Gaines will be diligent in reviewing Dollar General

Editor:

As Town Supervisor, I’d like to respond to the July 20th letter of Susan Smith. Firstly, thank you Susan for reminding me to put the zoning ordinance on the new Town Website! As we transitioned to this great new design and resource, I failed to realize the zoning ordinance wasn’t on the previous website. You see, when it was built, everything that existed previously was moved over to the new version.

You’ll also find that we’ve placed all the minutes from 2012 on the website. This is the year the last changes were made to the zoning ordinance. Up until a few weeks ago, the minutes outlining the elimination of the Gaines Planning Board and other zoning actions taken in that year were missing from the old website. Those are now available for everyone to read.

As an update related to Dollar General, you can review the minutes of the previous meetings and learn that the Town has engaged with our engineering firm, Chatfield Engineers (now a part of MRB Group), to advise the town on the actions to take and to ensure all applicable laws, rules, and regulations are being met. This is being done at no cost to the town, since the developer involved in this project has provided the town with funds to hold in escrow for the costs of the site plan review.

We’ve also added the information that I have been provided thus far regarding the Dollar General project to the website on our “Announcements and Information” page. That is located on the website under the “Announcements” link. As more information is provided to me, I’ll add it to the website in the same place.

Lastly, I’d like to make sure it is clear to everyone that the Gaines Zoning Board of Appeals is responsible for the review of the proposed Dollar General. There are very specific processes they must follow, and I have every reason to believe they will be diligent in their duties as they work through that review process. I would encourage anyone who has an interest in the project to attend the Zoning Board meetings, ask questions, and stay informed. The Town Board and I will do all we can to make sure the information gathered is available in a timely manner on the website.

Thank you,

Joseph Grube

Town Supervisor

Town of Gaines