A BACK-DOOR DEAL ???

On the topic of Ames Plaza, the current Walmart possibility is certainly having a very NEGATIVE effect on finding tenants for the village Ames location. The ruse that nobody will set up business there unless a major retailer comes along "elsewhere" is utter nonsense. Most other retailers are terrified of Walmart! This is a deal breaker, just having Walmart considering coming here. We've been betrayed by those we hired to fill that plaza! They've not done the job we gave them. Instead they've made it extremely more difficult. But they've still cashed their paychecks. This should be examined for MALFEASANCE, or, perhaps, even fraud. (I certainly feel defrauded of the tax dollars that paid for this disaster.)



Signed: Concerned Citizen



NOTE FROM MODERATOR: Only the Economic Development Director is a hired paid position, and is not an Alden Resident. The committee consists of eleven members (two each from the Village, the Town and Chamber; and 5 are selected from the Selection Committee, consisting of six representatives of the village, town and chamber as follows: one members shall be the Superintendent of the Alden Central School or his/her designee; one member shall be an owner of a business located within the limits of the Town and/or Village; one member shall be a resident of the Town and/or Village of Alden, but not a business owner; and two members shall be individuals who possess skills, abilities and/or interests relevant to the economic development of Alden as determined by the Selection Committee.) If anyone would require further information, please contact the ARRG, or you can also obtain this information from the Town Hall through the Freedom of Information Act Laws.



Last night, information was introduced sighting that in August of 2005 the EDC concluded that the only way to increase interest in the Ames plaza was to bring a large retailer into the Town outside of the Village in the commercial area along Broadway west of the Village.


Then quiet mysteriously and conveniently within the next 30 days, in September 2005 a contract was signed between Russo and the Martin's for the purchase of their farm land. One has to question whether our EDC made arrangements for Russo and Martin to strike a deal. The Martin farm wasn't even up for sale prior to this. What are the odds???? About $540,000 to one!
It was then in January 2006 that Martin first appeared before the Planning Board, introduced by Witt, claiming the land to be free and clear of wetlands. There's another lie.

EDC Director Ian McPherson owns McPherson Steel. We wonder who Russo has planned for building his multiple structures on this property. (Remember that in addition to the Wal-mart Supercenter of 155,000 square feet, there are also NINE other stores with at least two of them as restaurants CURRENTLY listed on the site plan.)


Someone suggested at the Planning Board meeting last night that this smells of a "Back Door Deal". What do you think?