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Home My WebLink About03-01-2006MARCH O1, 2006 5:00 P.M. TOWN BOARD MEETING The Regular Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Cortlandville was held at the Cortlandville Fire Station, 999 NYS Route 13, Cortland, New York, with Supervisor Tupper presiding. Members present: Supervisor, Richard Tupper Councilman, Theodore Testa Councilman, Edwin O'Donnell Councilman, Ronal Rocco Councilman, John Proud Town Clerk, Karen Q. Snyder, RMC Others present were: Town Attorney, John Folmer; Highway Sup't. Carl Bush; Planning Board Members, Nick Renzi, James Bugh and Gene Waldbauer; Deputy Town Clerk, Kristin Rocco; Town Assessor, David Briggs; Scott Smith and James Trasher from Clough Harbour & Associates LLP; Representatives of C.A.P.E.: Robert Rhodes, Norma Rhodes, Mark Morrell, Catherine D. Smith, Arnold Talentino, Charles Maxfield, Andrea Rankin, Susan Fitts, Jamie Dangler; Leigh McGovern, 44 Rickard St., Cortland; Matthew Penello, 820 S. Lamont, Cortlandville; Ric Metcalf, 179 Penguin Dr., Cortlandville; Sonya and Katie Rocco, 710 Bowling Green, Cortlandville; Andy Sting, 86 Madison St., Cortland; Grace Meddaugh, 1128 Old Stage Rd, Groton; Jim Murphy, 1122 Route 392, Cortland; Carol Navarro, 3097 Gracie Rd, Cortlandville; Pam Jenkins, 3923 Highland Rd., Cortlandville; Rebecca Lang, 2526 Kohne Rd., Dryden; Erin E. Moore, 47 Pomeroy St., Cortland; Mary Miner, 3275 Walden Oaks Blvd., Cortlandville; Gordon and Beverly Johnson, 3269 Coventry Lane, Cortlandville; Beverly Sherman, Cortland; Chelsea Snyder, 810 Route 392, Cortland; Robin Dunham, 1600 State Route, Moravia; Carol Kannus, 3292 Gracie Rd., Cortlandville; Ivan Rogers, 1034 Route 13, Cortlandville; Elizabeth Natoli, 3174 Gracie Rd., Cortlandville; Kenneth Wooster, 27 Abdallah Ave., Cortlandville; Doug Robbins, 23 Tompkins St., Cortland; Patrick Reidy, Cortland County Soil & Water Conservation District; Holly Greer, 100 N. Main St., Cortland; Donald Romans, 31 Garfield St., Cortland; Christine Gregory, 5 Parker Ave., Cortland; Virginia Martelli, 64 Madison Ave., Cortland; James Underwood, 3153 Gracie Rd., Cortlandville; Jeannette Keenan, 578 Fall Creek Rd.; Greg Dunham, Route 41 a; Alice Rogers, 1034 Route 13, Cortlandville; Sheri and James Henry, 72 Port Watson St., Cortland; Heather Condie, 62 Owego St., Cortland; Shane Stevens, 40 Sunnyfield Dr., Cortland; Eric Mulvihill, WXHC Radio; Patti Sears, Sears Rd., Cortlandville; Britton and Melissa Chan, 3285 Coventry Lane, Cortlandville; Patrice Boyce, 31 Fox Hollow Rd., Cortland; Fred Wilbur, 4 Jewett St., Cortland; Matt Johnson, 2094 Kypotis Dr., Cortland; James Mulherin, 3262 Coventry Lane, Cortlandville; Francis Uhler, 82 N. Main St., Cortland; Roger Orlandini; Mary Lee Marten, 4352 Cosmos Hill Rd., Cortlandville; David Bitterbaum, 49 Graham Ave., Cortland; Dorothy Thornton, 238 McLean Rd., Cortlandville; Erin Farley, Maple Ave., Cortland; Jack Wood, 26 Madison St., Cortland; Andrew Passachick, 524 Castle Creek Rd., Binghamton; Corey Preston from the Cortland Standard; C. Ashley Ellefson, 23 Chestnut St., Cortland; Cheri Congdon, 3295 Coventry Lane, Cortlandville; Elaine Smith, 3769 Lyncort Dr., Cortlandville; Mary and Nick Schulz, 2658 Holler Rd., Cortland; Lisa & Steve Lissberger, 3289 Coventry Lane, Cortlandville; Ken Woodman, Abdallah Ave., Cortlandville; Richard Peagler, Coventry Lane, Cortlandville; Terry and Brian Mingle, 17 Isabel Dr., Cortlandville; Patrick Braman, 184 Groton Ave., Cortland; Anna -Mae Artim, 714 McLean Rd., Cortlandville; Rachael Stack, 13 Lamont Circle, Cortlandville; Sally Kamerling, 10 Broadway, Cortland; Beverly B. Ellefson, 23 Chestnut St., Cortland; Tim Robinson, 278 McLean Rd., Cortlandville; William Wood, 13 East Main St., Cortland; Don Spaulding, 33 Charles St., Cortland; Dick Crozier, 242 Tompkins St., Cortlandville; Bruce Tytler, 9 Stevenson St., Cortland; Nancy Governali, 3316 Fairway Heights, Cortlandville; Irene Behrenfeld, 939 Walden Pond Lane, Cortlandville; Leslie Sandman representing Pall Trinity Micro; Michael Sheppard, 1152D The Park, Cortlandville; Richanna Patrick, 23 Atkins Ave., Cortland; Alex Goncarovs, WHCO; Lydia Ferro, 710 McLean Rd., Cortlandville; Danielle Dabel, 24 Glenn St., Cortland; Anthony and Joan Cannella, 936 Walden Pond Lane, Cortlandville; Marianne Bertini; April R. Friedah, 3296 W. River Rd., Cortland; Steven Brooles, 6 Helen Ave., Cortland; Dennis DeRado, 3283 Walden Pond Lane, Cortlandville; Admad Javid, 909 Walden Pond Lane, Cortlandville; Virginia Fleszar, 528 Lime Hollow Rd., Cortlandville; Bea Maxfield, 10 Glenwood Ave., Cortland; John Troy, 29 Summit St., Cortland; Scott Elston, 2418 Kohne Rd., Virgil; John R. Daniels, Cortland County Legislator; Roger Thornton, 238 McLean Rd., Cortlandville; Patricia Roiger, 795 N. Lamont, Cortlandville; Winnie Lin, 48 Homer Ave., Cortland; Russell White, 737 McLean Rd., Cortlandville; Ann O. Gebhard, 14 Williams St., Cortland; Chris Goff, 14 Waskington St., Cortland; Diane Batzing, 70 Church St., Cortland; Cliff Kostul, 12 Cedar St., Cortland; Steve Muka, Cortland; Marcus Bernardo, 929 Walden Pond Lane, Cortlandville; Nita and Preston Goslee, 821 N. Lamont; Marilyn DeLorenzo, 3981 Woodside Rd., Cortladville; Cindy Teichert, 21 E. Ave., Cortland; 35" MARCH O1, 2006 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 2 Amy Dahlman, 99 S. Main St., Homer, NY; W. Ann Bliss, 894 Gallagher Rd., Cortlandville; Bryan and Melissa Guilbeault, 972 Beechwood Lane, Cortlandville; Kay Breed, Cortland County Legislator; Maria Travis, 81 Homer Ave., Cortland; Dean Hubbel, 3329 Gracie Rd., Cortlandville; Robin Metcalf, 179 Penguin Dr., Cortlandville; Sandy and Randy Walls, 721 Lime Hollow Rd., Cortlandville; Amy Giordano; Barbara Tupper, 3741 Lyncort Dr., Cortlandville; Christopher Maxfield, 5 Ellwood Ave., Cortland; Richard & Theresa Henry, 4046 Collegeview Dr., Cortlandville; Mary Galley, 830 Pheasant Run, Cortlandville; Michael Barylski, 2616 Ames Rd., Cortlandville; Bob Martin, 1142B The Park, Cortlandville; Gary Schmidt, 103 Clark St., Groton; Skip Champan from the Cortland Standard; Doug Staley from the Cortlandville Fire District; Charles R. Feiszli, 2 Colony Dr., Cortland; Donna Keane, 9 Terrace Road, Cortlandville; Paul Lant, 3387 Gunzen Dr., Cortlandville; Anne Vittoria from SUNY Cortland; Norm Trigaboff, 7 Calvert St., Cortland; Craig Little, 38 W. Court St., Cortland; Tony Dalola, 9 Excelsior, Cortland; M. Nagel, 12 Frederick Ave., Cortland; Joseph Governali, 33416 Fairway Heights, Cortlandville; Debbie Underwood, 392 Champlin Rd., Groton; Sally MacGregor, 1425 E. River Rd., Cortlandville; Rev. Dr. Janet Adair Hansen, Christ Presbyterian Church, 292 Tompkins St., Cortlandville; Richard Buttny, 2298 Carson Rd., Virgil; Pat Brookins, 28 Halstead Rd., Cortlandville; Richard Contento, 3337 Gracie Rd., Cortland; Ginger Thomas, 33 Grove St., Homer; Mary Kautz, Homer; Mary Beilley, 3423 Snell Hill Rd., McGraw; Tom Pasquarello, 743 Sleepy Hollow, Cortlandville; Linda and Larry Smith, 2 Lorraine Dr., Cortlandville; Herbert Haines, 12 Hannum Ave., Homer; Ed Triana, 795 N. Lamont, Cortlandville; Colleen Kattau, 16 James St., Cortland; Charles Drake, 783 MacBean Lane, Cortlandville; Marilyn G. Mayer, 4074 Highland Road, Cortlandville. Supervisor Tupper called the meeting to order. The Draft Town Board Minutes of January 18, 2006 were submitted to the Board. RESOLUTION #50 AUTHORIZE PAYMENT OF VOUCHERS — MARCH Motion by Councilman Testa Seconded by Councilman Proud VOTES: ALL AYE ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the vouchers submitted have been audited and shall be paid as follows: General Fund A General Fund B Highway Fund DB Water Fund Sewer Fund Trust & Agency Attorney Folmer reported: Vouchers # 91 - 110 $ 26,003.30 B25 - B28 $ 22,563.36 D62 - D78 $ 31,265.44 W39 - W44 $ 3,011.66 S 16 - S 18 $ 4,663.67 T2 - T2 $ 28,345.06 Renewal of Bond Anticipation Note for Municipal Garage: Attorney Folmer apprised the Board the Bond Anticipation Note for the Municipal Garage would expire on Friday, March 3, 2006. The Town would pay $75,000 on the principal ($375,000) as well as the outstanding interest of $9,872.50, for a total amount of $84,872.50. Because the BAN would expire and could not be renewed, the Town would be issued a $300,000 Statutory Installment Bond from Tompkins Trust Company. The Bond would mature in ten equal annual installments in the principal amounts of $30,000 on March 3 of each year from 2007 to 2016, with an interest rate of 4.20%. Attorney Folmer requested the Board adopt a resolution authorizing the Supervisor and Town Clerk to execute the appropriate documents for issuance of the $300,000 Statutory Installment Bond. 36 MARCH 01, 2006 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 3 RESOLUTION #51 AUTHORIZE SUPERVISOR AND TOWN CLERK TO SIGN STATUTORY INSTALLMENT BOND WITH TOMPKINS TRUST COMPANY IN THE AMOUNT OF $300,000 Motion by Councilman O'Donnell Seconded by Councilman Proud VOTES: ALL AYE ADOPTED WHEREAS, the Bond Anticipation Note (BAN) for the Municipal Garage is due to expire on March 3, 2006 and cannot be renewed, and WHEREAS, a principal payment of $75,000 and an interest payment of $9,875.50 is due on the BAN payable to Tompkins Trust Company, and WHEREAS, the Board determined it would close on a Statutory Installment Bond for the balance of $300,000 with Tompkins Trust Company of Cortland, New York, which is the bank that holds the original note, therefore BE IT RESOLVED, the Board does hereby authorize and direct the Town Clerk and the Supervisor to sign the Statutory Installment Bond, designated "Town Building Serial Bond- 2006", with Tompkins Trust Company in the amount of $300,000, with an interest rate of 4.20%. Councilman O'Donnell made a motion, seconded by Councilman Testa, to receive and file Resolution #06-02 form the Cortland County Planning Board regarding the Aquifer Protection Permit application of Cortland Memorial Hospital for property located on NYS Route 281 and Kinney Gulf Road. All voting aye, the motion was carried. RESOLUTION #52 SCHEDULE PUBLIC HEARING FOR AQUIFER PROTECTION PERMIT APPLICATION SUBMITTED BY CORTLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL Motion by Councilman O'Donnell Seconded by Councilman Testa VOTES: ALL AYE ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, a Public Hearing shall be scheduled for March 15, 2006 at 5:00 p.m. for an Aquifer Protection Permit application submitted by Cortland Memorial Hospital for properties located on the west side of NYS Route 281 and the north side of Kinney Gulf Road, tax map #86.13-01-14.100, 15.000, 16.000 & 17.000. No further comments or discussion were heard. Councilman Rocco made a motion, seconded by Councilman Testa, to adjourn the Regular Meeting to a posted and advertised Public Hearing, Wal-Mart Supercenter DEIS. All voting aye, the motion was carried. The Regular Meeting was adjourned at 5:03 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Karen Q. Snyder, RMC Town Clerk Town of Cortlandville 1 1 37 MARCH O1, 2006 5:10 P.M. PUBLIC HEARING DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT WAL-MART SUPERCENTER NYS ROUTE 13 TAX MAP # 105.00-01-22.211 A Public Hearing was held by the Town Board of the Town of Cortlandville at the Cortlandville Fire Station, 999 NYS Route 13, Cortland, New York, concerning the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) on the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter. The application is by APD Engineering, PLLC for a planned unit development for the construction of two future outparcels and a Wal-Mart Supercenter consisting of a single story building containing approximately 205,000 square feet of floor area with paved parking, access driveways, utilities and storm water facilities to support the proposed project, to be located at the corner of Route 13 and Bennie Road in the Town of Cortlandville, Cortland County, New York, and for the purpose of hearing public comments on the Draft EIS. The property is owned by Homer C. Gutchess, tax map #105.00-01-22.211. Members present: Supervisor, Richard Tupper Councilman, Theodore Testa Councilman, Edwin O'Donnell Councilman, Ronal Rocco Councilman, John Proud Town Clerk, Karen Q. Snyder, RMC Others present were: Town Attorney, John Folmer; Highway Sup't. Carl Bush; Planning Board Members, Nick Renzi, James Bugh and Gene Waldbauer; Deputy Town Clerk, Kristin Rocco; Town Assessor, David Briggs; Scott Smith and James Trasher from Clough Harbour & Associates LLP; Representatives of C.A.P.E.: Robert Rhodes, Norma Rhodes, Mark Morrell, Catherine D. Smith, Arnold Talentino, Charles Maxfield, Andrea Rankin, Susan Fitts, Jamie Dangler; Leigh McGovern, 44 Rickard St., Cortland; Matthew Penello, 820 S. Lamont, Cortlandville; Ric Metcalf, 179 Penguin Dr., Cortlandville; Sonya and Katie Rocco, 710 Bowling Green, Cortlandville; Andy Sting, 86 Madison St., Cortland; Grace Meddaugh, 1128 Old Stage Rd, Groton; Jim Murphy, 1122 Route 392, Cortland; Carol Navarro, 3097 Gracie Rd, Cortlandville; Pam Jenkins, 3923 Highland Rd., Cortlandville; Rebecca Lang, 2526 Kohne Rd., Dryden; Erin E. Moore, 47 Pomeroy St., Cortland; Mary Miner, 3275 Walden Oaks Blvd., Cortlandville; Gordon and Beverly Johnson, 3269 Coventry Lane, Cortlandville; Beverly Sherman, Cortland; Chelsea Snyder, 810 Route 392, Cortland; Robin Dunham, 1600 State Route, Moravia; Carol Kannus, 3292 Gracie Rd., Cortlandville; Ivan Rogers, 1034 Route 13, Cortlandville; Elizabeth Natoli, 3174 Gracie Rd., Cortlandville; Kenneth Wooster, 27 Abdallah Ave., Cortlandville; Doug Robbins, 23 Tompkins St., Cortland; Patrick Reidy, Cortland County Soil & Water Conservation District; Holly Greer, 100 N. Main St., Cortland; Donald Romans, 31 Garfield St., Cortland; Christine Gregory, 5 Parker Ave., Cortland; Virginia Martelli, 64 Madison Ave., Cortland; James Underwood, 3153 Gracie Rd., Cortlandville; Jeannette Keenan, 578 Fall Creek Rd.; Greg Dunham, Route 41 a; Alice Rogers, 1034 Route 13, Cortlandville; Sheri and James Henry, 72 Port Watson St., Cortland; Heather Condie, 62 Owego St., Cortland; Shane Stevens, 40 Sunnyfield Dr., Cortland; Eric Mulvihill, WXHC Radio; Patti Sears, Sears Rd., Cortlandville; Britton and Melissa Chan, 3285 Coventry Lane, Cortlandville; Patrice Boyce, 31 Fox Hollow Rd., Cortland; Fred Wilbur, 4 Jewett St., Cortland; Matt Johnson, 2094 Kypotis Dr., Cortland; James Mulherin, 3262 Coventry Lane, Cortlandville; Francis Uhler, 82 N. Main St., Cortland; Roger Orlandini; Mary Lee Marten, 4352 Cosmos Hill Rd., Cortlandville; David Bitterbaum, 49 Graham Ave., Cortland; Dorothy Thornton, 238 McLean Rd., Cortlandville; Erin Farley, Maple Ave., Cortland; Jack Wood, 26 Madison St., Cortland; Andrew Passachick, 524 Castle Creek Rd., Binghamton; Corey Preston from the Cortland Standard; C. Ashley Ellefson, 23 Chestnut St., Cortland; Cheri Congdon, 3295 Coventry Lane, Cortlandville; Elaine Smith, 3769 Lyncort Dr., Cortlandville; Mary and Nick Schulz, 2658 Holler Rd., Cortland; Lisa & Steve Lissberger, 3289 Coventry Lane, Cortlandville; Ken Woodman, Abdallah Ave., Cortlandville; Richard Peagler, Coventry Lane, Cortlandville; Terry and Brian Mingle, 17 Isabel Dr., Cortlandville; Patrick Braman, 184 Groton Ave., Cortland; Anna -Mae Artim, 714 McLean Rd., Cortlandville; Rachael Stack, 13 Lamont Circle, Cortlandville; Sally Kamerling, 10 Broadway, Cortland; Beverly B. Ellefson, 23 Chestnut St., Cortland; Tim Robinson, 278 McLean Rd., Cortlandville; William Wood, 13 East Main St., Cortland; Don Spaulding, 33 Charles St., Cortland; Dick Crozier, 242 Tompkins St., Cortlandville; Bruce Tytler, 9 Stevenson St., Cortland; Nancy Governali, 3316 Fairway Heights, Cortlandville; Irene