7/3/07 - County prepares to buy site for parking

The Cortland County Legislature could finalize, as early as the end of this month, the acquisition by eminent domain of property along Elm Street needed to alleviate crowding at the County Office Building parking lot.

According to County Attorney Ric Van Donsel, the General Services Committee on July 10 will consider a number of “findings and determinations,” including any written public comment on the project, any potential environmental impacts, and a county-solicited appraisal, which should indicate the potential cost of acquiring the property.

If the committee decides to move forward with the eminent domain process, and the Legislature does the same at its July 27 meeting, the county could be given title to the property at 13-15 Elm St. soon after, Van Donsel said, as soon as he files acquisition maps and appraisals with the court.

Van Donsel could not say how much the property — which comprises two apartment houses and a garage on an 80-by-156-foot piece of land owned by Pierre Beaudry — would cost the county, but suggested the price tag could be less than the assessed value of $187,500, because the property has been condemned.

Van Donsel said he would be contacting an appraiser prior to the General Services meeting to get an up-to-date appraisal of the property.

The county would need to negotiate the difference between that appraisal and any appraisal offered by Beaudry to reach a final price, and if no agreement can be reached, a judge would settle the issue, Van Donsel said.

County Administrator Scott Schrader said he did not expect an appraisal to be ready in time for next week’s meeting, however he said he was hopeful Van Donsel would have one available in time for the July 27 session, to allow legislators to gauge how much the project would cost.
The county has proposed using the property for roughly 25 to 30 additional parking spaces in the County Office Building parking lot.

Schrader was not sure how many spaces are in the lot, but he said parking has long been an issue, particularly on high-volume days at the Office Building, such as when jury selection is being done or when there are senior citizen events, and in the winter, when snow removal can eliminate available spots.

“We’ve had a parking crunch here for years,” he said.

Schrader said that, should the committee, and then the full Legislature, vote to move forward with the eminent domain process this month, that would serve as final approval for the acquisition.

Once that approval is given, the county could move forward on soliciting engineering designs for the parking expansion, he said.

Whether work could begin this year would be dependent on the weather, he said.

No comments were offered Thursday during a public hearing on the project during the monthly Legislature meeting on the plan to take the property by eminent domain, and no legislator expressed concerns with potential environmental impacts of the project.

However, any written concerns received prior to the July 10 committee meeting will be considered by the committee and then the full Legislature, Van Donsel said.