People came out in force to help save the Seneca white deer. But, pressure is still needed to get NYSDEC to acquire the land. Below you’ll find several articles:
1. a summary from Dennis Money, Chairman, Seneca White Deer (including the names & addresses of those in DEC to contact)
2. a blog article from Finger Lakes Future
3. the letter Dennis Money submitted for the record.
1. (summary from Dennis Money, Chairman, Seneca White Deer, 585-394-1287 H, 585-944-3015 C)
This morning (Dec 13, 2007), despite crappy weather, about 60 people jammed into the small meeting room in the town of Varick, Seneca County, to discuss the proposal submitted by the Sessler Wrecking Company to take control of 2500 acres of the former Seneca Army Depot and turn it into a private hunting preserve for deep pocket hunters. The hearing was held by the Seneca County IDA who was willing to consider giving the Sessler’s $104,000 in sales tax exemptions and pretty much free equipment from the Depot to develop their proposal.
Keep in mind that the Sesssler family is far from destitute, being one of the wealthiest families in Seneca County. So what was the county getting in return for the generosity of the IDA? Sesslers were willing to give PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) of $10,000 each year for three years according to their business plan. Keep in mind their projected revenues would increase by 50% over three years but the PILOT would remain the same. Since one of the arguments that the Sesslers were making was that they would be putting the land back on ‘the tax rolls’ I should point out that the PILOT equates to $4/acre as ‘taxes’. To put that in perspective, the average tax on a acre of farm land in Seneca County is $14/acre.
Well, to summarize the results of the hearing today, about 22 people spoke. We each had 2 minutes to speak! The outpouring of support to throw out the Sessler proposal was incredible. Only one person spoke in support of the Sesslers and that was a person from the Seneca County Farm Bureau. He was also booed.
The supporters overwhelmingly expressed their feelings that the Depot lands should be public lands and not owned by private sector, especially a for profit company. They were dead against the fee hunting with many of the speakers being hunters also expressing that view. They realize that they have at the Depot a truly national treasure found no where else on our Mother Earth. It has to be protected so the people of the World can come and enjoy the wildlife and learn about the military history of six decades of the Depot. This will generate far more economic stimulus to both Seneca County and the Finger Lakes than any private hunting preserve. I am a hunter and proud of that fact but I am also a conservationist who recognizes we need to protect areas such as the Depot if we are ever going to have open and wildlife to enjoy for future generations.
Enough of my preaching. I have attached my “attempted” presentation. In addition, the addresses of important people in the NYSDEC to contact. We must impress upon these leaders the need to acquire the Depot lands. New York State has the money but it will take many voices to convince Albany to do this so please tell your friends to write.
Commissioner Peter Grannis
NYSDEC
625 Broadway
Albany NY 12233-1011
518-402-8545
Paul D’Amato, Regional Director
NYSDEC
6274 East Avon-Lima Road
Avon NY 14414-9515
585-226-2466
2. (a blog article from Finger Lakes Future) click here
3. (the letter Dennis Money submitted for the record.)
Seneca White Deer, Inc
4780 Deuel Road
Canandaigua, NY 14424
December 13, 2007
Re: Sessler Excavating and Wrecking Proposal
This letter to be submitted for the record for this application
Seneca County Industrial Development Agency
Seneca County Office Building
One DiPronio Drive
Waterloo, New York 13165
To: Seneca County Industrial Development Agency
Seneca White Deer Inc. (SWD) was formed in 1999 and is a 501(c) (3) not for profit corporation. Our mission is to preserve the unique natural resources and military history of the former Seneca Army Depot for all the people of the world to enjoy through the development of a conservation park. Based upon the information SWD has been able to obtain through Freedom of Information requests, SWD is offering the following comments regarding the Sessler Excavating and Wrecking application.
Seneca White Deer Inc. is in opposition to any financial incentives sought by the project’s developers as well as to the proposal in general.
