Screenshot of the Belmont Stakes website tickets page captured during presale via X user @SaratogaGoose.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Tickets for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival sold quickly this week. Presale began shortly before noon on Wednesday, while tickets for the general public went on sale at 10 a.m. on Thursday. As of 11:20 a.m. on Thursday, single day seating was sold out. About 30 minutes later, single day general admission tickets had also sold out. All tickets for Saturday, June 8 (Belmont Stakes day) were gone by the end of the week.
Some presale buyers were fooled by an advertisement on the Belmont Stakes tickets page, which featured a green “Continue” button that linked to another site asking for credit card information. A message above the advertisement that read “paid banners below are not related to Belmont Stakes Ticket Sales” appeared to have been added later. Other prospective presale buyers said that when they tried to buy specific tickets, the Ticketmaster website suddenly said the tickets were no longer available. Some reported they were unable to buy tickets at all, despite having access to presale.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — In 2016, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce launched Leap of Kindness Day, an initiative that encourages community members to spend their leap day engaging in acts of kindness and charity. Since then, the idea has taken off and been adopted by organizations around the world.
A map provided by Chamber President Todd Shimkus showed that Leap of Kindness day has spread to Canada, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Senegal. “We currently have 180 different communities around the globe signed up to participate, and the list is growing every day,” Shimkus told Saratoga TODAY. “It’s really amazing to see how Leap of Kindness Day keeps growing, and it’s exciting to learn about all the unique ways folks are spreading kindness in their communities.”
Shimkus said that the Saratoga Chamber has been providing guidance to other chambers that are participating in the event. “We have given tips on how to organize a successful Leap of Kindness Day, along with graphics to use and a press release template.”
Those interested in participating in Leap of Kindness Day 2024 can view the Chamber’s list of nonprofit requests at www.saratoga.org/leapofkindnessday.
Cover art for the “A Place of Yes” podcast provided by Heather Straughter.
SARATOGA SPRINGS —Bright Sighted Podcasting is launching the podcast “A Place of Yes” in conjunction with Saratoga Springs-based nonprofit Jake’s Help from Heaven. The podcast aims to “help listeners learn how to channel their grief for good,” according to a statement.
Beginning Thursday, Feb. 29, “A Place of Yes” will release weekly episodes. Also on the 29th, a launch party for “A Place of Yes” will take place at Saratoga Strike Zone. The event will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
“A Place of Yes” will be available to stream on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
For more information on Jake’s Help from Heaven, visit jakeshelpfromheaven.org.
Photo of Kadan Sample, Esq. provided by Ariel Robertson
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Lemery Greisler LLC, a business law firm with offices in Saratoga Springs and Albany, has announced the promotion of Kadan Sample, Esq. to Principal Attorney.
Sample focuses her practice in the areas of commercial lending, representing both large national and regional banks, as well as smaller local community banks. She also represents developers of commercial real estate projects.
Sample is the director of Girls on the Run Capital Region, a nonprofit that inspires girls to be joyful, healthy, and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum that creatively integrates running.
MOREAU — A proposed moratorium that would temporarily prohibit building commercial, industrial, and manufacturing properties in the Town of Moreau has met fierce opposition from local business leaders, one of whom said the idea has already been dropped by the town supervisor.
Sam Wahnon, a Moreau commercial property owner, said that Moreau Town Supervisor Jesse A. Fish, Jr. came to his office after a town board meeting. “He said that he met with the rest of the town board members and they decided to not do a commercial ban on building,” Wahnon said. “‘No moratorium on commercial property’ is what he told me.”
In the town board meeting, Wahnon expressed his opposition to the proposed moratorium. “I addressed the board and told them that what they were doing was a terrible thing and un-American and that if they do it, I’m going to get very angry and if I get very angry, then they’re going to get very angry and it’s going to end up in a situation,” Wahnon said.
Wahnon said Supervisor Fish “decided it wouldn’t be right to put a commercial moratorium on commercial property in the town of Moreau just because of another problem. He didn’t specify what that problem was but I think we all know.”
The temporary moratorium is widely seen as an attempt to prevent Saratoga Biochar from building a facility in the Moreau Industrial Park.
As of press time, Supervisor Fish had not responded to multiple requests for comment.
On Wednesday, the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) released a letter to Supervisor Fish encouraging him to drop the moratorium, stating that “the enforcement action you propose would be contrary to reasonable and responsible efforts to expand Moreau’s tax base, create investment opportunities, and add and retain full-time jobs.” The letter was signed by SEDC President and CEO J. Gregory Connors.