Behrenfeld, 939 38 MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 2 Walden Pond Lane, Cortlandville; Leslie Sandman representing Pall Trinity Micro; Michael Sheppard, 1152D The Park, Cortlandville; Richanna Patrick, 23 Atkins Ave., Cortland; Alex Goncarovs, WHCO; Lydia Ferro, 710 McLean Rd., Cortlandville; Danielle Dabel, 24 Glenn St., Cortland; Anthony and Joan Cannella, 936 Walden Pond Lane, Cortlandville; Marianne Bertini; April R. Friedah, 3296 W. River Rd., Cortland; Steven Brooles, 6 Helen Ave., Cortland; Dennis DeRado, 3283 Walden Pond Lane, Cortlandville; Admad Javid, 909 Walden Pond Lane, Cortlandville; Virginia Fleszar, 528 Lime Hollow Rd., Cortlandville; Bea Maxfield, 10 Glenwood Ave., Cortland; John Troy, 29 Summit St., Cortland; Scott Elston, 2418 Kohne Rd. Virgil; John R. Daniels, Cortland County Legislator; Roger Thornton, 238 McLean Rd.,, Cortlandville; Patricia Roiger, 795 N. Lamont, Cortlandville; Winnie Lin, 48 Homer Ave., Cortland; Russell White, 737 McLean Rd., Cortlandville; Ann O. Gebhard, 14 Williams St., Cortland; Chris Goff, 14 Waskington St., Cortland; Diane Batzing, 70 Church St., Cortland; Cliff Kostul, 12 Cedar St., Cortland; Steve Muka, Cortland; Marcus Bernardo, 929 Walden Pond Lane, Cortlandville; Nita and Preston Goslee, 821 N. Lamont; Marilyn DeLorenzo, 3981 Woodside Rd., Cortladville; Cindy Teichert, 21 E. Ave., Cortland; Amy Dahlman, 99 S. Main St., Homer, NY; W. Ann Bliss, 894 Gallagher Rd., Cortlandville; Bryan and Melissa Guilbeault, 972 Beechwood Lane, Cortlandville; Kay Breed, Cortland County Legislator; Maria Travis, 81 Homer Ave., Cortland; Dean Hubbel, 3329 Gracie Rd., Cortlandville; Robin Metcalf, 179 Penguin Dr., Cortlandville; Sandy and Randy Walls, 721 Lime Hollow Rd., Cortlandville; Amy Giordano; Barbara Tupper, 3741 Lyncort Dr., Cortlandville; Christopher Maxfield, 5 Ellwood Ave., Cortland; Richard & Theresa Henry, 4046 Collegeview Dr., Cortlandville; Mary Galley, 830 Pheasant Run, Cortlandville; Michael Barylski, 2616 Ames Rd., Cortlandville; Bob Martin, 1142B The Park, Cortlandville; Gary Schmidt, 103 Clark St., Groton; Skip Champan from the Cortland Standard; Doug Staley from the Cortlandville Fire District; Charles R. Feiszli, 2 Colony Dr., Cortland; Donna Keane, 9 Terrace Road, Cortlandville; Paul Lant, 3387 Gunzen Dr., Cortlandville; Anne Vittoria from SUNY Cortland; Norm Trigaboff, 7 Calvert St., Cortland; Craig Little, 38 W. Court St., Cortland; Tony Dalola, 9 Excelsior, Cortland; M. Nagel, 12 Frederick Ave., Cortland; Joseph Governali, 33416 Fairway Heights, Cortlandville; Debbie Underwood, 392 Champlin Rd., Groton; Sally MacGregor, 1425 E. River Rd., Cortlandville; Rev. Dr. Janet Adair Hansen, Christ Presbyterian Church, 292 Tompkins St., Cortlandville; Richard Buttny, 2298 Carson Rd., Virgil; Pat Brookins, 28 Halstead Rd., Cortlandville; Richard Contento, 3337 Gracie Rd., Cortland; Ginger Thomas, 33 Grove St., Homer; Mary Kautz, Homer; Mary Beilley, 3423 Snell Hill Rd., McGraw; Tom Pasquarello, 743 Sleepy Hollow, Cortlandville; Linda and Larry Smith, 2 Lorraine Dr., Cortlandville; Herbert Haines, 12 Hannum Ave., Homer; Ed Triana, 795 N. Lamont, Cortlandville; Colleen Kattau, 16 James St., Cortland; Charles Drake, 783 MacBean Lane, Cortlandville; Marilyn G. Mayer, 4074 Highland Road, Cortlandville. STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF CORTLAND TOWN OF CORTLANDVILLE ------------------------------------------x In the Matter of PROPOSED WALMART SUPERCENTER, ------------------------------------------x Public Hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement held on March 1, 2006, at 5:00 p.m. at the Town of Cortlandville Fire Station, 999 NYS 13, New York, before Jennifer A. Goflcowski, Court Reporter and Notary Public in and for the State of New York. APPEARANCES For Wal-Mart: HARTER, SECREST & EMERY, LLP Attorneys at Law 1600 Bausch & Lomb Place Rochester, New York 14604-2711 BY: KELLY A. PRONTI, ESQ. 39 MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 3 PROCEEDINGS SUPERVISOR TUPPER: This is a Public Hearing and the Town Board Members are here to listen and not speak. So, if you have questions, we'll be glad to write them down but don't be offended if nobody up here answers your questions because they've been instructed that they're not allowed to answer questions, only to listen this evening. And because of the size of the crowd, the fire department has made it necessary for me to stand up. The exits are in the front and the back of the room should there be an emergency. This building does have an alarm system in it. Rather than having me moderate the meeting this evening, it's going to be easier for us to listen, so I am going to ask John Folmer if he will act as moderator. I would ask you to please make your comments short and concise so that we can listen to as many people as possible. John. ATTORNEY FOLMER: We need to read the Public Notice. KAREN SNYDER: "Notice is hereby given that the Town of Cortlandville Town Board, as lead agency, has accepted a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Draft EIS, on the proposed Wal-Mart Super Center. "A Public Hearing on the Draft EIS will be held on March 1 st, 2006 at 5 p.m at the Town Cortlandville Fire Station located at 999 New York State, Route 13, Cortland, New York to consider the following: "The application of APD Engineering, PLLC for a planned unit development for the construction of two future outparcels and a Wal-Mart Supercenter consisting of a single -story building containing, approximately, 205,000 square feet,of floor area with paved parking access driveways, utilities and storm/water facilities to support the proposed project, will be located at the corner of Route 13 and Bennie Road in the Town of Cortlandville, and for the purpose of public -- for hearing public comments on the Draft EIS. "The tax map number is 105.00-01-22.211. The property is owned by Homer C. Gutchess. "Written comments on the Draft EIS will be accepted by the Town of Cortlandville at the Town Clerk's Office until ten days after the close of the public hearing. Maps, the Draft EIS and other relevant information is on file at the Raymond G. Thorpe Municipal Building, the Cortland Free Library, the Lamonte Memorial Library and may be inspected during regular business hours t the Town Hall. "Richard C. Tupper, Town Board Supervisor." ATTORNEY FOLMER: The first thing I've been asked to announce is that the restrooms are in that area out there to the right. We have, I think, announced on several occasions at Town Board Meetings that the schedule of these hearings -- or this hearing was to commence this evening and would continue for a period of two hours; we would then recess until tomorrow evening at 5:00 for a second session of two hours, and we had also indicated that we might well have a third session on the 8th of March which is next Wednesday at the same time. However, since we made that plan, we have discovered that this room, which is the largest assembly room in the Town of Cortlandville, this room is not available on March 8th. So, in the event that we need to have that third session, the Board will have to establish and announce the date and time of that place. We also indicated the schedule that we were going to follow in the way of appearance and presentation of material. The first was to call upon the Applicant, and the second was to call upon a series of involved agencies under the SEQR process and, altogether, we have a total of 15, 14 involved agencies, most of which, I think, are not going to be making oral presentations this evening. And then we will hear from the two interested agencies: One being the Citizens for Aquifer Protection and Employment; the second being the Walden Oaks Association. And having heard from those parties, we will then listen to any comments that wish to be made by the general public after we've concluded those presentations. A couple of things. First of all, if you're going to speak for the purpose of our stenographer here, we would appreciate your giving your name and your address so that we have a record of who you are. We would hope that you would speak from this podium because we want to be sure that everybody can hear what everybody has to say. We'd like you to turn off all of those cell phones and pagers and other devices. I left mine in the car because I'm not sure I know enough to turn it off. �-o MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 4 And, lastly, but most importantly is: There will, obviously, be differences of opinion expressed here this evening. In the spirit of both civility and respect, I don't think we need any cheering sessions or hissing or booing. Boo at me, if you'd like, but other than that, I don't think that's necessary. What we're here to do is let the Town Board collect and gather and deal with information that will lead them to make the determination that they need to make under the SEQR regulations. The two hours will begin at 10 after 5. We will close -- recess the Public Hearing at, approximately, 10 after 7. We will not cut anybody off mid -sentence. So, if it appears that someone's presentation is going to begin at 5 after 7 and is going to last longer than five minutes, we may adjourn that much earlier. Basically, we will proceed from now until 10 after 7. The first order of business is to listen to the presentation from the Applicant. When that's completed, we'll try and do something with these screens, et cetera, so that your vision is not impaired by those machines. Mrs. Pronti, if you will. ATTORNEY PRONTI: Good evening. My name is Kelly Pronti. I'm an attorney with Harter, Secrest & Emery and we are the attorneys for Wal-Mart. I am also here tonight with Steve Cleason, who is with APD Engineering who is the civil engineer for Wal-Mart. After I discuss the purpose of the hearing and some zoning issues, Steve will provide the public with an overview of the site plan, as well as the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. I am also here tonight with Steve Thompson who is with Bergmann & Associates. Steve is the architect for Wal-Mart and Steve will be providing the public with an overview of the building layout, as well as the building elevations. I am also here tonight with Amy Dake of SRF & Associates. Amy is with SRF and she is the traffic engineer for Wal-Mart and she will be providing you with an overview of the traffic impact study. With that said, I am going to provide you with an overview of the zoning land use, as well as the State Environmental Review Act. The existing zoning for the site is industrial. The Town Board has recently proposed an amendment to the Zoning Code whereby the site would be rezoned to planned commercial business. The proposed site is planned to be developed as an industrial Planned Unit Development, also referred to as PUD. Under this section of the Town Code, retail use is permitted. The proposed development is permitted under the PUD Code, assuming that the Town Board finds it appropriate. The PUD Application will also be reviewed by the Planning Board, as well as the County Planning Board. The Environmental Impact Statement, also referred to as a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, includes all the issues identified by the Town Board, as well as the Town Board's consultants through the scoping process. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement was submitted by the applicant on December 13th, 2005. On February 1st, 2006, the Town Board determined that the DEIS was complete and issued a Notice of Completion. Both the Notice of Completion and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement were forwarded to involved agencies, as well as other interested agencies for their review. The involved agencies and the public now have an opportunity to review and comment on the DEIS; this includes the Public Hearing tonight, as well as ten days following the close of the public hearing, whatever date that might be. We're also going to talk about the purpose of the hearing. The State Environmental Quality Review Act, also referred to as SEQR, is a fact-finding process in which to aid a municipality in making a determination as to whether or not a project is appropriate. SEQR requires a municipality to consider environmental impacts of a project at the project's inception. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement submitted by the Applicant details the potential environmental impacts of the project and the various means to avoid or mitigate any adverse impacts. The purpose of the hearing tonight is to gather oral comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement from the involved agencies, as well as the public at large. Written comments are also part of the review process and will be accepted up to ten days following the close of the Public Hearing. There are certain procedures and rules that you must keep in mind during this review process. 9-L MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 5 Again, statements of general opposition to the project are really not relevant. It's specifically designed to hear comments on the DEIS. The response -- the Applicant is required to respond to any written or oral comments that are made and that are relevant on the DEIS. So, with that being said, I now turn over the presentation to Steve Cleason, the engineer to the project, who will provide you with an overview of the site plan, as well as the Environmental Impact Statement. STEVE CLEASON: All right. What we're going to be doing is going through the DEIS and the site plans in a very general term. I know there's a lot more detail in the document. If anybody's gone through the document, they'll notice that there's, actually, three different volumes. I don't think anyone wants me to spend the next four hours trying to go through that in detail, so I am going to try to this fairly quickly and I understand -- and I hope I don't fluster anybody that we left out things that may be of interest to you, but all that information is available within the document itself, you're completely able to make comments to that and, again, we will be responding to that later. Basically, this is the site location map and where we lie. This is Bennie Road here, Route 13, and we're right off that corner right in this location. The store is located right there. The existing store is, approximately, right there at that location. Right now the site is 33.7 acres; it's 31 acres with -- we can flip forward to the next slide. Thirty-one of the acres right here is the Wal-Mart parcel. There's two outparcels proposed right here. Walmart would retain this portion of this back property here so that they can maintain the berm that's proposed between the elderly home here and the proposed project. The 2.7 acres is what represents the two outparcels; approximately, a little over 1.3 each. The store is proposed to be 205 -- plus or minus 205,000 square feet. The parking right now is at 985 which provides about a 4.81 parking ratios, we call it. That's how many parking spaces per 1,000. It's pretty much an industrial standard that people look at. The site was reviewed and no wetlands, federal or state, were located on the property. On the grading, the site is being set up to utilize the on -site material to minimize any import or export. There will be some materials that will have to be brought in; such as, asphalt, subbase material, specialty items for the construction. But the earthwork itself, it's intended to be a balanced site and utilizing will be the earthwork; we'll be moving earth from the cuts to the fills; there's, approximately, right now — and that's subject to change depending on final design -- 65,000 yards. Topsoil