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The town board voted to hire Potsdam College to survey all
of the registered voters in the town of Waddington. Of the 1400 registered voters in the
town, about half were successfully contacted. While around 260 said they supported the
town’s position to sell Leishman Point for residential, 165 said no. There were
another 300 people that did no participate. Many of these people said they did not have
enough information to vote yes. There were many other people that felt the survey was a
“push-poll”, designed to obtain a specific answer. The survey was felt to be not
only leading, but misleading, as the Town stated that taxpayer money would not be used to
run water and sewer lines from the village. What the didn’t tell residents was that
the plan is to use taxpayer money to build an on-site septic system, roads, and install
utilities. They are also paying over $75,000 for engineering and surveying.
Town Survey: Leishman Point [transcript]
"Because the citizens of Waddington have discussed the possible future use of the
land that the town acquired from the New York State Power Authority, the town supervisor
and councilmen are conducting a survey regarding the development of Leishman Point.
After considering all possibilities, and the advantages and disadvantages of each, it has
been expressed to the board that best use of Leishman Point is as 16 residential building
lots for sale. It became clear that in discussing the return of this property over the
years, the majority of citizens want it back on the tax roll as soon as possible.
After being sold, the 16 residential lots would represent 2% of the total town tax base,
resulting in a small decrease in town, county and school tax bills, while allowing the
town to receive a greater share of the county sales tax revenue due to the increased tax
base.
Before proceeding any further, the board wants to know what you think. Please consider the
following proposal.
The town proposes to develop 16 residential building lots on Leishman Point for sale. The
town board will not spend town money to extend village water and sewer utilities to these
lots. The town board will reserve approximately 25% of the land at Leishman Point for
public use.
Based on the [information] above, would you support the town board’s resolution for
the development of 16 residential building lots on Leishman Point?."
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