The proposed moratorium, known as Local Law No. 2, would temporarily prohibit “the review, approval of applications, and granting of building and other municipal permits for land use approvals in the commercial, industrial, and manufacturing zoning districts within the Town of Moreau.”
Photo of the GlobalFoundries campus and company headquarters in Malta provided by GlobalFoundries.
MALTA — The U.S. Department of Commerce announced on Monday that it would send $1.5 billion in funds to GlobalFoundries, a semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Malta. The investment is part of the CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden in August of 2022. GlobalFoundries will use the funds to expand its existing facility in Malta, build a new microchip fabrication plant in Malta, and modernize its facility in Vermont.
In support of the two Malta projects, Governor Kathy Hochul also announced $575 million in direct funding for New York State Green CHIPS. Additional $15 million and $30 million investments are planned for workforce development activities, as well as infrastructure upgrades and energy initiatives, respectively.
All told, GlobalFoundries estimates that these investments will create more than 1,500 manufacturing jobs, and about 9,000 construction jobs.
“These proposed investments, along with the investment tax credit (ITC) for semiconductor manufacturing, are central to the next chapter of the GlobalFoundries story and our industry,” said Dr. Thomas Caulfield, president and CEO of GlobalFoundries, in a statement. “They will also play an important role in making the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem more globally competitive and resilient, and cement the New York Capital Region as a global semiconductor hub.”
“The awards have a targeted focus on workforce development, which ensures that the people who live in our region will be trained and connected to good-paying careers in manufacturing,” said Mark Eagan, CEO and president of the Center for Economic Growth and the Capital Region Chamber. “This announcement marks an exciting chapter in our region’s future; one that builds on an already strong foundation to propel us further into global leadership.”
GlobalFoundries is the third-biggest semiconductor foundry in the world. In 2021, it moved its global headquarters from Santa Clara, California to Malta, New York. Its campus is located at 400 Stone Break Rd Extension.
The proposed Mill Town Centre project. Image provided.
BALLSTON SPA — The Milton Community Center was packed last Wednesday with citizens concerned about what’s been called “the biggest project in Milton ever.” A town hall-style event hosted by Milton Citizens for Responsible Development allowed locals to ask questions and express concerns over the Mill Town Centre project, which could bring 507 residential units, more than 1,200 parking spaces, and multiple new businesses to the area.
Dan Galvin, a member of Milton Citizens for Responsible Development, began the question and answer portion of the event by saying he “could care less about government. My opinion is the less government, the better. I want to be left alone to go to my job to provide for my family and come home and live my life in peace. That’s where I stand. But when I started to see the development that is happening in our area, it started to scare me.”
Peter Nelson, a Milton resident for 33 years and another member of Milton Citizens for Responsible Development, said one of the top concerns with the mixed-use project was increased traffic. In a Powerpoint presentation, Nelson displayed a photo of a traffic jam near Northline Road. “I’m no scientist but I’m pretty sure if there’s another thousand cars or so from Mill Town Centre, it’s not going to help,” Nelson said.
A long-time Milton resident named Mary said she “would have been here a lot earlier, but it took me ten minutes to back out of my driveway. With all the new traffic that this project will bring forth, I can’t even imagine what it’ll be like.” Another local said that traffic in Milton “has been a nightmare in the last ten years.”
To help manage the additional vehicles that the project would bring into Milton, infrastructure upgrades such as traffic circles are being planned. The project developer is supposed to pay for the upgrades, although some citizens were concerned that their taxes would be increased in order to fund these upgrades in the future.
A traffic assessment prepared in August of last year by Creighton Manning Engineering stated that the project “is expected to generate 365 new vehicle trips during the AM peak hour, 281 new vehicle trips during the PM peak hour, and 340 new vehicle trips during the Saturday peak hour.” The report recommended that a traffic signal be installed at the intersection of Rowland Street and Grand Avenue, that Rowland Street be widened to create a left-turn lane, and that multiple stop signs be installed.
Attendees also expressed concerns over the potential impact of bringing more students into already short-staffed school districts. However, data cited by Ballston Spa Central School District Clerk of the Board and Records Access Officer Brian Sirianni at a recent Board of Education meeting indicated that renters of one and two bedroom apartments typically don’t have kids. Sirianni also said that commercial properties, like the ones planned for Mill Town Centre, usually benefit school districts financially. “Burnt Hills, south of us, really doesn’t have a lot of commercial property so they suffer and they have a much higher tax rate because it falls on the residents,” Sirianni said.
