You’re
Invited to
The
Annual Civitas Lecture
“The Current Situation”
By Civitas Editor Jim Kunstler
Saratoga Library Community Room
7:00 pm – Tues. January 4
Three Council Members Vote to Sell City Down River, and Other Grim Jottings
by Jim Kunstler
Lenz, Towne, and Curley voted to cede
the city's future control of its water supply to the County Board of
Supervisors in the face of warnings from the city's own engineering
consultants that the lake proposal was by far a better choice. The three
Republicans also voted to not submit the city's completed environmental
review for the lake option to the State Department of Public Health,
thus throwing out three years and $700,000 worth of work.
The city plan to draw water from Saratoga Lake,
which was fully permitted and ready to construct, would have cost under
$20 million. The county plan to draw water from the Hudson River is
estimated to cost at least $90 million, with most of the cost to be
borne by city residents. Neither the engineering nor the environmental
permitting for that project has begun and it is apt to take years. According
to maps prepared by the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC),
the county's proposed water intake between Glens Falls and Corinth is
a PCB and toxic chemical hotspot. For most of the 20th century, International
Paper operated a pulp plant at Corinth, which flushed factory wastes
into the river. Currently, Corinth discharges treated sewage upstream
of the proposed county water intake.
With the Saratoga city council now committed
to the county plan as primary customer, the other towns in Saratoga
County can defer their own votes on joining the system while the city
foots the bill for construction of the trunk lines and the new treatment
plant. Major beneficiaries will be the towns of Wilton and Malta, where
suburban growth would be subsidized by city residents.
Lenz, Towne, and Curley also voted to
dismiss the city's engineering consultants, Barton and Logiudice, as
well as the law firm that has prepared the environmental reviews. Thus,
the city will have no technical guidance as the county proceeds with
its plan.
The vote came in a council chamber that
overflowed with concerned city residents and also with members of SLIPD
- a group of non-city residents funded by the county government and
marshaled for the occasion to give the appearance of support to the
county plan. Engineer Rich Straut of B & L, speaking to the council
just before the vote, emphasized that the mailings sent out by SLIPD
contained deliberate misinformation designed to mislead the public on
the issues. For instance, SLIPD maintains that boating will be curtailed
if the city used the lake as a water source. In fact, DEC has declared
unambiguously that boating and all other recreations would not be affected
by the city water project.
Republican bosses, including County chairman
Jasper Nolan, City Chairman Tom Roohan, State Senator Joe Bruno, Congressman
John Sweeny, and Governor Pataki are determined to goose economic growth
in Saratoga County the only way they know how: by keeping the suburban
house-building and Big Box store racket going at all costs.
Your Reality Check Is In The Mail
Civitas has a somewhat different view
of situation. We believe that the world is moving into a permanent energy
crisis that will put an end to suburban development for good, both as
an economic growth strategy and a way of life. The global energy crisis
is already underway and its acceleration will be particularly vivid
in 2005 as we pass the all-time global oil production peak.
The ramifications post-peak include the
end of conventional industrial growth, increasing global friction over
the remaining oil, the destabilization of global financial markets and
credit creation, and, in America especially, the end of suburban development
as a substitute for productive economic activity.
Of course, even under these ominous conditions,
attempts at suburban development will continue out of sheer habit and
inertia. But we regard any continued suburban development as a tragedy-in-the-making
for both investors and buyers. We expect suburban real estate of all
types to lose value catastrophically in the years ahead as energy worries
mount and the years of easy motoring and cheap credit wind down. As
this occurs, those who own overpriced McHouses and distressed commercial
buildings will be stuck with them as the public begins to understand
that the suburban chapter of history is over.
Of course, we at Civitas admit that we
hold a minority view.
Water Issue Far From Settled
Even though a majority of three council members
voted for the County's Hudson River scheme, and against the city's own
plan, the matter is far from settled. For one thing, under the revised
city charter the commissioner of public works has exclusive authority
over the construction and operation of the city's water works. The charter
can only be changed through a referendum by the voters.
That process could take years, but the
matter imminently faces a different kind of referendum - the 2005 city
council election. The position on the water issue taken by Lenz, Towne,
and Curley - surrendering the city's future to the County Board of Supervisors
- is so transparently stupid, irresponsible and corrupt, that they have
even roused the ire of rank-and-file Republicans, and could be swept
out of office. No amount of non-voting SLIPD shills and cheerleaders
will save them from the wrath of the city residents, who have viewed
this long process with gathering wonder and nausea.
For instance, it may not have escaped
the voters' notice that Republican city chairman Tom Roohan is one of
the most active developers of suburban housing in Saratoga County, and
might stand to benefit directly from water lines deployed to the rural
hinterlands, paid for by the public. It is a matter of record that Roohan's
proposal for a 20-unit subdivision in the town of Saratoga is being
opposed by neighbors because of an inadequate water table - wells in
that area draw brown water in August and September. Voters also may
have noticed that council member Steven Towne is both Roohan's first
cousin and is employed as the business manager of Roohan's real estate
office.
Meanwhile, Public Works commissioner
Tom McTygue has offered to join the city's two county supervisors, Phil
Klein and Skip Sirocco, in an unlimited open-ended debate on the water
issue at any time and place of their choosing.
Hampton Inn Proposal an Abortion
We've seen preliminary drawings for
the proposed new Hampton Inn & Suites hotel on the old site of Otto
Chrysler at Lake Avenue between Putnam and Henry Streets. The building
is an off-the-shelf, thoughtless, careless, insulting piece of crap.
The planning board will be battling them for months to come. Please
show up at the planning board meetings and make sure that the city does
not get stuck with another abortion like the Marriott Courtyard.
Note that the entrance is an afterthought
at lower right, like going into the janitor's broom closet. Why isn't
the entrance in the center? That is the traditional arrangement. (In
the urban setting hotels generally have important entrances on more
than one side.) Note the stingy little industrial windows, better suited
to a county parole violations bureau office than a resort hotel. And
what's with cheap-ass eschutcheon up in the cartoon pediment?
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