by Kieron Kramer
In an interview after Monday night’s Grafton Planning Board meeting, Planning Board Chairman Tom Withcuskey was excited by the prospect that there seems to be a buyer for the Grafton Elementary School property. A local contractor, from Williamstown, who Withcuskey believes employs about 100 people in his construction business, wants to develop a fish farm on the 15.3 acre site. [private]The buyer was to appear at this meeting but ended up having to drive his wife through the snow to the Hartford Airport. Withcuskey said that the prospective buyer “will definitely be at next month’s meeting.”
The buyer, his project manager, Withcuskey, Grafton Town Supervisor Ray Darling, the realtor for the Berlin Central School District, from Prudential, and BCS Head of Buildings and Grounds, Cyril Grant, met at the School on Wednesday for a walk-through. “It’s a go,” the buyer said. Withcuskey said that the prospective buyer will definitely make an offer to the Berlin Central School District, which has been trying since January 2012 to off-load the property to the Town of Grafton for $1. “This gets the ball rolling,” Withcuskey said.
A Quick Response By The BCSD Is Needed
Withcuskey’s greatest concern is that the School Board will not take advantage of this offer in a timely manner. The buyer has a timeline to meet; the construction season restarts in earnest in May. “This is a win-win situation for the Town and for the School District,” Withcuskey said. The procedure required to facilitate the sale of public property to a private investor is a consideration, but since the District has put both the Grafton and Stephentown Elementary schools on the market, one would expect that the District is ready to move ahead on this sale. “They should hold a special meeting if they have to,” said Withcuskey.
The Plan
The buyer’s plan, according to Withcuskey, is to build a four acre building in which the fish would be raised. Tilapia, catfish, sea bass, trout and sturgeon, which will be “milked for caviar” in Withcuskey’s words, will be raised. At the beginning 5,000 fingerlings a week per species will be needed. The buyer expects to ship 600 metric tons of fish per year. He will also install 1½ acres of solar panel arrays that will produce about 1 megawatt of electricity to sell back to the grid. This will offset some of the cost of the power needs of the fish farm which, obviously, will be running 24/7/365.
Sad Fish
Withcuskey added that according to the buyer, the fish have to be harvested “in a certain way” or the fish that remain will lose their appetite. This should give pause to the casual fisherman.
“This is a real high tech operation; he’s got a plan,” Withcuskey said, estimating that it might require about a million dollars in investment. He said that the buyer studied this in college and may have owned or worked in a fish farm in Virginia at one time. The present school building will be renovated for office space for the fish farm and, maybe, for the buyer’s construction business which he may move to the site.
A Golden Opportunity
There are a number of elements that make this project compelling to Withcuskey:
• it is environmentally sound because the only exhaust will be water vapor from the fish house and the fish waste will be removed and used as fertilizer;
• it utilizes reusable energy;
• it provides a sustainable food source;
• it puts the property on the tax roll, and
• it is expected to provide about 18 jobs locally.
The buyer has “very expensive plans drawn up,” and Withcuskey is so convinced that this is a serious project that needs to be expedited that he has already contacted the DEC and the Fish and Wildlife Service, which is the permitting agency, and the County Health Department about it. “There were no red flags,” he said. He has spoken to the Grafton Assessor. He will speak to both District 5 County Legislators, to County Executive Kathy Jimino and to Chris Gibson, US Congressman for the 19 District, in the hopes of getting some leads on financial incentives for a green business like this one will be. It is in keeping with other high tech developments in the County and may draw other investors in high tech projects to Grafton to go along with the wind power facility on Stuffle Street and this solar powered fish farm, Withcuskey thinks.
To help speed things along, Withcuskey has gotten a determination from attorney for the Town Sal Ferlazzo that if the buyer shows up at the February Planning Board meeting with a signed contract to purchase the property the Planning Board can accept his application for a site plan review and schedule a public hearing on the matter. “This is a golden opportunity for the Town, “ Withcuskey said.
A Row Over A ROW
In January of 2012 a public hearing was held regarding the lot line adjustment applied for by the Billingses for their property on Agan Way off of Shaver Pond Road. Four land owners, John and Patrice Nash, Leo and Marie Carroll, Thomas Pascucci and the Billings, agreed to accept a NY State Supreme Court ruling to settle their property line disputes. The disputed land was divided equally among the abutters. Of the landowners only Leo Carroll appeared at the public hearing in January 2012, at the Planning Board meeting in December when the lot line adjustment application was accepted and at this hearing, a year after the first hearing.
According to Withcuskey, the sticking point is a shed on the Billings property that impinges 10 feet into the 25 foot right of way (ROW) that Carroll and Nash use for access to their properties. The Nashes have a dwelling on their property; Carroll does not. During the court proceedings the lawyer for Billings, James Schultz, stipulated that the shed was on Billings’ land, and the agreement arranged by the court included that fact. Carroll stated during Monday’s hearing that there was no survey map presented to the court that would clarify the location of the Billings shed which he maintains is not on the Billings property but on the right of way. Schultz displayed a survey map at Monday’s hearing, drawn to the court’s boundary line settlement, which he also said conforms to the tax map for the last four years. The map shows that the shed is on Billings’ property, which means he doesn’t have to move it. The shed is also on the right of way.
The concept that was not explicitly stated is that a right of way always exists on somebody’s property – otherwise you wouldn’t need it. In this case the right of way where the shed is exists on Billings’ land. So the shed is on Billings’ land and on the right of way. If the right of way is filed with the County then the users have a legal right to pass over the owner’s land, but they do not own the right of way.
Withcuskey stated that issues with the shed or the fences that Carroll said Billings also put up or lack of neighborliness in general is a civil matter and not under the purview of the Planning Board. To this effect a lengthy resolution approving the boundary line adjustment was read by Withcuskey during the regular meeting. It stated that “an Environmental Assessment Form was provided by the applicant and the requirements of the subdivision regulations of the Town of Grafton have been met by said subdivision.” The Town Planning Board determined that the lot line adjustment does not have a significant impact on the environment and issued a negative declaration under SEQRA. One of the conditions the resolution includes is “That the final plan incorporate the terms and conditions of the Planning Board through a Note on said plat to the effect that all parties affected by said lot adjustment agree that the Town of Grafton and its Planning Board take no responsibility for the location of the A frame shed which appears to be in part currently located on the land of Billings and located within the 25 foot right of way easement/access leading to the lands of Nash and Carroll. The Town does not approve or ratify the location of this structure within the right of way except that the Town reserves the right to pursue all legal rights in the event the right of way is hereafter blocked and is not sufficiently large enough to allow emergency vehicles to respond to emergency requests. The parties agree that the continued placement of the A frame shed is a private matter between the parties, who agree to permit access to the lands of Nash and Carroll over the area of the easement as provided in the parties’ deeds.”
According to Withcuskey, who went up to the site with Grafton Fire Chief and Planning Board Member Jim Goyer, the ROW is wide enough for access by emergency response vehicles.
In the regular meeting the Board voted 3-0 to approve the lot line adjustment with Withcuskey, Goyer and Board Member Arthur Surprise voting in the affirmative. Newly appointed Board Member Pete Gundrum, attending his first meeting, abstained. He was appointed at the January 2 Organizational meeting to replace Scott Newell who resigned in December. Board Member Owen Grandjean was absent. For his part, Carroll took this outcome in relatively good spirits.
There was no other business, old or new, conducted at the meeting. Because Presidents’ Day is Monday, February 18, the next Grafton Planning Board Meeting will be held on February 25 at 7 pm.[/private]