Of all the real estate in Ulster County, why did the county legislature pay three million dollars to purchase a 57.3-acre parcel close to the New Paltz Thruway exit with known environmental contaminants and a long history of controversial proposals that never got past the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process?
One thing that no one appears to be arguing about is that the county’s existing emergency 911 center at Golden Hill in Kingston is woefully inadequate for the call volume to which it’s charged with responding. The legislature’s recent vote to purchase the parcel close to the New Paltz Thruway exit known locally as the Plesser property from the Turk brothers, owners of the Rocking Horse Ranch in Highland and SplashDown Beach water park in Fishkill, is a problematic choice.
The Ulster County Legislature press release on the purchase of the property said that a consultant had looked at ten different candidate sites for a central emergency response facility, and out of those the Plesser property was the one that it recommended. Only one legislator, Joe Mahoney (D-Saugerties), voted against it.
The site, classified as a brownfield by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), will have to undergo remediation. Parts of the onetime apple orchard have tested for exceedingly high levels of arsenic, lead, DDT and dieldrin. The pesticides and contaminants found in the soil, have also affected the groundwater, according to the DEC.
The DEC responded to questions about the costs of potential remediation and how it could be done by stating, “The Plesser Property BCP site (C356053) is currently in the remedial investigation stage to determine the extent of contamination related to the historic orchard on-site. DEC cannot comment on the specific remediation process until relevant site investigation work is complete, the draft remedial action work plan is released, and public comment period can be held.”
The property was also the site of an oil and gas leak from the neighboring gas station to the west that leached into its soil. On-site federal wetlands and an underground aquifer tie into a vast watershed that includes the Swaartekill and Black Creek on either side of Route 299. The DEC declined to provide a figure for complete remediation because the property was still under investigation. It offered links to its remediation of brownfields FAQ sheet, as well as history on the property’s previous environmental reports and findings. See www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/derexternal/haz/details.cfm?ProgNo=C356053.
Use of the parcel has been the subject of continued local controversy. Grassroots citizens and environmental groups fought vigorously to keep Wal-Mart from building there. A mixed commercial and high-end residential development was also rejected. More recently, a resort and waterpark proposed by the Turk brothers was scrapped partly because it failed to get a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (Pilot) arrangement from the Ulster County Industrial Development Authority (UCIDA). There were zoning issues, and water tests deemed their wells to be “salty.”
Ten sites considered
The Ulster County Legislature press release on the purchase of the property said that a consultant had looked at ten different candidate sites for a central emergency response facility, and out of those the Plesser property was the one that it recommended. Only one legislator, Joe Mahoney (D-Saugerties), voted against it.
“We own 20 acres at Golden Hill. We could renovate the existing center, build a new one without having to purchase property,” Maloney said. “And why this property that is a brownfield with all types of arsenic and lead and gas leaks and who knows what else is in the soil and water? We want to put our emergency responders there? And we were going to pay $3 million for this? And then remediation, when we don’t even know what that will look like or cost or if it’s even possible? We have county-owned property, and there were at least ten other sites evaluated, but this is the one that lands on top? One that wasn’t even on the market, and that the Turk brothers have been trying to unload for years?”
Maloney suspected “… some back-door deals going on. You have the Turks making contributions to the past county executive’s campaign [$2500].”
The purchase was supported by local legislature chair Tracey Bartels of Gardiner and local legislator Gina Hansut of Highland as a home to the much-needed Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Six acres of the parcel are being earmarked for what they estimate to be a $25-million state-of-the-art EOC. The rest of it, according to Bartels, will be held for future development.
“Right now, we’re just looking at developing six acres for our Emergency Operation Center,” explained Bartels. She stated that she was “not happy with the purchase price” of $3 million, but said that when they tried to negotiate the purchase of just one parcel, the price the Turks came back with was “so high that it just made sense to purchase the entire thing.”
The Turk brothers purchased the land from Sam Plesser back in 2015 for $2 million.
“We’ve already paid out $1.3 million for this project without acquisition or remediation,” grumbled Maloney. “I do not understand how our consultants arrived at a 57-acre brownfield when we have county property that could be utilized, empty buildings that could be rehabbed, Tech City. And yet we’re going to pay $3 million for a known contaminated site.”
Bartels said that a very rough estimate for the remediation of just the portion of the parcel where the EOC is to be located was approximately $100,000. One estimate for remediating the entire property was a million, dollars.
Too early to discuss site use
What type of further development was the legislature envisioning? There’s a rumor that New Paltz officials and some county legislators, would like to see it used for affordable housing.
New Paltz town supervisor Neil Bettez said that in his estimation it was too early for formal discussions of affordable housing on that parcel. “I am in support of their purchasing it for several reasons, in addition to their cleaning up the brownfield. Mainly because I think locating the EOC on Paradies Lane is not only good for the county, but for the Town of New Paltz. I’m not sure we want to get too far ahead of ourselves with all these different ideas like affordable housing, bus stops, bike lanes et cetera, since the priority is really to build the EOC.
“Once that is done, we can have a larger discussion, but I look at the EOC (and hopefully more housing, both affordable and market-rate) as an important part of revitalizing the hamlet of Ohioville, which is why it was rezoned a few years ago.”
Bartels said that she has heard the talk about affordable housing. “Right now our focus is on the Emergency Operations Center. We do not have to go through regular site-plan review for the EOC because it’s a county project for the public good, but we would have to go through a more rigorous review if there was affordable housing on the other portion of that property.”
All the county’s criteria
“They’re talking about putting affordable housing on a brownfield, along with our emergency service workers?” said Maloney. “These people have become so elitist they don’t even realize it. If that property wasn’t good enough for Wal-Mart or a resort, but it’s good enough for our emergency service workers and people who need affordable housing, how does that make sense?”
According to Bartels, a Golden Hill site would be problematic either to renovate or expand the current call center. The county wouldn’t want the 911 center to be offline at any time. “This way we can keep that center going until the new one is built.” The amount of rock on the Golden Hill site would make new construction difficult and expensive.
Other sites in Kingston were considered, including the county jail site and other properties. Bartels said that some lawmakers felt that there was too much redundancy in Kingston, and that they might better serve the county by moving south and closer to the Thruway.
There is no municipal water or sewer at the Plesser property, but Bartels said that the project would not require that. She also noted that the consultants looked closely at two other properties in New Paltz and another close to the intersection of Route 299 and 9W. The Plesser property came to the forefront because it met “all of the county’s criteria.”
“In a final analysis that included two other sites in the New Paltz area that showed promise, the Paradies Lane site came on top and was shown using planning-level cost estimates to be the least expensive option even, without including the development potential for the remaining lands,” Bartels said.
There was input from Dennis Doyle, the county’s planning director.
“Regarding the brownfield remediation, our consultants ensured us that as a former orchard, which is the reason for the brownfield identification,” continued Bartels. “That remediation was not complicated, and the efforts already completed on the site had characterized the level of contamination to draw that conclusion with some confidence. Conversations have also been held with NYS DEC to confirm the steps needed to move forward and to identify any major roadblocks or concerns that they may have. Finally, entrance into the brownfield program offers liability and tax benefits to the county and to developers – the latter being important to any future use by others of the remaining lands.”
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