MP3's Of Stuyvesant,NY 12173 Town Board Meeting -.
Provided as a Public Service.
This page is about the Controversey of the Hook Boat Club and a tax exemption.
October ---- 2010
PAGE PURPOSE: Gather information to determine " What is going on with the tax exemption for the Poolsburg(Hook) Boat club?"
Last year the river access was a major discussion at the town board.
The first clip is Valerie Bertrum; town board supervisor at a town board meeting;
talking about a different rail crossing in town.
Valerie Bertrum, talks about meeting with DEC.
(Ron went to the meeting to "be a witness")
june_newton_08_hook.mp3 (5.8M)
UPDATE on Ferry Road (other crossing) , more talk about DEC
Mostly Valerie Bertrum talking
july_08_newton_hook.mp3 (12M)
John Hutchinson talks about the last meeting, Valerie Bertrum answers, the town passess a resolution
july_08_more_netwton_hook.mp3 (12M)
After these meeting Someone got suspicious that our supervisor was hiding something related to the boat club.
It was discoved that a grant existed for 300+ thousand dollars for the crossing
This online information was confirmed at a town board meeting , Lee Jamison Brings up
the question of the crossing and the grant and out Supervisor Valerie Bertrum
Confirms and talks about the grant.
boat.mp3 (16M)
People were pretty outraged as judging from this letter to the editor
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From: lee jamison
Public Money for Private Privlege
Date: Friday, August 15, 2008, 11:52 AM
Public Money for Private Privilege! Or, the best kept secret
in Stuyvesant......
For the past 20 years or so various citizens in Stuyvesant
have been fighting for public access to our waterfront.
Both public officials and volunteers have been met with frustration.
No boat launch at Nutten Hook. Ice House Rd closed to the public.
Ferry Rd Launch downgraded to cartop boats only. Ferry Rd threatened
with closing. High speed train safety laws threaten the grade
crossing access to Stuyvesant Landing's See Park and Fire Company's
dock and unofficial small boat launch. Access to the Stuyvesant
Landing DEC beach and camp area cut off to pedestrians.
State money promised for a River Park and Boat Launch during the Cuomo
administration evaporated during Pataki. State edicts said
no appropriate sites found in Stuyvesant for a boatlaunch.
Mothballed drawings for a bridge to a beach over the bluff at
Riverview and 9J--- and town officials loudly blaming CSX, DEC and DOT for lack
of results.
Meanwhile, 30 member, private, Hook Boat Club also has an unmarked,
ungated, grade crossing from 9J over the tracks down to their 15 boat
moorings. Evidently the Feds and the State have grant money for them
to buy a $316,750 (!) locked gate to make safe and to preserve THEIR
river access. A sheepish Val and Ron admitted they knew about this
cooperative grant that was awarded a year ago. Val said it was
initiated under the Grenci regime. None of the other Town Council
members seemed to know about these negotiations and neither did
former Councilman Matt Asbornsen. Val indicated that several other
private landowners along the river and rails, in other counties, have
received similar deals.
Why the secrecy? Well, Val said it wasn't town business.
Over $300,000 of our tax dollars and its not our business? !!!!????
A longtime, member of the Club, was quick to
point out that the Hook members are blue collar joes---not elitist
yacht owners. Good! Let them extend their membership and
waterfront access privileges to the public if they are going to use public
money.
Lee Jamison
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A inventory card was foiled from Suzette M. Booy Director of real property
Note the location is the Poolsburg Boat Club (not the owner):
boat.jpg (2.1M)
This card show the Boat club as tax exempt . Why?
Here is information on the exemption code 12100:
orps_manuals
Here is info on the exemption for NYS State and Local Employees' Retirement System, but that is a different numerical code (12150):
NYS State Retirement System
not sure why it shows up with the code.
Assessment Date
Between 2008 and 2009 they changed the .-1 parcel property type from 961 to 570, so they were both marina.
961 = State owned public park
570 = Marina
Also check out the 2010 inventory tool. That's new in the past few weeks. What's interesting is that the two parcels have some of the same inventory.
The tax map show no .1 extension on the parcel??? Why not? How were the structures built without
checking for the extension?
