MONTICELLO, NY — Sullivan County legislators voted four to one in committee on May 4 to approve a resolution that will commit up to $100,000 for a feasibility study to develop shovel-ready sites alongside a stretch of Route 17 mostly in the Town of Liberty. Officials from the Town of Liberty, the Village of Liberty and the Town of Thompson had previously committed to spend $20,000 each on the same study.  

The study would allow the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development to seek other funding to pursue the infrastructure part of the plan which would ultimately include bringing water and sewer to the corridor, which is essentially located between Exit 101 and Exit 102 off Route 17.

Marc Baez, president and CEO of the partnership, appeared before the legislature to make ask them to move forward with the project.  Legislator Joe Perrello once again expressed concern that the county could invest money in the project and then the owners of the parcels in question would “gouge the hell out of” potential buyers and raise the price to such a degree that no sale would occur. He suggested the county work out some kind of agreement with the owners of the parcels, perhaps capping the selling price.

Baez reiterated that this area was chosen because it is already zoned commercial-industrial and with its access to the highway it is the best location in the county for creating shovel-ready sites.  He said he wasn’t sure it would be legal for the county to demand a cap on the price a private property owner could ask for his land.

At a later point in the conversation he said, “Is there going to be a situation like the land around the casino, where everybody is jacking the price up? Yeah, it’s an unfortunate circumstance of the positive things that have happened,” but he said the price will be determined by the marketplace.

It was a point repeated by legislator Ira Steingart, who is also the chair of the Sullivan County Industrial development Agency.  He said did not share Perrello’s concern and that the price would be determined by supply and demand. He said his concern is that as things stand now, businesses won’t come into the county because the infrastructure is not in place.

He said, “No one knows what’s going to come forward for Sullivan County, but it’s certainly at a time that we’ve never been before, with the growth that people are looking at. And I believe that if we don’t … make it easy, that we’re going to miss out on some opportunities.”

Legislator Scott Samuleson said, “This is an aggressive process that you’ve taken on and I think you’ve done it the right way.  This is the time for this county to get in the game.”

Legislator Terri Ward also expressed support.  

Legisaltor Alan Sorensen said that he believed much of the work proposed in the study could be done in-house by county employees and he would like to see that pursued as a means of keeping the cost down.

County Attorney Cheryl McCausland the resolution was prepared in a way that gave county manager Josh Potosek and Steingart a “seat at the table” to determine the scope of the project, which would include a determination of which parts might be done in-house.

The full board is expected to vote on the resolution at the monthly meeting on May 18, and it seems likely the bill will pass.