Leaders discuss Walmart situation
Johnstown mayor meets with Gloversville officialsBy KAYLEIGH KARUTIS, The Leader-Herald
GLOVERSVILLE - Officials from the Glove Cities said Friday they have more confidence the proposed Walmart Supercenter project will move forward, despite earlier assertions it may be dead in the water.
Second Ward Councilman John Castilgione said he met with 3rd Ward Supervisor Mike Gendron and Johnstown Mayor Sarah Slingerland on Friday morning to discuss the proposed Walmart Supercenter and the city of Johnstown's recent decision to only allow sewer service be extended to one parcel - the Fulton County Federal Credit Union - out of the eight for which Walmart officials had requested service.
At the Johnstown Common Council meeting where the decision was made, a Walmart attorney said she would recommend Walmart terminate the project because of the council's decision.
Slingerland maintains, though, the project is absolutely capable of moving forward without sewer service to the other parcels.
"There is no technical reason why the project can't move forward," she said. "[Walmart] has given no indication as to why they need sewer at the other parcels. It appears from the maps those parcels are owned by the credit union."
Slingerland said she is confident the project can move forward and has received no indication Walmart has terminated the project. She pointed out Walmart officials attended a Fulton County Planning Board meeting the day after the Johnstown meeting.
"I'm hopeful that with working with the supervisors and the council members in Gloversville we will move forward with this project," she said. "We've been able to sit down and talk within the past few days and work things out in a very positive way."
Castiglione agreed.
"It went very well," he said of the meeting. "It gave me a better understanding of the Johnstown position. I think based on this there is still some groundwork that needs to be covered by Gloversville, but I'm certainly not giving up on this project."
Castiglione said he understands Johnstown officials do not feel the additional parcels are needed to move the project forward. He said he does not necessarily agree with Johnstown officials, though.
"As far as I'm concerned, we have more work to do," he said.
Gloversville Mayor-elect Dayton King and Slingerland also met to discuss the project. King said he thinks the reason Johnstown did not approve service for the additional parcels is clear.
"They do not want competing restaurants or retailers around [Walmart] taking sales tax from the city [of Johnstown]," he said. "I don't think there is anything hiding that."
King said he understands Slingerland's perspective and thinks she supports the Walmart project.
"She is trying to protect her city, and I can respect that," he said.
King said he was encouraged by his meeting with Slingerland and is confident he will be able to work well with her when he takes office.
"I think if we can work together and it isn't such a head-to-head thing, if we can see eye to eye and have meetings, we can work through this," he said.
Slingerland agreed, calling her meetings with King productive.
Kayleigh Karutis covers Gloversville news. She can be reached at gloversville@leaderherald.com.
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Discobulous
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11-21-09 11:33 PM
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Hmmmm. Handcuffs, huh? this is getting interesting.
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tinbucktoof
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11-21-09 10:08 PM
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The "Elitetist" Johnstown attitude is carried on by the Mayor of Johnstown!! She is afraid we might prosper with the development out on South Kingsboro Ave. Gee Slingleralnd, can't we develop our Route 30A corrider much like you Johnstonians did??? Why handcuff us? Let us take advantage of this potential boon for our area and let all of the county prosper!!!
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MadAmerican
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11-21-09 9:36 PM
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I'd like to see the breakdown of tax monies allegedly paid in Johnstown by Gloversville people. WM in Gloversville today is one of their,WM, highest grossing stores in NY.Why else would they bring in their dirt cheap labor to build the new stor. Finally GO UNION1! Without them this country would've folded its doors yrs ago,
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itsmyopinion
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11-21-09 9:24 PM
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I Agree....Downtown Gloversville is DEAD...I wouldnt blame Wal Mart one bit if it pulled up stakes and forgot all about this project.They are working way to hard to try to get this backwards thinking community to look forward....Fulton County will never be like a Saratoga County....Property Values will continue to decline...Good Jobs will be far and few between...Taxes will continue to rise....services will be less and less....and our elected official will continue to bicker and do nothing to try to save this area....FULTON COUNTY IS DOOMED!!
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Ricktavious
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11-21-09 7:13 PM
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Its nice that the areas residents are upset with their "leaders", but even more glaring is the perception of people from out of the area that see these petty little pencil pushers screwing up every opportunity that comes before them. All these problems could have been solved months ago, but no, we have to pull out the gang that couldn't shoot straight tactics that has blocked this area's development for not only years but generations. Here's a news bulletin ... Downtown Gloversville is DEAD .... Downtown Gloversville has been DEAD ... Downtown Gloversville will remain DEAD you can't Rent to Own it back to life ... it is DEAD. They built all the parking lots on the wrong side of the stores ... it is DEAD.
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Adirondackal
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11-21-09 5:46 PM
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We can differ as to the first part, Reader, but you are absolutely right about Mike Rooney. He is one of the truly professional supervisors who looks out for the entire county.
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Adirondackal
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11-21-09 5:42 PM
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Annie, with the exception of the fact that I own a soon to be worthless shack in the city of Gloversville, I agree about your mayor.
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westielover
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11-21-09 5:28 PM
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Oh oh, Annie's got her gun.
