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ROTTERDAM
Two options eyed for safety building Town Board has choice to lease or purchase
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter



    Rotterdam’s decision on whether to buy or lease a new public safety building could hinge on whether county officials choose to site a planned centralized dispatch system within the facility.
    Two proposals presented to members of the Town Board this week involve renovating vacant buildings and both include space to house the county’s 4,500-squarefoot dispatch center. But one proposal offers to lease the new facility to Rotterdam, while the other would allow the town to buy the property. The Galesi Group is offering to renovate a wing of Building 50, a sprawling office space off Westcott Road that once housed the regional headquarters of the Department of Environmental Conservation. The renovation would include about 33,400 square feet for Rotterdam’s justice court and police department, which are now housed in a 25,000-square-foot former school building on Princetown Road.
    The renovation could also include space for the dispatch center. Only a fraction of the three-wing, 80,000-square-foot building is occupied, meaning there’s additional space the town could use.
    “We designed this for expansion space,” Galesi Chief Operating Officer David Buicko told board members Wednesday. “We still have room for Town Hall if you want.”
    Buicko said the cost of the lease would depend on what type of renovation the town is interested in. He said the lease would be similar to one the county now has for its Department of Social Services building on Broadway.
    The county began a 20-year, $16 million lease on that building in 2009, with the option to buy the building at the end. The average yearly cost of the lease was reported to be $16.99 per square foot.
    The other proposal, from Highbridge Commercial Development, offers a renovation of the former Grand Union building on Hamburg Street. The project would produce a combined 40,669 square feet for the police, courts and dispatch center, including a 5,000-square-foot warehouse the department could use for evidence storage.
    John Roth, a principal of the company, estimated the facility as designed would cost about $8.3 million. He said the advantage of owning the building is that the town could fix its costs.
    “Why pay me a profi t when you could own it and never have to pay out that profit,” he said.
    Supervisor Harry Buffardi said the town could save as much as $260,000 annually if the county decides to site the dispatch center in Rotterdam. He said $100,000 would come from a lease with the county.
    But the timeframe for the county to decide where to locate the center is running short. The centralized dispatch system must be operational by October for the county to use a $1 million state grant.
    County officials put out a request for proposals for the project in January and are now in the process of choosing a site. County Legislator Tony Jasenski said a decision should come within a month.
    “We’re looking at making a decision in April,” he said.
    Rotterdam’s police and court building in the former Jefferson School has been a source of irritation for years. Police have complained the building is inadequate for their operations, while the town’s bustling justice court is routinely fi lled beyond capacity. ....................................>>>>.................................>>>>.................................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00904&AppName=1

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Rotterdam search down to 2 proposals
By Paul Nelson
Published 8:06 pm, Saturday, March 30, 2013


A nearly decade-long effort to get a more modern home for the police department and municipal court system appears to be picking up steam, but it remains unclear if Schenectady County will lease space in the facility for its central dispatch system.

During a committee meeting last week, Town Board members heard competing proposals from John Roth of Highbridge Development LLC and David Buicko with The Galesi Group, two well-know Schenectady-based companies.

The Galesi Group project would entail renovating Building 50 at Rotterdam Industrial Park to include the special features police and courts require, including a holding cell and chambers for the municipal judge. The work would take about 6 months, after which Rotterdam would lease the roughly 33,000-square-foot property from Galesi, said Buicko, Galesi's chief operating officer.

"We're going to give them a cost-effective alternative to staying where they are," said Buicko.

Buicko said discussing cost would be premature because Galesi currently has only a conceptual floor plan. He said the proposed site is "a great centralized location."

The Highbridge plan calls for restoring the vacant 4.6-acre Grand Union building on Hamburg Street and then selling it to the town for several million dollars. It would have about 250 parking spaces.

Roth, Highbridge CEO, said the plan would help revitalize the area...................>>>>......................>>>>...........Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/loca.....44.php#ixzz2P7Ck1nH9

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wouldn't it cost the taxpayers MUCH less to rehab the existing building and scrap the central dispatch?

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John Roth, a principal of the company, estimated the facility as designed would cost about $8.3 million.

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LOCAL NEWS
ROTTERDAM : Business park, town search for lost water
Meter readings don’t match usage
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
More than 31.6 million gallons of water was pumped into the Rotterdam Corporate Park last year, but no one seems to know exactly where the majority of it went.
   The amount used — about enough to fill 48 Olympic-sized swimming pools — resulted in an $14,732 water bill from the town to the park’s owner, the Galesi Group. And because the town bases sewer service rates on water usage, Galesi was also assessed a staggering $127,723 sewage bill.
   Though the park has plenty of large tenants — such as Railex USA and Price Chopper’s frozen foods distribution center — none of the companies leasing space have high water demands. The amount of water metered at the park from the town’s Water District 5 in 2012 was more than twice what was registered in 2011 and nearly nine times the amount recorded in 2010.
   “The number is astronomical,” town Supervisor Harry Buffardi said of the 2012 water usage. “It’s obviously more than a leaky faucet somewhere.” BILL CONTESTED
   The problem apparently came to light after Galesi contested its utility bill last year, when the town assessed the company $3,531 for water and $58,160 for sewage. After a year of nonpayment, unpaid water and sewer assessments are forwarded to Schenectady County for collection through property taxes, in accordance with town code.
   Town officials met with the company to discuss the problem Tuesday. Deputy Supervisor Wayne Calder said the meeting was among several the town has had with the company in an effort to get to the bottom of the high usage.
   “Things haven’t changed over there to a degree that would have caused this that we’re aware of,” he said following the meeting.
   The only thing clear right now is that the town’s sewage treatment plant on West Campbell Road isn’t contending with tens of millions of gallons of sewage flowing from the corporate park. Calder said the degree of effluent associated with that level of water usage would almost assuredly cause capacity problems for the plant.
   “It would be an issue,” he said.
   Part of the issue could fall on the aging infrastructure at the sprawling 245-acre park. Parts of the park and its infrastructure date back to the early 20th century, when the property served as an Army depot.
   David Buicko, Galesi’s chief operating officer, said it’s entirely possible some of the water use recorded by the town simply leaked from pipes and returned to the underlying aquifer from which it was pumped. He said there’s also a chance the town’s meters are incorrectly gauging the usage or that another user has been inadvertently tied into the complex network of piping.
   “There’s a variety of scenarios,” he said.
   Buicko said Galesi’s engineers are now trying to find the source of the inflated readings. He remains confident Galesi and the town will reach an amicable solution to resolve the issue or any overpayment discovered.
   “We want to pay our fair share,” he said. “We don’t want to subsidize things we don’t use.”
   In the event the company is found to have overpaid its water and sewage bill, either the town or county could be responsible for a refund. Unpaid water and sewage bills later collected by the county are forwarded back to Rotterdam, but it is unclear whether this has occurred with any of Galesi’s bills.
   “As with any overpayment, based on error, pursuant to court order or stipulated settlement, it would be up to the municipal entity receiving the overpayment to refund that portion of the bill that has been overpaid,” Town Attorney Kate McGuirl said in an email.
   Rotterdam may also begin monitoring the flow of sewage leaving the park so future errors don’t occur.
   Buffardi stressed the discussions with Galesi have been positive so far and both parties are hoping to reach an amicable solution.
   “They are our second largest taxpayer,” he said. “They are certainly good neighbors to us.”