New Scotland Archives — The Altamont Enterprise, October 26, 2006
Is master plan needed"
By Rachel Dutil
NEW SCOTLAND – The town board has not yet decided to update its comprehensive land-use plan, but it decided at its October meeting, to seek funds to review the plan.
The town board established a preliminary committee in January to make suggestions to the board about revising the 1997 comprehensive plan. At that Jan. 11 meeting, board member Douglas LaGrange said that most municipalities update their comprehensive plans every five years.
The committee consists of town board members Richard Reilly and Douglas LaGrange, planning board Chairman Robert Stapf, planning board member Charles Voss, zoning board members William Hennessey, Adam Greenberg, and Robert Parmenter, and the town’s building inspector, Paul Cantlin.
The group met once a month until it had come up with a list of preliminary findings, which were brought to the town board at September’s meeting.
The committee found that the maps could use updates and upgrades and estimated the cost at $2,500 to $3,500.
It also suggested that the transportation section be updated with system-wide mapping, estimated to cost $2,000 to $3,000.
The committee also suggested some specific types of planning analysis methods to be done by hired consultants, which would help indicate direction for the town.
Build-out analysis, fiscal impact and market analysis, and physical analysis were all suggested. Cost estimates were $2,500 for build-out analysis; $3,000 to $5,000 for fiscal impact and market analysis; and $50,000 to $75,000 for a town-wide physical analysis.
LaGrange said that the analyses would help the town to become "proactive at avoiding problems down the road." He said the town generally tends to be reactive.
The committee’s consensus was that some updating, in some capacity, should be done on the comprehensive plan, LaGrange said.
The plan, he said, has a lot of "little things that could warrant attention just to clean it up."
The fact that the town recently adopted a six-month moratorium on areas of the northeast quadrant falling in medium-density residential (MDR) and residential conservation (R2) zones, indicates the need for a new plan, LaGrange told The Enterprise.
LaGrange, at the Oct. 11 board meeting, asked for the board’s approval to apply for the 2006 Quality Communities Grant, with funds to be allocated for use in updating the comprehensive plan.
Councilwoman Peg Neri said that she didn’t believe the town had yet made the decision to update its comprehensive plan.
She asked why, then, the board would apply for a grant to be used to update a plan that it hasn’t decided to change.
LaGrange argued that the grant application must be received by 5 p.m. on Nov. 17, and to wait until Nov. 8, when the board meets next, would give the writers very little time to draft the application.
The board ultimately decided to allow the application to be drafted, and, at the next meeting, it will decide whether or not to file the application, and, in effect, whether to go forward and update the nearly 10-year-old plan.
Other business
In other business, at the October meeting, the town board:
– Was presented with the "Excellence in Equity" award by Dave Williams with the New York State Office of Real Property Services. The award was given to Supervisor Ed Clark and Assessor Julie Nooney, who oversees town-wide property revaluation last year. The town will receive approximately $20,000 in aid sometime around Christmas, Williams said;
– Heard from Engineer Keith Menia, of Vollmer Associates, on the Clarksville Water District. Menia said that the plans should be sent to the Albany County Department of Health, where it typically takes about a month for approval, but everything is on track for the spring;
– Extended the Swift Road Water District for two additional lots. The application received no public objection at the public hearing held before the meeting;
– Scheduled two public hearings for the Nov. 8 board meeting. The first hearing, at 6 p.m., is on the proposed 2007 budget. The second, at 6:45 p.m., is on a local law to list election costs on a separate line on the 2007 tax bills;
– Made an agreement with James Duncan Jr. for his services cleaning Town Hall and the community center. The agreement is for the remainder of this year and next year. His salary was set at $7,156.40;
– Announced the resignation of two town employees – Michael Vink from the Parks Department and Larry Conrad from the Highway Department. Highway Superintendent Darrell Duncan decided to hold off hiring someone to fill Vink’s position until April;
– Announced the American Association of Retired Persons driver-review class will be held on Nov. 2 and 3 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Wyman Osterhout Community Center; and
– Announced that flu shots will be given on Oct. 31 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the community center.
Benched: After two years, Crandall suspended
By Rachel Dutil
VOORHEESVILLE – After two years of paid suspension, worth over $150,000, and nearly $180,000 in additional cost to the school district, tenured teacher and coach Robert Crandall has been found guilty of four charges of misconduct and inappropriate behavior. He has been suspended without pay for 60 days, beginning Saturday.
