But first, some background: As you may recall, the current mayor made a big deal of hiring the former congressman to wage war on the Town of Plattsburgh for having the temerity to consistently use fractions in an ancient PILOT agreement.
Interestingly, Owens' firm had a hand in the original agreement, according to this fascinating letter to the editor. Well-played, if you're a heads-I-win, tails-you-lose fan."From 1992 on the city was expected to get up to $850,000 a year," said Plattsburgh Mayor Colin Read. But in 2009, Falcon Seaboard sold the plant to Saranac Power. That's when the PILOT payments to the city, town, county, and school district started to drop off. The value of the land went down, and so did the value of Saranac Power."The facility was originally assessed at $200 million. It went down to about $32 million -- that's a significant decrease. The energy market has changed significantly," said Plattsburgh Town Supervisior Michael Cashman.So the Town of Plattsburgh quickly struck a new agreement with Saranac Power to pay for so-called special districts that respond to the plant in an emergency. "The city has continuously received two thirds of the PILOT money that was negotiated. This other agreement was separate for the special districts," Cashman said.
Neither the mayor nor the attorney, for some reason, would say what the fees would be. But now we know. And Bill's bill on the back end is.... $350 an hour! And it's a discount. Such a deal.
Keep in mind that Owens and Read serve on the same board of directors, but that is entirely coincidental and perfectly legal and totally ethical and has no bearing on any of these completely good-faith dealings, so shutupShutUpSHUTUP!!!
But wait, there's more!
