18 The Altamont Enterprise - Thursday, November 20, 2008
BEAT THE HIGH COST OF HEATING ... CZAG defunct as three offiveresign
^^JEfew' construction," Reilly said. Sub- claimed t h a t Kormos h a d a
JohnO'Pezio (Continued from Page 1)
stantial construction would need conflict of interest as a member
awe
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Reilly, Margaret Neri, and Debo-
rah Baron appointed Elliott,
Biscone, and Robinson, respec-
tively. CZAC members. J. Michael
to be a structure built above a
foundation, he said.
The developer could apply for
of the committee because of Ko-
rmos's attempt to develop the
property
Naughton and Kormos remain. a building permit now, but a After the town hoard voted last
S t e r n e " Coal Dolin appointed Naughton,. and permit would require planning week to extend the moratorium
(rice & nut coal) Republican town board member board approval, he said. and to take no. further action
Auto Burn P i H ^ ^ ^ M H l * 5 to 170,000 Douglas" LaGrange appointed "That process would take well against Kormos, Robinson said
BTUs that she would still work with
4 to 5 days I^I^^^H^l Kormos. over a year," he said. The town
More Economical I " > f i | ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ V J ' * No Chimney Dolin said Wednesday that he board could revise the zoning, if her, Kormos said.
than Pellets jt^^^^^^^mM needed did not yet know what would it deemed the revision appropri- Upon hearing that Robinson
Heat fori/2 the become of CZAC. He said that ate, he said. and Elliott had resigned, Kormos
he had not had a conversation "We are under no threat of said that she was disappointed.
Price of Oil
with other town board members Sphere being able to sneak one Kormos said that their be-
about the committee. in," Reilly said; "The town has havior was unprofessional and
"childlike," and that they had
"picked up their marbles and
gone home."
She said that the resigning
Sons "Do nothing. There's no absolute need."
CZAC members were hot abid-
ing by what the town board
FUEL OIL • KEROSENE • DIESEL FUEL decided.
• OFF ROAD DIESEL "There are plenty of conflicts
• SUMMER FILL-UP SPECIAL •
of interest to go around," Kormos
said. "My involvement two years
ago is, frankly, less of a conflict
WS— _ — .
Because Biscone's letter had enormous flexibility in that re- than the others'."
* BUY FOR CASH AND SAVE! * not arrived then, Dolin said gard, and a significant power. A release issued by NS4SED,
t h a t CZAC could "carry on That's why the planning board which was co-founded by Kor-
* Special quantity discounts • with its work and get it done felt we could vote against the mos, claims that Elliott, Biscone,
Call for Today's Price I t J | y ^ \ V\ 51® Cash Only as expeditiously as possible so moratorium and still do the zon- and RobinsOn all have conflicts
the town board can do its job. I ing we need." of interest. The release claims
436-1050 IVI Dll 436-1050 don't think these resignations \ Reilly also said that the town that Elliott, as a surveyor, repre-
should distract [from the work]. could have required the devel- sented a large-property Owner in
It still* presently, has a.quorum. oper to do: a traffic or a develop- the commercial district this year.
I don't see why it can't continue ment study, thereby saving the It also claims that Biscone's son
to operate." town money. represented a cell tower company
Commercial future "That would be a risk Sphere that applied for a special use
Biscone told The Enterprise would assume," he said. , permit in the zone. Finally, the
Wednesday that his resignation "People can expect the town release claims that Robinson, a
letter "will be forthcoming." He to continue to take steps to see real estate attorney, represented
said, "I will be resigning from the we're protected," Reilly said. another property owner who
committee. I think it's defunct. "None of us want to be overrun sought a special-use permit in
I don't know how it can keep by retail." the commercial district. Robin-
operating with Liz Kormos as a
member."
Does the economy have you concerned? Biscone said that he wants the
zoning to be decided in the best
Wondering if you have any choices? interest of the town.
"I have no opinion as to what "I offered to resign basically because
Northern Funding Corp. has been in business since 1999. should happen with the zoning," of what Rich [ReiUy] said."
he said, adding that the deci-
Michael Soldevere has over 20 years of financial experience. sions should not be "influenced
• I offer FREE consultations and credit reports. by outside political reasons or a
group lobbying for a particular
• I can help first time homebuyers. thing."
