I’m not sure which applies to this letter to the editor in this morning’s Westerly Sun:
Love’s Travel Center would be positive for area
I grew up on a farm on West Street, Ashaway/North Stonington. I lived in that area for 30-plus years, so I was only a mile or two from Exit 1. I know and love the area. It is where I consider home.
I am a real estate agent, and I am involved in the sale of the property proposed for the Love’s Travel Center at Exit 1, and I support the project. I know what many people might think: “she is commission driven,” and although I will benefit financially from this sale, it is more than that. With the economy in the dire straits, homes are being boarded up, fore closed on, and short sales are happening everyday in our area, I do not understand why some in Hopkinton would want to reject the positive growth that the Love’s Travel Center will bring to the area? Love’s has of fered a lifeline to our community, with tax revenue, tourism traffic, jobs and potentially much, much more.
As a realtor, I very rarely show a home in Hopkinton without the first response from the buyer being “property are taxes too high.” Last week, I was fortunate to take a contract on a home on Cedar Knolls Drive by encouraging the buyer to consider Hopkinton because of the “growth on Exit 1.” I explained to my buyers, it is my understanding that growth around Exit 1 such as Love’s should help bring down the tax rate because they will pay taxes and not add one new student to the schools or need to add any additional town services. They will just create jobs and pay taxes, I consider this a win, win for every one!
I think Love’s is a positive for this area, and I think we should welcome them with open arms. We should thank Love’s for choosing us as their destination stop, and for providing a gateway to South County, Westerly and our wonderful beaches!
Sandra Bliven e-PRO certified agent Coldwell Banker Cahoone Westerly
So let me break this down into the applicable facts:
1. This is the real estate agent who will garner an enormous commission from the sale of these 18 acres. Let’s assume those 18 acres are worth $500,000, conservatively. If this agent has negotiated a 3% cut, she’ll get $15,000. 6% is a standard commission, amounting to $30,000. And the property is probably worth more than $500,000. SANDRA BLIVEN IS MAKING A KILLING IF THIS HAPPENS. She can deny her bias, but are you stupid enough to believe her?
2. We will get $50,000 in taxes. If the Town Council had any balls, they could cut that amount without breaking a sweat. They do not have any balls, I have already discussed that issue at length. That $50,000 in taxes amounts to a $0.01 per thousand decrease in your taxes? Your taxes are based on $17 million. $50,000 is a drop in the bucket. And if state aid dries up, your taxes will be based on $23 million.
3. Tourism? Is this woman a liar, a fool or a scroundrel? I have travelled the country. When I travel the country, I stop at a truckstop to get gas, food and get back on the highway. No one who stops at a truck stop stops there to see the sights, especially not in podunk Hopkinton. Oh, ah, look at the fantastic tree! Is it possible this woman is mentally retarded? Or maybe she just wants her $30,000 commission?
4. Jobs? Ok, 5 people to run the Arby’s and a cashier for the pumps. All of them getting paying minimum wage. Now that’s a real investment in job creation!
5. Even Vinnie Cordone, that hack of a former Town Councilor, the boob responsible for the idiotic “development” at Exit 1 that has generated no new jobs and little in new tax revenue OPPOSES the Truck Stop. And if he can finally come to his senses, is there anyone left to fool?
6. No new services? A truck stop just screams, “we need more cops”! When people stop in Hopkinton, traveling I95, you get all kinds of people. You get families, your get RV’s, you get the elderly couples and you get the drug runners, pimps and prostitutes. A truck stop in town is going to REQUIRE us to have more cops. And since each new cop costs $60,000 to $80,000 for salary and benefits, we end up paying more taxes to have a truck stop in town!
7. Sandra Bliven “loves” the area, she grew up here. But she doesn’t live here now, does she? She lives in Westerly. She doesn’t really care what it looks like or sounds like or smells like in Hopkinton. Come on, are you fooled by this load of crap? I certainly am not. She is interested in her commission.
