Letter To The Editor – A Letter From The Hoosick Supervisor

Dear Concerned Citizen:
I greatly appreciate you reaching out to various members of the Board for their thoughts on taking possession of the Armory. Personally my love for the building is enormous, the architectural layout of the building to start with is one of a kind. The building almost has a magical feel to it, kind of like when you were a kid and held this firm belief that one day you would own your own castle. Of course that day never comes……. Mostly I admire the basement area. It was where the guys could eat, workout, practice their skills with weaponry and even go bowling. Over the past two years in office I’ve spent countless hours working, in meetings and even running around the drill floor with my two children, Caroline, 9, and Aaron, 3. Believe me when I tell you, I’m living the American Dream! Whom else do you know of can give their children these kind of perks? It’s truly amazing! But at what cost? Should I vote to take over the Armory thus giving in to the primal sin of Greed? My children would certainly benefit but what about everyone else’s children?
Dollars And Cents Of The Armory
The operational costs to run the Armory in 2010 were $45,000 (DMNA’s Report) That’s with fuel oil in the $2 range; currently our bid price is about $3.60 per gallon, and the building uses between 8,000 to 11,000 gallons in a heating season. (All of the other pre-existing buildings the Board have looked at consume between 1,000 to 2,000 gallons a year. That’s a possible savings for the Town of $25,000 – $32,000 EVERY SINGLE YEAR at the current year’s price.)
Some say we’d consume less oil if we were to replace the furnace. I believe this to be true, however the cost of a replacement boiler is between $75,000 and $100,000! This means that the boiler in this building alone is almost twice as much as I purchased my home for!
Despite what erroneous information you may or may not of heard, the cost of the RFP’s range $28,000 to over $100,000! What we’re getting for this is 1. development of a vision; 2. communication with State agencies; 3. schematic of a site design/Town Hall design; 4. funding Source Recommendations; 5. a final report.
We need an elevator for at least $80,000, to fireproof the stairwell and to remove the underground, 2,500 gallon tank between Church Street and the building. Soil testing will need to be done with special permits from the State and then removal. The best part of all of this is where do we position the replacement tank? We’ll need a containment holding area to house a new tank, but there’s not enough square footage around the outside perimeter of the building to do so (with the only exception of where they used to park the tanks, however that is directly over a storm drain). We could tie three 275 gallon tanks together in the basement. They would need to be filled approximately every 3-5 days in 20-0 degree weather.
The survey for contaminants in the building would cost $30-$40,000. This figure does not include removal.
No insurance company will insure the Town for asbestos or lead paint abatement. None! All Board members have this letter so if someone was to get sick during our ownership of the building we’re left holding the bag. Some say, “That’s no big deal.” Sorry, it is to me!
Historical Preservation
Let’s face it, because the Armory is registered as a historical landmark everything will take twice as long to get done, cost twice as much along with having to ask permission every step of the way before making the changes needed.
Then we have the million dollar roof; it leaks in not one but two different areas. The rain gutters are tied into the storm drain, the electric heaters (to melt the snow on the roof) to my knowledge have never worked and the service in the building is outdated! After all these issues we still have to answer the million dollar question…… How do we pay for the roof when it’s in need of replacement? This roof was replaced about 6 years ago at a cost of over 1 million dollars! Even if the roof (leaks included) can hold out for another 30 years, who’s going to pay for it……..? Remember my two adoring children I first mentioned? They will! Even if the roof 30 years down the road doesn’t cost one penny more than it did 6 years ago it will still cost $100,000 more than our current highway budget! All to replace a roof on one building!
You may also have heard “but you can buy it for a dollar.” True. The Town can, through special legislation, take over the Armory for $1, after we put ourselves through a lengthy process of paperwork and hand it off to our [State] Senator and Assemblyman. They will then need to find enough support in their houses. If they do ,it then goes on to the Governor to be signed. If the process is halted at anytime it fails.
The Armory, if not taken over by a governmental or not for profit agency, will auctioned off to the highest bidder, thus being placed back on the tax roll.
Folks I’m not against saving the Armory; I’m only for the protection of our taxpayers!
Keith Cipperly
Town Supervisor