by Kieron Kramer
The divisive debate that has haunted the Town of Berlin is over. The grand plan for the use of the defunct Berlin Lumber property as a municipal center, beaten to death over the last 22 months, is now dead and buried. In spite of a referendum on July 19, 2010, that approved of the expenditure for the project out of the Capital Reserve fund by a vote of 186 to 137, three members of the Berlin Town Board, Jim Saunders, Sheila Hewitt and Becky Giumarra, voted against proceeding with the purchase at the decisive Town Board meeting on April 14. Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger, who conceived of the plan for the municipal center, voted to continue the purchase process. The only thing good about the vote is that the torturous arguing is finally over.
How long it will take Berlin to recover from the anger and bitterness that the debate caused is anybody’s guess. If the behavior of partisans on both sides of the issue at Thursday’s meeting, which was moved from the Town Hall to the Berlin Fire House to accommodate the overflow crowd of around 80 people, is any indication, it will take a long time. The anger that characterized some of the opponents’ views was probably instigated by having paid extraordinarily high property and school taxes in New York State for many years without having much to show for it.
John Smith who lives on the corner of Dyken Pond Road and Plank Road, who blurted out at one point that he was already over-assessed, began the uncivil tone, demeaning the Town Supervisor by calling him a bus driver. Jaeger, having retired from an executive position with a large corporation in Connecticut and who is currently a real estate agent, is a school bus driver for the Berlin Central School District. Since Jaeger has a knowledge of capital investment and real estate transactions, he brings particularly relevant skills to implementing this project, and it was therefore particularly ridiculous to attack the project by insinuating that Jaeger is inadequate in some way. Smith used abusive language to others, and when he declared that he was going to move out of Town because of the project, a large number of people in the room burst into applause.
It was also inappropriate to insult and browbeat the three board members who voted against the project, as so many in the hall did when the vote was cast. Someone in the audience said, “This is the way government works; it’s done; they did their job,” and added, “these [three] people, I’m sure, love their town as much as you do.” This is true whether you agree with the three or not on this issue. It is also true that the United States’ form of democracy is a representative democracy in which the people’s business is done by their elected representatives. Not many referendums are binding; had this one been, surely Jaeger or the Town Attorney would have informed the obstructing Board members of that fact. Although most public servants listen to the voice of the people as expressed in a referendum, the referendums they are forced to listen to are the election results. It is also true that many wise men have said, “You get the government you deserve.” Perhaps it was a mistake for Berliners not to pay more attention to the Town Board elections all along. Many will pay more attention this November.
Historic Opportunity Lost
Unfortunately, the vote Thursday has scuttled an historic opportunity for the Town to provide adequate Town offices, a suitably-sized Town garage, a salt shed and playing fields, and in the future a community room, at an affordable price and at no cost to the taxpayer. So the main feeling from the supporters of the project was exasperation because rejecting the plan was just, as Mr. Spock on Star Trek would say, not logical. Considering the needs of the Town for these facilities, in the short and long run, the supporters suspect that the decision was not a pragmatic one, was very shortsighted and was, perhaps, a matter of ignorance or doctrine and that the grand plan had no chance from the very beginning.
Town Attorney Don Tate offered the Board three carefully worded resolutions to vote on that would protect the Town and the Board Members. One was to accept the latest Berlin offer and proceed with the sale. One was to reject the new offer keeping the contract in place, to accept the phase one contingencies and to follow on to the next phase of contingencies dealing with environmental testing, specifically of a drywell and three underground storage tanks. Laberge, the Town’s consulting engineer, estimated that these Phase II environmental tests wold cost around $9,800. The third choice, which the Board opted for and which passed 3-1, was to declare that the Board “disapproved the contract based on Board dissatisfaction with the tests and contingencies.”
Board Member James Saunders felt obliged to explain his vote. “I don’t like the way the purchase of Berlin Lumber has gone at all; as near as I can figure we’re going to go way over the costs, and I’m against it,” he said. This is his crusade – spending by the Town government. But in this case the municipal center would not raise taxes and would supply facilities for the Town at about one third of the cost neighboring towns are looking at spending on such facilities. The latest offer from the sellers of Berlin Lumber knocked the price down to $474,500, leaving $112,500 or so in the Capital Reserve Fund to spend on the necessary renovations to the two buildings that would be used immediately.
The Capital Reserve Fund, containing $587,000, was started in the early 1990s when Stanton Goodermote was Supervisor and when the Board at that time realized that suitable garage space and Town offices would be needed eventually. This money cannot be utilized except for a capital project of this kind; it cannot be used to maintain the Town or as a slush fund to be used to hold taxes down.
