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Flying J Report
Flying J was also at the January 20th, 2000 planning board meeting. It was announced that Rich Schaefer lost the lawsuit he brought against the people of Preble who were trying to protect our zoning laws. Congratulations to our lawyer Fran Casulo for the great victory for all Preble residents. No matter what side of this issue you are on it is important that our towns laws are upheld. When a well paid lawyer like Schafer sues our town over our laws it is a great victory for all of us when he doesn’t win. I expect that he will sue our town again as this process continues. It is a time honored practice for some lawyers to sue and sue again in order to wear down a small town like ours. If Schafer wins one of these frivolous lawsuits it will affect more than just the Flying J project. It will be a precedent for future projects that a proponent of Flying J may not like. Keep this in mind even if you want the Flying J. FLASH!!! We have just learned from sources high up that if the Flying J project is denied then a Nice&Easy along with a Restaurant like a Wendy’s will go in that location! You may not have known this but Nice&Easy bought the property last July in anticipation of Flying J losing their bid on the truck stop. Amanda Shaw, one of the Flying J lawyers, confirmed at the planning board meeting that Flying J only has an option on the land from Nice&Easy, they don’t own it! A Nice&Easy and a nice restaurant would mean more jobs and better jobs and more taxes for Cortland County and Preble without the attendant risks that a Flying J brings. Why is this? While a Flying J may bring in more tax dollars it also brings in more costs. Our Fire Department would have to be upgraded at taxpayers expense (that’s us) and we would need more law enforcement. These additional costs more than offset the additional tax income. A Nice&Easy and a restaurant would attract nicer additional businesss. I have consulted with a new internet startup company who is thinking of establishing themselves here. One of the partners stated categorically that if the Flying J came to Preble they would establish themselves in Tully but they would set up here if a Nice&Easy came in. They were concerned about the heavy truck traffic at the 81 exit and the impression customers would have coming to their business after passing the Flying J. We can just look at Tully for examples of additional business a Nice&Easy attracts. Some other things to keep in mind. A recent study shows that the aquifer at the Flying J location is only 5 feet below the surface. While the state can regulate the fixed risks at the site it cannot control rolling risks. Rolling risks are trucks with who knows what parking at the site and leaking GOD knows what onto the ground. While those of us North of the site might be spared damage to our water supply those South of the site would not. The aquifer water flow is about three feet a day. It would only take a few days for the pollution to reach the town of Preble’s wells. While a Nice&Easy would still have occasional trucks there would not be 120 of them parked every night for 8 hours or more. Other risks not immediately apparent are transients. Hitch hikers who come in on a truck and are dropped off here. Reports from the police at other truck stops cite problems with the transients breaking into local homes and/or found sleeping in local garages. Let’s hope for the Nice&Easy guys winning the site. |