Contention or Cooperation - What Does Our Community Believe in More?
A community discussion shows a community at a crossroads
On Saturday, March 9th, Troy’s At-Large Council Members held their quarterly “ask a council member” meeting at the Lincoln Community Center. Between periods of loud heart-pupming music bellowing from the gymnasium across the hall, twenty community members huddled in a circle talking about those issues that are at the heart of local government.
Some residents brought up noise concerns from juiced up hot rods. One resident was frustrated by the lack of sidewalks in her neighborhood on the north east side of town. Another resident questioned why the city can demand a resident to mow overgrown grass, but can’t demand a resident cut down a dead tree. The concerns were met with the requiste head nods and the purfunctory, “Well, we will see what we can do.”
A few topics were more future focused. Residents talked about how soon-to-be-vacant school sites could be prime target for that new scourge of the suburban landscape — gas stations. Making new investments in park equipment for handicapped individuals was also brought up and met with mururms of approval.
Yet, the topic that took up most the attention was the redevelopment of the IOOF building in downtown Troy. Ben Sutherly, President of the Troy Historic Preservation Alliance, the owner of the site, was on hand and encouraged elected officials to ask questions of bureaucrats and administrative officials due to some permitting requirements that have literally appeared out of nowhere.
According to the group, the first roadblock that was encountered was that the scaffolding contractor was told that he would need his scaffolding plan approved and permitted. The contractor realyed to the building owner that this was the first time in his decades long experience he needed to have a scaffolding permit. The historic preservationists said this act alone added days to the project.
A second and more costly concern is that the new roof of the building will need to have a “load test” for the roof. The owners have asked why the expensive test is necessary, especially given the fact that the court-ordered independent plans examiner has already signed off on the type of roof and materials to be used. The answer the group has been given from bureaucats can be summarized as, “Well, we can.”
In Saturday’s discussion, the Troy Historic Preservation Alliance was clear. They don’t want corners to be cut, they are striving to have a safe building and a fully open West Main Street. But at the same time, they have legitimate concerns; many of these new requirements that are now present, should have been previously discussed earlier in the permitting process so that they could have been property sequenced and planned for.
As an observer to the discussion between Mr. Sutherly and the City Council members it made me think that after all the contention, all the frustration, all the debate, not everyone is on the same page when it comes to this building.
And honestly, that is sad.
On December 22nd, the seven parties that were involved in seven separate lawsuits came to a court-mediated agreement that would open up West Main Street and optimally rehabilitate the building, or tear the building down if agreed upon deadlines were not met.
As our community is watching scaffolding plans become ensnared in red tape and load tests morph into costly tribulations, one cannot help but ponder the efficacy of a system that seemingly prioritizes procedure over preservation. The saga of the IOOF building, from its potential demolition to its hopeful rehabilitation, encapsulates the tension that lies at the heart of our community dialouge. One is left to question the nature of the agreement reached amidst the legal tumult. Is it a harbinger of collaborative triumph or merely a stalling tactic in the ongoing battle for the soul of West Main Street?
In the quest for degree of community consensus, a spirit of cooperation must prevail over the specter of contention, lest the community suffer the collateral damage of intransigence.
Thank you for reading today’s Civic Capacity Newsletter. Your support as a subscriber to this project is greatly appreciated. Please feel free to share this with your friends and neighbors and share your ideas and insights in the comment section.
Thank you for continuing to shine light on what appears to be ongoing resistance within the city administration to the settlement agreement associated with the IOOF building. The conduct in broad daylight, with the unnecessary closure of the street and the doubling down on that position, has been astonishing to witness. That there hasn't been more widespread journalistic exposure and coverage of it is peculiar. And the machinations seem to carry on.
My apologies to those that received the email version today. My editing process was not as sharp as it should have been and the emailed version wasn't the quality my readers deserve, nor the quality I expect. We have fixed that problem and future editions should be sharper. The current version on the website should be up to standard.