In conclusion, don’t be fooled. A truck stop is an assinine idea. It is the next step on the slippery slope into turning Hopkinton into industrial Cranston or Warwick. Let’s put a stop to this now and show Sandra Bliven that her greed has no place in Hopkinton.
June 14, 2009 at 11:41 am
So lets figure this out. 50,000 in taxes, loss of our water…priceless! What boob would even THINK of putting a Truck Stop at Exit 1? Someone needs a brain transplant. Recall Canob Park and Pascoag! Don’t we learn from our mistakes? The ONLY ones who will benefit from this are the State of RI (.31 times 10 MILLION gallons of diesel, and 1.8 MILLIONS of gas times THAT tax per gallon). SO who are we kidding here? Stick this pitiful creation way down here, pollute OUR water so the STATE can get about 4 MILLION in extra tax revenue? Sounds like anothey state ploy, since they are willingly alowwing a wetlands exception, and entry via STATE OWNED PROPERTY! RISE UP! DONATE a bit of bucks to the Hopkinton Historic Society with a note on your check to use the money to fight Love’s.
June 14, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Dorothy has it right about needing money to have both sides be heard on the question of the truck stop. Thus far only people from the truck stop corporation and paid consultants hired by them have been heard. On July 1st the people will have their chance to be heard at the Planning Board meeting which will be held at 7 PM at the Ashaway School.
But the people need to be able to present evidence in the same areas of expertise as those hired by the corporation, and that costs money that is not yet in hand.
The only thing Dorothy has a little wrong is where people who want to contribute the money that is needed should send it. Checks should be made out to “Hopkinton Historical Association” (not Society) and “For the Gateway Preservation Committee” should be written on the Memo line. Donations are tax deductible.
The mailing address for the Association is PO Box 37, Hopkinton RI 02833. Please be as generous as you can. The truck stop applicants are a national company based in Oklahoma with vast resources, but we can carry the day if everyone pitches in. And thank you.
June 26, 2009 at 1:14 pm
what time are you speaking at the planning board meeting on july 1 there big mouth??
June 28, 2009 at 5:30 pm
THANK YOU for correcting me! PLEASE, if anyone can donate, do so!
June 29, 2009 at 4:05 pm
this deserves its own blog posting…..what a bunch of hypocrits….recant my vote?? dont you read your info before putting stuff on the agenda Buck? Transparency train DERAILED….
HOPKINTON — The Town Council is expected to consider approving contracts for three unions next week after the existing pacts expire tomorrow.
The council will likely vote on the pacts for the unions — police, clerical and “professional and technical” (department heads) — on July 6, said former Town Manager William A. DiLibero and Council President Thomas E. Buck, who have been in private talks with the unions.
The police union has approved its contract. The council has not yet seen final versions of the other two contracts, and it is awaiting approval by the unions, said DiLibero, whose last day as town manager was Friday.
The council has not publicly offered details on what is contained in the new pacts, despite earlier this year supporting a bill that would have required municipalities and school districts to release a proposed contract and an accompanying fiscal impact statement 30 days before ratifying it.
The proposal to release the contracts prior to ratification was part of the governor’s budget-repair plan to close a multi-million dollar state deficit by June 30. It was later eliminated from the plan passed by state lawmakers.
In January, the council passed 4-1 a resolution that said the bill, along with three other measures proposed by the governor, would “improve the management and operations of the Chariho regional school system.” The council also supported other proposals included in the governor’s plan, saying they would lower municipal costs.
Councilor Beverly P. Kenney was the sole dissenter.
But since that vote, two councilors have changed their minds.
“I’m going to recant my vote on that,” Buck said Thursday. “That was one that was added to [the resolution] at the last minute. I didn’t have chance to review it.”
Asked why he doesn’t support releasing a contract to the public for review before it is ratified, Buck said, “It’s not the right way to do it. I was elected by the townspeople to negotiate their contracts.”
“Too many things come up, too many issues come up,” he said. “Too many things change in contract negotiations. As you get down the road, you trade off something for something else.”
Buck cut short the phone interview with The Sun Thursday because he said he was on another phone line with someone else. He did not respond to messages left at his home Friday and Saturday.