John Bartow, Chairman of the Milton Planning Board, said that the Mill Town Centre site is currently divided between the Ballston Spa and Saratoga Springs school districts. He said that it would be up to the districts and the developer to decide where Mill Town Centre kids would attend school.
Other concerns raised during public comments included the potential impact on water supply and the lack of affordable housing units.
Bartow, who answered a number of questions from attendees, provided an update on the project’s status. He said the application was recently deemed complete, and there are now two stages left to the process: a rezoning request that’s before the town board, and a site plan review that will be conducted by the planning board. Bartow said this whole process would take a minimum of four to six months.
In addition to Bartow, other local officials in attendance included State Senate candidate Minita Sanghvi and Ballston Spa Mayor Frank Rossi. Mill Town Centre developer Malta Development Co. was invited to attend but did not send a representative. Wayne Samascott, vice president of Malta Development Co., previously told Saratoga TODAY that he hoped to begin construction this year.
The Milton Citizens for Responsible Development will meet again on February 21 to “decide what our next steps are.” The meeting will be held at the Kaydeross Rod and Gun Club at 706 Geyser Road from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Detailed documents regarding the Mill Town Centre project can be found in the Planning Board section of the Document Center at www.townofmiltonny.org. Milton Citizens for Responsible Development maintains a Facebook page that has nearly 200 members.
A woman delivers prepared remarks regarding the Saratoga Biochar project at a February 8 public hearing at South Glens Falls High School. Photo by Super Source Media Studios.
MOREAU — Last week, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hosted a pair of public hearings, one virtual and one in-person, regarding the proposed Saratoga Biochar project in Moreau. Participants were given three minutes to submit for the record their comments on whether Saratoga Biochar should be granted a permit to build a biochar manufacturing facility in the Moreau Industrial Park.
Of the 24 people who spoke at the virtual hearing, 20 opposed the Saratoga Biochar project. Dozens more spoke at the in-person hearing, with the vast majority again opposing the construction of a biochar facility in Moreau.
Moreau resident Thomas Masso said that the Moreau Planning Board “approved the project 4-2 based entirely on the information submitted by Saratoga Biochar. That information consists of unproven theories, cherry-picked excerpts from various studies, and small sample tests.”
David Walker, a professor at the Columbia Climate School, said that he reviewed the project two years ago but believed that unresolved concerns had not been addressed. “Given these unresolved and potentially devastating issues, it’s not surprising that the use of sewage sludge-derived biochar as an agricultural soil amendment is banned in countries like the U.K. New York should also ban that sort of use,” Walker said.
Myles Gray, program director at the U.S. Biochar Initiative, spoke in favor of the project. “In general, the process of converting biosolids into biochar is a climate solution, and it also is a pathway to eliminate forever chemicals from agricultural systems.” Kathleen Draper, who described herself as a “longtime advocate of carbonizing underutilized organic material” also spoke in support of Saratoga Biochar.
Following the public hearings, Saratoga Biochar released a statement from its president, Bryce Meeker. “Let me be clear: Saratoga Biochar Solutions is a green, environmentally and socially conscious company,” Meeker said. “We are here to alleviate the pollution burden by remediating biosolids and enabling them to be beneficially utilized as bio-fertilizer to restore soil.”
The exterior of the Saratoga Arms Hotel on Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs. Photo provided by Amanda Feldman Jay.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — U.S. News & World Report has ranked Saratoga Arms the best hotel in Saratoga Springs for the second year in a row.
The ranking is based on both awards and customer reviews. Nearly 900 Tripadvisor reviewers gave Saratoga Arms a 5 out of 5 rating. The hotel was also included on last year’s Condé Nast Readers’ Choice List.
Photo of Eileen M. Nash, the Wesley Community’s new Director of Development and Communications, provided by ELA Media.
SARATOGA SPRINGS —The Wesley Community, a senior living campus, has appointed Eileen M. Nash as its Director of Development and Communications.
Nash was Director of Development for more than 25 years at the Double H Ranch in Lake Luzerne, which was founded by Charles R. Wood and Paul Newman. She and her team were instrumental in raising more than $4.4 million annually to fund the operating budget that covered specialized programs and year-round support at no cost for children dealing with life-threatening illnesses.
“I was very passionate about my role at the Double H Ranch and have brought the same energy and commitment here to Wesley,” said Nash. “Wesley is a local and regional jewel that offers a continuum of care for seniors who want to age in place in a community that is truly concerned about their well-being. I know this firsthand because my mother-in-law and father-in-law have resided here.”
