?I think that the general public should know that this is an approved plan,? Mr. Amato said, referencing the fact that the new plan for Cornwall Commons has been approved by a number of agencies.

Reading this was very disturbing. If this zoning change has already been approved, why are we meeting at all? Clearly this man is mistaken, right?

1. "148 and 152 new school age children..." When? Only in the first school year? Or are these numbers spread out over a longer period? I think we know the answer to that. I think this data was carefully tweezed out of the study. Of course Mr. Amato disagrees with data from sources which conflict with his.

2. Approved? When? Where? By whom? Where is the PUBLIC record? Let's see it.

It is shocking that our Town Board continues to approve plans to bring more students into the Cornwall Central District, when our taxpayer dollars are stretched to support students we have now. This year, in order to stay below the cap, HS courses and some of our sports programs were lost. We came close to losing curricular arts programs, as well as all extracurricular activities. It is well established that the 3 A's (academics, arts, and athletics) build well-rounded future citizens, and our excellent schools are the main reason people want to live in Cornwall. Losing these would compromise our quality of life and lower our property values.
When families enter the district, it is my understanding that these families' tax dollars do not cover the per pupil costs of the additional students. The developer does not cover the costs of the services required by the new families. State aid does NOT increase as our student population grows, unfortunately.
Throughout our state, class size grows, valuable school programs are cut, property values diminish; yet, our Town Board continues to promote zoning that increases our student population. Our neighbors in Valley Central have been stripped of so many programs their students need, and I do not want to see Cornwall go the same direction. I do not understand the logic used by our Town Board.

The way I read it, for what it's worth, Amato is saying the plan has been approved "by a number of agencies," but that doesn't seem to include the Town of Cornwall, else he'd have said so.

It could well have been approved by the EPA, the DEC, al Quaeda, the Riverkeeper, Michael Bloomberg, the National Arts Council, the ACLU, who knows what?

And so what?

If the toen baord approves this I believe all citizens of Cornwall who have lost money on any investments should form a class action lawsuit and sue the individual board members to recoup those losses. After all it is the lynch pin of the argument they seem to be agreeing with. Poor Mr. Amato made an investment choice that did not pan out and our elected officials are saying "Don't worry, we have a township full of suckers who will help bail you out"

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if Cornwall Commons builds a new school, fire house, and sewer plant I could possibly live with this . . . otherwise the Cornwall taxpayers will end up paying the same amount to add to our schools, fire houses and sewer plant. I don't see why we, the Cornwall taxpayers, have to subsidize the developers development.

On a different note, I'm miffed that the developers want to change the rules of 'the Game' half way through the game. It was 55 and older for the initial plan. I'm sorry the market changed, you took a risk, it didn't play out, but I don't want to bail you out. Like Mr. Connolly says I feel like I've been asked to bail out too many risky ventures these last 5 years since the financial markets turned.

Heaven knows Cornwall could stand some new housing stock. West Pointers are increasingly taking the off-post housing allowance (there are 30 on-post vacancies this summer) and buying off-post housing. Cornwall's great schools and unique community are a great draw for any developer, but not on my dime.

To the Cornwall Commons developer . . .Pay for FULL development or GO HOME.

It's interesting to go to the Cornwall Commons website--cornwallcommons.com--and let the "Cornwall Commons vision" slide show play. It is indeed a vision, a phantasm, a mirage, a dream, an illusion...a series of stock photos taken god knows where of bicycle-helmeted mommies and daddies cruising happily with their kids, a mock-Colonial mini-mansion, forested pathways, tables set for five-course dinners with as many wine glasses, kids flying colorful kites, even a three-star brass plaque reading "HOTEL" (a three-star hotel in Cornwall? where did that come from?) and photos of a splendid tennis court, a golf course and an apparently Olympic-size pool.

I'm surprised they haven't included an airstrip lined with Gulfstreams and five-car garages filled with Ferraris and BMWs.

These people aren't developers, they're marketers. If you buy into it, I have an offer from a personal friend in Nigeria that I'll pass on to you.