To the Editor:

On the evening of Dec. 10, I attended a meeting of the Guilderland Town Board expecting that the agenda item, the Foundry Square Planned Use Development application, would easily pass. Instead, it appeared that three members of the Town Board were prepared to vote against it.

I had emailed the board the previous week in support of the project for a number of reasons but particularly for the elimination of the hazardous toxic plume on the site. My email is printed online in the agenda for the Dec. 10 board meeting.

The primary concern that we all have, I thought, is for the removal of the contaminants present on the site. This is the elephant in the room but the three board members expressed other priorities and charged the applicant for not responding to issues about which they were more interested.

The fact is the applicant has made many changes to the plan but stated that a further reduction of the number of apartments would make the project financially impossible. Who would know better?

One local resident whose property is contiguous to the development site spoke of her fear that these chemicals will reach her property and many other homes on Foundry Road. And if they do, these properties will be neither livable nor marketable.

Where would these owners then turn for compensation? More than likely to the town of Guilderland if this project is rejected by a majority of the town board.

She suggested that the millions of dollars needed to remediate the site should come from taxpayers or other sources. And what would those other sources be?

With the recent political changes in Washington with this new president and Senator [Charles] Schumer no longer Majority Leader of the Senate, we can expect few funds, if any, available for hazardous waste cleanup. And New York state has a long list of sites needing remediation.

About a year ago, I chatted with a retired employee of the town of Guilderland. We met while walking on Western Avenue just opposite the Tru by Hilton hotel adjacent to Crossgates. On looking at the hotel, she said to me, you know, I had opposed this project. And now, its appearance is quite attractive.

I ask those living in Guilderland to look at what is there now and what it could be with the new apartments. I especially urge the three members on the town board to consider the impact on our town with their negative votes and especially to the neighbors near the site.

Jerry Houser

Guilderland

Editor’s note: See related story, “Town board pauses on letting Foundry Square proposal proceed.”