"I’m not pleased that he was found guilty of the charges and he is coming back to the district," said the school board vice president, C. James Coffin.
Crandall has been teaching at Voorheesville since 1978.
He was first counseled in 1994 for walking out on a conference, according to papers filed with the State Education Department. He was counseled again in 2001 "for slapping students on their bottoms," the papers say. He was then issued a letter of reprimand in 2003 for allowing a basketball team to swim in the pool before it was open, and has been counseled both verbally and in writing concerning inappropriate comments made to students, the papers say.
This is a case of progressive discipline, Coffin said. "Enough is enough," he told The Enterprise yesterday.
The disciplinary procedures build upon each other, said Superintendent Linda Langevin. "He had been warned and warned and warned," she said.
In a unanimous vote, the school board decided at two meetings in June of 2004 to bring charges against Crandall, said Coffin.
"You’ve got to bite the bullet, and take the steps to protect the students and employees," Coffin said.
The school district hired an attorney to press charges, and Crandall was defended by an attorney appointed and paid for by the New York State United Teachers, the union with which the Voorheesville Teachers Association is affiliated.
NYSUT has 575,000 members and is the largest union in New York State. "We’re a unit of professionals," said the union’s spokesperson, Carl Korn.
Crandall, until his recent unpaid suspension started on Oct. 21, was still paid his annual salary of $73,150 plus benefits. He was also earning his yearly increases, as determined by the Voorheesville teachers’ contract.
"Everything has to remain the same as though he was working. That’s the law," Langevin told The Enterprise.
In addition to his salary, the district paid $178,911 in salaries for substitutes to fill Crandall’s teaching and coaching positions, benefits for these individuals, and legal fees.
The State Education Department is responsible for paying the hearing officer and the court reporter.
Crandall was found guilty in a hearing that is part of a procedure outlined in Section 3020-a of State Education Law, an employment disciplinary process for tenured teachers. Crandall did not return calls from The Enterprise this week.
"The 3020-a process has come to be known as expensive," said Bart Zabin, the principal investigator for the State Education Department. "For the most part, it’s used when there are serious issues," he said.
The charges
After more than two years, Crandall was found guilty of four charges of "misconduct, insubordination, and conduct unbecoming a teacher." He was found not guilty of a fifth charge.
In September of 2003, one charge states, Crandall asked a male student, during a physical education class, "Who is that hot (sexy) blond you’re running with"" The comment was in reference to a female tenth-grade student.
In March of 2004, a second charge states, Crandall, while updating his records, asked a female ninth-grade student where she lived. She asked why he wanted to know, and he responded, "So I can follow you home and come to your house and murder you in your sleep."
The two other charges were in reference to retaliatory action that Crandall took during the 2002-03 school year against two female ninth grade students who had made prior complaints against him. The two students claimed that Crandall treated them differently than the other students in class.
The hearing officer, Ronald Kowalski, was chosen by both the district and Crandall. Kowalski found that Crandall’s conduct warrants discipline, but "his long and largely successful teaching career with the District and the nature of the misconduct do not make dismissal appropriate."
He further stated, in his determination that Crandall "must learn that certain remarks and behavior are inappropriate with students," and he should be "aware of the severity of his misconduct and hopefully recognize that if such misconduct occurs again it will likely lead to his dismissal from service."
"The first mistake he makes, we’re gonna be back at him," Coffin told The Enterprise. "We mean business," he said.
It is the responsibility of the board to ensure the safety and comfort of the district’s students and employees, Coffin said.
Lengthy process
The 3020-a procedure is one that can take a long time and cost a lot of money, Zabin said.
"It’s not a process that is used to slap someone on the wrist," Zabin told The Enterprise.
The department gets about 300 cases a year, but not all of those result in hearings, he said. With 300,000 teachers in 700 school districts in New York State, those figures aren’t too bad, he said.
It is not uncommon for the process to stretch longer than a year, Zabin said.
In Crandall’s case, it stretched for more than two years.
The reason, Langevin said, was scheduling conflicts. The hearing officer, and the two attorneys have to come to an agreement on dates and schedules, and that can get complicated.
Crandall’s attorney had difficulty finding time in his schedule, Langevin said. He would be available for one day, and then maybe not again for a month or two, she said.
