NEWS
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NYPA Trustees Approve Program for Funding Municipal Projects from Sale of Surplus St. Lawrence-FDR Properties Contact: March 26, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WHITE PLAINS—Proposed public projects in various North Country communities will be supported by a program approved by the New York Power Authority (NYPA) Board of Trustees Tuesday in which the proceeds from the sale of surplus properties from the St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project to adjoining private landowners will be the source of funding. The board approved the program after the Power Authority received a funding request from the town of Lisbon for the reconstruction of a bathhouse at the town beach. The other municipalities to participate in the program are the towns of Waddington, Louisville and Massena and the village of Waddington. “We look forward to using the revenues from the sale of surplus St. Lawrence-FDR parcels to adjoining landowners to support public projects and improvements in those communities,” Roger B. Kelley, NYPA president and chief executive officer, said. “The action by the Power Authority board will allow us to provide funding to these municipalities in amounts that approximate the revenues from the sale of lands in the respective communities.” NYPA’s financial contributions under the community support program will begin with providing $138,910 to Lisbon for the town beach bathhouse, corresponding to what has been obtained to this point from the sale of surplus land in the town. The reconstruction of the bathhouse is estimated to cost $287,000, with the Power Authority expecting to provide additional funding for this initiative from the future sale of surplus properties in the town. Approximately 247 acres of surplus properties are intended for the adjoining landowners in Lisbon and the three other towns and one village. Those parcels are part of the nearly 600 acres of shoreline-area properties that NYPA will convey to the municipalities and adjoining landowners as part of a comprehensive settlement agreement reached during the relicensing of the St. Lawrence-FDR project. Approximately 400 acres have been transferred up to now, mostly to the municipalities. NYPA began sending out letters of intent in May 2006 for the sale of properties to the adjoining landowners. They have two years from the date of the letters to decide to purchase the offered properties. The St. Lawrence-FDR project, the Power Authority’s first generating facility, received a new operating license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October 2003. This capped a Cooperative Consultation Process that provided for wide-ranging financial, recreational, environmental and other benefits for Northern New York over the new 50-year project license. They included changing the project’s boundaries for the conveyance of the unused properties. The 800,000-kilowatt hydroelectric facility provides some of the lowest-cost power in the country, with more than half of the output supplied to Massena’s industries. About NYPA: ■ NYPA uses no tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. ■ NYPA is a leader in promoting energy-efficiency, new energy technologies and electric transportation initiatives. ■ It is the nation’s largest state-owned electric utility, with 18 generating facilities in various parts of the state and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. |
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