generated will be around 35,000 yards. Normally, a lot of that gets reused in the berms and landscape areas. The fills within the building pad, as laid out right now, are 4 to 7 feet. The finished floor is proposed at twelve sixteen. A thorough storm water pollution prevention plan will be done in accordance with the latest standards of the DEC. We'll talk a little more about that in the drain section later. Utilities, sanitary and water, all available right now through the Town of Cortlandville at the site; natural gas, electric and phone is also available at the site. One of the things that has been brought up is, there's been some areas up in Walden Oaks and beyond that have had some pressure concerns. One of the things that the Applicant has proposed is that we're making a connection here on 13; here, there's a dedicated main; and then we're proposing to connect right there at Bennie Road. The reason we're proceeding that connection is most systems are set up with, what they call, a water network. The more connections they make to a system, the better that you can provide flows and pressures. Walmart's peek flow is, typically, around 130 gallons per minute based on utilizing a higher pipe size of about an 8-inch, that 130 would present, basically, an insignificant backflow and that would actually provide better flow and pressure to this main here. We're intending to work with a town engineer to see if there's any other provisions that might help out with those concerns with that area. This is the lighting design. The lighting as proposed on our application would use night - sky -compliant fixtures; it utilizes recessed bulbs. Basically, the fixtures come down; the bulbs sit up inside of it; and the actual bulbs are turned so they're vertical. This helps to create the angle of the light to go up and beyond the light and helps keep the light downward. If anybody doesn't understand, night sky is, basically, that glow you see out in the night when you look at a commercial property. These fixtures are designed to keep that down and away from the upward slant. The lighting design is to minimize any spillage along the property lines. The pole height, as proposed right now, is 39 feet with a 3-foot base for 42 feet total. The fixture types, again, we also said night -sky compliant. And the average foot candles are 1.7. And what they talk about a lot is, at maximum ratio what is the most intense spot versus the least. Obviously, zero being at the outskirts and 6.2 being directly under one of the lights. Go forward from there. MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 6 The existing aquifer, obviously, has been one of the major concerns of not only the Town but the County and many of the public representatives, as well. This is just a map that's within the town documents, kind of outlining -- the red is the primary and then the blue, principal. Our site is located right, approximately, there. The site -- as we can flip forward to the next -- this one. Our site is located right here, which is in zone 1B of the Terrace Road well and that's in accordance with the Town documents. The site is located about nine -tenths of a mile from that well. There is another report that's out there that's by the federal government, USGS; it's called a fact sheet; that's the number, and it's dated 2/04. If you want, you can Google it and you'll probably find it fairly easily. That conflicts somewhat with the Town reports in, actually, where our zone and where our water flows towards. And I'll be discussing that a little bit more in-depth here in a second. We can flip forward. This is just an overlay of the USGS to show that the grades -- and I know for a lot of people it's probably hard to understand. These grades are sloping downhill. Our site is near the bottom and it's fairly heavy down where we are. Again, all this was intended to show you -= it, actually, has the overlay of the existing plazas and our existing site is right there; the well is there. You can see the proposed site is, actually, further from that. We are -- presently, the portion of that site is in the actual 1A, is what they would consider the two-year effective area and this would be considered, like, up to five-year effective area. So, again, we're moving further from that well. Some of the controls that we are providing for aquifer protection, because that's been one of the major concerns, is, we are putting in numerous different items and they're all staged. First of all, we're using oil goods in all the inlets. The oil goods are just, basically, a component that's placed in there to keep all the oils and lighter fluids, antifreezes and it localizes them to that specific inlet. Basically, those are sized -- if you look at a 30-by-30 inlet, which is the smallest one that we use, at approximately a little over 30 gallons, that could be held in there. Even if a gas tank ruptured, the entire gas tank could be held within that. Again, what happens, if that's got water in there, that's fine; the water would then push out underneath and the lighter fluids would stay up above and stay within that inlet, so it be would pumped out and cleaned. Again, if you have a ruptured gas tank, people are going to know about it because the car isn't going anywhere. The next process is, we're looking at utilizing heated sidewalks along the pedestrian access at the front of the store right immediately at the main entrances. The reason this is important, because if you look at almost any operation, the main area of salting and continuous salting is the pedestrian access ways. If we can provide those as heated sidewalks, we reduce the use of salts in those areas. The other things that we were going to be doing is, we are providing -- if we can go forward to the next slide on this side. That's actually the fact sheet. Why don't I go -- I'll go over this right now. This is the map out of the fact sheet -- and I'll skip back to the water quality, because we have another drawing that will probably give you a little more information on that. This is the fact sheet that we were saying came from the federal government. This is the site right here; this is a yellow compared to this green. This green represents the area that goes to the City wells. Again, this isn't our document; it's the federal government, USGS. We're just making it aware to everyone. This is the Lime Hollow Road and what they consider to be the influence area. And this number 3 area is the Terrace Road aquifer area. Now, this goes -- our area, actually, feeds to what is an industrial purge road right now based on this report. That purge well then goes out and it goes through treatment and then it goes into wells that are then recharged back into the aquifer, but if you notice that the area after that is all outside of the two influence areas. Basically, this study would indicate that we're not affecting any of the wells. Please don't take this that we're saying we shouldn't be doing what we're doing. We are going out of our way to try to meet the Town standards because we think it's an important aspect that we go forward and set a good standard for projects as they move forward and we're working with the DEC, the County and the Town to establish a very good solid storm water, water quality entrance system. If we can go forward. Okay. This is -- again, these are the little inlets that I was talking about that have all the little oil hoods on them. When we get to the water quality basin, this is the area right down in here, if you see that little blue line, and it's hard for you to see it, but if you look at it closely, there's little arrows. Those arrows go in this direction, then back and then there's an infiltration system there. q3 MARCH 01, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 7 What I am going to walk you through -- this entire area right here, all of this, has a liner under it so the water cannot leave that area down in the aquifer until it goes through the water - quality system. This area right here is designed to be a first -flush basin. It would, basically, hold the entire water -quality volume that's calculated by the DEC that is the standard now that we have to design to. We have designed a pump at this location that would be set with the flow that after 24 hours the water sitting there, the pump would come on and then start the removal. The DEC requires that water be in there for 24 hours, but it can actually start outletting immediately. The system we have designed would mean that all the water would sit in there for 24 hours. Now there's a safety factor in there. If you look at what happens, there's a berm and that berm runs right between here, and this is another secondary micro pool. When the pump pumps up, it sends it to this micro pool area here. That berm is set up so in larger storm events than the normal water quality volume, that would actually allow it to flow over it so that the pump itself is not an ample item to flooding; all it is to allow the system under normal operations to make sure that that water stays within the water control basin. DEC does not design or require that water to stay in there for 24 hours. In larger storm events, it's, obviously, that -- dilution and other items play a factor into water quality. Then what happens in larger storm events, the water flows up, it can make its way to the infiltration area. What we've done here is, after it leaves here, goes into this micro pool and then this is a wetland section -- one of the hard things to do in soils like you have around here with sands and things, it's hard to get wetlands to proper functionally; that's one of the reasons for including a liner so that we can get the plannings and things that the DEC recommends for the uptake of pollutants and other things, and that is all right in this area here. All of that is before any of the water would actually go back to infiltration. So, then, on top of that, because we're utilizing this pump in the higher line here, we allow to keep a greater distance between the infiltration bed and the actual aquifer. While our -- the DEC typically recommends around 4 feet, we have 5 feet in this location and we could do that through the ability of having this pump and the system lined out. Now, we've also done some other things. I'm spending a little more time on this than some of the other because I know it's a pretty critical item to a lot of people. People are asking, "Okay, if you have a liner, how are you going to control that so you're not ripping and tearing it during your maintenance?" In this bed right here what we've done is, we've included precast concrete. They're like a wafer shape that allows grass to grow through them, but they give you a working area so that in the spring, in the fall, whenever silt starts to accumulate, we can have equipment go down there, clean out the materials from the bottom of that first -flush basin without actually affecting the liner. There would be a safety mechanism between that. Again, I think what you would find in here, we're also looking at -- one of the other items we mention in there is, the Garden Center is set up a lot different now. There's actually a drive- thru area. The intent is to allow any of the fertilizer or that, that you go in, pull a ticket off, take it up, pay for it, drive your car around to the drive-thru and associates would actually load it. That way you're avoiding the situation where somebody goes out, spills it in the parking lot, leaves it, walks away; this would leave it controlled. Probably if any of you visited Home Depot, Lowe's, they do a lot of their materials that way now. This is, basically, the same idea, again, to help prevent an accident from occurring within the parking lot area. We are proposing a TLE area over here: The Tire Lube Express. That area over there, we're not doing any heavy main -- or any heavy maintenance of the equipment or of the cars. It is to have an oil change on there. We see that as a positive aspect for the aquifer. Let me take a little reason why. If you read through the aquifer protection, you'll find in that almost 50 percent of the contributing area is upland lands, not only the aquifer area that I showed but the lands upwards flowing down into the aquifer. That means anything that's polluted in the uplands are actually making its way there, as well. One of the things that we look at is by having an oil -change facility, we can design that, with the cooperation of the Town, to include not only double wall tanks, but they can also put curbs on it so they have three-way protection. If we can provide you with a low -cost -oil -change method within the area, sometimes you take away from that instinct of many people who try to change the oil themselves. And I think you could find out that a lot of people probably don't follow all the appropriate standards of putting the waste, or oil, where it's supposed to go. One of the things, also, when you operate a facility like this, you have to accept oil from anyone; that means that oil — anyone that changes their own oil can bring it to this facility and it will be stored in that area storage and that would be controlled. qq MARCH 01, 2006 ' PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 8 One of the things we've been willing to do on this one, in respect to that, work with the Town, is to address all those concerns and be respectful of the aquifer. The only other operations that would go on, typically, like tire mounting, windshield wipers, batteries, those types of items that go on, everything is stored within the facility itself. There's also the ability for us to look at the inlets within that area, so if there's a concern of a spill or something, we can isolate those inlets within that one area to have, maybe, more of a volume regarding the oil quality so that if there was a spill that would further provide protection. The other thing we were going to do in regards to the salts was to limit salting in the parking lots. Wal-Mart does it in many cases anyways, but we limit salting to the intersection areas and during extreme weather conditions. Obviously, if there's an ice storm and it's a glare of ice, for safety reasons, salting is one of the mechanisms that would be utilized. We try to stay mainly sands with the -- regarding pollutions, but there are -- I don't want to throw out that would never be done. If we limit that, the salt actual usage would be very minimal. One of the other things that we did -- can we skip up to the next one? Another part of this that -- we are also keeping a 40-percent green space area. Again, One of the things to be aware of, 40 percent of this site will still be charged through the landscape and lawn areas, pretty much the way they are now. The only -- 60 percent of the impervious area would go through and be directed to the water -quality areas. The last thing I wanted to get on this slide was that we also did some testing of a facility that has the similar system in Central Square, New York and it's -- in that, there are some -- there was very low levels, if any, pollutants. As a matter of fact, if you look at it, it was interesting, because one of the things they did with this testing, that most people don't do, we actually tested rain water and found that many of the pollutants were actually in the rain water, not actually being introduced by the parking lots but are already in there. If somebody ran through that, you might want to take a look at the PH values of the rain water versus the run-off. It does tell you a lot about what you're seeing and where some of the these pollutants maybe coming from. Remember: You have an Ohio basin; it's fairly industrial. Some of those pollutants can get