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LETTER TO THE GAZETTE - CROTON YACHT CLUB RESPONDS TO MR. KAUDERER AGAIN
10/11-10/17/12
To the editor:
In response to Mr.
Kauderer’s letter to the Gazette editor published in week of September 6th
through September 12th. The Yacht Club would like to make the
following clarifications:
Mr. Kauderer is
correct in stating that the Yacht Club does not pay real estate taxes to the
Village. However, he fails to mention that the Yacht Club pays $12,622 to
Croton Harmon Schools and $273 to the Croton Library annually. Village tax
liability was determined by the Village when the club house was permitted and
placed on the property in 1996 and that determination may have been influenced
by the corporations not-for profit status.
Mr. Kauderer continues
to maintain the cost of the bulkhead replacement will increase the annual
village tax bill of every resident by 2%. His estimate is based upon the
Village engineering consultant’s preliminary design and cost estimate. Since
that time, there have been significant design changes and pre-construction
agreements made with the Yacht Club which should result in significant cost
savings. Until project bids are received, it is purely speculation as to the
overall tax implications of the project.
Mr. Kauderer’s master
plan to convert the existing clubhouse to a restaurant by the Village leasing
the building to a private restaurant operator is flawed on one significant
point. The Yacht Club owns the building! If the assumption is that we would
leave the structure behind if the lease is not renewed, consider these facts.
The clubhouse is a three sectioned modular structure, bolted together, which is
resting on 28 concrete columns and footings. Each modular section has the
original axles attached and the tow hitches are in storage. In short, this
structure could be removed from the property in a week’s time if we deem it
necessary.
With the Village’s
commitment to spend upwards of $18,000 for a consultant to perform a “Site
Evaluation and Potential Development Study” we urge the Village to revisit the
1997 “Greenway Vision Plan” whose waterfront development plan included a dining
area on the property to the north of the Yacht Club. The Yacht Club has
maintained all along that the property between the Yacht Club and Croton
Landing Park is a more suitable site for a restaurant because of its elevation.
Not including major weather events, the Yacht Club property floods out an
average of ten times a year during normal tide cycles.
The Yacht Club is
committed to working with the Village to minimize the cost of the bulkhead
replacement project. As taxpayers, we too are concerned with the cost of this
and all Village capital projects that will impact taxes in the future and we
are committed to do anything within reason to help minimize that impact.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Croton Yacht Club
Board of Directors,
Robert Bruce
Harvey Brill
Robert Dusconi
Ken Gabrielsen
Dennis Kooney
I never thought I'd say this but I think that once again, the common man is going to get shafted again. The Yacht Club is a great community building organization made up of REAL environmentalists, people who care about our vets, the river, those that try to protect it and certainly folks who aren't rich. What a shame that this village can't even be bothered asking its own citizens but prefers to write a check to a consultant instead. In fact we've been writing a lot of checks to a lot of the SAME consultants for years.
ReplyDeleteDepressing
ReplyDeleteThe same guy who told us Metro Enviro would cost thirty to fifty million dollars, it would later come in at 6 to 8. That's a big difference.
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