A few years ago, the New York state Legislature passed a law that streamlined the environmental review process for industrial development sites. The idea behind the “shovel ready” program was to make the state more competitive and friendly to business by having municipalities do a preliminary environmental review so a company coming in wouldn”™t have to start the State Environmental Quality Review Assessment, or SEQRA, from scratch and get bogged down in expensive delays, which might result in a project not getting built at all.
Now the shovel-ready concept is getting a test run. A plan to put in a desperately needed water and sewage system in an industrial area of Saugerties is about to be implemented, thanks to the new state program. “I”™m really excited,” said Lance Matteson, president of the Ulster County Development Corp., based in town of Ulster. The project “is kind of a poster child of the idea of using strategic infrastructure projects to keep and create jobs. It”™s also attractive because of the environmental benefits,” which Matteson said were protection of an area located over the aquifer and the support of growth “in a designated existing industrial area. It”™s anti-sprawl.”
The town of Saugerties is putting the finishing touches on a funding package that would pay for the construction of the new sewage and water system infrastructure in the King”™s Highway Corridor, as the area is called, enabling the existing 40 or so businesses to expand and the town to attract new light industrial and office projects. All that”™s needed now is approval by the Ulster County Legislature of the town”™s application for two county grants, totaling $1 million. Project coordinator Vernon Benjamin said he expected the grants would be voted on at the legislature”™s July monthly meeting.
State and federal funding for the $5.5 million project has already been locked up. Benjamin said that $1.55 million is being provided through the State Environmental Facilities Corp., through the auspices of state Sen. John Bonacic (R,I,C-Mount Hope). U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-Hurley) has procured an additional $2 million in federal money. With the county grants, the amount of funding would total $4.6 million.
Once the county money is approved, the town will hold public hearings to finalize the design and go out to bid, said town Supervisor Greg Helsmoortel. The new water and sewage pipes will connect to the village system, which he said is a revenue producer for the town.
Benjamin said the small size of the area ”“ about 800 acres ”“ and relatively few property owners (fewer than 100), meant its assessed value was low, making funding difficult. Property owners in the designated district may have to pay up to $1,200 in annual tax for the capital costs and maintenance, an amount that”™s set by the state comptroller.
In addition, the hookup cost would be about $4,000 to 6,000 per property. Benjamin said there is the potential for property owners to get assistance for those costs from the Rural Development Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
He is also investigating the possibility of getting Rural Development money for a $400,000 grant, plus a reduction of the interest payments on the remaining $500,000 bond the town will have to issue. “The town is undertaking a survey of the houses in the district to see if the incomes qualify us for the money,” which is tied to low- to mid-income areas, he said. “It could be an outright grant, or loan with reduced interest, or both.”
King”™s Highway runs through a grassy stretch of land between the state Thruway and the freight rail line just south of the Saugerties state Thruway exit. The road passes a scattering of metal industrial buildings. There”™s a farm where thoroughbreds are raised and a few houses tucked under the trees, including a stone house with a historic plaque out front. Dominating the scene are the smokestacks, large metal sheds and pyramids of crushed stone of the Northeast Solite quarry.Â
The semirural site may not look like much, but the three-mile stretch of tarmac is actually home to some of Ulster County”™s most cutting-edge companies. The tough, lightweight building material produced at Northeast Solite is used to construct bridges and will help build the new complex of skyscrapers planned for the World Trade Center site. Another business, Precision Flow, developed a special machine that can manufacture large quantities of light-emitting diode (LED) lights, fulfilling a need of its client, Wal-Mart, which is switching from florescent to LED lights for its refrigeration. Next door, Markertech and Tower Products manufactures and supplies equipment for TV, film and recording studios around the globe. Wiley Electronics is a small firm that produces a component of solar energy installations and hence is part of the emerging green technologies sector.   Â
Growth in the area has been hampered by lack of a municipal water and sewage system. The problem has been compounded by the high water table and clayey soil, which has required some private septic systems to be constructed above ground at great expense.
Mark Braunstein, founder and president of Markertech and Tower Products, which has 106 employees, said his company invested $250,000 in installing its own wastewater treatment plant when it located at King”™s Highway seven years ago. “There are significant monthly costs and we”™re reaching capacity,” he said. “It”™s a capital drain. We”™re 100 percent committed to Saugerties as a place to do business. The only drawback is the ongoing expense to maintain our wastewater treatment system.”
Fred Couse, president of Fehr Bros., a company up the road that manufactures metal products and employs 47, said his firm would like to lease and develop the 40 unused acres of its 50-acre site. A circular road in an adjacent field has been constructed, but so far the land around it remains empty. Having municipal sewage and water should make the site attractive, said Couse.
The town is undertaking a rezoning of the 800-acre area, currently a mix of industrial and residential, to light industrial, with a public hearing scheduled in a few weeks. A consultant has been hired to develop design standards, which will include signage that links the district with the town. Benjamin said another consultant is creating a strategic plan, which might include green standards. “We want to have businesses use solar and bring in solar businesses,” he said. The plan should be completed by the end of the year.
In accord with the shovel-ready concept, Saugerties will also conduct a generic environmental impact statement (EIS). The EIS “looks at the whole piece as a single parcel and looks at it closely enough to identify where further attention is needed,” Benjamin said. For example, “part of the land is within the aquifer-protection overlay district, so we know not to go there.” Developers coming in “will know whether there”™s additional environmental or archaeological issues” to address. The EIS will take about 14 months, he said.
The town is also working with the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to eliminate the 11 private rail crossings at the site and create two public crossings. The current crossings are dangerous, particularly the one near Northeast Solite, where large trucks pulling out of the facility practically emerge onto the tracks because of lack of “stacking,” or ample roadway. There have been several fatalities of truck drivers on the spot, and Northeast Solite has hired two security people to monitor the crossing during working hours.
Benjamin said the DOT will relocate the road to create a longer spur, using federal rail money and saving the town a $350,000 bond issue. Another road to the south will be lengthened to create the second public crossing, complete with gate, bells and flashing lights.
“The thing I love about this project is that right off the bat the town is sending a message to businesses that ”˜we”™re paying attention to your needs and growth potential,”™” said Matteson. “In terms of infill, we”™re saying to brokers, ”˜this is coming,”™ even before the sewage and water infrastructure is actually completed. It sends a good message to the marketplace.”
Matteson added: “(The) issue of simplifying the permit process is really important” to attracting new business. “We”™re not just competing with the next county or state or the other coast, we”™re competing globally,” he said. “Places like China don”™t have all the democratic, labor and environmental standards we do. But we still have to face the fact that they cannot only process promptly, they can build promptly. They can build a factory in 60 to 90 days.”
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