into the air and get into the precipitation and come down. Some of the water -quality provisions that we're providing may help treat some of those, as well. We can go forward. This is just a blow-up view of the basin itself. Water comes in over here. This is the first -flush basin, the,pump; this is the micro pool area. Again, the water comes out of here, is pumped up into this area and this would go through this wetland area, then out to the infiltration bed. Okay. One of the things that -- if we could move forward. Okay, yeah. The other things that we did is, we met with the neighbors, and the reason is, obviously, the abutting neighbors, especially, have some of the biggest impacts for a project as of anyone. And, so, we wanted to look at the concerns and impacts that they would see. Obviously, noise and air quality is one. It's one of the items we looked at. The noise we looked at, at this -- at The Walden Place. What we did here is, we incorporated a very large berm to provide a buffer for sound in that area. However, this area up in here with Walden Oaks, this area, obviously, a lot harder to buffer. They sit, elevationwise, a lot higher. So there - was some concerns raised with that. One of the things that we did was to look at what could we do to this site to, possibly, improve those items? And one of the -- there was three items that -was raised by the neighbors: One was, obviously, noise; one was kind of cross -pedestrian access through here; and I believe we -- how the truck access was coming around and how that was feeding. What we did, anyways, is we looked at bringing the truck route this way. We added a truck turn -around here. This alternative -- again, it's not the site before the Board, but through SEQR, if the Board determines that this is a — is something that they would like to see incorporated, they can incorporate it into their binding statement, saying this is something they would like us to see move forward with in the site plan, fortunately. The trucks come in this way,, move around to the back and then back out this way. Why this is important is, now, originally, under the original application, this was the straight run, so the trucks were coming in and down this way. That brought the noise closer to the -- these abutting residents right here. Another aspect that we did is, there used to be a compactor right there. That's been moved over to this side right there. Another thing that we've done is, in this compressor area there, we've added a masonry wall for sound detonating; we've also added a fence..There's a masonry wall right in this location close to where the sound would be generated from the trucks and the rest of it is intended to be a decorative fence. Now, the decorative fence may run this way. We normally fence in water -quality areas mainly because of security so that we don't have kids and things like that wandering in. So we would work with the Town to have a fence around this area. And then the decorative fence could either run along the road or running along the MARCH 01, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 9 back. What this would prevent is, if people are trying to cut through, they would have to go around that fenced location. The applicant... We already talked about the water condition. I was -- we were looking at that. We just talked about each one of these: The sound wall, the compressor, the trash compactor relocation. The other item I did talk about was lighting and that was the third one I left out. The lighting here was a concern because we were proposing 42-foot height. Where was that going to fall in relationship to their properties? And it was -- you know, there are -- we were looking at a twelve sixteen here; I think the contours up here were 45, so it was close. What we have proposed to do in this alternative, and this is demonstrated here, is to lower the lights to, approximately, 30 feet. And what that does is eliminates any spoilage over, but it also gets that fixtures down so they're looking down at the fixture and there's not a possibility that they're going to be looking at, you know, a similar height. So that was another aspect we've done. One of the things that this did is — and I'll go over this a little bit further when we go to noise -- this dropped any of the increase of noise below the 3-decibal range which is, once you get below that three mark it's pretty much what the DEC says is an acceptable level. Again, I think all these other items we already talked about, so we can go on from there. This is actually the noise evaluation. This is the one that's in the DEIS right now. You can see that some of the changes had numbers of 8.2, 4.1. If you look at this revised numbers over here, based on the revisions that we've did to the pin — the plan by moving the truck access, some of the compressors and putting up the sound wall on the compressors, that actually dropped it so that the largest right now is 2.7. So that's a significant modification and I think, again, it's a reason why we like to have feedback from the public, because it does bring good ideas into the plan. These are the receptors. If you notice, these are numbered Rl, R2, R3 and R4. The RI is right here along the property line; R4 was up close to, approximately, the same area where the residence would have their back lawn; R2 is right over in the corner; and R3 was back here to imitate the Walden Place location. In case you're looking through the document, it is explained in there, but I thought this might be a little easier to visualize where they were. We can go forward from there. I am going to leave this part to our architect and he's going to come up and give you the next part of this. What -- I will go over this just as visual. I think I covered most of it. The project has significant green space. If we could back to the last site plan just quick. If you notice on this, some of the visual impacts that we've done: We've added berms in this location and berms along this location here to buffer the overall site; the landscaping has been significantly increased. If you go to your commercial areas now, there's very little, if any, internal green space. And I know that's something that the Town wants to see improved; they're working hard at setting standards; and we've worked hard at trying to make sure that we abide by that. We've incorporated sidewalks along the interior road here. Visually, we offset this road. And one of the reasons we did that is, as you look up this road, you don't see a road; you see the landscaping along the edge. Same thing as when you come into Bennie Road here; you look up and you actually see the landscaping, so it doesn't appear like you're looking at a street. It improves that and gives you an offset that's much nicer and more pleasing. All of that was done with the idea of improving the enhancement. Last of all, the architect that — sorry to interfere, again, but he's going to come up here and talk to you about the building and fascod itself. STEVE THOMPSON: Good evening. Thanks, Steve. For the record my name is Steve Thompson from Bermann Associates. I'm an architect with Wal-Mart Associates. I just wanted to take a brief minute to introduce the store. This is what Wal-Mart calls a supercenter which . means it incorporates both the merchandising component, as well as a grocery -store component. Some of the features in this store will be an optical center; there will be a bank; there will be a food tenant within the store. So there's a lot of nice features that this store offers the community. This first slide here, briefly, shows some of the views that Steve explained earlier that were taken at various points in the site. I've got a larger board over here on the easel that maybe you could take a look at after the meeting, if you so desire, but it shows, basically, what you would see and how much of the building you would see from various points on the site. 146 MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 10 I just want to, take a minute to walk through the elevations of the store. If you could go to the next slide, Stephanie, please. The next one. These are some more views, but I wanted to show you over on the far easel, I have some larger elevations of the store. And this store is particular to this community. It's what Wal-Mart calls "the store of the community." Really, by me coming here tonight and introducing myself and this store to you, it kind of opens up an avenue of communication, I hope, between myself and the community that we can open a dialogue where I can get some ideas and some input from you as to how this store and the esthetics of this store can fit best within your community. The blue and gray battleship that you may be familiar with from Wal-Mart's past days is long -gone and I think what we're proposing here on this site is a definite upgrade to that: Many new materials, many new colors that make the store visually pleasing. But I'm not going to tell you that this is the final elevations. We're still looking for some input from the community that we could build on these elevations. I think that's it. STEVE CLEASON: Amy with SIF will be up next. She'll be talking about the traffic. AMY DAKE: My name is Amy Dake. I'm a senior traffic engineer with SRF & Associates and we perform the traffic impact study for the proposed Wal-Mart. Do we have the site plan? The main access to the site is here on Route 13. It will be a signalized driveway. And there's a secondary access here which would be a right turn egress only; that means you can only exit via right turn on to Route 13; and an additional intersection on Bennie Road here which would ultimately access Route 13, as well, where Bennie Road connects to Route 13 and also to the county highway to the rear. I understand that there's some concern about traffic using Bennie Road. Our analysis looked at population centers and which way traffic would -- which roadways traffic would use to get to and from the site. And what we determined was that, approximately, 17 percent of the traffic coming to and from the site would use Bennie Road. This indicates to somewhere on the order of 85 to a hundred vehicles in the peak hour. Some internal roadway design was done on the internal roadway connecting Bennie Road and Route 13 to try and discourage high speeds internal to the site and discourage cut-thru traffic in that sense. We don't see any changes if the access point on Bennie Road weren't to go forward. You would still have traffic using Bennie Road to get to the site and they would then use Route 13 and access via the main site driveway. We also see a benefit for traffic currently using Bennie Road with this connection because they'll have access to Route 13 via the signalized driveway from the site. The traffic -impact study included 16 intersections existing and those were identified through the scoping process. We looked at the weekday p.m. and Saturday midday peak hours. These are peak hours that provide most impact due to commuter traffic on the roadway during the p.m. peak hour and traffic on the roadways during -- Saturday afternoon peak hour is also a concern with retail development. Existing traffic volumes were obtained via direct counts that were conducted in 2005. Trip generation for the proposed site was generated for the peak hours that I just mentioned: P.m. peak and the Saturday peak hour. The trip generation includes the supercenter and the two outparcels. We understand that there are no restaurant uses permitted on this site through the proposed zoning. However, we used fast food restaurant and another type of a restaurant for trip -generation purposes solely for the purpose of trying to look at a worse -case scenario for the traffic -impact study, then we can determine what mitigation would be necessary, understanding that these uses are not allowed on the site. Traffic volumes generated by the site when it is ultimately developed would be less. The site traffic that will be generated by the site was added to background roadway traffic volumes. This means that we have some existing traffic volumes, on the highways. These volumes were increased due to background growth and background growth rates were determined from historical traffic volumes in the area and any proposed developments that are already approved in the area. As far as the trip generation for the site, including the two outparcels, the total new trips that would be generated by site during the p.m. peak hour are 489 entering trips and 478 exiting trips. During Saturday midday peak hour, it's 642 entering trips and 582 exiting trips. What you see on the screen now is the level -of -service summary. I'm just going to highlight a few areas. L+ 7 MARCH 01, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 11 For the most part, the mitigation that's proposed will bring levels of service to a level that's commensurate with the background traffic conditions. That's this column here. This column is full -development conditions without any mitigation. And this column shows where mitigation is proposed and what the levels of service would be with the mitigation. Couple of things to highlight. Route 281 and Luker Road currently shows the level of Service F. The delays would increase with the proposed project. We have a couple of level Service D here, which are an acceptable level of service. Level of Service E at 13 and Bennie Road. The proposed traffic signal at the driveway will create some gaps, new gaps, at Bennie Road which will help traffic getting in and out of Bennie Road. In addition, traffic using Bennie Road can use the roadway through the site and use the traffic signal that would be constructed, the driveway of Route 13. For the most part, a lot of these intersections are A's and B's and C's: C is an average condition. McLean, Fairview is a background level Service D. It will just go over the threshold to level Service F. This shows the site driveway. If we don't put in a traffic signal, we'll have some levels of Service F with the traffic signal. We're looking at, overall, A's and B's. And all of the signalized intersections will continue to operate at overall levels of Service C. These are the traffic -mitigation measures that are proposed. At many of the traffic signals that exist, we're looking at doing some signal timing modifications that would just change the traffic signal timing a little bit to accommodate the proposed traffic volumes. This is the proposed site driveway. The new driveway would have two entering lanes and two exiting lanes. It would have a new traffic signal. We would also provide a left -turn lane on Route 13 so that traffic on Route 13 could get out of the thru-lane into a left -turn lane before they turned into the site. There would also be a northbound right -turn lane on Route 13. So, similarly, traffic that wanted to turn right into the site would have a lane to use in order to enter the site. We're also proposing the right -turn -exit -only driveway on Route 13 and the new full - service driveway on Bennie Road which would have one entering lane and one exiting lane. And based on the analysis, our conclusion regarding traffic is that the transportation network with the mitigation in place can adequately accommodate the projected traffic and impacts without significant adverse traffic impacts. We'll be working with New York State Department of Transportation, who owns Route 13, to determine mitigation measures and achieve the appropriate approvals from them. Steve Cleason is going to finish out the presentation for us. STEVE CLEASON: The last few items we're just going to go through quick. Again, what we do is just to reiterate some of information that is already in