CANAJOHARIE - The village is moving ahead with plans to file a lawsuit against the Montgomery County Industrial Development Agency despite objections from several village residents.
More than 30 people attended a special meeting Monday night, and many who spoke objected to the village's hiring of an attorney to try to get the village written promises of monetary help.
Village officials said Monday they have hired attorney Lewis B. Oliver of the Albany firm of Oliver & Oliver to file the lawsuit. The trustees were unsure when the lawsuit would be filed or if the village would seek an injunction to stop the building of the new Hero/Beech-Nut facility in the town of Florida.
"The pending legal action is unfortunate and it's wrong," said Mohawk Valley Heritage Corridor Commission Executive Director Fred Miller.
Miller said filing this lawsuit could hurt the village's reputation and could undo years of work many have done to make the village a desirable place to live, work and visit.
"Your actions risk losing your reputation as a can-do community and creates a new one as an obstructionist, litigious municipality," Miller said.
Village resident Amy Dievendorf said she felt like the village was hiding behind executive sessions for pending litigation.
"Filing a suit is easy. You turn all the work over to an attorney and avoid talking to the public," Dievendorf said.
Village resident Bob Buck said he would rather keep Beech-Nut in the county than seek legal action and see them possibly move to another state.
"I would rather take the chance and continue with the process of building the plant
in Florida, then [proceed with] a lawsuit when my questions aren't being answered," Buck said.
Hero/Beech-Nut Financial Manager Gabriel Robinson said the company will remain in the village until 2010. He said the company is committed to finding an appropriate company to purchase the building within the next two years.
"There is plenty of time to find a user with the right impact," Robinson said.
Village resident Alice Smith-Duncan was one of only two people who said they support the village's decision to pursue the lawsuit.
"My feeling is what they have discovered is a legitimate legal case," Smith-Duncan said.
Randall Houge was the other supporter, saying the state and IDA were wrong in leaving the village out of Beech-Nut's environmental impact statement.
The village officials did field a number of questions Monday from concerned citizens.
Village resident Melanie Shibley asked what the village would get if it won.
Trustee Garth MacFarland said if the village won the case, the county would have to reimburse the village what it will be losing. MacFarland said the village wouldn't be made whole, but would get some relief if it won.
Deputy Mayor Jeffrey Baker said the village has seen nothing in writing to say it will receive help when Beech-Nut departs. Baker said the village was not involved in any step of the decision-making process.
Baker said the village will be left with a massive debt of about $5.6 million when the company leaves in 2010. Baker said the village will lose tax revenue that will have to be made up elsewhere.
Mayor Leigh Fuller said if the village does not receive some help, it would have to take drastic measures. He said the village taxpayers are looking at a $7 to $8 per $1,000 increase in their tax rates, and the village may lay off as much as 50 percent of its workforce in an effort to keep the village from falling too far into debt.
MacFarland said the trash collection in the village would be hampered as the village would only have enough money to support a skeleton crew.
"Down the road, if nothing happens, you people will say 'why didn't you do something.' We're trying to do something," Fuller said. "Every one of us cares about Canajoharie."
Trustee Tom Grainer said the village needs to move fast because the time it has to take action is quickly running out.
"We going to lose our legal rights soon," Grainer said.
MacFarland said the state had an obligation to take care of Canajoharie when Beech-Nut decided to leave.
"If we do nothing, it's a roll of the dice, MacFarland said. "If we do this, we may get some attention."
