Housing Proposal Again Sparks Disagreement on County Board

SCHOHARIE COUNTY — A proposal to replace the former Schoharie County Jail in the Village of Schoharie with a three-story, 60-unit apartment building continues to prompt debate among some county Board of Supervisors members.

The jail at 157 Depot Lane was rendered unusable by flooding from Hurricane Irene in 2011 and has sat vacant since then. At the March 20 county BOS meeting, Supervisor William M. Smith III of Broome reiterated his thought that constructing an apartment building in a flood plain was not wise. He maintains the property should be used by the county and put to some use that doesn't put people in danger.

"So money is more important than public safety?" Smith asked during a back-and-forth with BOS Vice-Chairman Donald Airey of Blenheim at the March 20 meeting. "I'm all about development, but put it in the right place, not where you know it's a problem."

Airey countered that he believes Rehabilitation Support Services and its development consultant on the project, CSD Housing, have sound plans for lifting the apartment building out of the flood plain and protecting the safety of residents.

Representatives from RSS have said all the apartments will be classified as "affordable" and that 30 units will be reserved for people with some kind of mental health diagnosis who are living independently and voluntarily engaging in support services.

"It's an issue close to your heart, I get it," Airey told Smith at the March 20 meeting. "Is the project perfect? No, but it's very difficult to find a perfect project. It's a debatable issue, but we have a pressing need in this county for affordable housing and supportive housing. We are losing our youth to apartments in Schenectady."

Airey continued "There are people living throughout the county in flood zones, but I don't want to throw my hands up and say we can't develop. What do we do? Do we base development on the basis of a 500-year flood (in 2011)? We had one flood of that magnitude."

Smith disagreed with that point with comments indicating  he felt Airey was underrating flooding issues in the county.

"Don't just say one 500-year flood," Smith responded. "I go by what is realistic and what has happened here."

Other County Supervisors also joined in the discussion at the March 20 meeting. Ben Oevering of the Town of Schoharie repeated his feeling that he thinks the apartments proposal is sound.

"I'm 99 percent with Don on this," he said. "Do we think a developer would invest $30 million in a building that will flood?"

Supervisor Philip Skowfoe of Fulton had a different take.

"I did not support the (apartments) project because I felt the property could have been used by the county Highway Department," he said.

But Airey said "It became clear the building (jail) was not recoverable for much of any use. It became evident the best use of the property was for low income housing. It's a top-down approach, with the idea that the supportive housing is meant to prevent homelessness."

The county BOS agreed to sell the 6.7-acre former jail property to RSS in October of 2024, so any discussion about the county holding on to it is somewhat moot, some at the March 20 meeting said. The Village of Schoharie Planning Board and some other agencies are considering approval of the apartments proposal.

Some at the March 20 county meeting also expressed frustration that the county continues to pay for water, sewer and heat at the vacant jail building.

"How long are we going to continue paying for water and sewer we don't use?" BOS Chairman Bill Federice said.