Town of Wawayanda Democratic Committee - WayDems.org

Corporate Propaganda Continues,

Or

Why can’t they bring in GOOD, CLEAN RATEABLES?

A letter from Competitive Power Ventures Inc. was recently received by many town residents. The letter was dated April 22, 2008 and was signed by Peter J Podurgiel, Senior Vice President. In the letter and accompanying pamphlet, the company points out the various benefits to the town for allowing a power generating plant to be located here. They describe their project as a “clean state of the art, natural gas facility that will bring numerous economic, environmental and energy benefits to the Wawayanda community.” They claim to be a company that wants an open dialogue with the community as this is “the best approach to a successful project for all.”

With that being said, let’s open the dialogue:

The company plans to use 122 acres of property in our town to build a gas powered 630 megawatt electric generating facility.

• They claim that the lower Hudson Valley has been identified as an area in which new electric generation is needed.

• They claim to be sensitive to community values and vow to keep open access to information and to answer all questions concerning the project generated by the public.

• They claim that the project will bring in significant new revenue to schools and local government to help reduce taxes, in addition to adding much needed electricity to the region’s economy.

• They claim the project will generate two years of construction jobs and 24 permanent full time jobs.

• They state that their philosophy is to purchase local goods and materials whenever possible, thereby helping local merchants. Their Public Relations people have thought of every aspect of this project in order to make it seem as though it is something valuable for our town.

The Facts:

The issue of taxes requires examination:

• The entire 122 acre parcel would come off the tax roles. The company will be involved in a PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) agreement. This means that full taxes will not be paid and the exact amount will not be known until the agreement with the Town Board is reached. In addition, adjacent property owners will see a drop in their property values since living or doing business within proximity to the site will be detrimental. Under these conditions, anything less than full property taxes based on an assessment, is unacceptable.

• The electricity generated from this plant will be placed on the national grid. This means that anyone who needs it can purchase it. The majority of it will no doubt end up in New York City. Our town will see no reduction in its bills nor benefit from the power generated. If they truly want to be a good neighbor, why not produce electricity for the entire town at a discounted rate?

The promise of jobs requires examination:

• They claim two years of construction jobs. Will these jobs be local hires? Will they be union jobs? Many sites promise to use local union labor only to find some excuse later on to bring their own crews in, or use non union labor when construction begins. Of the 24 permanent jobs, how many of those will be local hires? Many of the jobs will require technical skills. Current employees will surely be given first preference. Of the remaining jobs, will they pay enough to live in our town or county, or will they be low level entry positions paying whatever the market will allow? The promise of buying might last for the construction years. They will probably buy only those items the company does not have an existing contract for.

The many environmental issues require examination.

Decrease in property values requires examination.

Even greater erosion of our quality of life requires examination.

With so many questions unanswered, is this a project the town really needs? This project will decrease rather than enhance property values. It will not pay taxes based on assessed evaluation, but rather by negotiated agreement. It promises to bring 24 full time permanent jobs, yet many will be filled by current employees or those possessing specific technical skills from other places.

 Why do our town officials continue to bring us projects that deter, rather than encourage, good clean rateables to locate here? Why is our town consistently chosen for projects no other town will even consider? Why do we continue to elect people who feel that any rateables, no matter what kind are what we need?

Contact Supervisor Razzano or any of the other four members of the town board and demand only good clean rateables for our town. We need good, clean rateables that will enhance our quality of life and property values, not destroy them!!