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annieoakley
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11-21-09 5:16 PM
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First of all I'd like to say that I'm very proud of our mayor, Sarah Slingerland. Throughout this "firestorm" about WalMart, she has been very professional and business like. Unlike the mayor from Gloversville and the council who act like bulls in a china shop. She told the media "no comments" and did not drag this issue all out in the open even after she was villified by the local media. She instead extended her hand and invited Gloversville's officials to her office to give her a chance to explain Johnstown's standing on the subject.I'm amazed at all the people from Gloversville who have said some really nasty things about Johnstown without knowing the whole truth. You sound no better than your mayor. I'm proud to be a citizen of Johnstown where we at least have a mayor who can act civilized and looks out for her constituants.
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babygirl
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11-21-09 4:20 PM
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why not think about the people who have to pay for rides like taxis to go shopping as our econnomy is even getting gas enough to go to amsterdam is hard a suppercenter her would be better
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reader
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11-21-09 3:45 PM
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Adirondackal, I find myself agreeing with almost all you wrote, except I feel we should give this new mayor a chance. Today's Gazette had at least one Gloversville Supervisor not afraid to speak out!
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Adirondackal
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11-21-09 1:56 PM
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A small history lesson is order, and I don't mean the one that goes all the way back to the decisions each city made about arterial land use and zoning either. When Bill Pollak was mayor of Johnstown, he was a tremendous Johnstown booster. He made sure that all of his former students got a fair shake or more in any of their career pursuits. Unfortunately for the rest of the county, many of those students chose careers with the county so the leadership and management of the county became Johnstown heavy. At the same time, special interest groups were the motivators for Gloversville's supervisors. To this day we have supervisors sacrificing city interests for their personal projects. Not all certainly, but enough that we went into a gang fight with Johnstown and our gang never showed up. We need fighters for our city's interests at all levels, not "leaders" like our soon to be mayor who can respect people who want to destroy our city.
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JeffreyR
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11-21-09 1:51 PM
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Again I say that Johnstown needs to remember where over half of it's sales tax revenue comes from: shoppers whose home address is Gloversville.
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MiddleIncome
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11-21-09 1:05 PM
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I think the Fulton County community has been held hostage by the City of Johnstown for too long. I don't necessarily like or dislike the WalMart SC, but the City of Johnstown's attitude may be driving other businesses looking at the area away. It's time for the County to look into the future snd consolidate the water and sewer districts into a countywide system. Saratoga County has done that and they now have a multimillion dollar business going in, with potentially excellent pay. Look to the future, the supervisors for the Town of Johnstown, City of Gloversvile, and the other towns should work together and create a Countywide system that incorporate all the present systems.
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Adirondack
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11-21-09 10:56 AM
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Johnstown has no obligation to bail Gloversville out of its hole, Mayer Slingerland is doing what any good mayor should, look out for the residents welfare. If the tables were turned, would mayor Hughes bail out Johnstown?
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Discobulous
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11-21-09 10:44 AM
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If you consolidate Glovrsville with Johnstown, you'd have to move all the buildings in Gloversville over right next to Johnstown to make it all one city and that would be a lot of work. Johnstown is big enough now. Besides, what would you call it? Gloverstown or Johnsville?
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DaveGibson
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11-21-09 10:34 AM
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Slingerland is smart. The reason why Gloversville is in the financial trouble it's in is because it ran utilities out to the arterial in the Town of Johnstown enabling retail development out there. You'd think the city council would have learned it's lesson, but no, it ran a sewer line out to Stewarts in Meco and services out to Walgreen. Any development outside either city should come with a revenue sharing agreement that includes both property taxes AND sales taxes. Ms. Slingerland is smart, and preventing the City of Johnstown from making the same mistakes Gloversville has made. Approve the services that will permit the WalMart project to move forward, but nothing more unless revenue is shared.
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Stackrat
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11-21-09 10:10 AM
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Tired of hearing about Walmart and the "supercenter"? Others may be ok with driving to Amsterdam. Have you ever considered the folks in Speculator,Wells, Arietta and other outlying towns may think. That money comes from another county. Should we now send them to yet another county? CONSOLIDATE the two citys. Half the problems are solved imediately. Then maybe we could afford to pay our elected officials enough to attract real, compitent canidates.
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reader
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11-21-09 10:05 AM
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Bottom line is that Gloversville is done! For several years every municipal agreement involving the city of Johnstown has favored that city, now it is time for them to step up and give a little!
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kristina
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11-21-09 9:29 AM
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Snooze you lose..I personality dont want two supercenters..If I want to go to one I will drive a few minutes to Amsterdam!!
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candlelady
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11-21-09 9:22 AM
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I seriously hope all of you out there screaming "Consolidation" and "shared services" remember this. Slingerland is holding the cards, and she knows it. If the land surrounding the new Wal-mart is owned by Gloversville, I guess we now know it will never be built up. But I'd venture to say that if it were owned by Johnstown, she'd have no problem approving anything.
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sainshooter
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11-21-09 7:50 AM
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They do not want competing restaurants or retailers around [Walmart] taking sales tax from the city [of Johnstown. They like it better when folks are moving out of the city to find work.. Taxes keep going up and jobs down.. We need these jobs to pay your*****taxes Jtowns super powers..
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DakotaRick
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11-21-09 6:01 AM
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Dayton said it all right here,"They do not want competing restaurants or retailers around [Walmart] taking sales tax from the city [of Johnstown]," he said. "I don't think there is anything hiding that.", "Nuff" said.
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