"Our attorneys are always prepared to work on cases," Korn told The Enterprise when asked about the availability and flexibility in the union attorneys’ schedules.
"Due process is the foundation of our justice system," he said.
Crandall is expected to return to the school at the end of January. The board will determine in what capacity Crandall may return, and if he will be required to attend counseling.
"We want to make sure our kids are safe," Langevin said.
Aide hired: Early birds watched
By Rachel Dutil
VOORHEESVILLE – Kids who come to school early now have someone to supervise them.
The school board decided last Monday to allow a teacher’s aide to work an extra half-hour every day in order to watch the children who arrive at Voorheesville Elementary School 30 minutes before school starts.
Teachers aren’t responsible for the kids until 8:30 a.m., Superintendent Linda Langevin told The Enterprise.
The issue was brought to the school board’s attention by Kenneth Lein, the principal for the elementary school. Lein told the board that nearly 30 children on any given day arrive at the school around 8 a.m., and congregate in the hallways and stairwells.
"I address this at every open house," Lein told the board. He worries about safety with no one designated to supervise the kids.
Richard Brackett was the only board member to vote in opposition to the two-and-a-half additional hours per week for the aide.
"I think you’re going to open the floodgates," Brackett told the board.
His main concern was that, if parents are aware that they can drop their kids off at 8 a.m., then more kids are going to show up.
Another concern raised by parents at the meeting was the issue of Kids’ Club.
Kids’ Club is a "wrap-around program," Langevin said. Parents in the district can enroll their children to take part in Kids’ Club, which offers supervised activities both before and after school.
Kids’ Club Incorporated rents space from the school through an annual contract, Langevin said.
Some parents at the Oct. 16 board meeting were concerned that the number of children enrolled in Kids’ Club would drop as a result of "free child care" being provided by the school.
Kathy Fiero, the president of the Voorheesville Teachers Association, told the board that as a Kids’ club parent she feels that she is "subsidizing free child care for irresponsible parents."
Chris Allard, a long-time bus driver for the district who heads the United Employees of Voorheesville union, addressed the board, "It is a losing battle with children being dropped off." She said that it has been a problem for years; children are running around the schoolyard, making it dangerous not only for bus drivers, but other parents as well.
"We need to take every precaution to ensure that no one gets hurt," said Vice President, C. James Coffin. He stressed to the board the importance that there be "at least a minimum level of supervision."
The board approved the increase in hours for teacher’s aide Carol Relyea from five hours per day to five-and-a-half hours per day, for a 60-day period, at which point, the board is to review the outcome.
After one week of having the aide available at the school, Langevin told The Enterprise that she was not aware of any kids dropping out of Kids’ Club, and the numbers of children arriving at school early had dropped from about 30 to 20.
"I think it’s going to diminish the problem," Langevin said.
She emphasized the importance of making sure that parents are aware that school starts at 8:30 a.m., and that is the time the teachers become accountable for the children. The aide is available, but there are no educational activities provided by the school during this time.
Other business
In other business at the October school board meeting, the board:
– Heard from students participating in the 2006 Model United Nations Conference. The students talked about their upcoming trips to Brown University in November, Yale University in January, and Cornell University in March;
– Approved the donation of 20 girls’ soccer uniforms to San Jose de Los Remates Nicaragua School. The uniforms have not been used in several years;
– Approved a trip for students to the Columbia University Fall Journalism Conference in New York City on Nov. 6;
– Renewed the contract with Northeast Parent and Child Society. The contract is for roughly $4,00 for the two-month summer program and nearly $26,000 for the 10-month school-year program;
– Renewed the contract with Wildwood Programs through June 22, 2007 in the amount of $37,616;
– Adjusted the tax warrant as a result of multiple clerical errors, reducing it by roughly $7,500 to $14.5 million;
– Threw its support behind the 2007 Relay for Life Campaign, a walk that raises funds to fight cancer;
– Authorized issuing bonds for $5.3 million to pay a portion of the cost for the reconstruction and construction projects at the school;
– Added TD Banknorth N.A. to the list of approved banks for investment purposes;
– Replaced, in a 4-to-3, the old dress code section of the Code of Conduct for the high school and middle school with the amended dress code that was approved by the board on July 17. The board is also inviting students to come talk about their feelings on the dress code at the next meeting;
– Accepted a donation of roughly $1,200 from the Voorheesville Parent Teacher Association to support the purchase of a hydro-geology general stream table with cart and accessories for the high school science department;
– Approved Superintendent Langevin’s participation in the Education Leadership Institute’s 2006-07 cohort, and authorized that $3,500 of grant-funded money be used to cover the cost of participation in the Leadership for Learning Network; and
– Accepted the proposal of consultant work on "The Quality Culture School Environment" not to exceed $15,500 effective from Oct. 23,2006 through Oct. 31,2007.
