This morning's Journal reports that the County is considering the old NYSEG building as a new home for the Health Department.
As convenient as that would be for me - I need to call them to find out if they know where the old septic tank for my house was - it would be bizarrely inconvenient for people on the west side of the county. I'm fairly willing to go to downtown Ithaca, but talking me into driving to Trumansburg, for example, requires an major event. Putting a Women's Infant and Children Clinic in there sounds like a bad idea for anyone outside of the northeastern corner of the county.
There are some telling statements about what's going on with that building, however:
The western building still contains NYSEG employees, but is close to empty.
The building is still owned by NYSEG, but since the workspace was vacated, little has been done to fill the space.
"(NYSEG) has not pushed renting it out," County Legislature Chairman Tim Joseph, D-Town of Ithaca, said of the building. "They just walked away from the building and ... they really don't care about it. They've got bigger things to deal with."
According to Jay Franklin at the Tompkins County Department of Assessment, the site is the third largest taxable entity in Dryden at $5.8 million, behind two large pipelines that run through the town....
Ellis said NYSEG has no plans for the building.
I know they're a big company, but what kind of management pays lots of taxes on a fortress of a building for years without doing anything with it? How hard is it to call a realtor?
The Cortland woman who led police on a car chase that ended in the Village of Dryden faces charges of reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, and resisting arrest here, as well as other charges in Cortland.
On the opinion page, Nancy Suci writes about Medicare as a model for healthcare, and the editorial revisits making summer easier for people in povery with things like GIAC's programs or the Dryden schools' Solar Express. Jay Gallagher reports on Albany's continuing turmoil.
Posted by simon at July 3, 2007 12:20 PM in Ithaca Journal , Route 13/366 , politics (national) , schools (Dryden)
I live in fear that the Health Dept moves into the NYSEG building and then NYSEG decides to bail, leaving the County holding the bag and the Town without one of its top three taxable entities. It's a huge amount of money for town and school alike. Contact your County Reps and advise against it!!!