Editor:
Friends?? of JN Adam -- Huh, this couldn't be further from the truth! Here we go with another handful of people who think they are doing the right thing, but in fact are contributing to the further deterioration of the once beautiful buildings. Time is running out to save the campus!!!
Let me take you all back a few decades. I'm sure most people are aware the the JN Adam site was a grand hospital for the care of people with tuberculosis, and then converted to a residence for the mentally and physically handicapped. It is also common knowledge that the land reverted back to the City of Buffalo once the state no longer used it for this purpose, which was March 22, 1993 when the last resident was moved out of the facility.
The Buffalo connection has been a stumbling block for decades, causing great loss of potential jobs and property tax base. The city has known for many years -- back into the Mayor Griffin era -- about the property ownership reverting back to them. The City of Buffalo cannot own land outside their boundaries without being liable for property taxes. For too many years they have eluded the tax liability and have caused great harm to the people of Perrysburg and surrounding areas. It has been bad enough trying to overcome the obstacles of the city's greediness and the state's inaction -- now we have a couple "do-good" groups trying to block efforts to finally get the site out of the government tug of war, and get our community out of the bottomless sink hole in the middle of it. The only way anything good will ever come to this property is to get it out of government hands.
The state has expended hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of many years to market the site and put it into a productive status, and has successfully put it out for bid twice. Every year that is wasted accelerates the deterioration of the buildings, and soon they will be beyond saving. It has been bad enough that the city's greed has cost our area dearly over all these years, and the "do-good" groups have created even more harmful obstacles.
The City of Buffalo has squandered away the value of the once-grand buildings, worth millions in the early 1990s than now can only bring a few hundred thousand at auction. That loss is their problem. What concerns me is the possible loss of the latest successful bidder and the positive impact for our community, plus the critical, time-sensitive water project funding. I estimate about half of a million has been lost in school, town, and county property taxes in just a few years. If calculated back to March 22, 1993 when it should have been returned to a taxable status, it is over $2 million! An even greater loss is the jobs and sales tax revenues that would have incurred in the past 12 years.
I have been a public servant to the community since Jan. 1, 1982 and have seen many opportunities come and go because of the political manipulations. In March of 1987, the state budgeted to build a state-of-the-art $4.9 million day program and therapy building on the campus, at the same time they were in the process of building the first six SRU (special residential units), commonly known as group homes. I wonder where that money went, or was it ghost money as a pacifier so we would support the group home project? A few years later, the state did pay about $5 million for the elevator system project in some of the buildings, and then a couple years later budgeted 2 more million dollars for the demolition of the end buildings where new elevators were constructed. That $2 million went somewhere else anyway. During the same time, I showed the buildings to a construction company owner who said he could restore the buildings for the $2 million, and to a demolition company's expert who said they were too good to destroy.
From about 1990 through 1993, I served on the Alternate Use Committee, along with many local political leaders, City of Buffalo representatives, JN Adam staff and local business representatives. The city was interested in a property exchange where they would acquire some Buffalo-area waterfront property owned by the state; in turn, the state would get clear title to the JN Adam property and possibly turn some of the land over to the town for development. Obviously that was another botched government deal.
Over the 10 years I served as town supervisor, we expended considerable time and effort trying to bring new life into the property. The Job Corps was interested in the site. We tried to get the Veteran's Retirement Home in on the site, but we were asked to back off -- more politics! We encouraged the Gowanda Psychiatric Center Offices to be located on the JN Adam Campus and retain the local jobs when GPC was closed, another failed effort. A few years ago, we were high on a short list of sites being cons\considered for a prison, but a few people put a monkey wrench in that. Every time something good gets going, we run into the same old blockades put up by politics, government greediness or power struggles, or a couple self-centered individuals.
It is time for the citizens in the community to put an end to the government nonsense and the meddling minority. The time is critical to get this property into a productive status. The town is not as incompetent as some people seem to think. We have zoning regulations and other means of ensuring the area's best interest is maintained. I'm calling for people to write letters to the City of Buffalo and state representatives to put an end to all this nonsense and quit holding this community hostage! Development of this nearly 700-acre site would be beneficial to all of the surrounding area, not just Perrysburg.
Cindy Lauer,
Perrysburg
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