Town of New Baltimore News
For Immediate Release
Contact:  David Louis, Supervisor, Town of New Baltimore (518) 756-9550

New Baltimore Town Supervisor David Louis announced today that he will be convening a collaborative group discussion regarding the Greene IDA’s proposal to build a multi-use development in the area of the Exit 21B Thruway Interchange in the Town of New Baltimore.  The group discussion will be held on Tuesday, August 7th at 7:00 pm at the Cornell Hook and Ladder Firehouse on Gill Road.

Supervisor Louis has invited a total of 18 individuals to participate in the collaborative group discussion.  He also announced that Peter Glassman, Executive Director of Mediation Matters, had agreed to volunteer his time to be the facilitator for this meeting.  While the format of this meeting will limit the size of the group discussion to the invited participants, the public is invited to attend and observe the participants’ discussion.

In explaining his rationale for calling this meeting, Supervisor Louis stated, “I attended a land use seminar in 2006 along with other New Baltimore residents; we learned that it is often advisable to convene a discussion group when a large development project is being proposed, so that the diverse opinions and interests of the community can be shared as the basis for finding ways to attempt to build consensus.  It was suggested to me by a fellow attendee at that land use seminar that the Town should consider holding this kind of group discussion for the IDA’s proposed development project.  I thought this suggestion had a lot of merit, so I decided to move forward by arranging for a diverse group of interested parties to meet and to have a neutral facilitator run the meeting.   It is my hope that everyone will come in with an open mind to have a positive discussion regarding this proposed project.  I am thrilled by the willingness of everyone to sit down and talk and I am very excited that Peter Glassman, who has previously assisted the Town in its Comprehensive Plan visioning process, has agreed to volunteer as the facilitator for this meeting.” 

The discussion group will include representatives from the project team that prepared the draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed multi-use development (Sandy Mathes, Executive Director of the Greene IDA, and Rene VanSchaack, Executive Director of the Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District), and two representatives from a recently formed citizens group that has been formed to review the scope of the proposed project and possible alternatives to the current proposal.  Other participants will include Supervisor Louis, Planning Board Member John Murray, New Baltimore Agriculture Committee Liaison Kevin Kuenster, local business owner Kenneth Rebusmen, New Baltimore Fire District Commissioner Jeff Deso and Town of New Baltimore residents Bill Finke, Christine French, Bill Girvin, Ted Hilscher, Pastor Susan Kerr of the New Baltimore Reformed Church, Terez Limer and Susan McCuen.  Coxsackie residents Frank Gerrain, who is also the Chair of the Town of Coxsackie Comprehensive Planning Committee and a member of the Habitat Advisory Committee, and Laurel Mann, who is a member of the Town of Coxsackie Comprehensive Planning Committee, will also be participants in this group discussion.

In describing his process for selecting participants, Supervisor Louis stated, “I’ve tried my very best to make this group as diverse as possible.  The participants will come from all parts of New Baltimore, and understanding that this project impacts Coxsackie, I thought it vitally important to include Coxsackie residents.  I wanted to make sure that fire district, business and agricultural interests were represented and that we had active parents of Coxsackie-Athens schoolchildren, clergy and senior citizens included.  I expect many different viewpoints and opinions to be expressed, and that is vitally important to this process.”