44°
To the editor:
Supervisor Grace likes to say that opponents of his highway garage project are misrepresenting the facts. Sadly, it's the other way around. It's time to set the record straight based on verifiable public documents and statements.
Grace continues to say that the people who oppose the project are "completely incorrect" when they say the project will cost $4 million. But the town's 2015 grant application shows a cost of $4.075 million -- just for the garage.
Grace said on his Jan. 6 "Grace Notes" TV program that the town had received a grant for the highway garage project. He repeated the comment at the July 5 Town Board meeting. But when asked about the grant at the Jan. 19 Board meeting, Grace acknowledged that the town had never received any such grant and that he was only "exploring" the possibility of a grant with Sen. Murphy.
Grace also said at the July 5 meeting, "I expect the cost of the new facilities will be fully covered by the sale of the old site with a fully approved site plan." But the 2015 grant application says the sale of the property would generate only an estimated $1.5 million. And on June 13, the supervisor told the Planning Board that the reason the town was seeking site plan approval for the garage project was to improve the town's chances of obtaining grants for the project.
Then there's the issue of exactly what size garage the town is planning to build. The number keeps changing, and obviously the cost depends on the size of the project. Both the 2015 grant application and the 2016 Planning Board submission were for 60,000 square feet.
But on July 5, Grace said staff would be meeting to "finalize" space needs, adding that the project might have to be cut back to meet budget constraints. Yorktown residents should not give Grace a blank check for a project that is ever-changing.
Susan Siegel
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