Cut trees cause conflict in Voorheesville
By Melissa Hale-Spencer
VOORHEESVILLE — Trees have been cut, that’s clear.
But neighbors are disputing who is to blame, and the village is caught in the middle.
Cindy Rekemeyer is distressed that trees and shrubs have been cleared from the back of the Kling Terrace property that belonged to her mother where she now lives.
Joseph Cannistraci, who is building a house on the adjoining property for his daughter and son-in-law, says Rekemeyer asked him to clear the back of her property.
"He cleared 12 feet of my property," Rekemeyer told the village board at a workshop on Oct. 12. "It was supposed to have a 12-degree slope," she said of the boundary between the two properties, which now has a steep drop-off.
"You walk off the property line, you go down four or five feet," Rekemeyer told the board.
Her sump-pump drainage system was also exposed when the property was cleared, she said, and surveyor’s stakes were torn up.
Rekemeyer was further frustrated because, she said, the village’s building inspector, Gerald Gordinier, had not responded to her complaints. Mayor Robert Conway said that Gordinier has retired and is working now on a part-time basis. Conway said he would talk to Gordinier about the problems.
He said Rekemeyer may need to take legal action.
"Will I be notified if this is a violation of the site plan"" she asked, to which the mayor responded in the affirmative.
Asked about the village’s role in the dispute, Conway told The Enterprise yesterday, "If it were a dispute over the siting of the building or to do with the building plan, Jerry Gordinier would be involved and would have the ability to halt construction."
He went on, "Jerry has been up there several times and has reviewed the slope and feels the builder complied with the requirements of the building plan. The village would take a different role if Jerry felt they were not complying with the building plan."
He concluded, "It seems to be a dispute about whether she gave him permission" to clear trees and shrubs from her land. Conway concluded, "That is a civil issue that probably has to be decided in court."
Conflicting views
Rekemeyer has pictures of the way her backyard used to look. A thick screen of trees, behind a wishing well, blocked the view of the houses on North Grandview and the view of Atlas Copco beyond that.
Now, just a few large trees remain at the edge of the neatly kept yard behind the big brick house. And there’s a steep drop-off to the property on North Grandview where a foundation has been poured for a new house. Cannistraci says the new house, for his daughter, will be about 2,300 square feet.
Both Rekemeyer and Cannistraci agree that the clearing took place on Aug. 17 but, otherwise, their accounts differ markedly.
Rekemeyer and her two young sons moved into her mother’s house at 19 Kling Terrace in February to help care for her mother; she died in April.
Rekemeyer says she and her sister came back from visiting their mother’s grave a little after 2 p.m. on Aug. 17 and were shocked when they walked into the backyard.
"She almost got hit on the head by a tree," said Rekemeyer of her sister.
Rekemeyer said she had never walked the property line with her mother and wasn’t clear on exactly where it was but she told Cannistraci, "I think you’re on my property."
"He said, ‘I knocked on all your doors and windows at 11 o’clock and you were not home.’ I told him to clean the mess up and get off my land."
Cannistraci tells it this way: "We were clearing to make room for the house. Her and her sister came. I was there with my excavating contractor...I said hello to the ladies...She said, ‘Would you mind taking the poison ivy and the shrubs out"’"
Cannistraci said he obliged. He went on, "I would never have gone so far in her backyard if it were not for her. She wanted every tree down." Cannistraci said he didn’t mind clearing a bit but, since he was paying the bulldozer driver $125 an hour, he could not clear all she wanted.
"I’m an honest person, a Guilderland resident for 23, 24 years," said Cannistraci, who speaks with an Italian accent. He went on about his own house on Johnston Road, "My property is immaculate, a nice house with excellent landscape. My daughter’s house will be the same."
