KNOX — Discussions were heated at a special town board meeting on Sept. 26 as the board attempted to fill out a state-required environmental form for a proposed multi-use recreational district near the intersection of routes 156 and 157.

The board stopped filling out the form after one of the councilmen, Earl Barcomb, pointed out board members didn’t know the answers.

Typically, a town’s planning board completes a State Environmental Quality Review but the Knox Town Board was proceeding without the expertise of its planning board after that board had twice recommended against a business district in the area near the intersection of routes 156 and 157.

Supervisor Vasilios Lefkaditis had proposed an MRD in June to replace a business district that he promoted since being elected in 2015. He said that an MRD would quell residents’ concerns since it would not allow gas stations or dry cleaners.

At last Wednesday night’s meeting, he argued that an MRD was even less “aggressive” than a residential district, noting that a college campus is allowed in a residential district but not an MRD.

“We’re arguing with stupid facts,” said Brigitte McAuliffe. “Nobody’s going to put a college or university there.”

McAuliffe and her husband, Shawn, had submitted a public integrity complaint to the state attorney general’s office about the proposed district, pointing out that no map had been made available and no public hearing had been scheduled. The town board subsequently put off sending the proposal to the county planning board.

Brigitte McAuliffe pressed the board to identify the proposed district’s location. Lefkaditis said the board had identified the tax parcels, and later the board provided an image of the proposed district to McAuliffe.

The proposed district includes 11 parcels of land along the intersection of routes 156 and 157, as well as parts of Witter Road and Pleasant Valley Road.

When a business district had been proposed for the same area, residents of the would-be district who objected to its formation — including the McAuliffes — had their land removed from the proposed district. The similar patchwork of parcels is seen in the proposed MRD.

McAuliffe and her husband have lived in Knox since they bought property in town in 1999. She told The Enterprise they sought the area because it was secluded but they also tested the well water for a variety of contaminants, because McAuliffe’s first home was built downhill from a superfund site in North Carolina and had polluted water.

“So it was very important that we have clean water,” she said.

She and other residents stressed the importance of clean water at public hearings for the proposed business district. During the public hearings, the town board offered to remove the parcels owned by these vocal objectors from the proposed district. McAuliffe’s 26-acre property is not in the proposed MRD, but sits adjacent and across from four parcels that are, including one containing the former Highlands restaurant.

McAuliffe pointed out that the proposed district is not contiguous, and that several of the parcels are fairly large (the average lot size is seven acres, and two are over 20 acres).

“The town of Knox is not going to support a business district,” she said, referring to the town’s population, which is about 2,700.

The town’s only business district, in the hamlet of Knox, has just one business, a restaurant that has been closed during business hours lately.

McAuliffe told The Enterprise she was cautious about filing the complaint with the attorney general, as she read online that filing a false complaint is a crime. So she called the attorney general’s office to go over what she intended to file.

McAuliffe was told that what she described would warrant an investigation, she said, so she mailed in the complaint on Aug. 22, the day before she notified the members of the town board as well as others including The Enterprise. But she and her husband are not alone, McAuliffe said; she has heard of at least two others who have made similar complaints.

Missing map?

Her main concern with the town board not being transparent has been its lack of providing a map of the proposed district. At the Sept. 26 meeting, McAuliffe complained that the board has not identified the proposed district. Lefkaditis countered that the tax parcels are included in the SEQR.

“The public has requested a map,” she said at the meeting.

“I understand, and we’re getting there; this is a process,” said Lefkaditis.

The board did provide a map at the end of the meeting. McAuliffe told The Enterprise that the fact she was given a map makes her complaint even more viable, because she had initially been told there wasn’t a map, and, she went on, even though she was given a copy, the map was not distributed to the general public.

Engineer needed?

The question of whether an engineer would be needed began when the town attorney, Javid Afzali, read out loud the first question of the state-required environmental review: whether a new district would impact the water table.

Lefkaditis responded no, because water was at least 130 feet down, but Councilman Barcomb countered the town didn’t know that.

The supervisor asked what engineers had been used in approving Knox’s sole business district, which was set up before he was in office. Longtime planning board member Robert Price said from the gallery that members of the town’s planning board, Daniel Driscoll and Robert Gwin, were engineers. Driscoll has since died and Gwin has retired from the board.

Afzali asked Lefkaditis if the town had an engineer. He responded that the town has informally worked with Mark Jacobson, but doesn’t have a formal agreement.

McAuliffe repeatedly asked Afzali if he was advising that the town should use an engineer or another expert. Afzali said the town is not required to use professionals when filling out the SEQR, and later said the town would not be liable if it shows it practiced due diligence. McAuliffe also asked him if other towns completed the state form without an engineer.

“That’s what the town of Knox has done,” said Lefkaditis, citing Knox’s first business district, in the hamlet, and saying the hamlet area is more environmentally sensitive than the proposed MRD.

The business district in the hamlet was recommended by the town’s comprehensive plan. Lefkaditis asserted that Knox’s business district is comparable to the Berne hamlet, and referred to the town of Berne being forced by the state to build a sewer district in the hamlet. The Knox hamlet does not have a stream like the Berne hamlet.

The Berne district was formed because the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation said that water in the Fox Creek was being polluted by nearby septic systems. Many homes were built with septic tanks that were unable to handle modern appliances like washing machines. The district was set up to solve those problems.

Lefkaditis said scrutiny of the MRD he had proposed was due to “politics.” Barcomb countered that other issues should be considered as well, such as the effects to a neighborhood. The conversation shortly dissolved into discussing the number of times the proposed second business district had gone before the town board and failed to be approved.

“Totally different dynamics, totally different political scheme,” said Lefkaditis.

The former town board members, who voted against a business district at routes 156 and 157, had cited the concerns raised by the Albany County and Knox planning boards — karst geology, which could spread pollution, and traffic safety issues, among others.

“And eventually you’ll get enough people you want [on the board], and you’ll get what you want, Vas,” said Barcomb.

“You’re welcome to play politics, it’s in your blood, I understand,” said Lefkaditis, referring to Barcomb’s father, the late Earl Barcomb Sr., who had chaired the town zoning board. Barcomb Sr.’s approach, throughout his long tenure, had been even-handed; he had allowed all sides to be heard on controversial issues while insisting on civil discourse.

Lefkaditis said that, if the town board is unable to give definitive answers on the SEQR, then it should not go through the review now.

“If we’re going to go through with this and the answer is going to be ‘I don’t know’ most of the time, we’re wasting our time,” said Lefkaditis. Afzali proposed that the board should then get an engineer.

“Is this something that the board wants to move forward on. Is this what we want to spend our money on?” asked Barcomb.

“I can get proposals,” said Lefkaditis, suggesting contacting either Jacobson or an engineer who works for Albany County.