Letter: Responding to Dryden Village Mayor Murphy

I read the article on the Village of Dryden budget with interest and concern. It’s clear mayor Murphy takes pride in not raising taxes for the past 10 years, although he was tellingly not committing to continuing that record in the next fiscal year, when factoring in costs related to the Village Hall “preservation” project (more below on that).

Among my concerns raised by TW reporting:

“Murphy said the village is looking to remove the old trees, which he noted are roughly between 50 and 100 years old, to avoid damage to properties and as a precautionary measure ‘for the safety of our village residents.’”

Questions I would have for the mayor after hearing this statement would be 1) which trees, how many trees, where are the trees, and why do they pose a risk to village residents? And, where can residents read and learn more about this proposal, were residents polled on the tree removal plans? Are there any mitigation plans in place and funds to assure mature tree saplings will be planted, if any or all proposed trees to be removed do in fact warrant removal?

“We’re preserving now to have a functional building for the future,” Murphy said.

To be clear, the proposed Village Hall renovation is not to be confused with ‘preservation.’ This Moderne building sits directly across the street from a National Register Historic District. What the Village is proposing is not preservation, as confirmed by a State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) official.

Murphy added there might be “some sort of tax increase” in the 2023-24 budget to cover the costs of the renovation project, but he is unsure what that could be. Murphy, however, did mention the renovation project cost “over the years will pay for itself.”

This statement by the mayor is not telling the whole story. First of all, “some sort of tax increase” is vague; second, when the mayor states the 23-24 budget may increase, the part about covering the cost for the renovation project strongly suggest a 20-year municipal bond, which could potentially translate to tax increases year after year; third, one would like to know how a $1.6 million project will ‘pay for itself,’ how long will that take? With interest and cost overruns, which are all too common in municipal projects, it could take a century for this non-preservation, ill-designed project to pay for itself.

There are many unanswered questions.

Thank you,
Brad Will
Dryden