Colonie uses developer fees to spur development

By ELIZABETH COOPER

Observer-Dispatch

Posted Sep 26, 2009 @ 05:14 PM

Last update Sep 26, 2009 @ 05:15 PM

NEW HARTFORD —

While New Hartford sat on millions in fees paid by developers, the Town of Colonie put their fees to work.

Colonie has improved roads and intersections, and the work done has attracted even more developers to the area, Colonie Commissioner of Public Works Bob Mitchell said.

Both New Hartford and Colonie have been collecting the fees, which are meant to be used to mitigate the impacts of development on town infrastructure, since the early 1990s.

New Hartford officials have said the $3.3 million they accumulated wasn’t enough to do the kinds of large projects the area needed. But in Colonie, the fees were just used as seed money.

“If we had an improvement that would cost $3 million, we didn’t have to wait until $3 million was available,” Mitchell said.

Instead, officials would spend money to have engineering studies done, so when state or federal money became available, they were ready to apply for it.

“There is so much competition for federal and state funds that the more information you have, the better candidate you are to get into the transportation improvement program,” he said.

Colonie, which is in the busy Albany area, has taken in more money than New Hartford.

Since 1991, when the system was adopted, just over $11 million in fees was received just for transportation projects. Of that, $10.5 million has been spent, Mitchell said.

Unlike New Hartford, Colonie did not include a clause in its agreements with developers that required the town to return the money, Mitchell said.