the DEIS. This is, basically, the fiscal impacts -- the fiscal impacts of the store itself. Just some things to know. The site was originally assessed in 2/03 at 350,000. They have reassessed the site in 2005 to a million five. The current property tax purposes, those are all stated right there. It's 53,149 annually; 6900 going to the Town, 2299 going to the School and 23,250 going to the County. This is the existing Wal-Mart. Right now it's -- 15,000 goes to the Town, 50,000 to the schools and 51 to the County. Again, one of the things to keep in mind is that this could all be, you know, people concerned we're going to lose that at the existing. That could be maintained or actually improved if the Town does consider in the future to approve a Lowe's at that site. An application has not been made, but there is interest in that site. The proposed project is estimated into year one to generate 17,000 to the Town, 56,898 to the School and 57520 to the County. That's based on using the 485B with tax abatement that's given to anyone who develops a similar project. It's not something that we've asked for; it's open to all uses and anyone. In year 11, based on the same tax rates, would give you 34,141 to the Town; 113,796 to the School District and 115,000 to the actual County. Again, that's all utilizing the 485B tax abatement, which is the worse -case scenario. Again, there is increase, obviously, in what the Town is receiving on that property now and it's likely that there would be an increase if the Lowe's parcel went forward based on the improvements that would be done there. We can go forward. The community Wal-Mart is excited, obviously, about having a new store here. The -- 75 percent of the employees are full time with benefits; two-thirds are seniors, students and second - income earners and nationally their turnover rate is lower than other retailers. They only have a retail turnover rate of 46 percent. MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 12 One of the things to keep in mind with Wal-Mart is they do give quite a bit back to the community. There's numerous groups that receive money from Wal-Mart on a community level; those being, actually, some of the fire departments, some of the food pantries, some. of the educational funds, all of those are -- I'm sorry, if you guys can't hear. There are many of the funds that go back to the community and those are important. I didn't get down into the specifics ,of each one of them, but there's a lot of money that goes back and it would be probably worth, if you guys are related to any of those different groups, to find out, you may find out that you're already receiving money from Wal-Mart. Again, one of the things, Wal-Mart believes in a free-market competition. It sees the benefit to all consumers through lower prices. Wal-Mart offers same goods at lower prices at one convenient location. One of the successes of Wal-Mart is that any of the people that are on fixed incomes or have limited transportation, they can go there and get many of their items under one roof and that's been a convenient opportunity for them. The presence of Wal-Mart helps the local economy through increased taxes, as well as it draws, in many cases, other retailers to that area; again, increasing tax revenue and other things. One of the biggest benefits of retail is the school districts. School districts -- obviously, you're not adding any students to the enrollment, but they're generating tax dollars to the school base. Next one. Basically, in conclusion, with the mitigations proposed, no significant -- detrimental impacts are as a result of this project. Basically what we're saying is, we feel that we've addressed the concerns and have mitigated appropriately. One of the things we really want to say to you, and I think it's important in closing with this, is that we hear the comments. One of the reasons that we came in with the alternative drawings today was because we went; we met with the neighbors; we tried to hear what they had to say; we tried to go back and offer alternatives; and we continue to do that throughout this process. If anyone has been familiar with this process, as many of you have, you've seen this project go through many iterations: The building's been moved, turned, tilted, twisted and put in a lot of different locations to try to provide the best opportunity for this community. We'll continue in that mode. We'll work with the Town and work with those people that will work with us to try to create the best project for this community. I appreciate your time. Thank you. ATTORNEY FOLMER: The next step in this process ought to run through involved agencies that have been identified in the SEQR progress to determine whether or not they wish to make any verbal comments at this point in time. And I have a list and I am going to go through them and I am going to name them all because I want the record to indicate the information that we have concerning each of and everyone of the involved agencies. The first is the landowner himself, Homer C. Gutchess. Mr. Gutchess is represented by Mr. Edmond Hoffmann, Junior and I called Mr. Hoffmann's office this afternoon and discovered he is in San Antonio, Texas in business and not able to get back. If there are comments from Mr. Gutchess, they will be submitted in writing subsequent to the closing of this Public Hearing and during the public comment period. Second is the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 7 in Syracuse and I think I saw someone from DEC come in. SPEAKER: I'm here. I'm not prepared to make any comments at this time. ATTORNEY FOLMER: Fine. Thank you. And we'll expect to see something from you in the course of the public comment period. In addition to that, I am told that the Cortlandville Town Board, obviously, will make its comments in connection with the preparation of a Final EIS, Environmental Impact Statement. I'm advised by Mrs. Wickwire, the chairman of the Town Planning Board, that the Planning Board's official comments will be made in writing and will be received by the Town Clerk no later than Monday of next week. The County Planning Department, Mr. Dineen, has contacted me to tell me that he, as well, will be submitting his comments in writing during the comment period. The Town of Cortlandville Highway Department indicates that they intend to make no comment at this point. I assume, Mike, the Department of Environmental Conservation in Albany is represented by you, as well. Consequently, we'll take that as being if we're going to seek comments, we'll see those in writing. MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 13 Is there anyone here from the State Department of Transportation that wishes to be heard at this point? I've not had any information from them at all. The Cortland County Highway Department, is there a representative from the Cortland Highway Department or Department of Public Works that wants to be heard at this point? Okay. What about the Cortland County Department of Health? Mr. Redy from the Cortland County Soil and Water Conservation Agency is here somewhere. Hi, Pat. Do you want to be heard now or comment later? PAT REDY: We have written comments that we haven't finalized. I wouldn't mind responding on one point to make a clarification. ATTORNEY FOLMER: Would you come up here and do that? PAT REDY: Sure. Thanks, John. ATTORNEY FOLMER: You're welcome, Pat. Nice to see you. PAT REDY: Yeah. We Cortland County -- my name is Pat Redy. I'm with Cortland County Soil and Water. We are going to be submitting written comments on the DEIS. But I did want to take this opportunity to respond to a point that Mr. Cleason made during the presentation just as a clarification. I think an important one at this point. He stated correctly that the DEIS showed two different interpretations of ground water flow. One was in a USGS fact sheet and another was in the Town's water protection plan. Soil and water was involved in preparing the latter. Todd Miller, from USGS, prepared a ground water flow model that was used for both analyses. So the implication was, I think -- or maybe I just inferred -- that the Town's well had protection plan capture zones for the public water supplies, which are important delineations, were incorrect. And I think that -- just to clarify that, the same tool was used to develop both capture zones. Ground water hydrology is affected by pumping rates and by hydrologic conditions. We worked closely with Todd Miller in preparing the Town's capture zones for the city, as well; they're made with the same model, just with different conditions. And we worked closely with the Town to develop the conditions that were used and the Health Department was involved. So I stand by the capture zones that were developed for the well and protection plan. I just wanted to make that clarification. Thank you. ATTORNEY FOLMER: Thank you, Pat. We also had provided notice of completion of the DEIS and notice of this hearing to the Environmental Conservation Notice Bulletin which is a publication that is put out in Albany. And the last person on the list of involved agencies is Mr. Tupper, who is the chief executive officer and the supervisor of the Town of Cortlandville, and I'm advised that Mr. Tupper's comments will be incorporated within those to be made by the Town Board. That's the list of the involved agencies. Consequently, we can now turn to those that are considered to be interested agencies and we have identified two of those. The first is the Citizens for Aquifer Protection and Employment Group, and I understand that there are several people here who are going to make a presentation but that Ms. Dangler is going to lead off and I don't know where Jamie is, but... Here she comes. JAMIE DANGLER: Thank you. Hello, my name is Jamie Dangler. I'm on the executive board of Citizens for Aquifer Protection and Employment. I'd like to thank the Town Board and the Town Supervisor for allowing CAPE to provide comments as an interested agency. CAPE's comments are based on technical review of the Wal- Mart Draft Environmental Impact Statement and are based on analyses developed for CAPE by an economist, Dr. Fred Floss, from Buffalo State; an engineering firm, Carpenter Environmental Associates, from Monroe, New York; and a hydrogeologist, Dr. Matthew Becker, from the University of Buffalo. The comments that Arnold and I will make tonight will be pitched in a very general level and they will not cover all of the areas for which CAPE will submit written comments. We'll follow up by presenting the Board with a much more extensive and detailed written analysis of the DEIS. W MARCH 01, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 14 Tonight we're only going to focus our general comments on two areas and those are traffic and economic impacts. We will not tonight even be addressing the comments that were prepared for us by Carpenter Environmental Association -- Associates which have to do with storm water management and pollution control technologies, nor will we be saying anything about the comments prepared for us by Dr. Matt Becker, who is a hydrogeologist. The reason for that, quite frankly, because they are very technical and very complex. We could not afford to pay these experts to come here and present to you and we thought that it would just take up too much time, it would not be understandable, and we certainly couldn't interpret or answer questions. So we decided to combine our oral comments to more general issues, again, with the promise that the Board will get a very lengthy and very detailed set of comments that will cover all of these areas. We will include, with those comments, all of the credentials of the people whom we have hired to prepare them for us. And that will certainly be submitted before the public comment period ends. I wanted to just say a few things about CAPE and acknowledge the people who are here tonight. CAPE is a citizens group which currently has more than a hundred members; in addition, many others who have not directly participated in CAPE meetings or other activities contributed funds to allow us to hire our attorney who is Mindy Zogby from the Rochester law firm of Bansbach, Zoghlin & Wall. We hired an engineering firm and a hydrogeologist, as well as an economist. We would like Board Members to know that CAPE has taken its responsibility to provide an objective and accurate analysis of the DEIS very seriously. Members of this community have collectively contributed thousands of dollars to enable us to hire these experts whom, we hope, will help us to protect our interest and to provide this Board with additional analysis that may be needed and helpful in their effort to make a sound decision. Again, I'd like to acknowledge all of the people who are here today who have been CAPE supporters who have contributed their time, their effort and certainly their money, because we would not have been able to be anywhere near viable contributors to this discussion without their expertise. So, by show of hands, all those who have been with us and helpful and supportive, thank you very much for all of your efforts. We may not have talked directly face to face, but there's a lot of e-mail correspondence and we do appreciate the fact that you're there. I will just be taking a stab at the traffic part of our analysis. Again, I have to say it's very complex and I certainly -- these are not comments coming from me; they're coming from our traffic analyst. We did think we could at least summarize those in a way that would be understandable and then Arnold Talentino will follow up with comments that focus on the economic impact that are discussed in the DEIS. Okay. Traffic. Two areas that we'd like to comment on tonight. And, again, these are not — these aren't all of the areas under traffic that will be commented on in our written submissions. Just a couple things we wanted to point out tonight. First of all, having to do with projected site traffic generation. Reduction ratios in the DEIS were applied to projected traffic from the new Wal-Mart to result in fewer trips being distributed to the local network for future level -of -service analysis, and I'm referring to Section 4D on Page 10. The first of these was a 9-percent reduction of anticipated traffic for a, quote, "multi -use, unquote", development where destinational shopping trips are merged. That is, the idea is when you go to a power center or a supercenter with a Target, a Wegman's, apparel shops, other shops like that, the idea is, you won't get back in your car to drive store to store using public roads and/or you may stay within a shared parking lot. We question the use of such a reduction in traffic -site generation given that the only tenants in this multi -use development are fast-food and high -volume restaurants which generally attract more impulse patrons than other retail uses. For example, you may plan to go jointly to a Target as part of the shopping trip to Walmart, but a trip to a restaurant is usually a separate decision. So we think there is an underestimation of traffic -site generation. A second area has to do with projected traffic impacts. Of great concern are the arterial operational projections for Route 13 in Table 7 on Page 13. It projects Route 13 to reach failure level of service, LOS, ENF, technical things there, under both background and with the new Wal-Mart between the Price Chopper driveway and Lime Hollow Road.. This suggests that the road requires an additional lane which is not within the purview of the developer to create but would contribute to any discretionary decision to approve a large development, especially when another business park is also being developed. 