GOUVEIA PROPERTY COSTS GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATED BY MAYOR & COMPANY, JOEL GINGOLD'S 7/1/15 GAZETTE LETTER

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GOUVEIA PROPERTY COSTS SIGNIFICANTLY UNDERESTIMATED, JOEL GINGOLD'S 7/1/15 GAZETTE LETTER; please take a moment to read this letter from Croton United's Joel Gingold. After all, it's your money.

Editor's note: The costs outlined in Mr. Gingold's letter do not include the board's recent bonding of $200,000 for the property (as opposed to simply subtracting it from the million dollar donation). It is allegedly for improvements to the house, ADA compliance, etc. When asked, the board was short on details about exactly what the $200,000 plus bond was for.

MR. GINGOLD'S LETTER FOLLOWS: 

To the Editor,

I was not able to attend Monday’s village board work session on the Gouveia property, but I did review the documents published in preparation for that meeting.

We have had title to the property for only a few weeks and it is already clear that, as many of us suspected, the cost estimate presented by the board, when it rammed through acquisition of the property in January, grossly underestimated the actual costs incurred to date.  And this by a board that has dislocated its shoulders patting itself on the back for its fiscal acumen.

There are only two ways this could have happened.  Either whoever prepared the estimate was incompetent (or lazy), or the board knew very well that the published figures were far too low, but was afraid that if the real numbers were made public, there would be a public outcry against the acquisition.  I think I know what happened, but you can form your own opinion.  A few cases in point.

The estimate prices the alarm system at $2,000.  The actual cost was nearly $9,000.

The estimate allows $2,000 per year for tree service, assuming that the DPW would do some of the work.  We have already spent almost $15,000 on tree trimming.  Perhaps in future years the $2,000 may prove to be closer to reality, but then why wasn’t the initial tree work included in the estimate? READ THE REST HERE https://www.facebook.com/notes/croton-united/the-latest-from-joel-gingold-on-gouveia-park-spending/469532806537089

UPDATED 3/6/18  http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2018/03/highlights-only-3118-gouveia-gazette.html