Albany Times Union

Scotia poised to reject sewer tie-in for plant

Scotia -- Board fears project at Energy Park will hurt property values

By KEVIN HARLIN, Business writer
Tuesday, July 9, 2002

The village of Scotia is poised to reject the Glenville Energy Park's requests to tie into its sewer lines for a proposed $350 million, 520 megawatt power plant near the Mohawk River.

Scotia Mayor Michael H. McLaughlin said the board does not believe that denying sewer access at the July 10 meeting will be a deal-killer for the project, which the board publicly opposed in a November 2000 resolution.

"I think they have alternatives," McLaughlin said. "But I think the alternatives are more expensive than piggybacking on our system. We're opposed to it and don't intend to cooperate."

Kate Perez, a spokeswoman with Duke Energy North America, which is buying the project, said the company will review other options.

"We strive to continue to work with the village and others in this process," Perez said. "Sewer service is just one of the many issues we deal with on a project this size. However, we saw this as a financial benefit for the village."

Under the deal, the village would have seen improvements to its sewer system and pumping facility, which moves waste across the Mohawk River to Schenectady's treatment plant.

But McLaughlin said he and the Village Board -- which he predicted will handily approve the resolution to deny the service -- are motivated by fear of what the plant will do to property values, which made up 88 percent of the Schenectady County village's assessed value.

The village is cooperating on one study trying to pin a dollar amount on the possible impact on property values.

"I'm coming to feel that that's one of the key economic survival issues for the village," he said.

Houston-based Duke Energy North America is a subsidiary of Duke Energy Corp., the Fortune 100 company based in Charlotte, N.C., with profits of $1.9 billion in 2001.

The project in the Scotia-Glenville Industrial Park on Route 5 is wending its way through the state's Article X siting process. If it gets all the necessary approvals, it could be operational by the summer of 2005