The apocalypse is coming...and there's nothing Mayor Jennings or the Albany Common Council can do about it. To make a long story short, The City of Albany gets approximately $10,000,000 a year from its Rapp Rd. landfill. After an ongoing expansion, the landfill will reach full capacity in 2021 leaving behind a substantial hole in the City's budget. By the Mayor's logic, the Common Council needs to simply vote to approve expenditures to keep the expansion going so we can put this current chapter behind us and BEGIN to plan for a post Rapp Rd. future. The Common Council, in its infinite wisdom, seeks a plan moving forward as if the Mayor is the only one capable of developing such a plan.
By the Mayor's logic, The City of Albany is not alone in its predicament because other current partner municipalities will be in a similar predicament and therefore, through the strength of their collective will and capital, will bond together to utilize some unknown future trash-to-money magic which will herald a bright new day for the City.
Problem is, the City is, in truth, utterly alone in this predicament. Only the City relies upon revenue from the landfill. The rest of the partner municipalities and private haulers simply rely upon the landfill for space. This space can be found from any number of other local/regional/state landfills. Yes, the partner municipalities may have to pay more to place their trash elsewhere but this doesn't really amount to any kind of real financial catastrophe.
In the Mayor's fantasy the City and its so-called partners will presumably construct some kind of state-of-the-art waste facility in an unknown location within the next ten years with zero planning, permitting or funding in place. This fairy-tale facility will presumably accept waste at a competitive rate thus preserving the status-quo and plugging the substantial hole in the City's budget.
In reality, its highly unlikely the City will be able to afford such a facility for its trash placement...much less
one that will offer a competitive rate to accept outside trash.
As it stands, the Mayor understands all this but is unwilling to admit it (not a solid foundation for getting re-elected). The Common Council apparently believes such critical planning is beyond their intellectual abilities or purview. And in its capacity as the region's foremost newspaper, the Times Union is stuck offering hollow opinion pieces that echo the Common Council's concerns about a future plan...but fail state what common sense makes so clear: The City is screwed six ways till Sunday.
On a totally unrelated note, Soares Spot absolutely eviscerates the Times Union for its past support of David Soares. Truly a must read.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Saratoga City officials and special interests mull land grab
In a startling fabrication, City Democrat officials and a wrinkled group of marginalized doppelgängers claim they're pursuing the idea of purchasing what would be "the only city-owned access to Kaya-derosseras Creek." According to County Supervisor Joanne Yepsen, "Not only are we thinking about public access, were thinking about the land conservation and the open space interests that our city residents have."
This, despite the fact that 11 years ago many of the same participants made the same exact argument to spend $140,000 for a nearby piece of land for the same "water access" and "open space" purposes. Of course, that deal was nothing more than an imaginative ruse considering "public access" was (and is) limited to paying the seller five bucks to use his adjacent, privately-owned boat launch.
Not surprisingly, the so-called Ramsdill purchase was followed some years later by the $2,000,000 acquisition of the City's proposed waterfront park on Saratoga lake....a short paddle from? You guessed it, the outlet of the Kaydeross. Fortunately, eager paddlers need not wait for funding of the park because there already exists yet another public access point a short paddle away at the terminus of Arrowhead Road. Most of these access points are wonderfully described on Saratoga PLAN's website. A curious fact considering most if not all of the participants mentioned in the Saratogian article are past or present PLAN members. We could go on to discuss the the State boat launch on Saratoga Lake and at least two other access point just outside the City but it seems the real point is to attach "city-owned" to otherwise worthless property in an effort to waste city/state tax dollars and needlessly encroach upon our friendly woodland neighbors.
It should come as no surprise that the Saratogian fails to mention any of these facts because, well, they're the Saratogian. Regardless, the question that needs to be asked is: How can these fucking morons buy more land for purported open space and water access purposes when they cant even afford to improve property they've already purchased and set aside for the same reasons? Furthermore, how can they justify disturbing wetlands and other valuable flora and fauna when at least a half-dozen other access opportunities are within a short distance.
The answers remain elusive...
This, despite the fact that 11 years ago many of the same participants made the same exact argument to spend $140,000 for a nearby piece of land for the same "water access" and "open space" purposes. Of course, that deal was nothing more than an imaginative ruse considering "public access" was (and is) limited to paying the seller five bucks to use his adjacent, privately-owned boat launch.
Not surprisingly, the so-called Ramsdill purchase was followed some years later by the $2,000,000 acquisition of the City's proposed waterfront park on Saratoga lake....a short paddle from? You guessed it, the outlet of the Kaydeross. Fortunately, eager paddlers need not wait for funding of the park because there already exists yet another public access point a short paddle away at the terminus of Arrowhead Road. Most of these access points are wonderfully described on Saratoga PLAN's website. A curious fact considering most if not all of the participants mentioned in the Saratogian article are past or present PLAN members. We could go on to discuss the the State boat launch on Saratoga Lake and at least two other access point just outside the City but it seems the real point is to attach "city-owned" to otherwise worthless property in an effort to waste city/state tax dollars and needlessly encroach upon our friendly woodland neighbors.
It should come as no surprise that the Saratogian fails to mention any of these facts because, well, they're the Saratogian. Regardless, the question that needs to be asked is: How can these fucking morons buy more land for purported open space and water access purposes when they cant even afford to improve property they've already purchased and set aside for the same reasons? Furthermore, how can they justify disturbing wetlands and other valuable flora and fauna when at least a half-dozen other access opportunities are within a short distance.
The answers remain elusive...
Saturday, March 10, 2012
The Saratogian - Sleeping through class since 18somethingorother
In their enlightening copy/paste of last weeks Times Union editorial of the same topic, The Saratogian calls for the ouster of the nice folks over at the Housing Authority. They clinch their argument by claiming the Authority Director's contract is longer than the US President's two year term. 
Powerful stuff.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Ewww!
Bite Me
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
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