A Thorny Little Project

From the Town of East Greenbush Building Department site:

“Many questions are asked concerning when a building permit is required. All persons proposing to construct, erect, relocate, alter, repair, extend, remove, demolish, or structurally change any building, structure or portion thereof, shall apply to the Building Inspector for a building permit on the appropriate form. Included also are: swimming pools, (above and in-ground), blacktop driveways (new or resurfaced), fences, sheds, siding and roofing. Signs are regulated by the Town’s Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance. Please contact the Building Department if you have any questions concerning the law.”

http://www.eastgreenbush.org/downloads/doc_download/574-building-permit-application

Below is the text of an e-mail I just sent to the Town Board and the Panning Attorney. Basically what it means is that you can’t put up a deck, build a patio, install a wood-stove or in-ground pool without a getting a building permit from the town.  You CAN, however, put up a 23 lot major subdivision without one as long as you have enough money and influence. The lesson here is don’t waste your time and money on getting town approval for anything. JUST DO IT! If anybody questions you about it just say, “Thompson Way.” 

 

Hello Phil, Board Members:

I picked up my “Thompson Way” FOIL documents today, and there was nothing in the file to indicate Final Plat approval for this project. No building permits, no resolutions, no votes, nothing. Well, not actually nothing: there was a November 14, 2011 letter from Boswell Engineering’s Dominick Arico to NYS DOT’s Mark Kennedy, PE (Schenectady) stating the following: “Boswell Engineering received final plan approval for the above referenced 23 lot subdivision in the Town of East Greenbush, NY. …” THIS NEVER HAPPENED, and yet somehow Planning Board Chairman Matt Polsinello signed off on the Final Plat on 1/15/14, more than two years AFTER the alleged Final Approval.

Further, there is another letter dated November 14, 2011 from Boswell’s Dominick Arico, this time to NYS DEC’s Derek Thorsland, PE (Environmental Engineer) for Region 4. Document #7 on the list of attached documents: “Two (2) Sets of Final Subdivision Plans, last revised 11/14/11 (stamped & signed). This couldn’t have legally happened since there was no Final Plat approval by the Planning Board and no Planning Board Resolution or vote on the project. In fact, “Thompson Way” received Preliminary Plat approval and Negative SEQRA Declaration on 1/12/11. That was the last time “Thompson Way” appears in the Planning Board public record. Matt Polsinello did not sign off on the Final Plat until 1/15/14.

Mr. Arico also submitted two sets of Final Subdivision Plans, last revised 11/14/11 (signed and stamped) to the Rensselaer County Dept. of Health on November 14th, 2011. That just wasn’t possible, and yet the County Health Dept.’s Professional Engineer and the Public Health Director, Mary Fran Wachunas signed off on the project, form EH 821, on 5/3/13. Two years prior, on 4/7/11, Mr. Arico sent what seems to be the only extant legitimate letter to that same Ms. Wachunas to advise her that “Boswell Engineering has received preliminary plan approval for a 23 lot subdivision in the Town of East Greenbush…Enclosed are two sets of plans prepared by Boswell Engineering…Upon final plan approval by the Town of East Greenbush, a formal application will be submitted for RCDOH permit approval.” THAT FINAL APPROVAL IS STILL MISSING, and yet the first house is moving along nicely right next to me. Here it is:

 

Mystery House

 

On 3/26/13 Mr. Arico wrote to East Greenbush Town Engineer Richard Benko with regard to “review comments from your consultant and town staff for the above (Thompson Way) project… We trust this meets your approval and look forward to obtaining a permit for construction in the near future.” There was no permit in the FOIL materials, nor did anyone contradict me about this at Wednesday’s Town Board meeting.

So how does this happen? Corruption. That’s how the elected officials of East Greenbush, and their unelected helpers, make things like this happen. Supervisor Langley, Town Board members, you do not have the luxury of pointing the finger at the Planning Board just because they approve subdivisions. A corrupt Planning Board IS your problem, and the Town’s problem. I have contacted every local, county, state and federal oversight and law enforcement agency possible about this in the last week. Maybe you’ll get lucky and no one will take an interest. Then again, maybe I’ll get lucky. And speaking of luck, how about that stupid $300 million casino project you want to place in a nice rural neighborhood…

Dwight Jenkins

Ukraine Town Board Meeting

The Battle Lines Are Forming

No, it wasn’t quite this bad but you can sense a growing animosity at these meetings, a darker version than we’ve seen in the past, less outwardly emotional but more inwardly  vengeful. It doesn’t bode well for any of us, and even less so for some of the more inexperienced politicos and their hangers-on.

Interesting meeting with lots to chew on. See all that trash in the picture from Ukraine? Fortunately for the resisters it wasn’t brought to the Transfer Station because if it had been it would be at the bottom of a bin, on its way to Staten Island or wherever we bring our garbage. Somebody recently decided that the “pick through” pile at the station was suddenly verboten, and now it all goes into the bin. No more sorting through other people’s throw aways for a down and out family member, or a young couple starting out. No more quirky items for local artists to turn into something of value and beauty. Councilwoman Matters didn’t even seem to know about it, asking the first of many objectors, “Why are they doing that?” Supervisor Langley promised to look into it.