Our comments follow:
1. Neither the Seneca County IDA nor the Sessler company made public the Sessler business plan which is dramatically different from the State Environmental Quality Review Full Environmental Assessment Form (EAF). The EAF was the only document which both the public and the NYSDEC was made aware of by the IDA. The EAF said nothing about fee hunting and trapping, making 50 acres of wetlands, increasing water surface areas by 10 acres and the changing of 500 acres of land from meadows to farming activities. Any of these activities are significant and should have been more thoroughly addressed in the EAF and not held from public or DEC scrutiny.
2. Fee hunting: The Sessler’s feel their fee hunting proposal is not different from what the military has been conducting for several decades. That is not true. For one, the annual military hunt did not require a fee to hunt the Depot. The hunt lasts 10 days, not year round. The Sessler fee structure is suggesting a fee of $600 per person for a three day hunt which is a significantly higher cost than the military hunt which is free. The Sessler proposal is also calling for hunting and trapping to be held all year long. That was never the case with the military hunt which has typically been 10 days long. The bottom line is this – whether you call it a canned hunt or a fee hunt, the deer, turkeys and other wildlife which would be hunted or trapped should not belong to a private, for profit organization. The public paid for the Depot lands and the development of the wonderful natural resources, not the Sessler’s. The Sessler proposal, exploits what the Army developed and managed for decades at little cost to the Sessler’s.
3. The IDA continues to ignore the recommendations from the Crotty Group report which was filed in February 2006. The Crotty report recommended hiring a Depot Project Coordinator, the formation of two committees: the Community Advisory Committee, and the Wildlife and Habitat Management Committee as well as performing a wildlife and habitat study so the impact of further redevelopment would be known. None of these recommendations has been implemented by the IDA. Since the IDA hired the Crotty Group at a cost exceeding $50,000 to look at a reuse plan for the Depot and have ignored those recommendations, their credibility as a lead agency is once again questionable at best.
4. Seneca White Deer Inc. (SWD) feels strongly that the remaining lands of the Depot known as the conservation area rightfully belong in the public domain, not in a for profit private business. They should be protected as public lands either under the management of the NYSDEC or NYSOPRHP.
5. The Sessler Business Plan, which was not revealed to either the public or the NYSDEC, also has its flaws. The plan calls for the leasing of 2500 acres while the EAF states 2300, a 200 acre difference. Which number is the correct number? The business plan does not include any details regarding wetland expansion, surface or water expansion. We also note that the Sessler plan plagiarizes ideas from the SWD business plan on the development of a Cold War Museum, recreation uses and a wildlife research and education center but goes into extremely little detail on how they would factor these ideas into the fee hunting program, which is their primary focus.
6. In the Sessler business plan on page 8 and I quote, “Therefore, profit and personal income (of the Sessler team) is not our initial objective. The principals are financially secure in their personal affairs…” yet on the Sessler financial application they are requesting an exemption of $104,000 in sales tax exemption and a payment to Seneca County each year of $10,000 as PILOT even though their projected income increases by over 50% in three years! That works out to about $4 per acre in tax relief to the county while the Sessler’s receive a ten fold benefit from the IDA with the sales tax exemption. The average Seneca County fee for farm land is $14/acre which results in another significant tax relief for this proposal. The Sessler’s are also requesting that certain equipment at the Depot be sold to them at ‘nominal cost”. What ever happened to fair market value?
7. Important Birding Area: The Seneca Army Depot has been designated as an Important Birding Area (IBA) in New York. The impact of this project and the proposed plantings have never been addressed or acknowledged in the Environmental Assessment Form, again in violation of SEQR requirements. Once again the IDA does not their job into looking at the singular and cumulative effects of each proposal.
In summary, the political entities who are involved with the overall approval process are not qualified to adequately address the effects of the Sessler proposal in a professional, objective manner. The EAF itself is flawed, poorly written and is lacking in details contained in the Sessler business plan which was never made available to either the public or to environmental agencies. The bottom line is that the lands of the former Seneca Army Depot belong to the public, not to a private, for profit organization. These facts justify that the Sessler proposal be withdrawn from any financial or project approval consideration.
Sincerely,
Dennis Money
Chairman, Seneca White Deer Inc
585-394-1287
XC: P. D’Amato, NYSDEC, Region 8
P. Lent, NYSDEC Region 8
D. Kozlowski, USACOE Buffalo
