Longtime planning board member says Legoland supporters removed him

By Frances Ruth Harris
GOSHEN — "'My removal' — that's a nice way of putting it," said Reynell Andrews.
He's no longer on the Town of Goshen Planning Board, on which he's served for 18 years.
"It is shenanigans to get me removed," he said.
Andrews said his wife is opposed to the Legoland New York theme park proposed for Goshen, which he believes is the reason why the town board did not invite him back, even though he had recused himself from Legoland discussions.
"I'm not shocked that I wasn't re-appointed," he said. "It's a feeling you get when you're involved in something that could happen that is not what you would like."
Andrews also served for 10 years on the village planning board, and before that on the village zoning board, for a total of 33 years of service to Goshen.
He said town Supervisor Doug Bloomfield is glad to see him go.
"I'm sure that he's very happy about it," said Andrews. "He's stacking the deck so that the Legoland project will go through."
Bloomfield said he could not comment on why Andrews was not re-appointed. He never discusses personnel matters with anyone, he said.
Andrews said the town board held discussions behind closed doors last May about "potential new business negotiations, which he says were about Legoland. In October he reached out to the New York State Committee on Open Government asking if it were legal for the town board to go into executive session, which is off limits to the public, to discuss such negotiations.
"A motion to enter into executive session to discuss 'new business negotiations,” in my opinion, is not sufficient, and without more, does not reflect a permissible basis for entering into executive session," wrote Kristin O’Neill, the committee's assistant director, in her response. (See the committee's full response: http://bit.ly/2iN7m7s.)
Bloomfield said no secret meetings were held.
He said Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus held a meeting on Legoland last March to which Andrews was invited. Goshen had not yet been selected, and Neuhaus was wooing Legoland to come to Orange County, one of the locations under consideration by Merlin Entertainment, the parent company, he said.
There was a second meeting attended by Neuhaus, the county attorney, and the county's director of real property, along with John Usher, head of retail development for Legoland, and Dominic Cordisco, a Legoland attorney, Bloomfield said. They were negotiating a host committee fee that would be half-paid by the county and half-paid by the town.
But Bloomfield said he did not remember the two executive sessions on the town meeting agenda for May 23 and May 26. They could have been about the community host agreement. He wondered why Andrews did not ask him about the executive sessions before writing to the Committee of Open Government.
Andrews disputes this. He said he absolutely did ask about the executive sessions and never got an answer.
Lee Bergus, the planning board chair, did not return several messages left for him
'It would be voted down'Andrews was replaced by David Crawford.
"He was also a replacement and interim board member who filled in when Phil Dropkin recused himself from Amy's Kitchen," said Andrews. "And so he filled in when I recused myself when Legoland was discussed."
Andrews said there's one person left on the board, Dave Gawronski, questioning the Legoland project.
"Dave Gawronski and I were the only ones at a December meeting who voted in the negative with reference to steps and process to take relative to the Legoland project," he said. "It looked like it could carry forward in future voting too."
Gawronski suggested a "referendum by petition." If it got enough signatures — based on the percentage of registered voters who participated in the last gubernatorial election — a referendum on Legoland could be held. It would be nonbinding, but could be politically difficult to ignore.
"If this goes to a referendum, Legoland will be voted down, two to one." Andrews said.
According to town zoning code, "amusement parks and circuses and related activities except for a temporary period on special license from the Town Board are prohibited in all districts."
Andrews said, "There's a way to change zoning codes in Goshen."
First, he said, officials form a committee and hire a professional planning organization.
"This has been done in the past," he said. "This time, the lawyers re-wrote local Laws 5 and 6, which if passed, can make it happen. If the town were to follow the present code 97-10, they would be unable to permit it. This is why the lawyers wrote the 5 and 6 laws the way they did."
Money and blocksBloomfield eventually told the planning board about the Legoland discussion underway but instructed members not to tell anyone, Andrews said.
"When people began hearing outside comments, they came to meetings to ask the board what was going on," he said. "And even then, they did not say anything."
Justin Rodriguez, Neuhaus's spokesman, denied any secret meetings with the governor, as Andrews claims.
"The county executive has not met privately with the governor," Rodriguez said in an email. "To better understand and attract potential economic development opportunities for Orange County, the county executive often meets with others, both inside and outside of government. On occasion, these meetings include local government officials to advise them of economic development opportunities and overall government relations. The county executive recalls one or two meetings where Supervisor Doug Bloomfield was present with others to discuss the potential for Legoland to locate in the Town of Goshen. This occurred at a time when Legoland was looking at various sites in the county. The leaders of Legoland visited Orange County, starting with Stewart International Airport in Newburgh. They went on to visit areas such as Montgomery, New Windsor, Woodbury, Blooming Grove, Chester, the Town of Wallkill and Middletown. Legoland then did its own analysis on the county and decided Goshen was the location it preferred."
Andrews said Rockland County rejected Legoland. He said it's all about money, and not about kids building with blocks.
"The state has given millions of dollars of seed money to get Legoland in New York state," Andrews said. "Neuhaus wants tax dollars. It's all about the money. They don't care about the kids. It's a joke. There were negotiations behind the scenes. Doug Bloomfield talked to Steve Neuhaus about a host agreement behind the scenes and initially even town board members did not know. That's all wrong. That's absolutely wrong. You get input from your board members. They represent the people."
Rodriguez said Neuhaus has focused for the past three years on job creation and economic development.
"When Orange County has the ability to attract a world-renowned, family-friendly business that will create jobs, we have a responsibility as leaders to bring the project forward and let local communities do its due diligence in performing its reviews," Rodriguez said.
New York State Assemblyman James Skoufis, who has expressed concern about Legoland's affect on local roads, said he believes the $7.1 million promised by the state has not yet been paid.
The project has been subjected to a public hearing but the town has not made its decision.
Related stories:"900 Legoland supporters and opponents pack hearing": http://bit.ly/2k1oUxD
"A close call on water for Legoland": http://bit.ly/2iKoriu
"How will Legoland affect traffic?": http://bit.ly/2iCHNLa
"Labor loves Legoland": http://bit.ly/2jyce4U