Letters to the Schodack SCENE

Please Note: All letters to the Schodack SCENE are subject to editing for length, taste and accuracy. Only letters submitted exclusively to the Schodack SCENE will be used, and only if the writer's name can also be published. To be considered for publication, letters must include the writer's name, address and daytime phone number. Letters published on the Schodack SCENE be posted as a new post.  Letters to the Schodack SCENE do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editor.

~Below is a letter from resident Leonard Bates to the Planning Board and Town Board Members

He has questions  ~ 

I am writing to you as part of the open public comment period and wish to express some views that you may have already heard, but also things that you may not have. My name is Leonard Bates and I am a resident and taxpaying voter at 1684 Julianne Dr., Castleton, NY. I bought my home in July 2001 with my wife and 5 month old son. Since then, we have added a daughter to our family. I have been a life long resident of Schodack which spans 37 years. I attended Schodack Central Schools and worked my first few jobs in various Schodack businesses. Growing up in this town, I always knew I would most likely end up raising my own family here. What kept me in this town was the community and the semi rural nature of town. You are secluded and away from the hustle and bustle of city life, but yet still close enough to all the things you need (stores, shopping centers, gas stations, etc). When my wife and I set out to buy our first home, we wanted to find a home and neighborhood we could settle into and live a life like you would see in a TV Land sitcom from the 50's. Kids running around and riding their bikes with their friends. Adults walking up and down the road, stopping to chat with their neighbors. Multi-family BBQ's in someone's backyard. The list can go on and on. Well, Julianne Dr. and the Richwood Dr area, for us, was that neighborhood! It wasn't soon after we moved in that we hosted our first house party with some neighbors. We just knew we made the right choice. We never regretted our decision...until now.


In late November, I was contacted by one of my best friends and neighbor, and was told that the property behind our homes was a possible site for a Dollar Tree Distribution Center. I was told that Schodack was one of 3 possible locations...Springfield, MA and Hartford, CT being the other two. I read the article and immediately, the vision and foundation of my happy family neighborhood started to crack. All kinds of questions started rushing to my head and confusion started to grow into outrage. HOW...HOW could this town do this to us?! WHY...WHY would this town do this to us?! Are we not law abiding, tax paying, voting residents of this town?! Do we not contribute enough to the town? Have we suddenly been deemed disposable?!

I turned that anger into productive research and started finding out things that I found odd, at best. For instance, why would the town officials not be concerned that the proposed project will sit directly over our towns most vital natural asset...the underground aquifer? This is a water supply that feeds most of the homes in Schodack, East Greenbush, Nassau and Valatie. The project will also be placed directly next to a DEC protected waterway...Moordener Kill. I have sat through 3 presentations by Bergman and Associates and they have said repeatedly that they are installing retention ponds on the southwest side and north side of the property. These ponds can only hold a certain amount of water runoff (approx. 1 million gallons as stated by the engineer). In a 1 inch rainstorm, that amount of rain will completely fill that pond. Anything over 1", and now you have overflow and that overflow will be directed into the PROTECTED Moordener Kill...carrying with it all the water soluble contaminants. If the pond is able to filter the runoff effectively, the contaminants will then be draining and recharging our aquifer. Too many possible risks are at stake here and this alone should be enough to not pass the project.

But, if you need more, let's take the traffic issue. I am not sure how often you drive the roads in that immediate location where this proposed building will be, but, take it from us...those that drive it all the time...it can be VERY dangerous. There are already accidents, almost weekly, at the Route 150 and Routes 9 & 20 intersection. Couple that with the always risky Routes 9 & 20 split and you are asking for even more accidents once you introduce 300-400 additional vehicles...200-300 of them tractor trailers and possible tandems. These roads are traveled by cars, small trucks, buses, motor homes, and sometimes the occasional farm equipment. Introducing 100-200 more vehicles and 200-300 tractor trailers with them all and you are begging for a serious traffic situation! Will it take 1, 2, 3 or more deaths before you realize that this was a bad idea?

In terms of noise and pollution levels, I cannot believe that you would even consider the engineers studies. They are completely inaccurate and highly biased, in favor of Dollar Tree. I have worked near warehouses and trucks terminals and I know first hand that these yards are NOISY! Dollar Tree can say all they want about how "minimal" the truck traffic will be...but they gloss things over because it will be a 24/7 operation! That means we will hear this noise ALL THE TIME!!! Recently, my cousin slept over at our house and said she had a hard time sleeping because of the I-90 noise coming through the woods and into our house. That noise was coming from 3/4's of a mile away!! This building and it's trucks are going to be 100-200 FEET from mine and my neighbors homes! A sound wall and foliage will NOT keep the noise levels down. At best, a few decibels. That is not good enough!
Also...pollution is a huge concern for many of us in this neighborhood. My wife suffers from asthma, as do many of my neighbors. My kids suffer from environmental allergies, as do many of my neighbors and their children. Dollar Tree would be adding to the pollution levels in the form of diesel fumes and exhaust, which will only exacerbate their already fragile breathing conditions. There is a 50% higher risk of cancers caused from diesel fumes and exhaust when living less than 1/2 mile from a distribution center and trucking center. Is THIS the risk you want to put us through?

Our homes are something we take pride in. Our families are people we cherish. Our town is somewhere we chose to live, on purpose. We didn't settle to live here....we chose to. For many of us, like myself and my family, these homes we purchased here, were our first homes. We have worked hard to increase the values of our homes. We spent countless hours maintaining our yards, painting rooms, doing things that make our homes OURS. With the swipe and swing of a pen, you could be taking all that away from us. You may think we are out for ourselves...well, ya know what...in a way, we are. We have a lot to lose here. But, our concerns go beyond Julianne Dr, Richwood Dr. and Star Terrace. We have seen and heard residents from all over town hoping and praying that this project does not go through. You heard many residents, not living in our neighborhood, that have expressed major concerns over the items listed above. You have heard even more about topics I did not touch on. These are VALID points to consider.

Your decisions will affect, not only the residents of today, but future generations as well. I sincerely hope you do not put the greed of a dollar ahead of people, families and community. We all have a job to protect, preserve and promote growth in our town...but we have to be smart about it, as to not destroy the core fabric that makes this a GREAT town to live in.

Thank you for your time and I hope you take our concerns very seriously.

Sincerely,
Leonard Bates