51. MARCH 01, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 15 It's also important to ask whether New York State Department of Transportation plans to widen Route 13 will have other secondary impacts. That is, will it attract additional development? The report, the DEIS, only presents the information; it does not discuss. any implications of this projected failure. Another point. Movements on a number of unsignalized intersections fail even with mitigation. Including, Bennie Road, Route 13, Gracie Road, Route 13, McLean, Fairview, Route 22, Fairview, Highland, Luker Road and Route 281. The projected traffic numbers on these lists are low, but it is important to consider the character of access on these streets. For example, will they create new inconveniences that will downgrade the character of the area, particularly since these are residential areas or much of the areas in question are residential? Next, the analysis laudably includes a cumulative analysis that considers the new Wal- Mart, future Lowe's and 30 percent build -out of the Fingerlakes East Business Park, and I'm referring to Table 9 on Page 20. However, this is only a cumulative -assessment scenario for a Wal-Mart opening -day analysis. SEQR does require cumulative analysis for all reasonably foreseeable future projects. For example, for public projects, this is done through assessing an estimated of completion, an ETC, of 10 or 20 years. But the numbers for a full build -out of Fingerlakes East are available. We've seen that traffic study. It would seem reasonable for a scenario to be assessed for both a full build -out of the Business Park plus the new Wal-Mart and Lowe's, along with any other projected development projects along the corridor in an estimated time of completion of 10 or 20 years. In addition, it is very important to acknowledge that the granting of a PUD is discretionary. This means that the Town's ordinance does not permit them as of right. A PUD is not permitted as of right. Given this fact, a full assessment of the future cumulative affects of granting approval of the PUD should be considered. I will turn it over to Arnold who has comments on economic impact. ARNOLD TALENTINO: Hi. You've all heard my name is Arnold and I'll just now continue with remarks. These remarks all have to do with economics, the physical analysis that the Wal-Mart people presented and, first, I'll begin with a few overstatements. I have three of those and the first one is this. The Wal-Mart study overstates property tax revenue because it uses the wrong tax rates. If you re -run the tax revenue calculation with the correct tax rates, revenues are $20,144 per year less than what Wal-Mart calculated. Number two, the Wal-Mart study overstates property tax revenues because it assumes that Lowe's will take over the existing property and pay the same taxes that Wal-Mart did. This is speculative and unreasonable. At a minimum, there will be a reduction in tax revenue between the time Wal-Mart vacates the existing store and the time the new tenant is recruited, performs remodeling improvements to make the location suitable for a different use and becomes an income -producing tax -role parcel. Three, the Wal-Mart study overstates sales tax revenues because it does not adjust for the reduced prices of Wal-Mart. Now a few understatements. First, the Wal-Mart study understates cost because it does not project reasonable and necessary cost for road repair caused by additional traffic near this site. Secondly, the Wal-Mart study underestimates cost because it does not address additional police service that may be needed to patrol the empty existing Wal-Mart location. The Wal-Mart study underestimates cost because it does not include public assistance benefits that will be paid to Wal-Mart employees. I have a lot of statistics here and I hope you can follow along. It is well -documented that the average Wal-Mart associate earns less than comparable employees in the retail industry. In 2004, the average annual earnings of a Wal-Mart associate was 14,787 compared to national average annual earnings of 22,760 for such jobs in the retail industry as a whole. Cashiers earned an average of $12,818 compared to $17,220 average earnings for cashiers in the retail industry as a whole. To put these low wages in a larger context, consider the following: The 2005 income level which qualifies a family of three for food stamps is $20,376. For a family of four, the qualifying income level is $24,516. The income level that qualifies people for Medicaid is $19,157 for a family of four and $17,064 for a single parent with an infant. The federal poverty level income for a family of four in 2004 was $19,157. 5z MARCH 01, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 16 While we have not found the specific study of the number of Wal-Mart workers in New York State who depend on public assistance benefits, a number of states have done such studies. First, Connecticut, 2004; 824 Wal-Mart employees had children on Medicaid. Massachusetts, 2004, had 823 Wal-Mart employees and 1,656 of their dependents on state health insurance programs for people who have low and median incomes at a cost of 1.3 million. New Jersey, 2005; 71 Wal-Mart employees and 518 of their children were dependent on the state's health insurance program, SCHIP, at a cost of $384,036. Wisconsin, 2004; 1,813 Wal-Mart employees and their relatives on state health insurance for low-income working families; 1,952 children of Walmart employees on Medicaid at the total cost of 1.8 million. Nationally, the percentage of Wal-Mart employees covered by the company's health insurance plan is estimated to be between 41 and 46 percent. There's a waiting period of six months for full-time associates. There's a waiting period of two years for part-time employees. Wal-Mart spends considerably less on employee health benefits than the average US employer in general and the average US employer and the wholesale retail trade industry. 2002, Wal-Mart spent an average of 3,500 for each covered employee. US employers, on the other hand as a whole, spent an average of 5,646 per covered employee. The average for the wholesale/retail trade industry was $4,834. Wal-Mart employees pay for one-third of the cost of their health insurance. Employees' premiums range from $133 to $264 a month for family coverage and from 33 to 72 a month for individual coverage. Deductibles range from 350 to a thousand dollars. After deductibles are reached, employees pay for coinsurance which generally equals 20 percent of the cost of care up to a tap. The source of this information, all of these statistics and the like, was from a title "What Do We Know About Wal-Mart? An Overview of Facts and Studies for New Yorkers," and this was from the Economic Policy Brief for the Brennan Center of Justice, New York University School of Law. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: What was the date on that? PAT REDY: (speaker was actually Arnold Talentino) The date was August 2005. Sorry. JAMIE DANGLER: We'll provide you with any of the studies we site. PAT REDY: (speaker was actually Arnold Talentino) All of this stuff will be for interested readers, you can be sure. Third page. According to the Democratic staff on education workforce, one 200-person Wal-Mart store may result in a cost to taxpayers 400,000 -- 420,750 a year which is about 2,103 per employee. This tax cost results from the following public cost being passed along to taxpayers: $36,000 a year for free and reduced lunches for only 50 qualifying Wal-Mart families; $42,000 a year for Section 8 Housing assistance, assuming 3 percent of the store employees qualify for such assistance and $6,700 of family; $125,000 a year for federal tax credits and deductions for low-income families, assuming 50 employees are head of household with a child and 50 are married with no children; $100,000 a year for the additional title -one expenses, assuming 50 Wal-Mart families qualify with an average of two children; $108,000 a year, for the additional healthcare costs of moving into state childrens health insurance programs, assuming 30 employees with an average of two children qualify; $9,750 a year for the additional cost of low income energy assistance. And this is from, quote, "Everyday low prices, the hidden price we all pay for Wal-Mart," report by the staff on the Committee on Education and the workforce for the US House of =- to the US House of Representatives dated 16 February, 2004. Also, there are -- I'll go back to — just for the heck of it -- $108,000 per year for the additional federal healthcare costs and moving into state childrens health insurance programs, assuming 30 employees with an average of two children qualify; 9,750 for the additional cost of low income energy assistance. This is from, "Every day low places, the hidden price we all pay for Wal- Mart," and the other document is from "The Hidden Cost of Wal-Mart Jobs." The first document is February 16th, 2004; the second one was August 2004. Getting back to this particular situation; the Wal-Mart study underestimates cost to the community because it does not include decreased consumer spending spillover affects the retail, real estate, health wholesale, banking and other businesses caused by lower wages paid to Wal- Mart employees. For, this, "See Wal-Mart, a Destructive Force for Chicago Communities and J 1 1 53 MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING- DRAFT EIS PAGE 17 Companies," Center for Labor and Community Research. I lied, I said, "This community." That was in reference to a Chicago study. The Wal-Mart study underestimates cost to the community because it does not take into account the fact that local businesses tend to spend their profits in the community but Wal-Mart does not. According to the Andersonville study, "Retail of the Economies," October 2004, the presence of a big -box business rather than a local one will result in a loss of revenue of $75 for the store for a year [sic], or 15,375 per year. The Wal-Mart study underestimates cost because it does not make any provision for the possibility that development of this site will cause contamination or degradation of the aquifer. Now I'm definitely back to here. In 1988, the Environmental Protective Agency designated this aquifer as a sole -source aquifer under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The EPA evaluated for community water well -supply systems within Cortland County that are outside of this aquifer and two public water suppliers to the west on Tompkins County. The EPA concluded that the excess capacities of these systems were inadequate to replace water from the Cortland area aquifer. For that reason, the EPA found that quote, "There are no alternative sources that can provide the same quality of drinking water as the Cortland, Homer, Preble aquifer system at a reasonable cost," end quote. In 1988, water usage from this aquifer was 5 thousand 70 million gallons per day. Bottled water, a possible substitute, costs $1.10 per gallon if over 50 times 5-gallon bottles are purchased. So, it looks like it would cost almost $5.5 million per day to replace the water supply with bottled water if our aquifer were contaminated by activities associated with the proposed development. That's over $2 billion a year to replace our water supply. The potential cost associated with possible aquifer contamination are significant for two reasons. First, it shows that potential costs associated with this proposed development are so great that they can easily dwarf the benefits. Second, given the magnitude of this potential risk, it is essential that we do everything possible to reduce the risk by carefully identifying, evaluating and mitigating all adverse environmental impacts. I and Kate thank you very much for listening. ATTORNEY FOLMER: Anyone else? Jamie, at this point? One of the interested groups is the Walden Oaks Association and I see people here that I recognize from that association. The second interested group is the Walden Oaks Association and I see some people from there. Is there a representative that wishes to make a presentation? SPEAKER: Yes, there is. ATTORNEY FOLMER: Come right forward. MELISSA CHAN: Town Board, and Cortlandville community members, thank you for having us here this evening. My name is Melissa Chan and I live at 3285 Coventry Lane. I am here tonight on behalf of many individuals in the Walden oaks Community to express concerns for the future of our town. We, as a community, have concerns for the new development of Wal-Mart because any large-scale development, such as this, broadly impacts a community. As Mr. VanGorder recently stated, "Yes, Cortland is Cortland and we should all be proud of it," and, indeed, we are. Cortland is Cortland because of its unique qualities; those of a small town community: Kids that play outside; low crime rate, mom-and-pop shops, small back roads; clean air and clean water, beautiful scenery and the common decency of its community members. These qualities are what set us apart from the large rapidly -booming communities. Do we want to be defined by the same things as these other larger towns, or are we Cortland for other reasons? Wal-Mart has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement attempting to address our concerns; they even propose benefits to our community. I am here on behalf of our community to implore you to consider fault in their projections for the future of our town. MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 18 They propose the provision of temporary and expanded permanent employment. In the Times article issued June 10, 2004 and entitled "The Wal-Mart Affect, David Moperg states, 'While Wal-Mart competition does lower prices, it also depresses wages and eliminates jobs."' One 1999 study reported that 1 %2 jobs have been lost for every job that Wal-Mart created. A recent projection by the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Urban Economic Development concluded that the proposed west side Chicago store likely would yield a net decrease of about 65 jobs after that Wal-Mart opens, as other retailers in the same shopping area lose business. A study cited in Business Week as showing modest retail gains after Wal-Mart's open actually reported net job losses, counting affects on warehousing and surrounding counties. Even Mr. VanGorder recently stated that small business, the unmistakeable backbone of our local economy, played as important a role as anyone in the creation of 700-net jobs in Cortland County last year. Wal-Mart also proposes significant tax revenues to the hosting municipality and school districts. And in addition to property taxes, the project will also generate additional sales -tax revenue. Mr. Charles Curley, a resident of Walden Oaks says the following: Much has been made about the tax benefits wages attributable to Walm-Mart. In the Wal-Mart DEIS, there will be no little or sales -tax benefits attributable to Wal-Mart number two. This is because most grocery store items are non-taxable. Instead the report claims that there will be significant benefit to the town and school district resulting from property taxes. Wal-Mart produces a table in the report that shows tax revenues to the community of $1.9 million over the first ten years. Unfortunately, this rosy scenario is on two unlikely assumptions. One, the assumption that Wal-Mart number two will, in fact, pay property taxes; and, two, that Wal-Mart number one will be built by Lowe's who also will pay property taxes. The existing polo fields parcel generates $53,144 per year in property taxes and Wal-Mart number one generates $116,565 per year in taxes. Together over ten years these