Newark Municipal Board meets
By John Zornow

Newark developers James Homburger and Robert Stanton appeared before the Newark Municipal Board on Tuesday to promote further development at the Silver Hill Technology Park.

A new program was launched in Albany this month by the Empire Development Agency, a State Industrial Development Group. The goal of the program is to have 30 pre-approved (shovel ready) sites for new industrial, commercial and warehouse distribution facilities. Empire Development is looking to inventory these sites, so to provide major candidates with parcels that have been 'pre-approved' as far as normal regulatory delays. Homburger and Stanton of Silver Hill feel that the former Stuart park site is a perfect fit for this program.

Municipal Board member Ed Greco asked the developers what was needed from the board. The answer was support. Stanton went on to say that the sites selected will receive up to a $50,000 matching grant each, for engineering, site, or infrastructure work required for readiness. Each applicant is required to submit evidence of it's ability to produce a $50,000 LOCAL MATCH at the time of filing. Stanton listed these items that were needed from the local sector for the program to fly:

1. Letters of support from the village, town, county, and any interested group.

2. Some portion of the commitment to the local match of $50,000.

3. Information support for drainage, sewer, water and other municipal agencies as forms are filled out and details are sorted.

4.Continuing support for the Thruway exit effort and, as needed, support with utilities and for electricity dual-sourcing and perhaps, the DOT for traffic controls and other enhancements.

The municipal board agreed to support the project in any way they could, and advised Silver Hill to approach village officials for funding participation.

In other business:

• Municipal Board members learned that a Geographical Informatonal System (GIS), underway since 1995, will need approximately $15,000 more funding to complete. Clark-Patterson Associates has offered to complete the project, which includes mapping of the cemeteries, water and sewer lines. The board agreed that the information system will be a valuable tool, and voted to hire Clark-Patterson.

• Jim Bridgeman, manager of Water, Sewer, Parks and Cemeteries, expressed his unhappiness with a report issued by Harris Associates, parts of which were included in an article in last week's Courier-Gazette.

Bridgeman scolded Harris as well as this reporter, indicating that the report was misleading to the taxpayers, and not fair to the boards.

Bridgeman took issue with Harris's charge that there was no meter replacement program going on in the village and that meters were not being upgraded or repaired sufficiently.

In fact, said Bridgeman, "...Over $300,000 has been spent in the last three years on meters." He added, "The municipal board, as well as the village board, has committed a great deal of money to repairs and replacement of meters."

According to Harris' report, the bulk of the money was spent on new meters, not replacements. It states that since 1992, new installations for the Newark Housing Authority, trailer parks, and apartment dwellings "reduces the number of meters replaced due to age and poor performance to about 90 per year." Harris concluded that at that rate, the system "turn-over time" would be every 42 years - even though the meter rents collected "should allow for all meters to be replacedevery 10 years.

Harris said, "I still feel that I am correct, and have records to back it up."

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