Mr. LaGrange — sell this white elephant vanity project

To the Editor:

I read Supervisor Douglas LaGrange’s ode to the Hilton Barn on Aug. 29, 2019 and a more recent gushing  letter from a Ms. Edie Abrams with a mixture of amusement and alarm. While Ms. Abrams’s letter is pure fantasy, it appears that the town may not be 100 percent up front on the costs incurred thus far and the likely cost going forward to turn this shell into useful public space.

Consider these points:

— The town has been spending money, including grants and other public funds since 2015 with nothing to show but some minor site improvements over the past three-and-a-half years;

— According to the town’s own ledger reports, the town has thus far expended a total of $360,856 since the inception of the project — not $294,000 as Mr. LaGrange claimed in his letter of Aug. 29 — an understatement actual of costs by nearly $67,000;

— The letter disingenuously characterized the expenditure of $294,000 as being for “move and placement of the Hilton barn.”  It conveniently fails to mention expenditures of tens of thousands of dollars for such things as surveying, insurance, custom logs, and dozens of other expenses;

— Mr. LaGrange mentions a number of additional grants “received” for a new roof, an amphitheater, restrooms, parking, cultural space and an ice-skating rink! For these, a total of $265,000 in grants have been received.  No mention of from whom or whether the funds are actually in hand. Getting approved for a grant is a lot easier than getting the cash;

— An additional $411,000 in grants has been applied for but no mention is made that such funds have been approved or received. Should these funds not materialize, three guesses who will be on the hook to complete this project;

— Keep in mind that these grants and developer fees are still public money. Residents in Rochester or Yonkers would likely be appalled at the use of their money for this purpose; and

—Anyone who has undergone any simple home renovation would know that these grants will be insufficient to make this barn something of which to be proud. Given the see-through nature of this structure and the roof, it appears that restoration costs are more likely in the millions.

Mr. LaGrange — sell this white elephant vanity project to the highest bidder before the taxpayers of New Scotland are called to bail this project out. The $8,000 you have collected over the past three-and-a-half years from private donors speaks volumes about how important this project is to the people of our town.  We collect far more than that each July 4 for fireworks in the village of Voorheesville.

Deane Fish

Chairman

Town of New Scotland

Republican Committee

Editor’s note: Douglas LaGrange wrote in his Aug. 29 letter that “the barn move and placement cost approximately $294,000”; nowhere in the letter does he state what the town’s total expenditure for the project has been. LaGrange responded this week that the additional $67,000 were costs incurred after the barn’s move; there’s no “understatement of actual costs” on LaGrange’s part because he never offered an up-to-date tally of the project’s total cost. 

In his letter, LaGrange did write, “we now have grants for roof repair ($120,000), siding/structural repair ($125,000), and parking ($20,000),” for the Hilton Barn, which total $265,000; LaGrange responded that grant money is received only after the fact so the town has to pay upfront before it can be reimbursed by a grant. 

But LaGrange did not write that “additional grants” were “received” for an “amphitheater, restrooms, parking, cultural space, and an ice-skating rink.” 

Rather, his letter states only, “Designs are completed for roof replacement, rest rooms, and an amphitheater, as well as a potential café and arts/museum/cultural space.” 

The $411,000 matching grant for which the town applied, LaGrange responded, was part of a New York State Consolidated Funding Application; there’s no mention of the funding being approved or received in LaGrange’s letter because the grant was applied for in July and any announcement about an award isn’t expected until next month or December.

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