To the Editor:

As I watch the latest news on the coronavirus and re-opening of New York, I am also keeping an eye on social media and people’s response to Costco coming to Guilderland. And I think now, more than ever, we need a Costco.

First, Costco is a great store and we need one in our region and if not Guilderland, where? We enjoy some of the finest green space in Guilderland with our town parks, trails, and the Pine Bush. We have room for Costco without taking away from any of that.

Second, during this economic pause nearly all businesses have closed, which is having a significant impact on sales tax. For every day we are not receiving sales-tax revenues, the gap in future budgets is growing for both our property and school taxes.

Finally, I think we need to consider the new world that we are facing with the ongoing pandemic. This Costco plan will create more than 1,000 jobs. I am very concerned with the unemployment, businesses that will stay closed, and how we will deal with this. Having this project will make a huge difference and will also benefit many local businesses in the area.

There are so many positives to this project and so much more for us to think about post-COVID-19, I think people who have protested the project may want to take a harder look now at the potential of this.

Kathy Burbank

Guilderland