"Why would I tell him to clear my land"" asked Rekemeyer. "He was already doing it when we got home."
She unrolled a plan she got from the Voorheesville Village Hall, depicting the lot on North Grandview. She pointed out a wavy line marked "limits of clearing."
"He wasn’t even supposed to clear this on his own lot," she said, pointing to the back of his property that abuts her backyard.
Cannistraci responded, through The Enterprise, "I can shape the lot within the town ordinance...It’s legal for me to do it."
When Rekemeyer contacted the sheriff’s department later in August, she was told it was not a criminal matter, it was a civil matter, she said.
She wrote and spoke with village officials. Gordinier replied to her Sept. 7 letter in a Sept. 12 letter, in which he wrote, "Property line disputes, in most cases, have to be resolved by the property owners."
Rekemeyer wrote Gordinier and members of village board on Oct. 2, asking that Cannistraci be required to replace her trees and shrubs and properly grade the property before he is allowed to proceed with his building. She said Tuesday she had not received a reply.
On to court"
Cannistraci said on Tuesday, "She is definitely a very emotional, stressed woman...She went to the town, trying to block my daughter to build a house — for what purpose"...
"I didn’t do anything wrong. Maybe I shouldn’t have been on the property without a signed statement from her. Now she’s making a big stink about it....I know she’s been through a lot but she shouldn’t take it out on my daughter and myself."
Rekemeyer said that, if Cannistraci plants screening shrubbery behind the new house, it won’t give his daughter privacy because Rekemeyer’s property is higher; it needs to be screened too, she said. She pointed to her upstairs bedroom window and said, "I’m always going to be able to look into their bedroom windows and everything in their yard."
Cannistraci responded, through The Enterprise, "The lady will not be living in the house past six months"; he claimed the house will be sold as part of Rekemeyer’s mother’s estate.
"If push comes to shove, and we end up in court, she’ll be on the losing end," said Cannistraci.
Cannistraci said he received a letter from Rekemeyer’s attorney but had not yet involved his attorney.
Rekemeyer is in the process of gathering estimates to restore her property. She says that, when Cannistraci cleared her land, he ripped up surveyor’s stakes and that she received a $900 estimate to get the survey re-done. She has not yet gotten estimates to replace the trees and shrubs.
"I would like to settle this amicably and not have to go to court," she told The Enterprise. "I don’t think that’s going to happen...He said, ‘You gave me permission and I’m not going to pay for anything.’"
She said she would be satisfied if the survey were re-done and the landscape screening replaced.
If the village board told him to replace "a couple of trees," Cannistraci said he would. But he stressed it is up to the village and himself, not to Rekemeyer.
"I’m there to build my daughter’s house and make it look beautiful," he concluded.
Omni can wait
Miller gets OK to hook into sewer for senior housing
By Melissa Hale-Spencer
VOORHEESVILLE — A small, local developer hopes to have senior housing built in the village a year from now.
"We’re planning on building in the spring," Troy Miller told The Enterprise yesterday of plans for nine condominiums. "Twelve months from today, people could be living there."
Miller still has to get approval for the project from the village planning board, but he cleared a major hurdle when the village board gave him the go-ahead for hooking up to the municipal sewer system.
"I wanted to have all my ducks in a row before I went to the planning board," said Miller. "The mayor really wants to see senior housing in Voorheesville."
Tired of waiting for a large senior-housing complex to be built in the village, the board reached an unofficial consensus at an Oct. 12 workshop, that, in the words of the village attorney, access to the municipal sewer system will be on a "first come, first-served" basis.
Two years ago, Omni proposed a large complex on property owned by St. Matthew’s Church on Mountainview Road. Mayor Robert Conway said no written commitments had been made by the village to supply the development with municipal sewer service.
The board agreed that a letter will be sent to Omni stating that, if the 48-unit slots available since the sewer system was upgraded are filled, Omni would be required to fund a study to determine the plant’s capacity.
With the Omni project "out of the mix," as the mayor put it, Miller and residents of Moss Road would be next on board.
Miller plans to build nine condominiums at the corner of Maple Avenue and Stonington Hill Road, at the entrance to the Salem Hills development. He is building a similar project for seniors in Altamont, which he hopes will be completed in early February.
The 900-square-foot Voorheesville condominiums will each have one bedroom with separate laundry and storage facilities and the cost may range from $165,000 to $180,000, Miller said.
