UPDATE ON THE CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS |
| In September of 2006, SLA
and SLPID and the Towns around the Lake won a major
decision from the Thomas D. Nolan, Jr. of the Supreme
Court of the State of New York, that annulled the City of
Saratoga Springs' October 18, 2005, resolution accepting
the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and
adopting a SEQRA Findings Statement relative to the
City’s plan to develop Saratoga Lake as the source
of drinking water. Judge Nolan’s decision
establishes that the City failed to take the required
"hard look" at the watershed management impacts
of the City’s proposed plan Subsequently the decision was overturned by the Appellate Division in December 2007. The Appellate Court said the City took a hard enough look at the watershed and did not have to look into every possibility. The justices also determined that although SLPID and SLA have standing to bring suit, the Towns of Saratoga, Stillwater and Malta do not. SLA and SLPID filed a motion to have the Court of Appeals hear the case, but they declined to review it. There is a new administration in Saratoga Springs. Thomas McTygue, the driving force behind the project to develop Saratoga Lake as a water source has been voted out of office and replaced by Anthony “Skip” Scirocco who has promised to look at all the other alternatives in greater depth before doing anything with the application. The City’s application for a permit was never completed because, according to an interim report, there were artifacts found on the Spencer property (the proposed location for the raw water pump station. All further investigation of this property has been stopped at this time. The City’s Planning Board updated its Water Monitoring Budget in 2007 showing no crisis or immediate need for water in the City of Saratoga Springs. If steps are taken to complete the application in the future, steps will be taken to request a public legislative hearing from the DEC in order to have our side of the evidence presented. |
| Updated: 05/31/2008 |
| Filename: updates\UpdateCity.htm |