Last month on March 23^rd, 2001 I spent over an hour on the phone with Jim Kenyon, investigative reporter for Channel 3 News in Syracuse. We talked at length about another subject that I will be reporting soon. Near the end of our conversation he told me about a report that he did two days before on the Pembroke NY Flying J. He spent 4 hours in Pembroke talking to truckers, the town supervisor and the local police. He felt his report was fairly critical of Flying J and suggested I get a copy of it, which I did. The report runs several minutes and I have tried to give you the high points of it here. Contact me if you would like to see it.

Background:

Pembroke NY is a small town about 30 miles east of Buffalo. The Flying J Travel Plaza is 3/10 of a mile north of the intersection of 5 and 77 on 77. It is about 2 miles east of Pembroke and about 2 1/2 miles west of Pembroke Center. It is at an exit on the NYS Thruway. Arial photographs at www.terraserver.com shows very little near the site, mostly farmland with few if any houses. A farm or industrial company seems the closest at about 1/2 mile away. You can also find it at Yahoo maps, just search for Pembroke NY.

The Channel 3 News report aired at 6PM on 3/21/2001

Jim starts by talking about heavy traffic saying that a Flying J will bring trucks in 'by the thousands'. A trucker is quoted saying that 'it will be full... constantly'. He then talks about tax revenue but no actual sales tax numbers given for legal reasons. Property tax is about the same as Preble before the tax break. Town supervisor Bill Kappus said that Flying J never asked for a tax break (unlike Preble) He also said it was a win win situation. However Kappus then went on to say there is a problem with air pollution. They get a blue haze from the truck exhausts during cold weather.  He advised against locating a Flying J near a neighborhood. 

Then the subject of crime came up. Deputy Chief Gordon Dibble of the Genesee County Sheriffs Department said they had Prostitution, Drugs, Larceny, Assault and a number of accidents. But he said it was not extraordinary and complimented the management of Flying J for their co-operation.  Kenyon finished his report by talking to a trucker who said they needed one here and then pointed out that there is a big difference between Pembroke and the Syracuse area proposed Flying J's. Pembroke is far away from the nearest homes!

After digesting Kenyon's report I wonder about several things.

This is not the 'little gas station' one old fellow was talking about at the planning board special meeting on the 22nd.

Putting Flying J in Preble is an incredibly stupid thing to do. I can't imagine what level of thinking was used when this goofy plan was proposed. Were our leaders eyes blinded by the green glare of money? I remember being at the first planning board meeting when this was first proposed, nobody seemed to understand the implications at the time. Now with time the whole plan is exposed and we know more about Flying J and truck stops in general than any small town would usually know. The attempt by Flying J's lawyer Rick Shafer to get it in quickly was thankfully stopped. That tactic probably worked in other towns. One of the things I was going to do when I found time was to call around the country to see if the towns leaders were happy with their decision to let them in. I know from talking to a few that they wished that they could get rid of them now. One even said to stop them at all costs!

We have to continue to do everything possible to delay and stop them. Our lawyers have been working diligently in this regard. End runs around our laws like the Knapp re-zoning will fail, but we have to remain diligent and never give up! Our tactics have worked 100% so far and will continue to do so. We have many eyes watching and reporting, we will win because we will never lose. No matter how deep Mike Miller's pockets are, we will win!

Frank Hogg