After the project got village approval, the mayor said, "It ran into a glitch with the septic system."
Miller had planned to put the system in the front yard, which Albany County said was not acceptable unless the village took over the septic system, he said.
"The bottom line is, if the system fails, they need someone to go and repair it...We’re not taking on a septic system," said the mayor.
A homeowners’ association isn’t considered suitable, he said.
"Albany County only allows an individual to own a septic field," Miller told The Enterprise.
Miller plans to bore under the creek and hook into the municipal sewer system, he said.
"We know we have capacity in the sewer system," Conway told the trustees at the workshop.
"We have a window of 48 units we now can put on...then you have to do a study," said Trustee John Stevens.
Since the Salem Hills system was upgraded, seven of the 13 houses on Mountainview tied into the system, Conway said, and the elementary school is "on board." But the large senior housing complex proposed by Omni is "still up in the air," said Conway.
A letter was sent to Omni on Sept. 28, the mayor said, requesting a timeline on the project but there had been no response. Conway said yesterday that Omni has not yet responded to the letter and the village is unaware of its plans.
"Do we keep saying no to people on the off chance Omni or whoever will build"" Conway asked the trustees.
"It’s two years out, and they still don’t have a signed contract with the church which owns the property," said Stevens, while Troy Miller is ready to build.
The mayor suggested Omni pay for the study of further sewer needs, which, six months ago, was estimated to cost $7,500.
Voorheesville currently has no senior housing complex.
Senior housing is needed "for the public good," said Conway. "But the plans are so vague," he said of the Omni proposal, "I’m reluctant."
Several residents of Moss Road got the go-ahead from the board during the workshop for also accessing the sewer system, contingent on developer Eric King’s allowing them to hook into a sewer line that would come through their neighborhood if he builds on six plots of land as he has proposed.
"If Mr. King doesn’t go forward with the project, there is no sewer," said Mayor Conway.
"We’re telling you tonight there’s room for you four people," said Trustee William Hotaling to the three Moss Road residents and one resident of nearby Crow Ridge Road, although he worried about "opening Pandora’s box" to "the rest of the people on Crow Ridge."
"You’d work it with Mr. King...and pay the village the yearly fee to hook into the system," said Stevens, indicating the fee is $540 a year.
"If he tells you to jump in the lake, give us a call," said the mayor.
Water as a wedge
The board also spoke with Michael Canfora, a resident of Locust Drive, who had presented a petition to the board in August, urging it to use water as a bargaining chip to keep a proposed Colonie Country Club development at least 50 feet away from houses on his road. Locust Drive is in the decades-old Scotch Pine development that abuts the country club.
Amedore Homes development company has proposed building 37 houses on the golf course with selling prices that will start at $400,000.
Canfora asked the village board about a recent meeting with town of New Scotland officials. Conway said he and Trustee Hotaling and Will Smith, head of public works, met to discuss water for the proposed housing development at Colonie Country Club.
"The village is always willing to talk...It’s not a commitment to do it," said Conway. "We mentioned concerns about a buffer zone and traffic...They would not be able to proceed without us unless they drop wells."
He also said, "If they come up with something totally goofy, not in the village’s best interest, we’ll say no."
"Tar and feathers stick to us," said Trustee John Stevens, regarding villagers’ sentiments.
"They haven’t even made an application to us," stressed Hotaling at the end of the meeting.
"Someone in New Scotland Town Hall said this is a done deal," alleged Canfora. He declined to tell The Enterprise afterwards who the person was.
"If you hear it from us, you can take it to the bank. If you hear it from them, no," said Hotaling.
New Scotland Supervisor Ed Clark told The Enterprise last week that the town is not in a position to give water to Voorheesville.
The Northeast District is the town’s nearest water source to the village, said the supervisor; it serves Orchard Park residents and some homes on Route 85A and is "maxed out," Clark said.
The developer is looking for water from other sources, said Clark, adding, "We would love to cooperate."
The development at Colonie Country Club has been proposed, said Clark; Amedore Homes has submitted a plan, but it has not been approved and has to work its way through the town’s planning process, said the supervisor.
"We are willing to buy the water from Voorheesville if they are willing to sell it," Clark concluded.
— Rachel Dutil contributed the comments from Ed Clark to this story.