The condition of the section of the former Nestles site designated to Aldi supermarket, on the corner of Fay and S. Fourth Streets as of May 8, 2017.
FULTON, NY – The Fulton Common Council approved the expenditure of an additional $100,000 to allow Fulton based contractor, Rowlee Construction to continue removing debris from the former Nestle site.
Last month, the council accepted a bid from Rowlee to remove debris from the 2.2-acre corner parcel of the site that is designated to incoming supermarket chain, Aldi.
The council agreed to hire the contractor at a daily rate of $4,627.50 with an hourly rate of $103.50 for 10-wheel trucks and $138 for 18-wheel trucks, setting a maximum expenditure cap at $100,000.
Rowlee is on pace to exceed the $100,000 limit as of the current work that has been completed, requiring the council to consider an additional approval for continued work, Fulton Mayor Ronald Woodward Sr. said.
The decision to hire Rowlee stemmed from the initial contractor abandoning work on the site after having removed 75 percent of the buildings on the 24-acre site.
In October of 2015, Infinity Enterprises offered to complete the demolition at the former Nestle site at 555 S. Fourth St. at no cost to the city, but with sole rights to all salvageable material on the site.
In early May of 2017, Infinity backed out of the commitment to demolish the site in its entirely as Woodward sourced significant financial losses due to a $10,000 weekly payroll as the driving force behind the decision.
Aldi representatives remained undeterred in their interest to open a store at this Fulton location, however, priority quickly focused on finding a new contractor to complete the needed work at the Aldi site.
Rowlee Construction, the lowest bid, was awarded the contract to remove all remaining debris from the Aldi site, beginning work on May 26 after approval through the Department of Labor.
Woodward expects one more week to complete the necessary work, saying Aldi may be able to begin site prepping even sooner.
“Probably around Wednesday or Thursday we will be far enough along on that portion of the Nestles site where Aldi wants to go where we can tape it off and their contractor will come in and start prepping their site for construction,” he said.
The Oswego County Legislature will vote next Thursday on a resolution to reduce tipping fees, a measure that had already been approved through a county committee.
Nestle officially closed production in Fulton in May of 2003, after which the several buildings on the 24-acre site mostly remained vacant although the city was unable to control the site until it was taken on tax foreclosure in 2015.
He compared Fulton to several municipalities throughout the state that are plagued with vacant manufacturing buildings, noting that criticism prevents municipal leaders from doing much about them.
“One of the reasons nobody does anything about it is because of just what you see since we started- the frustration, the criticism, but that’s no reason to stick it to future generations,” Woodward said.
Council President Dave Ritchie, who was not present on the council during the initial decision to accept the offer from Infinity Enterprises, said he would likely have voted the same way regarding the free demolition contract.
“Unfortunately some things didn’t work out and we’re going to have to make some other decisions, but we need to get that property taken care of and on the tax rolls and get it developed. We’re probably going to be seeing some costs but we’ve got to do it,” he said. “I just want to commend you and the council for stepping up and trying to do something,” Ritchie said.
Woodward said four buildings will be left standing after Rowlee completes their work to remove debris. At that time, the city will request bids for the remaining demolition and most likely bond for the expenses.
“We got 75 percent of the buildings on a 24-acre site down, so that’s not bad. Now you’ll find out what it costs to get the other four down. So, I think we’re doing pretty good,” Woodward said.
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The decision to Bond for the costs to demolition the standing buildings should have been done 2 yrs ago. It is great to see some real progress being made by Rowlee Construction. I’m glad that the Mayor and Common Council made the decision to Bond. There is more costs than just demo there is the clean up costs from the FREE demo construction company.
ill say one thing,here we go again,MAYBERRY N.Y.