Work begins on government center

By Nathan Mayberg
GOSHEN — Construction workers and trucks were arrayed around the Orange County Government Center on Monday. A concrete barricade surrounds the perimeter. A street entrance is blocked off.

Asbestos removal could begin in days, followed by demolition of part of the government center, Orange County Director of Operations Harry Porr said.

A contractor at the government center on Monday said he expects the demolition to happen in a matter of weeks. He said they have more set-up work to do before demolition could begin. Standing next to officials from Holt Construction, the contractor asked not to be identified.

Holt Construction has been contracted by the county to oversee the project that is being led by Stony Point-based Helmer Cronin.

Helmer Cronin was chosen as the general contractor for the asbestos removal and demolition of the government center, Porr said.

"Surgical demolition" of the government center could begin in weeks, Porr said. The entire asbestos removal, demolition and renovation of the government center is expected to take two years, Porr said.

The cost has been estimated at $74 million.

The asbestos removal could include the removal of pieces of the government center's roof along with other parts of the building.

"We don't know how much asbestos will be in there," Porr said.

The county's design firm, Clark, Patterson and Lee, had originally estimated that the partial demolition of the building — which will strip the building down to its posts and beams — would cost more than $3 million. Instead, a bid for the demolition came in at $7.4 million. The 1960s-era building contains asbestos, a known carcinogen that requires extra care to remove.

Attorney Michael Sussman and several local residents are suing Orange County to stop the demolition. Sussman requested a temporary restraining order to stop the demolition.

Sussman has argued that the employment of county legislator Leigh Benton (R-Newburgh) by Clark, Patterson and Lee while Benton chaired the Physical Services Committee which reviewed the design plans, throws the legality of the approvals into question.

Sussman also alleges that the county has not followed the requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review Act regarding the project since 25,000 square feet of new construction was added to the plans that wasn't reviewed,

Sussman said on Monday that all Orange County judges have recused themselves from the case. It's up to the court's administrative judge in Westchester County, who oversees the district, to reassign the matter to a judge from outside the county. Sussman said he's waiting for a judge to be assigned.

Meanwhile, Sussman said he has not received an answer on whether the demolition bid was ever approved. No county legislator he has spoken to knows about bids being approved, he said.

In Orange County, the executive's office is granted power under the county charter to approve all contracts.

Orange County Director of Operations Harry Porr said the county executive gave a notice to proceed to the general contractor on the project, Stony Point-based Helmer Cronin, on March 23.

Later that week, Sussman filed suit against the project.

Some Democratic legislators, including Matthew Turnbull, say the county legislature never approved the demolition plans now going forward.

According to county records, the legislature did approve a renovation and demolition plan back in December, 2013, though Turnbull recently said those plans changed since then.

Vincent Ferri, one of three county residents to join Sussman's suit, said Monday that the work now underway at the government center violates state environmental laws because the project never received a state permit approving its septic system.

A spokesperson at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said the department was looking into the matter as of Monday.

Sussman believes that the state's Historic Preservation Office is required to review the project. Art critics the world over have been decrying the planned demolition of the building, which was designed by Paul Rudolph.

According to state records, Pearl River-based Holt Construction contributed $1,575 to the campaign of Neuhaus in October 2013. They also contributed $250 in May 2013.

Officials in the village and town of Goshen welcome the current demolition plan as the quickest way of getting a government center back up and running in the village. The center closed in August 2011, when it was flooded by Hurricane Irene.

"We're going forward as we planned," Porr said.

"When a judge tells us to do something different we will do something different," he said.