Thursday, October 11, 2012

10/11/12 CROTON YACHT CLUB RESPONDS TO MR. BRUCE KAUDERER...AGAIN

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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

3 comments:

  1. 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.

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  2. The 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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