This arieal photo (from 2008 foiled from columbia county Office of Real proeperty) Shows structures all over the place
hook_poolsburg_aerial.pdf (6.6M)
This is Web page show the Inc of the boat club
hook_boat_club_inc.pdf (64K)
This Brocure list Officers of the boat club
MC_Broch-010807.pdf (216K)
It could be dredge backfill?
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My QUESTIONS:
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Why are their buidlings on it?
Why is that acre valued at 80,000 (in 2008 and 103,00 now)?
Why was no one told about this state land?
Is it related to the $300,000 for the rail crossing?
Why does the .1 extension not show up on the property tax map?
Why are their no deeds for the .1 extension?
Why is it that the rest of the land is so undervalued?
If the boat club paid the same assessed per-acre as the head of the democratic party
Lee Jamison ( tax roll from 2008 )
Land value = (53,800 / . 75 Acres) = 71,733 per acre and she is not even on the water
no dock, no boat launch , nothing, just a view of the water
Note I used 2008 data for this estimate because I had it handy. I'll update with 2010 data soon.
The boat club would be assessed at :
(31.4 x $71,733 ) = $2,252,426
It is assessed at:
( $272200+$8800) = $281,000
1/10 a conservative estimate of the value of the land.
Why won't our Assessor Howard Gleason Explain What is going on?
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HERE IS A LETTER LEE SENT TO THE EDITOR OVER THE RECENT TAX Exemption
Valerie Bertram
Supervisor Town of Stuyvesant
Stuyvesant NY 12173
Dear Valerie,
You must
know by now that public documents have come to light that raise
questions, once again,
about a privileged tax status for the Hook
Boat Club on 9J in northern Stuyvesant.
An inventory document
from Suzette Booy's County Real Property Office would indicate that
the NYS Office of Parks owns an acre of the Boat Club which also
includes a number of out buildings, cabins and mobile homes.
The County tax map indicates no subdivision nor does Ms Booy's Office seem
to have any
other documentation from the local assessor's office
to substantiate the tax exemption.
This acre and these assets are
marked, nevertheless, as tax free.
There seems to be no paper
trail of deeds at the County Clerk's Office to substantiate this
arrangement.
If the Boat Club's Marina and
outbuildings are, in fact, now public land; arrangements should be
made for public access.
It certainly could be the solution to
Stuyvesant's two decade's search for a public boat launch.
Why
would this subdivision to OPR not have been part of Planning Board
consideration? Did it really happen?
The Hook Boat Club
has already come under question for huge taxpayer grants to CSX to
improve its private, gated, rail crossing, though that work seems to
have never been done.
This Boat Club is already under public
scrutiny because they are assessed less for 30 some acres of river
front property than most Stuyvesant Landing homeowners pay for one
house on one acre.
Publicly available aerial photos (Google Earth)
would indicate that the building asset information on the Club/OPR's
inventory page may not be accurate.
Perhaps there is
an explanation for this puzzling situation of what appears to be
extreme privilege? Otherwise, it casts suspicion on the Stuyvesant
Assessor's Office, the Code Enforcement Office and the recent GAR
Reval process and needs to be cleared up.
The public deserves to
know the truth.
I encourage you to give us the answers or, if you
do not have the answers, to initiate an immediate investigation.
If there was any unethical or illegal activity, I am sure that you and
the members of the Hook Boat Club would want to see justice
served.
Sincerely,
Lee
Jamison
18 Riverview St
Stuyvesant NY 12173
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UPDATE : Comparables
comparables
href=c2.jpg>comparables_page2
comparables_page3
comparables_page4
Although the Town Assessor
is telling people privately that the town is glad I pointed out this
issue. No one has thanked me. In fact Ron Knott (Stuyvesant Town Board) asked me to apoligize
The the town of Stuyvesant is
upset I uncovered any inconsistency in the tax rolls and is asking me
to apologize for pointing out the failure of our assessor to maintain
proper records.
Ron Knott's Stuyvesant Town Board Asks me to appologize for This Page
Ron Knott
JanMyszkowski_no_documents on permits or planning & zoning
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