Letter to the Editor

Town of Montgomery IDA

By Anthony Geras, Town of Montgomery
Posted 7/23/20

The Town of Montgomery’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA) voted on Tuesday, July 14 whether to pay a vendor to conduct a corridor study for business development along Rte. 17K from I-84 Exit …

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Letter to the Editor

Town of Montgomery IDA

Posted

The Town of Montgomery’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA) voted on Tuesday, July 14 whether to pay a vendor to conduct a corridor study for business development along Rte. 17K from I-84 Exit 6 to the Village of Montgomery and including lands around the Orange County Airport, funding it with $110K of Montgomery taxpayer’s money. The IDA allowed Mary Beth Bianconi of Delaware Engineering (DCP), and board member of the Orange County Partnership (OCP), to deliver her presentation on the proposed study, but it did not allow for public comment from town residents. The meeting was open to the public but not open to public comment, and observers that spoke out of order would not be recognized. Instead, the IDA allowed for written statements to be submitted, and the IDA acted as intermediaries between the townspeople and DCP, filtering which questions would be asked to Bianconi before their vote was cast. The IDA, by a 6-1 split decision, voted to hire DCP as a vendor to complete the study.

Denying townspeople participation in the IDA’s processes and filtering which concerns to address is an abuse against accountability and transparency by this government body. These issues need to be addressed by the town to avoid further strain between the IDA and the people it serves. If a letter is written to the town government, it should be read verbatim at the hearing. People should be allowed to call in and be given time for public comment. If the IDA’s concern is that the number of letters or public comment would burden its ability to act, then it should be acknowledged not that the townspeople are being burdensome to that body, but that the IDA’s considerations are burdening townspeople enough to address the body, then accommodations should be made for more robust and thorough public comment.

Residents are concerned that the comprehensive plan we fought to get started will be dragged through bureaucratic mud, and possibly take years to be ratified, whereas this study will be given the inside track and used as a realty map much more quickly. If it comes into conflict with the comprehensive plan in the future, it is up to the town board to decide which takes precedence and if the comprehensive plan would be amended to adopt the study. That is a major issue. The comprehensive plan committee is made of appointed townspeople and an engineering firm that the town has already paid $90K, whereas the corridor study will be done solely at the discretion of DCP, with the influence and encouragement of the OCP. While townspeople want to designate land usage to additionally factor in quality of life for residents, since they have the vested interest of living here, the DCP and OCP’s motivation is to sell the land being studied to businesses to develop. That is a recipe for conflict which could have been avoided if the comprehensive plan committee were allowed to do its job before ‘studies’ threaten to undermine its work. Again, the IDA already approved the $110K to be spent for Delaware Engineering’s corridor study and did not allow for the public comments this action deserves.

The fact that this professional services agreement with DCP was resolved so quickly with no hesitation to spend $110K on it, and the IDA very publicly suppressed public comment on it, should alarm every person in the town. You don’t spend that kind of money if you don’t plan on capitalizing on it, and Montgomery residents, who should be the most respected stakeholder in these processes, are being treated like inconveniences. If the IDA truly cares for the ‘prosperity and standard of living’ for Montgomery, then allow for public commenting in future business.