Four Reasons to Give The Sibley Building the Consideration it Deserves Feb 11. 2013 | Comments (0)
There is just one day left for concerned Monroe County taxpayers to voice their support for the WinnCompanies’ proposal to save the county a minimum of $18 million by creating a modern and expanded downtown campus for Monroe Community College at The Sibley Building.
On Tuesday, Feb. 12, you can take action by being heard in person at the meeting of the County Legislature where your elected representatives plan to vote to move MCC to the Kodak property. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on the 4th floor of the County Office Building at 39 West Main Street in Rochester.
In order to speak at the meeting, citizens are required to sign up in advance. You can call the County Clerk’s office at 585-753-1950 and register to speak on Tuesday night. Or, you can visit the County Clerk’s Office before Tuesday’s meeting begins to sign up. Remember, if you don’t sign up before the meeting starts at 6 p.m., you won’t be allowed to speak.
There are four strong reasons why you should speak out in opposition to the MCC’s move to Kodak until the issues can be thoroughly studied:
- WinnCompanies has offered a common
sense proposal, based on its national experience and actual pricing from
DiMarco Constructors, to save county taxpayers $18 million and deliver the
campus that the college wants at The Sibley Building. That proposal deserves fair consideration.
- County’s acquisition of the
Kodak property includes 300,000 square feet of empty space — space that will
need to be heated, maintained, insured and securedat an additional cost of at
least $1 million per year. Do you want to be the landlord for that much vacant
space?
- Only one third of the estimated $36
million in state funding needed to acquire the Kodak property has been
appropriated by the State Legislature. Why would the County purchase the site
now, when it doesn’t have the money to renovate it so it can be used?
- The best location for MCC students,
faculty and staff is downtown, steps away from a planned transit center in a completely
renovated building with a police substation, where they have easy access to
goods and services and where they can support Center City’s economic revival.
We urge you to go to register to speak to the County Legislature at its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 12, to make sure you are heard before this important and potentially costly vote.
Carrie Andrews, the Legislature’s minority leader, is among those urging a delay, saying: “We do not need to rush to approve a project of this magnitude, especially when the college has no urgent need to move in the short term. To take any other action would be a disservice to the taxpayers, students and faculty that we all represent.”
You can read Ms. Andrews’ views at: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20130210/OPINION02/302100027/Monroe-Community-College-Kodak-Sibley-vote
We hope the County Legislature, after hearing from so many taxpayers, will agree to delay this process so that all parties have the opportunity to exercise their best judgment based on the facts. Thank you for your support!