At the outset the main concern of the opponents of the project was the ongoing expense of maintaining the facility. At this meeting Jaeger presented a letter of intent from the Rensselaer County Superintendent of Highways to rent garage space from Berlin in the new garage for $500 per month. With the new garage the Town would no longer have to rent garage space from Hoosick River Hardwoods (HRH), aka Cowee’s, at a cost of $500 per month. It was expected that the current Town Garage could be rented for $400 per month. Six thousand in new revenue from the County, $4,800 in revenue from renting the current garage and $6,000 in savings from the rental at HRH adds up to $16,800 on a yearly basis that, according to Jaeger, would more than cover the ongoing expenses, maintenance and heating, at the new facility. Jaeger also said that Laberge had acknowledged that they made a mistake on the occupancy limits on the “Residence,” the building that would house the offices and a meeting room. Laberge had reported last month that the occupancy limit was 25. The occupancy limit had since been revised to 60.
Board Member Sheila Hewitt first expressed concern with dropping the environmental contingencies. “What’s the rush?” she asked. But then Hewitt said, when voting against the project, “It is not my personal opinion; I have had multiple seniors and fathers and mothers of this community ask me to support their feelings. I have not had one single person approach me to say why we need this.”
In response Tammy Osterhout said, “You are not paying attention to the meetings.” She asked the room, “How many voted yes?” When a vast majority raised their hands Osterhout said, “What’s left to show you guys?” She asked why these people Hewitt referred to don’t come to the meetings to express their opposition. To which Hewitt replied that there are usually only 25 or so people at the meetings, clearly implying that there is a silent majority that she is aware of that doesn’t support the project. The idea of the silent majority is used by politicians to rationalize ignoring public outcry. The term was coined by Richard Nixon in 1969.
So who are these members of the community to whom Hewitt refers. Did they not vote in the referendum? If they did participate, they were part of the 137 on the losing side of the vote. Does Hewitt believe that their vote should count for more? Was Orwell right when he wrote in Animal Farm, “All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others?” Why does anecdotal evidence trump the vote count?
Board Member Becky Giumarra, appointed in January to replace Carl Green, used environmental concerns to explain her no vote. The worry is that Berlin Lumber’s offer to drop the price if the remaining contingencies were dropped might stick the Town with a costly environmental clean up if the drywell or the three underground storage tanks not yet cleared by the DEC turned out to be contaminated. She also claimed that she had not received the latest documentation in time to give them a thorough read.
It is true that the sellers’ latest offer might have been a tactic to avoid discovery of environmental contamination. But when Giumarra read from the letter from the sellers’ attorney that they would return the Town’s $10,000 deposit, it seemed more likely that the sellers have another buyer interested and just wanted to break the logjam and negate the contract; a contract that must have been obvious to them for months wouldn’t be accepted by the current Town Board. Town Attorney Tate said, “They want to be free to pursue other offers.” Anyway, Tara Cinney-Fisher, who manages HRH, said that HRH has closed a number of drywells like the one at Berlin Lumber and that it is not expensive to do so. If the Board wanted the project to proceed and protect the Town from environmental surprises, the resolution keeping the contract in place and moving on to Phase II environmental testing could have been adopted.
Perhaps the bitterness expressed by most people Thursday was the result of the debate taking so long that the opposition became entrenched. The exasperation came from the revelation that the decision just wasn’t based on the facts, and, that no matter how good a deal the purchase became, it never would have been accepted.
There is no point in repeating the harsh words people had for each other at Thursday’s meeting. But at one point Town Historian Sharon Klein was moved to say, “I’ve lived here my entire life, and I’ve never been so embarrassed. We can’t even be civil to one another anymore, and I think that’s terrible.” There were a number of people, however, whose criticisms were expressed respectfully.
It was not coincidental that a resolution was passed at this meeting which adopted Municipal Law, Section 18, which indemnifies Town officials in legal action related to their official duties. According to Supervisor Jaeger, Board Member Hewitt had contacted Town Attorney Tate to ask if the Town had adopted Section 18 as a local law. Tate explained at this meeting that the State statute dates back to 1981 and that a majority of municipalities have adopted this law. He said that adopting the statute does not require a local law but can be accomplished by a Board resolution without going through the public hearing and other procedures needed for a local law. Adopting this resolution means that the Town’s insurance will cover the government officials’ legal fees. Tate added, “Without it you wouldn’t have anyone to do these jobs.” Jaeger said, “It is something the Town should have in place, and I recommend that we do it.” The Board voted unanimously to adopt the State statute indemnifying Town officials in legal actions.
Life Is Too Short
The meeting had begun with a long and heartfelt moment of silence in memory of Richard von Schilgen who served on the Board until his untimely death last month. His friend Cheryl Thibodeau read the following statement at this meeting, “Richard was honored when he was elected councilman for the Town Board. Richard and I agreed on most things but not all, which is common in relationships and politics.
Regardless if we agreed or disagreed there was still respect for each other and for the stand we each took.
What I do want you to know is how dedicated and passionate Richard felt about the Town of Berlin. Richard spent numerous hours researching issues. With every decision he made and every vote he cast, he felt in his heart that he was doing what was best for this Town and the people that live here. Richard was a good man and will be greatly missed by many.”
Perhaps this loss will make people think. Life is too short for anger, for bitterness, for mistrusting each other and for belittling each other’s ideas. Now it’s time to move on.