two existing parcels will generate $1.7 million in property taxes without a second Wal-Mart. If Wal-Mart number two is granted a tax abatement, then the 1.9-million-dollar tax revenue claimed in its report would become zero. This would also trigger Lowe's to accept no less in its negotiations in building like Wal-Mart number one. The result will be a ten-year loss from a tax revenue of both parcels. That 1.7-million-dollar loss tax revenue will mean additional tax increases for the rest of us and the local taxpayers would then be subsidizing the Wal-Mart expansion. Wal-Mart also proposes to offer an expanded variety of consumer goods to the local retail market at reasonable prices. Yes, Wal-Mart is undoubtedly known for its bargains. However, are you getting a bargain when you write your check for the next tax period to support those who are employed without healthcare or who have Medicaid or to make up the loss in tax money due to tax abatement? In a New York Times article from November 1st, 2004 entitled, "States are Battling Against Wal-Mart Over Healthcare," Reed Adelson states, "A survey by Georgia officials found that more than 10,000 children of Wal-Mart employees were in the state's health program for children at an annual cost of nearly 10 million dollars to taxpayers. A North Carolina hospital found that 31 percent of 1900 patients who describe themselves as Wal-Mart employees were on Medicaid, while an additional 16 percent had no health insurance at all. What about lawsuits? Will that impact our taxes? In a USA Today article entitled "Lawsuits, a Volume Business at Wal-Mart," Richard William states, "By its own count, Wal-Mart was sued 4,851 times last year, or nearly once every two hours every day of the year." How does one measure progress and success? How does one measure quality of life? We live in a capitalistic society which compels us to play the game of competition and success; the backbone resides with money and profit. However, as with anything in life, there comes a balance. To live a lucrative life is one thing; to live a happy one is another. Our quality of life and the quality of future generations lives will depend on our concessions. You can have big businesses move into Cortland, you can build bigger roads, add more traffic lights and invite outside communities to shop in our town, but in doing so, Cortland will no longer be Cortland. We will find ourselves confronted with the problems of larger towns and cities; traffic, hustle and bustle, larger corporations, the mom-and-pop stores where you know the employees by name without their name tag. On behalf of the significant number of individuals in this community, I respectfully request that while you make your decisions regarding Super Wal-Mart, you recognize that many of us have concerns. 55 MARCH 01, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 19 Wal-Mart has a significant history that comes with many possible negative effects on a community. These are widely publicized maybe because they are such a big company with a big target or maybe because they are big company incapable of providing quality and ethical service and responsible environmental actions in every community they build in. Wal-Mart has prepared its statement and has conducted research. Let's take a tangible example. A new drug is put on the market. The drug is first tested in -vitro or in test tubes and found to not only work effectively but release no dangerous compounds. The results allow the researchers to do in -vivo, test the product on animals, which, in the short term, causes no problems. However, five years later, the drug is recalled because it is causing unforeseen side effects. Luckily, the drug can be pulled off the shelf. Unfortunately, this will not be the case with new developments such as Wal-Mart. If traffic, noise, tax revenue or pollution become a problem, there will be no going back. How do we stop loitering of individuals in the wooded area between the Wal-Mart parking lot and Walden Oaks? Why are the site lines from Walden Oaks not adequately addressed in the DEIS? Won't winter and daylight affect the viewpoint currently shown in figure four in figure 15? How will our property volumes be affected? How will water pressures change? How will the traffic patterns change? And why is South Cortlandville/Virgil Road not mentioned in the DEIS? What provisions are being made for noise and pollution during building? No matter what is done to secure Walden Place, is a Super Wal-Mart placed next to an assisted living home really a good thing for elderly folks? Won't running delivery trucks and restaurant odors affect their air quality? Won't dumpsters create noise from emptying smell and attract wild life? Will our drinking water and air quality truly be protected? What is the retaining pond liner? What is it made of, and what is the term of life expectancy before replacement? In the DEIS, where does it explain the maintenance of the oil hoods? What will we have to endure if radon, trichlormethine and other toxins are re-released into the air? Will the disturbance of soil release compounds that will affect the aquifer? Where in the DEIS are plans for snow removal and disposition mentioned? Who will pay for the maintenance of the access road and the lights to line the road? Who is paying for additional waste and sewage? What impact will Wal-Mart truly have on our small diverse businesses and employment? Will there be tax abatement? What will our taxes truly be over the next ten years? Walden Oaks Community Members, Mr. and Mrs. Clifton J. Quick state, "Since we are the parents of three daughters, we are also very concerned for the security of our neighborhood. As Wal-Mart will be a 24-hour operation, the risk of intrusion into the development due to its close proximity to Walden Oaks is far too great for us to be comfortable with any security measures that will be part of the project." In the USA Today article entitled "Lawsuits Are Volume Business at Wal-Mart, Richard Williams writes, "Security in vast Wal-Mart parking lots has been an issue in several lawsuits." Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Johnson, also Walden Oaks Community Members state, "Do we want to be known as a strip -mall community or part of the reason people come to the beautiful Fingerlakes Region in the first place? Most of us live here because we enjoy the clean air, water and beauty of our surroundings. The polo field is part of the special area. Please do not sell it for the wrong reason. Once it is gone, it will never be reclaimed." The Environmental Protection Agency has stated, "That when Wal-Mart does not comply with storm water pollution prevention plans and conduct adequate site inspections, it causes soil to erode into nearby waterways. The runoff has the potential to kill fish, destroy a quiet habitat and impact the water supply as stated by EPA Acting Regional Administrator, Kathleen Callahan. The EPA web site shows that Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated is the first national company that the federal government has taken an enforcement action against for multi -state violations of the Storm Water Regulations. Also included in the action are ten of the stores contractors. The violation occurred at 17 Wal-Mart stores construction sites in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Massachusetts. 56 MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 20 Many of our community members are concerned by our rare and privileged water source: The aquifer. As CAPE members have tirelessly worked to make us aware of the importance of the aquifer and the potential ramifications for building upon it, we encourage you, too, to heed their words with care. You are opening a door to unknown future. Exciting, yes, but frightening, as well. Your community members are more frightened than excited about new development because they cherish the Cortland they know. Cortland is Cortland and we should be proud of it. Mr. Tupper, Mr. O'Donnell, Mr. Proud, Mr. Rocco, Mr. Testa, for these reasons, I implore you to listen to your community members. As Town Board Members, you have been given the honor and privilege to represent those who have elected you. Your position should be used in an effort to serve the best interest for the future of this town with the consideration of all the components of a community, whether economic, environmental or societal. Each of you have been elected to protect it from future ills which may not be preventable but putting it at undue risk is unacceptable. Our request to you, as our representatives, is to act morally and ethically. We have placed our faith and trust in each of you; please do not destroy this trust for its consequences will extend beyond those of Wal-Mart. How does one measure progress and success? I challenge you to look beyond the dollar sign and at each of your community members. Your success depends on their happiness. We want to keep our town safe, our businesses diverse, our water clean and our atmosphere, small town and community -like because this is Cortland. In justice for those that you serve, serve and protect the future -- our future responsibly and ethically, only then can you provide our community with the best possible quality of life and ensure the success of its future. Thank you. ATTORNEY FOLMER: I wish I spoke that well. Unless there is someone else from the Walden Oaks Association that is going to speak on behalf of the Association, we've completed the list of involved agencies and interested agencies. We have a few minutes to deal with those of you who have signed up to speak individually. And I have a list of 35 people. We, obviously, are not going to get to 35 people this evening. But we will start at the top of the list, perhaps some of them will waive the privilege that they thought they wanted to utilize if what they were planning to say has already been said. First on the list Professor Robert Rhodes. SPEAKER: I'll defer to a later time. ATTORNEY FOLMER: Second, Mr. Brendan McGovern. BRENDAN McGOVERN: Mr. Supervisor, Town Board Members, thank you for having me. I'm not a scientist. Let me preface this. I'm not speaking for any organization. I'm just a concerned citizen, and when I wrote my statement for tonight, I wasn't sure exactly what the parameters were, but if you bear with me through my very brief statement, I believe that you'll see that I address some of the issues that Wal-Mart raised during its presentation tonight. Very quickly, I was born and raised in a very congested urban area and we didn't have the luxury of clean water. We had to let the tap water flow for a bit and let the brown tint subside before we would be able to drink. I had a brother who died young from cancer and a mother who currently suffers from cancer. I don't know if there was any connection. But I do know that my wife and I have -- my wife and I expect to have our first child due to be born in Cortland on June 2nd and I want him or her to grow up taking for granted what I have learned to cherish: Our beautiful open green spaces, the fresh air of our flowered meadows and rolling hillsides and, most importantly, the clean, clear, fresh, pure water that flows throughout Cortland, most of which is cradled in our sole -source aquifer, a rare gift that we are lucky to have and that we have a duty to protect. I want my child to grow in a Cortland that does not force him, through some unwise development, to leave the region and settle elsewhere in the hopes of finding even a living wage. I'm not going to document all of the environmental and economic transgressions of Wal- Mart, a company that last year alone cost New York counties more than 61 million dollars forcing its workers to rely on public healthcare. I wonder how much of that came out of Cortland's wallet? Others are here who have and who will do a thorough job of documenting the particulars. But I will say that we are not a community that is reflexively opposed to economic development. On the contrary, we are trying to save the economic integrity off our town and look forward to responsible, economic development. 57 MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 21 We are not alone. Across the country, towns and cities are fighting to keep Wal-Mart from invading their communities and for the very same reasons that some of us are here and many are winning. Right here in Central New York, the Village of Liverpool, has filed an Article 78 Petition against the Town of Salina challenging the Planning Board's approval of Wal- Mart's Final Environmental Impact Statement. This Town Board does not and should not have to bend for a developer because of its intimidating wealth and power, and if this board has the courage to say no to such a developer, then this board will not be alone. Thank you very much. ATTORNEY FOLMER: Ms. Luann Rottmann. I think I'm pronouncing that correctly. Mr. Nick Renzi. NICK RENZI: Thank you, John. ATTORNEY FOLMER: You're welcome, sir. NICK RENZI: Town Board Members, thank you very much for hearing me tonight. My name is Nick Renzi, 1149 Davinci Drive. Thanks to Steve and to the attorney for a very nice presentation. My comments tonight are on my own. I'm a member of the Cortlandville Planning Board, but my comments are in no way related to the Cortlandville Planning Board. The following comments are submitted to the Cortlandville Town Board, the lead agency, for the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter. Referencing volume 1, page 4, section B, subsection 1, building and parking lot details. On your drawing, you're calling out parking spaces that are 9'/2-feet wide, 18-feet long, total specified 10-by-20. I'm sure you'll address that. Reference volume 1, page 4, section B, subsection 1, building and parking, quote, you say the smaller parking size also results in reduced impervious area on the site. The code specified parking spaces would not increase the impervious area but simply reduce the number of parking spaces. Reference volume 1, page 5, section C, purpose, need and benefits. Quote, "In addition to property taxes, the project will also generate additional sales tax revenue." Within the appendices contained in Volumes 2 and 3 -- and for those of you who haven't seen the DEIS, it consists of three volumes. Very nice job. The first volume is, essentially, a management summary, and Volumes 2 and 3 are the appendices which support all of the comments in Volume 1. But within those appendices contained in Volumes 2 and 3, and over 500 pages therein, there are, in Appendix L, fiscal impact calculations, three sheets of tabulated figures that relates solely to property taxes and assessments. There's absolutely no description or sales -tax forecast based on projected sales anywhere in the appendices. To state that additional sales tax revenues will be generated without supporting projections is disingenuous. It can be argued that there is no impact of sales tax due to lower cost groceries since groceries are not taxed. Lower -priced tires and oil changes would carry lower sales -tax dollars, and with fixed market demography, the net sales taxes could be less, not more. In defense of Wal-Mart's position, relative to sales taxes -- and as I read through the DEIS, I have to say that I think a great deal of it is accurate and truthful, may not tell the total story, but what's in there is fairly accurate. But in defense of Wal=Mart's position relative to sales tax as stated in Volume 1, page 72, section K, community character, fiscal impacts. Quote, "Since many grocery items are not subject to sales tax, the increase in sales -tax revenues due to the new Wal-Mart Supercenter will not be large. And since only a portion