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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, June 12, 2019
Residents voice concerns at tense meeting with Medline representatives
Continued from page 1
Road onto I-84. Traveling through the
village makes little logistical sense.
“We do not want to go through the
village,” Dukhan said. “No truck driver
in this world wants to go through this
village.”
When the possibility of a fine being
imposed on Medline for every truck that
travels through the village was suggested,
both Village of Montgomery Mayor
Stephen Brescia and Dukhan said they
could negotiate an agreement with each
other.
Between 80 and 90 percent of
Medline’s trucking will be completed by
its own drivers, with FedEx and third-
party companies making up the rest. This
gives the company more control over the
direction of its drivers, Dukhan said.
Approximately 90 percent of truck traffic
will be 53-foot trailers.
Dukhan said when completed, the
project will generate between 200 and 250
truck trips per day. The Environmental
Assessment Form for Medline states the
project will generate approximately 360
truck trips per day.
However, Dukhan said Medline could
not restrict employee traffic. Medline
plans to brings its workers in Wawayanda
to the facility and hire between 300 and 400
more for a total of 700 workers, reaching
full capacity in four to 10 years.
Developers plan to install two traffic
lights at or near the project, Dukhan said.
However, some residents remained
skeptical that Medline would keep its
promises.
“This is not a good fit for the village,”
village resident Anita Falcone said.
“There can be no guarantee that the
trucks and all this traffic is not going to
come through the village. The village will
Medline Industries, Inc. and the Montgomery village board hosted a public meeting on June
4 so residents could ask questions about the 1.3-million-square-foot warehouse proposed
in the Town of Montgomery.
be done.”
Residents also expressed concern
about the tax breaks Medline has
applied for and has already received in
Wawayanda.
“Your company is a wealthy, wealthy
company and I just can’t reconcile this
as a resident and as a taxpayer. It’s hard
to understand that this is the second
go-around that you’re asking for tax
abatements. As a resident I’m thinking
big money, big business can buy almost
anything, but it’s almost like buying
charity and that really angers me,” village
resident Nina Snyder said. “I just feel like
it’s wrong.”
Medline negotiated a Payment-in-
Lieu-of-Taxes (PILOT) with the Orange
County Industrial Development Agency
(OCIDA) for its facilities in Wawayanda
in 2008. The final year of the county and
town tax PILOT is 2019 and the final year
of the school PILOT is the 2018-19 school
year.
Medline requested approximately $17.6
million from the Town of Montgomery
Industrial Agency (IDA) for real property
tax exemptions and $8 million in
exemptions for New York State sales tax.
If the IDA approves the exemptions, they
will not be granted until after the project
is approved.
The facility will eventually generate
approximately $2.5 million in yearly
property tax, according to the application
for assistance with the Montgomery IDA.
However, the facility will not pay full
property taxes until year 14 of the 15-year
PILOT agreement. The first year, Medline
will pay zero property taxes to the town
and the second year they will pay an
estimated $755,000.
Residents were concerned about light
pollution and noise and visual impacts.
Dukhan said the facility will be sunk
about 15 feet into the ground to minimize
light, visual and noise impacts. The noise
pollution will be minimal, with the facility
generating about 1 percent of ambient
noise from I-84 and existing facilities.
Residents were also concerned about
the quality of jobs to be created, stating
the wage that Medline pays is not enough
to live on.
The estimated average annual salaries
of jobs to be created is $37,000, with a salary
range of between $33,000 and $69,000,
according to the Medline’s application for
assistance with the Montgomery IDA.
“Nobody can live in the Village of
Montgomery or the Town of Montgomery
on $33,000 a year,” village resident Don
Berger said.
Dukhan said the company’s benefits,
which include bonuses, health insurance,
401Ks and college tuition reimbursement,
are one of several reasons Medline is a
good company to work for.
“The reason we’re the best health care
company to work in the United States is
because we treat people right and we take
pride in what we do and how we do it,”
Dukhan said.
While residents may disagree, Dukhan
said the project will be a benefit to the
community, providing jobs, ratables
and new visitors who will frequent the
village’s businesses.
“We want to absolutely be good
neighbors,” Dukhan said. “We want
our employees to go to restaurants and
barbershops and go to the school and
live in this community. We want to do the
right thing.”
The continuation of the public hearing
with the Town of Montgomery planning
board will be at 7:30 p.m. on June 24 at
town hall, 110 Bracken Road.
Banned from speaking at public meeting, residents are fighting back
Continued from page 1
Wednesday afternoon, could not be reached for comment
but in a press release said shutting people up at public
meetings is “classic viewpoint discrimination” forbidden
by the First Amendment.
“This is not America,” Sussman said in a prepared
statement. “This is not the country we all love. We must
and we will fight back!”
The meeting agenda for the public meeting includes
a question and answer session for village residents.
The agenda also includes a public portion for questions,
which limits speaking to three minutes but has no other
limitations based on residence.
While the New York State open meetings law is silent on
who is allowed to speak at public meetings, the law does
state the public must be allowed to attend. According to
advisory opinions of the New York State Committee on
Open Government, a government body is allowed to set
rules governing public speaking, but those rules must be
reasonable and treat everyone equally.
Robert Freeman, Executive Director for the New York
State Committee on Open Government, said he would not
consider Brescia’s decision to limit public speaking to
only village residents reasonable.
“I don’t think his point of view would be found
reasonable by a court of law,” Freeman said.
The committee’s opinion is that governing bodies
cannot preclude someone from speaking based on their
residence or require those in attendance to identify
themselves due to privacy issues. Freeman said it is not
advisable to restrict who can speak based on residence
because those that don’t live in the municipality might
still have a business in it and therefore a stake in the
community.
Brescia, who holds two elected positions, is also
Chairman of the Orange County Legislature and
secretary of the Orange County Industrial Development
Agency.
He did not return calls for comment as of Tuesday
afternoon.