Nothing is new at the Marcy "Nanotech" site . . . just more finger pointing (away from our local leaders, of course) as an excuse why we've seen no results.
I've harped on EDGE's "too little too late actions" for years. The foolishness of EDGE's decision to shelve its wetlands permit application in 2002 was pointed out to local officials, but either they thought they knew better or they were told what to do. Now the lack of progress is somehow the Army Corps of Engineers' fault? This story comes conveniently on the heels of the story about the IBM packing plant . . . which suggested that we might not land that facility either. Tonight's story is nothing more than a transparent attempt to shift blame from the responsible parties.
The Army Corps of Engineers is being used as a scapegoat for another failure of local leadership.
4 comments:
Thanks Strike for exposing the incompetence of our local public officials including Mohawk Valley Edge.
We all knew better than believe the overambitious Assemblywoman when she proclaimed that the Marcy site was “shovel ready.” You pointed out that it was far from being actually shovel ready. Even today the site is still NOT shovel ready. In Tuesday’s OD, Congressman Arcuri is clamoring that this site is not shovel ready because the Army Corps of Engineers are dragging their feet on the issue of Wetlands Mitigation. The Congressman vented his frustration with the Observer Dispatch by stating “I’m tired of the Army Corps moving the goal posts,” U.S. Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, said in a meeting with the Observer-Dispatch editorial board Monday. “The site isn’t shovel ready because things keep changing.” http://www.uticaod.com/news/x743981458/Arcuri-Corps-of-Engineer-stalling-nanotech-plans
Perhaps it is time to add the Congressman to your list of culpable dodging politicians. He must of forgotten that last year – January 21, 2008 to be exact – the Congressman assured us in an Observer Dispatch article that “Mohawk Valley EDGE is working diligently to attain the necessary permits from the Army Corps of Engineers to break ground on a facility in Marcy,” Arcuri's statement reads. “As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has oversight authority of the Corps, I have facilitated numerous meetings and conference calls between Mohawk Valley EDGE and the Corps to move this process forward as expeditiously as possibly.” http://www.uticaod.com/archive/x254749649 Either his membership on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is a ceremonial seat or he is effectually admitting that he has failed to do what he is blaming EDGE and the Army Corps of Engineers for not doing.
This is closed-circuit for the Congressman:
This issue is too serious to us to have you simply assign this task to the hacks at EDGE. The delegation of this important issue to EDGE could grant you a membership in the Congressional Lame Duck Society. GET TO WORK MAN! Stop posturing and acting flirtatious with the media outlets. It’s time to learn how to play hardball. Make those calls! Twist those arms! Don’t fall asleep at the wheel now. We need the Majority Party influence on this one and you are our only local conduit in Washington who has a vested interest in the Mohawk Valley. Don’t let us down.
I think the packing plant attracting a nanotech site idea is putting the cart before the horse. Our local paper thinks "They go hand in hand".!? "Build it and they will come" is more like it, but that only happens in the movies. I also haven't heard much more about the group against the power lines, who say that putting the lines through so close to the potential chip fab site may negatively affect the chip plant, and thus make it less likely they will build there. The chip plant also would utilize very large amounts of water, yet two summers back we almost drained the reservoir. What a marketing ploy! Still these politicians will spend/dedicate millions of tax payer dollars to make the site shovel ready based on hollow promises and the rampant spending that we've been promised will stop.Is this all just a bunch of nonsense or is it possible nobody ever looks at the big picture?
Maybe it's just me.
The real question relates to the feasibility of the chip plant itself.The technology is on the wane which means the large "chip" plants will not be built. It is a mirage that leaders with courage would step away from by shifting focus and money.
The packaging plant is going to the RPI Technology Park in East Greenbush (south of Troy, across the river from Albany). This was a done deal before Joe Bruno retired. The playing "dumb" by our locals is a charade. Just more of the same.
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