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County brass go stimulus fishing in nation’s capital
Baer upbeat after sitdown with Schumer
By John Mason
WASHINGTON, DC — Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer, R-Hillsdale, described his lobbying trip to Washington, D.C. Wednesday as “worthwhile.” He, Deputy Chairman Phil Williams, D-Livingston, and County Planning and Economic Development Director Ken Flood made a whirlwind visit to the capital to talk to Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, and Charles Schumer, D-NY, and U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy, D-Glens Falls, about federal stimulus and appropriation funding.
The county is pinning its main hopes for stimulus dollars on five projects: $4 million in improvements to the museum and visitor center at the Olana State Historic Site; $3 million for the emergency communications system the county is installing; $9 million for the Greenport water and sewer system; $200,000 to study a countywide broadband initiative; and $1 million to extend wastewater and sewer systems to Hudson Park on Route 23 in Livingston.
The Hudson Baseball Park developer, Burke St. John, is putting up $4 million, selling zero-interest revenue bonds to provide $9 million, and the county is asking for $1 million. The project also includes $15 million for construction of a dormitory, which would also benefit Columbia-Greene Community College in the off-season.
As for 50 other infrastructure projects being submitted, “we don’t have the shovel-ready projects they require,” Baer said. “We have requests in for bridge funding, but as for highway construction, we don’t have those ready to go. We don’t have the staff the larger counties have to create projects for RFPs.”
Their visit started with Murphy, who Baer described as “attentive.” Since the window for appropriations has passed, the congressman told him, there’s not much he could do, except for the stimulus dollars, Baer related.
“On the stimulus side, we want him to write a letter or make a call to the governor’s office,” the chairman said. “That’s his role.”
The trio then met with staffers in Gillibrand’s office. Here, he said he hopes for the same thing, her support on the stimulus side. Then they got a half-an-hour with the senior senator.
“It was different in Schumer’s case,” Baer said. The senator especially liked the Olana proposal and the high-speed Internet initiative. “He felt he might be able to figure out legislatively a way to get the appropriations even though the window had passed. He was going to speak to [Speaker of the House] Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., about getting the request into conference committee.”
Schumer, clearly a fan of the Hudson River School, Baer said, has one of the larger Church landscapes on his office wall, on loan from the historic site.
The trip was worthwhile, Baer said, and he plans to go back in January to talk about appropriations again. He learned a lot about the process by watching Schumer at work.
“He knew the system, we got to see him, we engaged him on these important projects,” Baer said. “Now Ken Flood will be following up with his staff people.”
To reach reporter John Mason, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail jmason@registerstar.com.
By John Mason
WASHINGTON, DC — Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer, R-Hillsdale, described his lobbying trip to Washington, D.C. Wednesday as “worthwhile.” He, Deputy Chairman Phil Williams, D-Livingston, and County Planning and Economic Development Director Ken Flood made a whirlwind visit to the capital to talk to Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, and Charles Schumer, D-NY, and U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy, D-Glens Falls, about federal stimulus and appropriation funding.
The county is pinning its main hopes for stimulus dollars on five projects: $4 million in improvements to the museum and visitor center at the Olana State Historic Site; $3 million for the emergency communications system the county is installing; $9 million for the Greenport water and sewer system; $200,000 to study a countywide broadband initiative; and $1 million to extend wastewater and sewer systems to Hudson Park on Route 23 in Livingston.
The Hudson Baseball Park developer, Burke St. John, is putting up $4 million, selling zero-interest revenue bonds to provide $9 million, and the county is asking for $1 million. The project also includes $15 million for construction of a dormitory, which would also benefit Columbia-Greene Community College in the off-season.
As for 50 other infrastructure projects being submitted, “we don’t have the shovel-ready projects they require,” Baer said. “We have requests in for bridge funding, but as for highway construction, we don’t have those ready to go. We don’t have the staff the larger counties have to create projects for RFPs.”
Their visit started with Murphy, who Baer described as “attentive.” Since the window for appropriations has passed, the congressman told him, there’s not much he could do, except for the stimulus dollars, Baer related.
“On the stimulus side, we want him to write a letter or make a call to the governor’s office,” the chairman said. “That’s his role.”
The trio then met with staffers in Gillibrand’s office. Here, he said he hopes for the same thing, her support on the stimulus side. Then they got a half-an-hour with the senior senator.
“It was different in Schumer’s case,” Baer said. The senator especially liked the Olana proposal and the high-speed Internet initiative. “He felt he might be able to figure out legislatively a way to get the appropriations even though the window had passed. He was going to speak to [Speaker of the House] Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., about getting the request into conference committee.”
Schumer, clearly a fan of the Hudson River School, Baer said, has one of the larger Church landscapes on his office wall, on loan from the historic site.
The trip was worthwhile, Baer said, and he plans to go back in January to talk about appropriations again. He learned a lot about the process by watching Schumer at work.
“He knew the system, we got to see him, we engaged him on these important projects,” Baer said. “Now Ken Flood will be following up with his staff people.”
To reach reporter John Mason, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail jmason@registerstar.com.
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