• I can refinance your mortgage to a lower interest rate. Hundreds of citizens joined a Reilly said that he wants to son also communicated with the
• I can assist you with debt consolidation. grassroots group, New Scotland^ preserve the rural character melon property owners' attorney
• I can consolidate your 1st and 2 nd mortgages into one, ers 4 Sound Economic Develop- of the town, but that the town while investigating Kormos, the
ment, to lobby for a moratorium board has an obligation to ensure release said.
low rate mortgage. on commercial building while the that the commercial zone, which Kormos told The Enterprise
committee did its work. covers only 3 percent of the en- that CZAC's work could con-
Call Michael Soldevere Biscone said that the town has tire town, is used effectively to tinue;
several options as it continues to preserve the town's commercial "We were within a meeting
look at the commercial zoning, tax base. or two of making a decision, at
: 1407 Rt. 9, Bldg 1, Suite 7 Office: (518) 371-6886 x302 including to "do nothing. There's "It's a balance," he said. least °f the size cap issue," she
\ Clifton Park* NY 12065 Fax: (518)371-5103 no absolute need," he said. Kormos a n d said. Kormos andNS4SED sup-
Fnorthernfc@aol.com Cell: (518)331-3600 If the town did nothing, he overlapping i n t e r e s t s port a 50,000-square-foot cap
• ftiUcluiei Soidevere : ~'' • said, it could "let the moratorium Members of New Scotlanders on commercial buildings. "The
Vice President. Specializing in FHA, VA, Conventional & Construction Loans phase out and let the planning 4 Sound Economic Develop- work on this issue has been 90-
Owner Registered Mortgage Broker -N.Y.S,Banking Department and zoning boards handle these ment, which opposes large-scale to 95- percent completed," said
matters and take it out of poli- commercial development in the Kormos.
tics." town, supported Kormos during She also said that, because
As t h e committee s t a n d s a recent battle over a conflict-of- Robinson stepped down^ "I as-
now, he said, political influence interest charge. The charge was sume, at this point, I am chair
Come visit us at our could be exerted. Keeping the to be brought before the town's of CZAC.?
decision-making outside of the board of ethics, Which was found RobinsOn: "They're like
convenient location with all elected realm, as with appointed to be non-existent. children h a v i n g a t a n t r u m "
planning and zoning boards, Last week; the town board Robinson said that she re-
of our great services! "seems to be the best," Biscone voted to take no further action signed because the advisory
, said. "That's the entire way the against Kormos. NS4SED mem- process has been "tainted."
system has worked" and one of bers asked Kormos to stay on the In her resignation letter, Rob-
the most "viable options of any commercial zoning committee. inson wrote that the matter "has
that work," he said. "1 offered to resign basically be- taken on a political aspect that
"My first step is to reach out cause of what Rich [Reilly] said," defeats the purpose of having an
to Mike Welti, the independent Kormos told The Enterprise. At independent advisory board." She
planner that we brought in," last Wednesday's town board goes on, "No matter what CZAC
Reilly said. Welti works with meeting, Reilly had said that he decides, there are members of
Behan Planning Associates of would take the alleged conflict the town government that will
Saratoga. Reilly said that he of interest under consideration make their final decision based
• Tune-ups • Oil Change * Brakes • S h o c k s • Struts wants to know if Welti thinks if the CZAC recommendation upon what they believe to be
,"we are at, the point where we on commercial zoning followed politically expedient as proven
• Diagnostic Services* Alignments • Radiator Flush can bring it to the public and go Kormos's views. by some of the board members'
• BG Transmission Flush • NYS Inspections through Out standard approval "I have put forward industry- obvious reluctance to offend the
process, [getting] feedback from standard, factual information" NS4SED audience by recognizing
the public and feedback from the with demographic analysis us- Liz Kormbs's textbook conflict of
planning board." ing national sources, Kormos interest."
He said that, without speak- said. "This is what I do for a Robinson disagreed with Do-
W e L o o k ForWard To Serving You! ing to Welti, he thought that the living..I work with people to tell lin's assertion that trust be-
town board could make a decision them what is feasible, what is tween board members was not
&jo*M0*Mr SCHOHARIE «***?* and revise the zoning before the yiable.;.The numbers are what a concern.
^ " - ' 299Rte.443 recently extended moratorium they ar^." "There is a trust issue here,"
ends on Match 1, 2009. Even Kormos, a real estate broker, Robinson said. "I didn't think 1 1
295-6443 without the moratorium, he said, was a partner with a team that could do a service for the town
the town can update its zoning. proposed a smaller-scale retail with someone I didn't trust." She
f'wil OF*EN5DAYS ^ "If you look at New York law, development on t h e [Bender told The Enterprise that Kormos
A WEEK the landowners have no vested melon farm property in ,2006. had admitted initially that she
rights in zoning without substan- That offer was rejected. acted as a one-time consultant;
lyion.-Fri.MySffti - 5 prn tial investment and substantial CZAC Chairwoman Robinson (Continued on next page)