Audits also came up, again, as in why don’t we have them yet even though we’ve paid tens-of-thousands of dollars for something that will never see the light of day. What’s shaping up is another $35,000 or so down the drain, to be replaced by a strictly in-house audit. Apparently the new Comptroller’s position is that it will cost us MORE to get what we paid for, and apparently he’s not alone in thinking that citizen involvement in the Town’s fiscal affairs is a hindrance to the serious business of staying broke. (This from someone who overheard the comments, allegedly originating from Councilwoman Matters.) True? No one challenged the allegations. Despite the hindrance, Councilman Malone announced his appointment of Andrea Smyth to fill a vacant seat on the pesky Citizens Fiscal Advisory Committee. Only in East Greenbush could this be true. Or in Kiev.

Oh, did you know East Greenbush will be entertaining proposals for a gambling casino?  Yup, we’ve voted to spread our collective legs and allow the big-money gambling mob to woo us with promises of millions and a way out of our “financial crisis,” as Councilwoman Matters painted our situation. Say good-bye to the East Greenbush you knew and tried to love should this come to pass. Organized crime will replace the disorganized crime we’ve come to expect. The Resolution talks about “fiscal stability,” “economic vitality,” and “millions in host fees and increased property tax revenue,” never once mentioning quality of life. As justification we were told that the residents of the State approved the measure (57% yes), as did residents of the County (by a total of 703 votes among 33,919 cast- not exactly a mandate) and by implication East Greenbush, though I could not find a separate tally of votes for East Greenbushers. But, do you really think the group that gave us 9 & 20 will be able to handle millions of new gambling dollars? Doubtful. The vote passed unanimously.

And did you know that Democrats on the Town Board claim to have no access to monthly financial data? Like many of us, they’ve resorted to filing Freedom of Information requests to obtain the numbers. One member of the public called it scandalous. Councilwoman Mangold actually FOILed for financials during the meeting. Never saw that before. A regular citizen FOILed for financials during Open Public Privilege. Never saw that before either….

Deputy Supervisor Gilbert took advantage of the Open Public Privilege to scold Councilman Malone for his remarks at a meeting last month, referring to Mr. Malone’s “Little tirade over not getting what you want.” There was more, but  I was too shell-shocked to remember it all. It wasn’t terribly comfortable, for anyone. I just have to say that it feels strange to have a member of the administration using this forum in this way. Maybe it’s fine, just doesn’t feel that way. Again, never saw that before…

There were then a number of non-controversial resolutions before we came to what one citizen described as “the good government four,” meaning resolutions 66-2014 to 69-2014. They called for giving the public a chance to speak at Special Meetings of the Town Board,  recording the minutes of pre-board meetings, reviewing all non-payroll expenditures and charges on a monthly basis, and for quickly getting those minutes onto the Town’s web site. The Democrats proposed all four resolutions, but only one passed: allowing the public to speak at Special Town Board meetings. Supervisor Langley was alone in his opposition. All the other resolutions ended up looking like the photo from Ukraine. There were charges from Ms. Matters that the Democrats were simply grandstanding, trying to do all the things they never did when they had the majority, and claiming that this was the reason they lost that majority in November. Mr. Malone’s response: “Are you looking to lose the majority in two years?” Ms. Mangold’s response: “Then do it!” No further responses from the majority, and thus the meeting ended.

If this were a boxing match I would have to give the Democrats a split decision win on the evening. They scored a number of solid blows to the body while skillfully deflecting the majority’s punches. They even looked happier doing it. The majority looked too much the part of pro-Russian special forces: serious, dangerous, and confrontational. How will Ukraine turn out? How will East Greenbush turn out? They are not so dissimilar.  We’ll see.

 

 

 

 

Some Questions for the Town Board

A Nice Day to Build. But What?

Now that “Thompson Way” has its first foundation in progress, a few questions for the Town Board:

I have e-mailed each Town Board member, the Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor, the Town Clerk and Planning Clerk, the Building Inspector, and the Planning Attorney about the obvious, arbitrary and capricious nature of the Town’s approach to this project. Twice, in some cases. I referred to State Planning Law, sections 276 and 277, which require public hearings at different points along the road to development as well as a Planning Board resolution and vote on a Final Plat before the Chairman signs off on the Plat and copies go out to the Planning Secretary and to the County. Why did I get only one erroneous response from someone the Supervisor delegated to respond to me? Why did I get a cursory response from Phil Malone and Sue Mangold, but no one else? Why has the Planning department told me I have to FOIL the Town Clerk for the Planning Board minutes that gave final approval to this project on a date when no Planning Board meeting was scheduled or recorded publicly? Why did I never get a response from the Town Clerk’s office when I questioned the legitimacy of this answer? Why can’t the Planning Department tell me it’s okay to come down and review the Final Plat and supporting documents when all of those materials are supposed to be on file within 5 days of approval? What would happen if an outside investigatory agency/agencies started looking into this project, as recently happened in Troy with that interesting abandoned building that was hastily torn down behind the new “Bombers” restaurant? What would they uncover?  What would happen if an injunction was filed to stop the “Thompson Way” project until a court could unravel the Town’s actions in this case? How would the project’s bonding agency react to the potential delay? How would the project’s counsel react to a judge’s order to cease building, when the Town gave it’s “approval” to the project? Would he or she file suit against the Town?

These are all questions that the Town Board should have considered in the past, and certainly should be acting on even now. An edifice is in fact being built. More than one…

Signed Approval by Chairman of Planning Board (the September 2013 date was past the 60 day window for filing)