March 3, 2012

Dollar Tree Uprooted

Letter: Can't blame town officials this time


"The decades of economic woes in our town have often been blamed on the folks occupying Schodack's administration. Now, with a rare opportunity to change a gravel bank to an economic and job-creating distribution center, it was my fellow townspeople who ruined it."

I would like to respond to the letter from William L. Komaromi ("Don't turn town into a truck stop, Jan. 25) in which he opposed the Dollar Tree warehouse project and the Schodack officials who supported it. I have been a resident of Schodack for 40 years and would like to commend our town officials who supported the now-likely dead proposal.
The decades of economic woes in our town have often been blamed on the folks occupying Schodack's administration. Now, with a rare opportunity to change a gravel bank to an economic and job-creating distribution center, it was my fellow townspeople who ruined it.
I was at a Jan. 12 informational meeting and have never seen such poor behavior by adults. The Dollar Tree representatives weren't even allowed to finish their sentences without being interrupted. I spoke to Doug Drews, a Dollar Tree vice president, after the meeting and he said he had never encountered such "pushback" from any town he had ever dealt with.
It is a sad day in Schodack when a room full of adults, acting like spoiled children, can ruin a boost to our local economy. It was about time that Schodack's town officials stood up for what was good for their taxpayers and challenged Schodack's tree-huggers, star-gazers, dilapidated farm owners and well-pensioned retirees

Sadly, the squeaky wheel got the grease and likely put an end to this and probably all future projects in Schodack.

JAMES ADAMS
Castleton

 

6 comments:

  1. That warehouse would have been in my back yard and I'm quite happy that I won't have to move. They would not have paid taxes for many years and I'll probably be dead by then.

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    1. Joan Michaels, SchodackMarch 4, 2012 at 9:13 PM

      I cannot imagine that you would want a 1-million square foot warehouse (4 times the size of the Fed Ex building on Route 4) looming over your home, a mere 141 feet from your back yard. (The original plan provided only 50 feet.) Just imagine: The value of your home would drop an estimated 30 percent the minute Dollar Tree sinks the first shovel into Schodack soil. Imagine the great exodus of 52-plus homeowners descending upon Schodack Town Hall in May to contest the full market value of their homes. In contrast, Dollar Tree would enjoy a 15-year tax-free ride without contributing a cent to the Town's tax base for some time. This is not a black-and-white issue. I invite you to review all the facts and then, together, we can revisit the town's master plan and attact tax-paying merchants to the area in earnest.

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  2. Dollar Tree is now here in Windsor, CT trying to entice our town to build the same facility. Our hopes are we get get the same outcome as you.

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    1. Do you read the Schodack SCENE in Windsor? I'd love to hear what you think about the blog. I'm easily reached at catherine.sager@yahoo.com

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  3. Dollar Tree is dead in Schodack. Residents successfully rallied against the warehouse and DT moved on.

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  4. It's odd that it's dead yet the Town Board has it on the agenda for May 7th? Wonder what your town officials have up their sleeves? I know you can't trust the officials here in Windsor as far as you can throw them.

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