for economic development. Companies don’t just look at the tax rate when looking for a location. Many companies instead want a steady supply of college graduates from which they can draw qualified and talented employees. Upstate NY has plenty of colleges, but it presently doesn’t have the resources and attractions necessary to keeping students here once they graduate. Cities like Albany and Rochester have made strides recently with their own efforts to create a vibrant nightlife in their cities, some projects have even utilized Empire Zone designations. But right now, Upstate cities can’t compete with places like Manhattan/Brooklyn, Boston, or San Francisco. This can change, and it must.