NO FREEDOM OF INFORMATION IN AMHERST

OFFICIAL STATEMENT BY DAN RIDER, PE - CANDIDATE FOR AMHERST, NY TOWN BOARD -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - AUGUST 31, 2021

A Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for the Westwood appraisal was filed and will take 12.5 weeks to answer. What does the Amherst Town Board have to hide? I’m tired of waiting for such a simple request so here is my analysis.

Fox Valley (140 acres) and TanTara (174) Golf Clubs sold in March for $ 700,000 and $ 800,000 respectively. These clubs operate daily and have modern clubhouses. Contrast this to Westwood (170) that your Town Board wants to pay $ 7.7 million for with your taxes. Westwood’s abandoned clubhouse dates to the 20’s or 40’s.

What is the town getting for its $ 7.7 million? The abandoned golf course land and rundown structures is worth maybe $ 700,000 when mentioned comparable sales are considered. The sellers want to recover their $ 2.5 million investment and make a profit and let’s say that totals $ 5 million.

The remaining $ 2 million of your taxes will be used by the sellers to remediate toxic heavy metal (Mercury, Arsenic and Chromium) from the grounds and dangerous building materials from the structures. On top of this the sellers have applied for a NY Brownfield Tax Credit.

I live in Amherst for the quality of life it offers, and not paying for other’s contamination. While trained in soil and rock behavior I have tried to avoid cleanup projects as they are paperwork intensive, slow, wasteful, and unhealthy.

I’m tired of Supervisor Kulpa and the Town Board playing Hide & Seek.

Dan Rider PE