After many years of reporting on our town board on this blog, a few years ago I decided to quietly watch in the background for a while and instead report on what is going on with our corrupt federal politicians.
Now, it is time to report on what I see happening in our own backyard.
Let's start with some rather disturbing developments in the issuance of debt on a regular basis without giving much information to the public and a town board that is incompetent and has no clue what their job is.
Here is a breakdown regarding 2021 bond debt for $9,000,000 which included a $250,000 Bond Anticipation Note to purchase land adjacent to the new town hall.
September 8, 2021
VI. MATTERS SUBMITTED TOWN SUPERVISOR
1. Banding from last meeting: stormwater projects, upgrading infrastructure on signs, buying additional equipment for Highway Dept., upgrading Town Hall facilities, property next to building (voting, senior center) – (Bond) Resolution prepared by Tom Myers
October 9, 2021 – Estoppel for bond in Utica OD – bond anticaption note resolution is now final and the town can borrow the money.
November 10, 2021 [just one (1) month AFTER the Estoppel] – Miscione tells town board that he is looking at buying the property over a ten-year period for entryway (separate to the Senior Center with an option to buy the property.
February 1, 2022 – serial bond documents prepared by Orrick, Harrington & Sutcliffe, LLP for a $9,000,000 serial bond to be sold with the help of Fiscal Advisors. Clearly states that the $250,000 for acquisition of property next to town hall is included in offering.
June 8, 2022- Lease Agreement brought before the town board
IV. SUPERVISOR MISCIONE
A. Leasing the vacant property next to the Town of New Hartford Building for $1.00 with JUDD DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC; Town Attorney Herbert Cully – draft lease, in terms of leasing the portion adjacent to the Town Building – looking for a resolution to go forward to finalize the lease, subject to permissive referendum – lease commencing approximately July 2022 – lease allows us to maintain that property – can terminate on 60 days’ notice – maintain it and beautify it - $1.00 a year lease/10 years.
As of the 2024-25 Town Assessment Roll, there is no property owned by JUDD DEVELOPMENT GROUP, LLC in the town’s assessment database (the property was sold to another individual) and, according to the 2024-25 assessment database, the only property owned by the Town of New Hartford in that area is the original property that was purchased in 2018 for the new town hall.
If the lease was between the town and JUDD DEVELOPMENT GROUP, LLC, does that make the June 2, 2022 lease agreement void since JUDD DEVELOPMENT doesn't own property anymmore?
I don't see anything in town board minutes that would suggest that a new lease agreement with the current owner of the propery once owned by JUDD DEVELOPMENT GROUP, LLC has been approved by the town board.So my next question is...what happened to the $250,000 that was borrowed to purchase land next to the current town hall in 2021 when Miscione (and the town board) apparently had no intention of purchasing the property in accordance with the bonding resolutions that were adopted?
Does Miscione still have the $250,000 in town bank accounts to repay the loan or has it been spent on other items?
Please note, it is not in accordance with law to spend bond money for other than the purpose authorized in the bond resolution; or it can be used to repay the initial serial bond.
Also, bond money has to start being used within 3 years according to law.
As a side note, if the town still has the money, it can’t be used to pay the serial bond in full until 2030 because the town put a redemption clause in the Official Statement that doesn’t allow full repayment until 2030!
So meanwhile, all Miscione can do is use the money to pay down the debt on the $250,000.
Assuming that Miscione still has the money, is he using the bond proceeds to pay down the debt or is he merely including the debt plus interest as an expense that is part of each year's annual town budget, i.e., taxpayers are paying for a debt that never should have been created?
Bottom line...if Miscione knew in November 2021 that he was working out a lease agreement with Larry Adler who owned the property in 2021, why did he still take out a bond note for the money shortly after the Estoppel in the first place...or...why did he still convert the Bond Anticipation Note to a serial bond in April 2022 instead of just paying off the original Bond Note?
I have a lot more questions regarding other bondings and town board actions I would like answers to and I will be posting them here each day because it’s time that we, the people, get some answers.
I welcome a response by any town board member if they wish to address any of my statements, but I suspect we will only get silence.
By the way, I have all the documentation, and I will gladly share it with anyone who asks!
It's well overdue time for some honesty!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.