An attorney representing the Latham Water District said Monday, Oct. 26, that no land swap is necessary for plans to go forward with the Latham Water Tank Removal Project as was otherwise specified in a resolution passed unanimously by the Colonie Town Board on Thursday, Aug. 6.
Attorney John Bailey said that discussions regarding an easement on property owned by Guptill Holding Corp. that was needed so that the town could install water pipes to be used for the project were held on the same day, in the same room as another discussion about the town swapping up to 9.5 acres of town-owned land for up to 9.29 acres of wetland area and a kettle bog, owned by Guptill Holding Corp., but that the two discussions were unrelated.
These discussions were occurring simultaneously and it’s possible that they got thrown in the same resolution, but they really should have been separate, Bailey said. `These things, for reasons I don’t understand, have become very confused.`
Superintendent of the Latham Water District John Frazer also confirmed that a land swap is not necessary to the project’s completion. While Guptill Holding Corp. allowed the town to go on its land to install water pipes on approximately .11 acres of land, the costs of doing so, about $1,000 according to Doug Myers, director of public affairs for the Albany County International Airport Authority, are being covered by the Airport Authority and federal stimulus funds.
The tank was scheduled to be removed after the Federal Aviation Administration determined the tank to be in the way of the flight path to the Albany International Airport.
According to Myers, the scope of the project includes building a new tower, funding the new lines that come from the water treatment facility through both public and private land in Latham and making that tower operational.
`The federal stimulus funds are funding everything to make that new tower in Loudonville operational,` Myers said.
After being asked if the town would not need to strike a deal with Guptill Holding Corp. in regards to the easement since the project is being funded by federal stimulus funds and the Airport Authority, Frazer said, `That’s correct.`
Town Supervisor Paula Mahan issued a statement on Monday, Oct. 26, that said, `The Guptill family owns two parcels of property which are of strong interest to the Town of Colonie. These two parcels are immediately adjacent to one another. The first parcel has to do with the easement required to complete the Latham Water District extension.
The second parcel is an extremely sensitive environmental area which the town has had a strong interest in obtaining for many years. It makes perfect sense for the town leadership to discuss all available options.` She referred all other questions to Bailey.
The town holds special interest in the wetland area and kettle bog described in the resolution as obtaining the property is part of the Town of Colonie’s Comprehensive Plan, which lists the property as a rare asset.
The kettle bog is rich in soil and has a unique quality which requires its preservation, Town Attorney Michael Magguilli said.
But while one of the town’s long-term objectives has been to obtain the bog, the easement that allowed the town to use land on Guptill Holding Corp. property would not be paid for with a land swap.
The resolution in which both projects are mentioned in relation to each other authorizes `the town supervisor to enter into agreements for the acquisition and conveyance of real property and necessary construction in relation to the Latham Water Tank Removal Project.`
This resolution has recently become the focus of a campaign mailer distributed to residents who live in the vicinity of 200A Onderdonk Road-near the land the town is considering swapping-sent out by Colonie Republicans, implying that if obtained, Guptill Holding Corp. could begin mining on the land.
Mahan called this mailer `garbage,` saying its messages are filled with `blatant lies,` and that in order to mine on that land-which has not yet been swapped-Guptill Holding Corp. would need to obtain certain permits which have not yet been obtained.
Magguilli said the town has not yet even decided whether to swap land and that if it did, appraisals would need to be made and then brought before the town board as well as in a public hearing before a decision would be made.
At the last Town Board meeting on Thursday, Oct. 22, Charles `Skip` Guptill stood to address the board and public and said of his family, `We are in the skating business, we are in the ice cream business, we are in the birthday business. We are not in the mining business.`
But Colonie Republican Committee Chairman John Graziano Jr. argues that the Guptills are in the mining business, and that if obtained, they will mine the property.
`He’s a miner,` he said. `He wants to mine that property, if not today, tomorrow.`
Aside from the potential or non-potential of mining in the area, Graziano said he does not understand why the town would need to swap land for a federally funded project.
`It’s a federal project. The Town of Colonie is only the vehicle of which the project is being done,` he said. `There’s no reason in the world to give Skip Guptill anything. Zero.`
Bailey said the only thing he could think of for the issues being discussed simultaneously would be the close vicinity of the kettle bog to where the easement is needed, though he said this would still not be a reason to combine the issues in one resolution.
For more on this story, check back at www.spotlightnews.com, or read the Wednesday, Oct. 28, print edition of the Colonie Spotlight.“