Friday, November 30, 2007

Below is the complete story from Page 1 of today's newspaper. It is not, however, the end of the story of why Cornwall didn't purchase the wells in Mountainville. For that, you'll have to pick up next week's Local, as we continue to dig into this...

Click here or on the document below to see primary sources.

1999: Town Board resolved to buy Star water system

By Margaret Menge -- Since news broke earlier this month of federal funding for a water pipeline to Kiryas Joel, the Local has been attempting to discover why neither the Town of Cornwall nor the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson were able to acquire the old Star wells in Mountainville that were purchased by developer Ziggy Brach in 2003 and sold to the United Talmudic Academy of Kiryas Joel in 2005. Half of the answer is clear enough: “They were never offered to us,” says Rudy Hahn, a village trustee. He says the Board of Trustees in the village, who serve as water commissioners, never had any conversations about purchasing the wells. But the Town Board did.

In 1999, a representative of a company called Star Newco, Inc. walked into Supervisor Richard Randazzo’s office in Town Hall and asked if the town wanted to purchase the water system that had serviced the Star factory, and a number of homes in Mountainville, including that of Star’s owner, Peter Stern. Star Newco had purchased Star Expansion in 1997, taking over ownership of the property, which had extensive industrial contamination. Star Newco had signed a consent order with the DEC in 1997, and done a significant amount of clean-up on the property before finally declaring bankruptcy in 1998. They wanted the town to take over the water system, at little or no cost, as Randazzo remembers. The acquisition would have obligated the town to continue to provide water at no cost to the Star buildings and to the private property owners whose homes were connected to the system. Randazzo says the town “jumped on it.”

“If the town did nothing with it for a decade or two decades the bottom line is we would have had that resource,” he said last week.

The Town Board took up the issue of acquisition of the wells not long after, and commissioned a report from the town’s engineer, Mark Edsall of McGoey Hauser & Edsall, who has been a village trustee (and water commissioner) since he was elected in March of 1999. “He basically said that the system looked to be in pretty good shape in view of its age,” said Randazzo. The board also had the town attorney, Jim Loeb, look into the legality of acquiring the water system. Loeb advised the board in a letter: “I am writing to you in connection with the acquisition of the former Star water system. As you know, the owner of the system has offered it to the Town for no consideration to be paid by the Town. The system includes four wells which according to the documents I have received are capable of producing 500,000 gallons per day. The system has a treatment facility and a 100,000 gallon storage facility…”

In December of 1999, Councilman Robert Funck, a member of the Town Board, introduced a resolution to acquire the wells: “…the Town Board does hereby accept the offer of Star Newco to turn over its water system, including wells, storage tank treatment facilities, distribution facilities, and all other water related facilities to the Town for no consideration, provided the Town agrees to honor existing recorded agreements for service, and to provide water to Star Newco without consideration for ten years.” All five members of the Town Board voted ‘aye.’ They included: Supervisor Randazzo, Mary Beth Greene-Krafft, Helen Bunt, Robert Funck and James Fanning. So why were the wells never purchased?

Randazzo was defeated by Helen Bunt in November of 1999, and at the time the resolution was passed, was on his way out of office. Former supervisor Jim Sollami said this week he thinks Randazzo should have completed the purchase before leaving. “He was in office forever when that water was available,” he told the Local. “Nobody took action.” Supervisor Randazzo has said he first learned that the wells were available for purchase in 1999.

Helen Bunt became the new town supervisor in January of 2000, and the issue of the Star water system was not raised in open session at any meeting of the Town Board until May, according to the minute books maintained by the Town Clerk. Sometime in May, Star Newco had written to Supervisor Randazzo (not in office at that time) to inquire why the town had not acted to acquire the wells within the 30-day period that had now “expired without comment.” Bunt says she doesn’t remember the letter. “Anything that I would have gotten would have been turned over to Jim Loeb,” she said this week.

On May 22, attorney Jim Loeb gave a presentation to the Town Board in which he emphasized the value of acquiring the water system, though alerting board members that they would need to create a water district in order to own and operate a water system. Bunt and Mary Beth Greene-Krafft both remember that this was not seen as an impediment, and that the Town Board was anxious to go forward with the sale. There is nothing further in the minutes for 2000 regarding the Star water system. Jim Loeb had indicated in his May 22 presentation to the Town Board that the acquisition was dependent upon the bankruptcy court’s approval, but that the purchase of the wells was moving ahead. “He advised that many aspects are coming together on this water supply acquisition,” the minutes for May 22, 2000 read.

Bunt told the Local this week that she doesn’t know why the board wouldn’t have had a discussion after Loeb’s presentation, or at subsequent meetings, or why the town wouldn’t have proceeded with the sale. “I think something happened in that whole thing there, because we were willing to do it,” she says. After reviewing minutes of meetings from 2000 and reading through the summary of Loeb’s report, she said she believes that the town could not complete the sale until the bankruptcy court agreed to release the assets.

Jim Loeb was out of state and not available for comment this week.