A conversation with TL

TL WROTE:
A few more ideas to use to keep Alden the way it is......Wal-mart-less

ARRG RESPONSE: Nice wording!

TL WROTE: An accurate way to find out if the people of Alden really want a Wal-Mart is to put it on a ballot when we have the School Budget Vote, this way you would only have the people who live and pay taxes in Alden to get an accurate count. Not people from bordering Towns who would like to see a Wal-Mart in Alden and not in their town.

ARRG RESPONSE; One might think that this idea to have a citizen vote to be a good one, but like with most all elections, those who vote are not required to have all of the facts, have done the research, attend meetings, nor obtain knowledge, etc. If this issue were up to the voter's, we would most definitely have a Walmart in Alden, because many people just want to shop and don't care about any of the consequences. Believe it or not, it's best to leave it up to just five people (supervisor and town board) who are required to obtain all of the information possible before voting.

TL WROTE: Question - Which Village Official or Officials gave the approval to offer a tax cut to a business to keep the Ames Plaza vacant ?..............poor judgment on their part,........why would they do this?........has anyone ever approached the Village Board for this decision?.......or is there something the Board is not telling us ?

ARRG RESPONSE; It is our understanding that Redstone Investments (the plaza owners) have challenged their assessment on the property and have been successful in their challenge. This would have been with the tax assessor in the village.

Their argument is that since most of the square footage is vacant, the property has less value and therefore the assessment should be less which of course is followed by a reduction in taxes.

The feeling is that the rental income from the post office and other rented properties give them enough income to cover their current expenses, so they have little incentive to fill other properties, only to see their assessment & taxes increase.

Yes, we agree that this was a poor decision and don't know why this was agreed to. We are currently searching for an attorney or some other professional whose specialty is fighting commercial or corporate developers. Yes, we agree that it should be the Village Board who is doing this, but obviously they haven't. So we're looking into it. We've also only recently just contacted some investigative reporters to see if we can get their support. We encourage others to send a plea for assistance to these reporters. If they get enough calls or emails, they might more quickly see that this issue is "news-worthy". Generally when the media gets involved, the corporate giants don't like negative exposure. We'll keep you updated as more information becomes available.


TL WROTE: School bus traffic - there are SCHOOL BUSES that make stops on Broadway in the proposed area and all along Broadway there could be the potential for an accident with the increased traffic brought on by BIG bOX Development.

ARRG RESPONSE: This is an excellent point; precisely what we have been stating, that although Broadway is a major state route, this is still in the neighborhood of residential property. This is just another reason why the trip along that route will take much longer than it does now. No doubt the speed limit will also be reduced, in addition to the traffic light that would be installed on the corner.

TL WROTE: Green Space will be eliminated, I have never seen Green Space generated when a Plaza of Big Box store is built.

ARRG RESPONSE; Exactly! We just pointed out at last night's meeting, that the Town Board of Amherst has on their agenda that they are having to "buy back" green space to preserve it. And Clarence already had to do this in 2002.


ARRG COMMENTS: It is through comments and conversations like this one that we can be successful in saving Alden. Did you send us your comments on the yellow letter we sent a few weeks ago? If you haven't, can we send you another one?

They are still arriving in the mail daily and we will keep delivering them to the town board as long as they keep coming. We assure you that they will all be read by the Supervisor and the town board members. We have complete confidence that any decisions to be made will be only after ALL of the facts are in; and your letters, and attendance at meetings sends a very strong message to the decision makers.

Please contact us anytime with any other comments and questions. We are especially interested in your help to find ways to convince the Ames Plaza owners work with potential tenants.

Alden Residents for RESPONSIBLE Growth