of this goes to the local government, the increased sales tax revenue for store operation is not expected to be large and is, therefore, not estimated here." Those are Wal-Mart's words. They're honest and straightforward. There is no impact any significant impact by the Wal-Mart Supercenter on sales taxes. So I've heard a lot of people talk about the big boom to sales -tax revenue by the supercenter; not so, Wal-Mart's words. Item 4, reference Volume 1, page 5, section C, purpose, need and benefits. Quote, "Beyond additional market competition, benefits include the generation of significant tax revenues to the hosting municipality and school district," end quote. The tax rates used in the DEIS are outdated and are incorrectly applied to the reassessed property values leading to incorrect and inflated impacts. The tax rates used as compared to the current tax rates are as follows. MARCH 01, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 22 Here I have a comparison of the DEIS and correct tax rates. For example, for the Town of Cortlandville, the DEIS calls out $4.60 per thousand when the correct rate is $3.55. Cortland County, the DEIS calls out $15.50 per thousand; the correct rate is thirteen eighty-four. The use of the incorrect tax rates results in overestimated net tax revenues. Reference table 23. The net revenue to the Town in the first year is $1750, not $5650. I'll repeat that. The net revenue for the Town of Cortlandville in the first year is $1750. We can collect that much here tonight. On page 76 of Volume 1, it's stated that quote, "Direct impact to the Town of Cortlandville will be negative in the initial years of the project," end quote. This is incorrect. The impact is positive. I'm sure that's been picked up by the Wal-Mart people. They undersold themselves on that one. The new 2006 Cortlandville tax rate is $3.55 per thousand; and, therefore, revised calculation should be made so that the reassessed property value is in line with the newer lower tax rates. If you compare the property taxes per year in the first ten years, the average net property taxes is gonna be $13,000 for the Town, $82,000 for the School District and $83,000 for the County. If you compare those numbers with the total taxes collected in those areas, you'll see that even though those numbers are inflated, the Wal-Mart contribution as a percent of the total is less than four -tenths of 1 percent to the Town. Contribution is less than four -tenths of 1 percent for the Town and less than 1 percent for the School District and less than 1 percent for the County. Not a big tremendous influx of tax dollars. It's appreciated, but it's not gonna save the day. The use of the adjective "significant" in terms of the property tax benefits to the Town is debatable based upon the percentage that the Wal-Mart property tax represent of the total taxes. Item 5, reference Volume 1, section 4, environmental impacts and mitigation measures. Subsection E, drainage, starting on page 48. The following information -- I'm sure Steve will address these things and do a good job at clarifying it. But the following information would assist in a clear understanding and enhance the specifications of the proposed system. A schematic of the proposed system showing the inlets and storm sewers bin number, the first -flush basin, including its size, the wetlands and water -quality basin, including its size, and the pipe sizes and lengths of the underground recharge system, also include the location, schematic of the pump station. B, the location and description of the permeability test borings. C, on page 49, it stated that the pump station will have flow controls that will be set to commence pumping 24 hours after the flow is actuated. Please describe the system designed in terms of the electrical power failure and how such an interruption in electrical power will impact the flow and/or pumping cycle. Failure analysis will be expected for such a critical part of the project: Flow controls are probably the most unreliable device that God ever made. That aside, there's got to be failure analysis for that system, because when you have a major rain event, quite often you'll have a major failure of electrical power. How does that failure in electrical power impact the flow control system and the pumping to go from one basin to the other? I should say, I'm a licensed professional engineer in New York State and that's why I get to be a little bit technical here. I'm retired now, but prior to my retirement, I was president of Pall Trinity for the last 14 years. Item D, the successful operation of a proposed system depends on the proper maintenance of the system itself. To that end, please provide a detailed maintenance procedure with specific instructions that will ensure that the recommended maintenance actions are executed and recorded. The log of the maintenance procedure should be copied to the Town Code Enforcement Officer of Cortland County. E, to ensure that the drainage system is producing the proper protection, a recommendation for sampling wells should be made in terms of location and depths for the periodic sampling of water in the recharge area downstream of the drainage system to ensure that the water quality is at acceptable levels. The site drawing should provide the location of these sampled wells. The Applicant should provide a detailed description of the sampling procedure, including a frequency not less than every three months with copies of those reports to the involved departments in the County. Sampling procedures should also define the chemical compound that's being assessed, including the limits not to be exceeded. Corrective actions will depend upon the results of the sampling test, but the corrective actions including costs are the responsibility of Wal-Mart. F, considering that many of the green areas are used for the execution of drainage on the site, has does the curbing around those green areas affect the functionality? 59 MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 23 G, provide a cross-section of the infiltration system showing type, sizes, length, yield, textile materials, stone grading details. The proposed system is described to have inlets which are offset from the main piping network to allow the incorporation of oil hoods in the inlet. Please describe the cross-section showing these inlets and oil hoods. In previous reviews of some of the submittals by Wal-Mart, in February of 2005 Wal- Mart, APD Engineering, proposed a storm water managing plan including -- included storm septic systems and I'm just wondering if that's been abandoned. Apparently, it has been. K, with soil borings taken in accordance with the New York State Storm Water Management Design and Manager, appendix D, in order to assist the percolation capability of the filtration area. L, to what degree have the influences of snow melt, rain on snow and frozen soils been taken into account for the design of the storm water management system as defined in appendix 1 of the New York storm water management design manual? There appear to be no mention of this design consideration in Volume 1, page 48 of the DEIS. Item 6, reference Volume 1, section 4, environmental impact and mitigation measures, subsection F, ground water resources starting on page 53. The following information or clarifications are required to understand the sample gathering and analysis that was performed: A, a site sketch or schematic showing the location and geometry at the sample gathering points; B, testing results should be presented in the format that compares inlet to outlet levels and comparisons to state limits to the contaminants; C, on page 56, second paragraph in the top of the page states that, "With regard to protopetroleum hydrocarbon, quote, the initial run-off from the parking lot had a concentration of 173 milligrams per liter. Sample 3A in the first -flush basin had a concentration of 219 milligrams per liter. No other samples tested above -detection limits indicating that the system worked well to remove this substance. It's not clear to me that an increase in PPH is an indication that the system worked well. I might be missing something there, but I need clarification. Also on page 56, second paragraph in the bottom, a discussion of the ethylene glycol does show that the system's working and that the incoming level of quantity milligrams per liter drops to .73 milligrams per liter at the outlet of the first flush basin then drops to .25. Leaving the wetlands. Although the testing shows a reduction of the test results strong enough to say that, quote, "The system is successfully removing the substance," are there any removal ratings, performance objectives to find a consistent design that the field results can be compared to? Item 7, reference Volume 1, section 1, noise quality and energy, and you've taken care some of the noise situations in our meetings with people at Walden Oaks, but I'll read what I have because what I have is based upon what I read in the DEIS. On page 65, table 15, the date of presented for the existing and post -development changes and sound level indicates for receptor R1 whose location is near the eastern property line in the center of the site and near the residential lots located east of the site a change in decibels from 49.1dBA to 57.3dBA with a difference of 8.2dBA. This is equivalent to change in noise intensity of six times between the existing and post development since the ratio of dB's goes as a lot function and not just as a steak sandwich. As reference in the DEIS and the New York State DEC policy on noise, footnote 15, quote, "Sound pressure increases of more than 6dBA may require a closer analysis of impact potential." By virtue of that data presented to Wal-Mart DEIS, changes in noise level appear to pose a significant problem to the housing development, which you've addressed. On the item 8, my last item, reference Volume 3, appendix 1, hazardous material. Considering that the DEIS, as submitted, contains 17 pages of hazardous materials, reference the WestMinster Wal-Mart 1998 hazardous material inventory including about 3,000 gallons of combustible liquids, 1720 gallons of other combustible liquids, motor oils, the lack of details relative to storage containers and contaminants linked to contamination ground water is a gross underestimate of the seriousness of this issue, especially given the aquifer recharge area. I appreciate all the effort that's gone into the DEIS, but the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter environmental impacts, such as the potential threat to the aquifer recharge area, noise and traffic have not, in my estimation, been thoroughly thought out and presented from the standpoint of completeness or engineering analysis and presentation. I feel that the health, safety and well-being of the people of in this community is the highest priority and, because of this, there needs to be a more serious and in-depth environmental impact analysis of the supercenter of the Town of Cortlandville. Thank you. 60 MARCH 01, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 24 ATTORNEY FOLMER: I May forget to say this, if you have written comments that you have read from it would be helpful that they could be committed or copy be submitted to the Board for their record purposes. Next item on my list Mr. Jim Murphy from Virgil. SPEAKER: I defer my comments to Scott Elston. SCOTT ELSTON: Thank you to the Town Supervisor and the Board Members and others involved in this process. I hope we all have the stamina or maybe not all of us but most of the stamina to see this through. I'm not here to specifically speak about the pros and cons of the proposed Wal-Mart to be built in Cortlandville. But my understanding of these proceedings are to determine if there are any significant environmental impacts having a 200,000-square foot plus retail plus parking lot building put on the proposed site. I believe it's the Town Board's duty to make a decision based on the facts presented by recognized authorities in this field, in the field of environmental issues, and not misleading, frenzied, fringe science, doomsday predictions of pending environmental catastrophes from groups whose true axe to grind has to do more with the labor unions and their need to take on an organization that has found a way to do is better, faster and cheaper. Land use and planning is not the place for that argument. If the local government or any government is going to act in a tyrannical fashion — and I'm sure we're not -- trample on the individual property owner's rights, they should be just do it. Exercise your right of eminent domain which was recently held up by the US Supreme Court and just seize this privately -owned property. People already believe it is a public property and affectionately but incorrectly refer to it as the polo grounds. Thank you Mr. Gutchess for that donation. This is a privately -owned property that has been zoned other than residential for several decades. It is the landowner's right to have it developed as long as there is no negative environmental impact that cannot be mitigated. I hope the Town Board or any government body in your situation will make an unbiased decision based on the facts which have been presented by experts in their field of study. If there are obvious or not -so obvious, life -threatening environmental impacts that cannot be alleviated through proper design, then your vote must be no. If the issues are only social, political, then you need to vote yes and finally move this project forward and prove that Cortland County is a good place to do business. Thank you. ATTORNEY FOLMER: Mr. Murphy? Where's Jim? Do you want to come up? SPEAKER: I deferred my time. I'll go to the next. ATTORNEY FOLMER: Next is going to be Mr. Talentino. ARNOLD TALENTINO: This has to do with the aquifer. I didn't get a chance -- this is not part of my -- I'm sorry, sir, would you like this spot? SPEAKER: You've already spoken. ATTORNEY FOLMER: He signed on the list as an individual, as well. ARNOLD TALENTINO: Thank you. Everyone here who is a homeowner has insurance on his dwelling, fire insurance. Actuarial tables will tell you, as you well know, that there's a very slim chance that your house is going to burn down. You can be away for a year and come back and assume your house is going to be there, yet for that very slim chance you buy house insurance. We know, we know, local agencies have demonstrated that the aquifer is more polluted now than it was two decades ago. And I'm just reminding you if you know that there is a problem, you insure yourself against it. The chances of the aquifer becoming polluted are much higher than your house burning down, so remember how much good sense insurance makes. Thank you. MARCH O1, 2006 PUBLIC HEARING - DRAFT EIS PAGE 25 61 1 n 1 ATTORNEY FOLMER: Mr. Murphy, I have put you in Mr. Elston's spot for tomorrow evening. It is 10 after 7; the two hours have expired. The young lady who has been stenographing this is getting weary if the rest of you aren't. And I would think the Board ought to entertain a motion to recess this hearing until tomorrow. SUPERVISOR TUPPER: We stand recessed until 5:00 tomorrow evening at the same location. Thank you. (Proceeding recessed at 7:09 p.m.) CERTIFICATION I, JENNIFER A. GOFKOWSKI, Court Reporter and Notary Public in and for the State of New York, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that I attended the foregoing proceedings, took stenographic notes of the same and that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of same and the whole thereof. JENNIFER A. GOFKOWSKI Respectfully submitted, Karen Q. Snyder, RMC Town Clerk Town of Cortlandville