By DIANE VALDEN
ANCRAM—Many in the crowd of residents who showed up at the July 20 board meeting gave the board a piece of their minds about how town money was spent in May.
Some said they didn’t know the money was up for grabs in the first place.
The discussion started after Strategic Investment Committee (SIC) Chair Will Weiss gave a report about where his committee stands with its recommendations for town investment opportunities in connection with things that will be of future benefit to the town.
Back in May, the SIC recommended that the town invest $35,000 to get the ball rolling on dealing with the lack-of- local-affordable-housing issue. The committee also recommended that a $67,500 grant be given to the Ancram Opera House (AOH) to support the construction of a new community room which is part of a larger expansion/renovation project ($750,000) to create the Ancram Center for the Arts at the existing AOH location and the property next door at 1326 County Route 7. When the board voted on the recommendations, all were in favor of the housing appropriation. But only Councilmembers Amy Gold, Bonnie Hundt and Supervisor Art Bassin voted in favor of the allocation to the AOH project. Councilmembers David Boice and Hugh Clark were opposed.
At the July meeting, after former supervisor/former town justice Tom Dias asked for some documentation on the SIC’s current considerations, Councilmember Boice asked why the board was not given any written information about the SIC proposals before the May vote. He said he had heard from “a bunch of people” who were not happy with the donation decisions the board made in May. He said he questions the board’s decisions because people ask him those questions.
Ancram Hotel owner Donna Hoyt asked the board why she, as the owner of a business in the center of town, is never asked for her opinion about hamlet proposals. She recounted that the town “forced” her to take down a building in the center of town (the old Porter’s Store) which the town condemned. She said the town forced her to spend money during Covid, that she was not given money. She said her home assessment was raised 80% in the recent town-wide revaluation. Yet the town “is giving money away to a non-profit which doesn’t contribute anything financially to this town,” while her business does in the form of taxes. She wanted to know why.
‘Government is not a spectator sport!’
Ancram Councilmember Hugh Clark
Disagreement ensued about whether or not there had been any information disseminated before the board vote about the AOH project. Presentations about the project were made at prior meetings by both Mr. Weiss and AOH Co-founder Paul Ricciardi.
Terry Boyles said there still remains a “crappy” building in the hamlet that the town has not forced the owner to demolish. He then spoke about veterans, saying if the town can “spend money foolishly like this” it should be able to put up signs to honor local veterans and not make the veterans’ families pay for them.
Councilmember Hundt told those present that she has been working on the housing issue for four years and the SIC has been working on identifying investment projects for two years. “It isn’t just the Town Board handing out money, it’s been a long process,” she said.
After more talk about rising taxes and how involved the process was leading up to the board vote on the SIC recommendations, Mr. Dias said in light of the other investment possibilities that have been mentioned, clearly the town “needs to do a better job of reaching out.”
Resident Jim Stickle spoke about how people should donate to the charities of their choice and suggested that the vote on the grant to the AOH was politically motivated. He also wondered if the SIC was made up of a “good mix” of local residents since he had not heard anything previously about the hamlet improvement initiatives that were mentioned.
Other suggestions for how the grant money could have been spent were to give it: back to the taxpayers, to seniors or youth organizations, to small businesses and/or put money in the highway fund to fix roads which will benefit everybody.
AOH Board of Directors (BOD) President Cathy Redlich, who also serves as a town justice, said that Jeffrey Mousseau and Paul Ricciardi are co-founders of the Opera House, not owners, and that AOH is a not-for-profit governed by bylaws and the BOD. She said much information was provided to the SIC during the application process, two presentations were made to the town board and the AOH was encouraged to apply for the grant.
She said the AOH was not trying to take money away from any of the good causes mentioned at the meeting and that it is her understanding that the Town still has “a big pot of money” that people can apply for. She said the money is not a “discretionary” gift but is specifically designated for the construction of a community room that will be free to any town group that wants to use it for meetings or events.
In answer to a request for comment on his vote against the AOH grant, Councilmember Hugh Clark said he had voted no after giving the matter a lot of consideration. He said it was a 49% to 51% decision. Declining further comment about the vote, Mr. Clark said he wanted to comment on “why so many of you who are here tonight have not been here every month.” Disagreeing with Mr. Dias about a lack of communication, Mr. Clark said sternly, Mr. Bassin puts out informal email reports about what goes on at meetings every month in addition to the formal minutes submitted by the town clerk. Those are two points that convey everything. “If you sit back, you get what you got. Government is not a spectator sport!”
Supervisor Bassin suggested that if people had been paying attention earlier in the process, they would have had a chance to comment on the donation proposals.
When calling the hour-long debate to a close, the supervisor said he sensed the anger and sympathized with it. He said he appreciated all the different points of view and thanked everyone for coming.
To contact Diane Valden email dvalden@columbiapaper.com
