> Subject: Official Statement from Butch Resnick | Times Herald Record Rebuttal ***OFFICIAL STATEMENT*** To: Times-Herald Record – Attn: Leonard Sparks > Re: “Sullivan spars over food hub,” 04/04/2014 > After reading today’s article “Sullivan spars over food hub; most legislators oppose $110k deal,” I can only shake my head and tell each and every resident of Sullivan County that, unfortunately, this is par for the course. The property they are “sparring” over is an approved lot in an industrial park that I own and developed at a cost of close to one million dollars. The property proposed by Legislator Sorensen is a vacant lot across the street from mine, which is zoned for residential use and has no approvals for any development whatsoever. > > When approached by the developer, Partnership for Economic Development and IDA, I offered the lot in my park at a price that was commensurate with the amount of planning and actual site work that I completed on the site. I believed I was entitled to get at least the proportionate share of the actual appraised value of the land. When that amount was too much for the project to work, I decided for the good of the county and the project, along with my lender, to accept half that amount. They say no good deed goes unpunished…In this case, Legislator Alan Sorensen, who has clearly shown he is adverse to each and every project I propose, decided to offer a county-owned residential parcel directly across the street from my approved industrial park. > > While at first blush this may seem to make sense, the property in question is not commercially zoned and has no engineering or approvals completed. My property is within an approved industrial park. The property he proposes has not been cleared and has no drainage plan. My property does. I spent just under a million dollars on environmental studies, engineering, planning, site work and approvals. How much of our tax dollars is Alan willing to spend to engineer a property that is not zoned for this use, simply to hurt me and embarrass his colleagues? I urge his colleagues to investigate the real costs of moving to an un-engineered and unapproved site. I would suggest that the costs are far more than the purchase price of my lot. Ask the developers if the months necessary for those approvals will kill the project. If there were a site that is more appropriate and costs less, I would happily support it. I don’t normally sell property at all, and never at a loss. In this case, I felt I was helping the farmers and at the same time, bringing exposure to a fully approved industrial park ready for tenants, for the good of my company as well as the county. Either this group of legislators is truly unaware of the development process and its cost, or they would rather play politics than help our hardworking small farmers make a living. Either way, county residents should be ashamed. > > Alan, by the way, is a tenant in a building I own, and have refused to sell to him. Since taking over the property that houses his office, he has opposed my plans at Apollo at every turn, even after telling those close to me that he supports it. I am told that at yesterday’s meeting, he was gleefully interrogating IDA representatives and representatives of Ginsburg Foods as if they were defendants, and then like Perry Mason, presenting a Power Point with this new “County Owned” land. I enjoy grandstanding too. However, when I grandstand, it is usually when I am opening a new business that employs Sullivan County residents. How many county residents do Alan or any of the legislators who oppose this project employ? I employ hundreds. How many millions of dollars have they invested in our county? My investment record in Sullivan County speaks for itself. > > Regarding this proposal, I am a taxpayer who owns a gentleman’s farm. I am lucky that I don’t farm for my living, as it is hard work and underappreciated. I understand the need for a Food Hub. As a “planner,” Alan should let professional judgment – not personal feelings toward his colleagues or me – influence his decision-making. He is spending our tax money, not his. When I spend my money, things get built, people get employed and taxes get paid. When Alan spends our money, we all lose. That is not conjecture. As the Planning Commissioner, he was instrumental in the design, planning and building of the Emerald Corporate Park. With only one tenant, the project is an abject failure…with the county-owned water company running at a loss each year. Since his corporate park opened, he has actively blocked other uses that would have provided taxes and jobs – including the relocation of a local bank headquarters, claiming they weren’t “Class A Office Space” – until, that is, last week when he floated that property for the Food Hub. Members of the Rock Hill Business Community rightfully opposed it, and he moved on to property across the street from my park. While I can afford to not have tenants in my park, our county clearly can’t. > > It’s a shame that Alan is willing to risk this needed project or spend more money – just to stick it to either his opponents on the legislature or to me. Perhaps if it were his own money rather than ours, he would think differently. > > Butch Resnick
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 22:07:00 +0000
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