Proposed Sale of 19 Acres of Town Land

Comments of Councilwoman Doris Stahl
September 12, 2000

Re the sale of the Town's 19 acres: located on the north of rt 6 in Carmel, a bit west of Trinity Lutheran , & east of old rt 6-- we've got a Butler building there now, used by our High- way Dept for salt storage, etc. Property acquire aprx 20 yrs ago via condemnation for "public use"- composting of septic waste & garbage, along with recycling. This plan never materialized due to fact 100's of people came to each town board meeting till the plan was dropped. Then, in the mid to late 80's,Landau & Shapiro, from whom the piece was taken, wanted to develop their remaining 65+ acres which surrounded the 19 & offered the Town a swap deal, they'd give us some of their land in exchange for a big chunk of ours. We said no-- it wasn't a good deal- ours was better land since it fronted rt 6 & had more level land as opposed to their quite sloped parcel. True, we haven't done anything with it except build a Butler building on it, which initially was to serve the original recycle project. To my knowledge, the Town has never advertised the land for sale-- although they've had appraisals on it in the past-- Now, the Centennial Golf course abuts the Landau & Shapiro properties & Mr.
Camarta envisions a Hotel at the top of the property, abutting the golf course. His plan is to buy our property, demolish the Butler building, build a road on it up to the hotel, &also provide shopping, & restaurants on it & the remaining 65 acres. Sounds great.  He's offered several options. we sell all of it, with no property in exchange, or all of it with 6 acres of his in exchange, or all of it with 12 acres of his in exchange. The problem is what he's offering is the same sloped land we refused to accept from Landau and Shapiro. Now if we sell all of it, where will we be able to provide public land, "recreation" for our residents ( I'm excited about a YMCA which won't happen if we sell it all) - if we exchange ours for the very sloped land, we're limited--- my suggestion the Town Board walk the land to see what's being proposed wasn't considered necessary, 1 TB member said if he saw a Topographical map that would be sufficient. ( We haven't seen a Topo of the land yet though). Reed Library needs a place for expansion-- we need another IN LINE Skating rink, a playground, etc. RECREATION for our Town. Is it possible to offer these amenities on sloped land? One TB member says he favors sloped land, if built upon both 1st & 2nd stories could be accessed considered as 1st floors.

So you got a breather, I pressed enter before I was finished !!
We have another situation-- The DEP wants us to build a real wooden salt shed-- (DEMANDS IT) We have 1 in Mahopac at the Highway garage, but we need another 1 in the Hamlet of Carmel. The Board decided to build it behind the Grand Union, on Carmel Sewer #2 property. It needs approx 2 acres, and will cost (estimated) 175,000 for site preparation, and another 275-300,000 for the structure itself. HOWEVER, I was mentioning to the TB that I was speaking with a wastewater treatment operator, who said that if we don't Divert our wastewater to Peekskill, (Diversion plan) we may have to build a Microfiltration Plant for sewer #2 at the end of the treatment process. I was wondering if there's enough land left for this filtration plant if we build a salt shed there, but no one had an answer. I also asked a Legislator if the County had any land in the hamlet we could use for a salt shed, the answer was no. But-- we still have the 19 acres -- solid ground also, not a wetland fringe as the St. Michaels Brook site behind the Grand Union appears to be.
So, my opinion on selling the land on September 20th, with no answers to so many questions is absolutely not---
In addition, Mr. Camarta says he doesn't want the 19 acres to be able to get to his proposed condominium site on the Centennial golf course (at the end of Kelly Road)- no, he will access it from Fair Street--- (so much easier) he also mentioned he could get to his hotel via his own 65 + acres. -- he also mentioned there is no guarantee he can lure a major hotel to the site--- Mr. Heelan is also somewhat involved with this project, I don't know what role he plays, but he came to a work session alone, while we were dealing with Mr. Camarta appearing very anxious the sale takes place & willing to up the original Camarta bid.
He's anxious to have the hotel come to Carmel rather than Southeast.
Now, if we take 12 acres of the sloped land and sell ours, we are offered 750,000. Oh, we can build a salt shed !!! with a bit left over. But no one can tell me that if we build the salt shed behind the Grand Union, we'll have room for the Microfiltration. (A TB member who works for the DEP said the filtration appears to be necessary if the diversion doesn't happen.)
Now , if you're confused you can come to Town Board meetings on the 13th and 20th, invite interested others, and ask questions. I have suggested a public hearing on this sale, but stand alone on that thought. Mr. Camarta wrote the contract for this sale, not the Town Board, telling us how much his down payment will be, where it's to be held, when we get the balance, etc. etc. And all these issues are to be settled at our Wednesday night work session, so we can vote on the sale on the 20th----- As things stand now, I must vote NO on this sale- I do hope the Public will express their opinions also. Thanks for bearing with me and this looooonngg letter.
My EMail address is DORISLE@AOL.com

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