Resident: Town Took What They Wanted and Walked Away reprinted from Troy Record

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Resident: Town took what they wanted and walked away
Published: Monday, August 30, 2010

By Dave Canfield
The Record

EAST GREENBUSH — Resident Sue Colatosti is still waiting for the town of East Greenbush to honor its end of a contract that was signed almost two years ago.
Colatosti’s half of the agreement that was signed on Sept. 24, 2008 was effective immediately: she voluntarily gave .69 acres of land she owned to the town to make a water retention basin to control water running to nearby creek. That basin was created, and it appears to be doing its job preventing flooding downhill in the city of Rensselaer, which at the time had experienced heavy flooding.
But in previous efforts to manage rainwater drainage, underground pipes were run, blocking access to sewer and water for a pair of empty lots Colatosti owns at the end of Vermont and New Hampshire avenues, she said. So Colatosti paid a lawyer thousands of dollars to draw up a contract. Under its terms, she would give the town an easement to run piping through her lots and give them the parcel for the basin. In exchange, the town would run water and sewer lines to her vacant land, which she hopes to sell to a builder once it has the added value of those connections.
The contract, signed on behalf of the town by Supervisor Rick McCabe, allows the town 12 months to complete that task. That’s a completion date of Sept. 24, 2009.
With the one-year anniversary of that deadline approaching, none of the work has been completed, Colatosti said recently as she walked at the site.
“It’s like they just took everything they wanted from me and then walked away,” she said.
In addition to running the water and sewer lines, the contract calls for the town to build a chain-link fence around the basin and a line of trees to block the unsightly view from Colatosti’s land and home, which is nearby on Vermont Avenue. That was supposed to be done no more than 60 days after the basin was completed, according to the contract she provided.
“Do you see any trees or fence? I don’t,” Colatosti said as she gestured towards the basin.
Before executing the deal, she had the land where it sits appraised. It was valued at $59,000.
“Do you know anyone else who donates $60,000 of land to the town? They didn’t even say thank you,” Colatosti said. “You know that old saying: ‘No good deed goes unpunished.’”
McCabe said the town worked hard to finish everything it can do on its end and has contracted remaining work to Poestenkill-based Chip Kronau Construction. He said the town has done nothing wrong.
“The world’s not going to stop because something’s not done that she thought could be done right away,” McCabe said. “We’re doing the best we can. I think we’ve lived up to our end of the bargain, and we’re just waiting for the contractor to come in and do the work.”
Kronau, however, was not brought into the picture until after the September 2009 deadline. Colatosti said she saw the proposal go out for bidding in December in the legal notices in the newspaper.
McCabe’s response: “She didn’t seem all upset about that last year.”
For specifics on the project, he deferred to public works supervisor Chris Defruscio, who could not be reached Thursday or Friday.
Kronau, who Colatosti has been in contact with, was out of his office for several days and could not be reached about his timeline for the project.
The paved portion of Vermont Avenue ends at Colatosti’s land and continues as gravel to the basin. The contract says it was supposed to be paved.
Splotches of gravel, which she said were created by work done by the town at the site, dot the empty lots Colatosti hopes to eventually sell.
She has kept a record of every e-mail and phone call she’s made to the town. She could sue, she supposes, but then she’d wonder when the work would ever get done.
“I try to be reasonable, but I’ve got to look at it. Every day I see it,” she said. “That grates on you.”
Dave Canfield can be reached at 270-1290 or by e-mail at dcanfield@troyrecord.com.

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Town of East Greenbush Loan Program by Ann Taylor

Some of you may remember I was working on a loan program for businesses in the Town of East Greenbush. As the Economic Development Coordinator for the Town of East Greenbush I am reviewing many avenues regarding encouragement for existing businesses to grow and improve.
I completed my proposal and submitted it to Rick Matters for presentation to the Board in the coming months.
Under Cristo/Taylor/Matters leadership we would use this loan program to encourage improvements to businesses along Col Tpke. We understand the need for improvements along this corridor and would use this program to help revive 9&20.
Below is the proposal I submitted:

Town of East Greenbush
Loan Program Proposal
Ann Taylor


The following proposal is mirrored in great part by the SBA 504 Program. The purpose of the SBA 504 Program is to encourage businesses to grow. Knowing the obstacles we are facing in the Town of East Greenbush, in regards to re-establishing the Columbia Turnpike a.k.a. Rt. 9&20 Corridor, I based the East Greenbush Loan Program on many of the same founding principles as the SBA 504 Program.
The purpose of the East Greenbush Loan Program is to solicit funds from local businesses, namely financial institutions, insurance companies, as well as privately owned businesses such as those involved in the East Greenbush Business Alliance. The aggregate of these funds would then be available for East Greenbush business owners to apply for. Target figure should be $50,000 total as a minimum.
A committee would need to be formed to review applications; the Economic Development Coordinator would be the Chairperson of the committee. The committee should consist of representatives (all volunteers) from each financial institution and insurance company that contributed to the funds in an amount equal to or greater than $2,500. The reason for targeting these industry representatives is because they are experienced in reviewing credit applicants.
Applications would be drawn up based on basic credit applications from a financial institution. The Town of East Greenbush Loan Program applications would need to be reviewed by the town attorney before final approval and use.
The committee would review the applicants and approve/decline requests as well as make counter-offers to applicants if the committee deems a counter-offer necessary. Credit decisions should be based on the following criteria:

*Collateral available
*Business Debt/Income Ratio
*Personal assets available
*Personal Guarantee required
*Credit score
*Business Plan submitted
*Business projections for 5 year time frame
*Business and Personal Tax Returns (last 3 years)
*20% of aggregate cost of project to be capitalized by business owner

Description of the Program:
^Minimum to apply--$5,000 Maximum---$25,000
^Applicant must be established as a for-profit corporation, partnership or proprietorship
^Applicant must meet job retention/creation requirements (within 2 years of closing the loan process)
^Applicant must agree to remain at location for a minimum of 10 years.
^Loan Rate to be set at Prime (as quoted in the Wall Street Journal on the last business day of the month) + 1.00
^Interest income to be dedicated to the Town of East Greenbush deficit.
^Term of Loan to be determined by the committee and applicant based on credit request (amount) and project. Term not to be less than 12 months but not greater than 60 months.
^Monthly payments to be principle and interest payments. A 10 day grace period will be allowed. A late fee will be imposed of the greater of a $20 fee OR 10% of the original request.
^NO pre-payment fees will be imposed.

Purpose of Funds:
To repair, improve or expand the owner’s current structure either as required maintenance for the daily operations of the business OR for aesthetic purposes to enhance the market value of the structure/business for the effect of attracting more customers.

Ineligible Businesses:
Non-for-profit companies
Radio and television broadcasters
Gambling Facilities
Print Media
Lending Institutions
Investment Companies

Collection of income:
After 90 have lapsed and the Town has not received payment a legal collection process will begin. That process will be determined by the committee and the Town Attorney. Any fees associated with that collection process should be passed onto the applicant.