FINGERS CROSSED FOR $12M PRESENT
Funding would make game-changing sewer project possible
MOREAU, N.Y. >> Moreau officials expect to learn this week if a zero-interest, $12 million loan has been approved to fund construction of a Route 9 sewer project that could transform the town.
Property owners in the affected area approved such work by a vote of 32-29, on Aug. 27. Since then, the town has obtained a $4 million grant under the state Water Infrastructure Improvement Act.
Plans call for funding the rest of the $16 million project with $12 million from the state Environmental Facilities Corp.
“We should hear any day now,” Supervisor Todd Kusnierz said Monday.
If the money is approved, groundbreaking is scheduled for spring 2020, allowing time for the design phase and selection of a qualified contractor. Kusnierz said the new system could be up and running by November 2021.
“These are very exciting times for the town of Moreau because there’s so much opportunity,” he said. “This is the largest infrastructure project in the town’s history.”
But if state money isn’t forthcoming, the town would have to borrow from a conventional lender, at the lowest rate possible.
“If it’s not affordable and we don’t get funding, we’re not going to go forward,” Kusnierz said.
Plans call for new service, technically an expansion of Sewer District 1, to comprise parcels fronting both sides of Route 9, from Exit 17 north to about Butler Road, about a mile north of the Routes 9 and 197 intersections.
The first shovel hasn’t been put in the ground, and the project is already attracting developers, whose buildings could tie into the system.
Last month, Hudson
Headwaters Health Network broke ground on a new $10 million facility, adjacent to a Dunkin’ store at the corner of Route 9 and Spier Falls Road.
Also, an undisclosed firm has an option to buy a vacant 124-acre parcel on the west side of Route 9, with plans to construct an 800,000-square foot to 1 million-square-foot distribution center. It’s expected to employ at least 125 people and add $80 million worth of assessed valuation to the town’s tax base.
“If this doesn’t materialize, another firm is right behind it, looking at that property,” Kusnierz said.
Almost directly opposite this site, on the east side of Route 9, a firm called Greylock Properties LLC has purchased 23.5 acres of mostly vacant land from brothers Mark and Matthew Sassone for $950,000. The property once housed a harness racing training track, run by the brothers’ late father, Mario Sassone.
Town Assessor Margaret “Peggy” Jenkins said she believes the proposed sewer project nearly doubled this land’s value.
The 124 acres where the distribution center would go is roughly five times larger.
“I can’t even imagine what price that’s going to come in at,” Jenkins said.
In 2016, Greenfield-based Munter Enterprises purchased a 27-acre former golf driving range near Exit 17 for $1.6 million. Munter recently sold five acres to a firm that plans to put professional office space there.
Company President John Munter said there are no immediate plans to sell the remaining 22 acres, which could fetch a substantial price. “We want to make sure it’s utilized to its best potential,” he said.
In addition to these undeveloped properties, there are several prime locations where former businesses were housed such as Route 9 Autoworld and Aquawood Pools & Spas, which should attract considerable interest.
In his mind’s eye, Kusnierz sees this corridor as somewhat of a blank slate. The big question is what kind of picture develops there over the next five to 10 years.
The Town Board is expected to adopt an updated town Master Plan this month or next, which might pave the way for new zoning and planning requirements that shape future growth. The town can’t dictate which companies come to Moreau, but it can guide the type of development that occurs, said Kusnierz, adding that he’d like to see a hotel, sit-down type restaurant and specialty shops along Route 9.
He does not want to see the highway to become like Wolf Road, in Colonie.
That said, the area near Exit 17 is already congested almost daily in late afternoon as northbound commuters get off the Northway on their way home from work. A large distribution center with dozens of large trucks going in and out, and many other new businesses, could create major problems.
“DOT (the state Department of Transportation) is aware of the issue and the potential for dramatic change,” Kusnierz said.
Redesigned traffic, new control devices, a Route 9 bridge replacement over the Northway and new exits are all possible, he said.
Dense traffic is only one problem critics of the sewer project foresee. The area is comprised of 87 residential and commercial properties, whose owners would start getting billed for the system when it becomes operational in three years. Ninety percent of the tax would be based on a property’s assessed valuation, with 10 percent determined by its acreage.
Based on figures in a report prepared for the town, Fort Edward Express President Lance Hillman has said his company’s sewer tax would be $17,000, on top of $32,000 it already pays for school taxes.
Jenkins, the town assessor, said the Town Board should approve an assessment update for the Route 9 corridor if property values escalate the way she expects them to, “to bring values up to par.”
For some people, this could result in significantly higher property taxes.
“Why would you burden (so few) property owners with a $16 million project?” Hillman said recently. “I think the outcome is going to hurt a lot of people. A neighboring homeowner says she might have to move.”
But Kusnierz said he’s convinced new development will spread costs out, making the sewer project affordable for everyone. He said he expects the large new distribution center to open, and temporarily use septic service before the new municipal sewer project is done.
“Before anybody gets their bill, costs will be dramatically reduced by new development,” he said.