Baldwinsville — While the Empire State Development Corporation has yet to decide whether it will sell an industrial site in Radisson to the Baldwinsville Central School District for its new transportation facility, town and school officials had plenty to say about it at a public hearing held Dec. 8 at Lysander Town Hall.

Empire State Development Corp. (ESD) has been trying to sell the 29.73-acre parcel located at 2810 W. Entry Road since 2010. Wicker Appraisal Associates determined the property’s fair market “as-is” value is $490,000, but the school district’s status as a “political subdivision and a government entity” allows ESD to sell the property at 43 percent of the fair market value.

“[Public Authorities Law] permits the disposal of the site without bids and for less than fair market value if either: (i) ‘transferee is a government or other public entity’; or (ii) ‘the purpose of the transfer is within [ESD’s] purpose, mission or governing statute,’” read a summary document provided by ESD at the public hearing. “The proposed sale of the site meets both of these criteria.”

Presenting the case for the district were BCSD Superintendent Dr. David Hamilton and Assistant Superintendent for Management Services Jamie Rodems.

“I think the school district is a major driver of why people choose to come to Radisson, choose to come to Lysander, choose to come to this area in general,” Hamilton said, noting that the school district is a major employer and that its money stays in the local area.

“The needs of the district … are important to the growth of the overall area,” he added.

Hamilton said the district would look into sharing the proposed transportation facility with neighboring municipalities, and removing the bus garage from the main campus would “free up space” for parking, athletics and “beautification.”

Rodems said about 20 percent of BCSD students live in Radisson, and building the bus garage in the Radisson industrial sector would have a “neutral” effect on the overall mileage the school buses travel.

continued — “We’d like to get a commercial trucking operation out of the village,” he said. “Jamming 400 vehicles in the village seems odd to me.”

As for alternate sites, Rodems explained that it would be costly for the district to run utilities to a district-owned property north of Durgee Junior High School. He said the owners of another potential site on Downer Street were not willing to sell to the district.

Rodems said a transportation facility in Radisson would increase revenue and reduce workers’ compensation costs for the district. Rodems said some of his employees have slipped and fallen on the hill at the main campus, the basis for workers’ compensation claims.

“We’re a $100 million business. Dr. Hamilton spoke very eloquently about how the school district is attractive to families, but I’m the bean counter,” Rodems said.

Rodems echoed Hamilton’s words about the possibility of intermunicipal agreements, which would allow BCSD mechanics to repair vehicles from other municipalities and school districts.

“I have very talented mechanics but I can’t do that because the facility is inadequate,” he said.

But a number of town officials spoke in opposition to the project, citing the industrial nature of the site.

Lysander Planning Board member Hugh Kimball read a statement urging ESD not to approve the sale.

“The parcel of land under discussion in this hearing is the largest shovel-ready, industrially zoned piece of land with roads, water, gas and sewer in the town and the school district, and perhaps the county,” Kimball said. “This space holds great promise of additional jobs for the area and the likelihood that it will eventually become an economic contributor … paying taxes and supporting the town, county and most of all, the school district.”

Kimball said that building a bus garage on the property would not be in line with the intended use of the Radisson industrial sector. He urged the school district to “think creatively” and use existing campus property for the new transportation facility.

continued — Bill Lester, president of the Radisson Community Association’s board of directors and chair of the town’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan committee, said he was concerned about the “loss of [tax] revenue to the RCA,” the town of Lysander and the school district itself.

“I’m concerned that the site that has been chosen is a prime industrial site,” Lester said. “I’m wondering if you tried to sell this property to an industry at a 43 percent discount.”

While he conceded that the school district’s bus garage is “outdated,” Lysander Highway Superintendent Gene Dinsmore said that he, too, opposed the sale proposal.

“This is the best and only opportunity to lock in a new business,” Dinsmore said of the industrial site. “If you’re going to have a fire sale, let’s get some more people involved. The first guy shouldn’t be the last person you talk to.”

Dinsmore said while the school district claimed that a Radisson bus garage would reduce traffic in the village of Baldwinsville, it would increase traffic in the Radisson industrial sector.

“I’m not sure about the traffic relief,” he said. “I think Agrana, Budweiser and McLane [Northeast] are going to feel the impact of those 400 trips a day.”

Lysander Supervisor John Salisbury also spoke out against the sale, citing the need for industrial growth in the town.

“We only have three or four sites that are available for industry,” he said. “It’s been dead for a while, but it’s starting to become activated.”

With the public hearing closed, it’s up to the ESD board to come to a decision on the sale.