Councilor Sylvia K. Thompson had first suggested that the council endorse releasing contracts early, but recently said she no longer supports the measure.
As a member of the public, she said she would think: “You’re all done [with negotiations], you’re not going to do anything, so what good is that?”
“I could see where it could just irritate the taxpayer because what are you doing this for and shouldn’t you have done it before?” she added.
Instead, Thompson said she would support meeting with the public before negotiations start, like Chariho Regional School District officials did in December before they started talks with the teacher’s union. The council would give an overview of the current contract and its fiscal impact, she said, and then it would ask the public for its opinion on a new contract.
After a contract is ratified, she said the council should explain its “ins and outs” and financial effects.
Councilor William J. Felkner, an advocate for open contract negotiations, said he hopes that is an action the council will take.
“It’s the people’s money,” he said. “We’re spending their money. I think they should know what deal we just signed them up for the next three years.”
Councilor Barbara A. Capalbo said, “I don’t think that the majority of the people care about the intricacies [of a contract], but I do think that in general terms it must be discussed.” General terms, she said, would be “salaries, benefits.”
Capalbo said contract talks should occur privately “so people can be as clear and forthright as they want to be,” but noted she would support releasing a contract to the public once it is “clear” with the negotiating parties before ratification.
“We obviously can’t change everything at one time but I think it is good for the public to be aware of the changes in the contract,” she said.
Kenney said contract talks should always take place privately.
“I believe contract negotiations are a give and take, and working to get the best deal for the town is easier to do when it is in closed session,” she said.
But Thompson said she hopes state lawmakers would eventually pass a law to require contract talks to be held publicly to benefit municipalities, as she says unions currently have an advantage.
“They’re the ones that fundraise and many of them have a huge war chest in the bank for arbitration,” she said.
Another potential benefit, Thompson noted: “More people in town would be interested and take an active role in what these contracts really mean.”
While Thompson supports open negotiations, she doesn’t want to be the first community to lead the charge, if state law does not mandate public talks.
“It comes to picking your battles,” she said.
July 2, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Sandy already has the place built and ready for sale!
http://homes.point2.com/US/Rhode-Island/Washington-County/Hopkinton/2865045-Real-Estate.aspx
July 7, 2009 at 1:30 am
Check out our local rep in the not paying a dime for health care list…..he should be embarrassed…..from the projo:
17 lawmakers get their health coverage for free, at a total cost to taxpayers of close to $300,000.
In the Senate, they include Majority Leader Daniel Connors, D-Cumberland; Majority Whip Dominick Ruggerio, D-Providence; Leo Blais, R-Coventry; Frank Ciccone, D-Providence; Elizabeth Crowley, D-Central Falls; James E. Doyle II, D-Pawtucket; Charles Levesque, D-Portsmouth; John McBurney III, D-Pawtucket; Juan Pichardo, D-Providence, and Michael Pinga, D-West Warwick, according to the Joint Committee on Legislative Services.
In the House, they include Corporations Committee Chairman Brian Kennedy, D-Hopkinton; Grace Diaz, D-Providence; William San Bento, D-Pawtucket; David Segal, D-Providence; Agostinho Silva, D-Central Falls; Thomas C. Slater, D-Providence, and Timothy Williamson, D-West Warwick, who chaired the House’s pension-study commission.
July 7, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Thank you to everyone who came to the Planning Board’s meeting concerning Love’s truckstop.
The Planning Board on July 1st voted Love’s truckstop down unanimously. Love’s can either let this stand or appeal to the Platting Board which is the Zoning Board of Review. If the Platting Board votes it down again, the next recourse for Love’s is Superior Court.
July 10, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Hi!
It will be interesting how this pans out. I signed against the truck stop proposal. I like Dave Gingerella and his family deserves reasonable use of their property. Sandra Bliven is Dave’s first cousin, their mother’s are sisters.
Regards,
Scott
July 21, 2009 at 2:24 am
Now he won’t be able to ticket all those vehicles/drivers.