Albany County Executive Dan McCoy is scheduled to deliver his 15th State of the County address today. WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief Jesse Taylor will be there live for the speech at 1:00 p.m.
Hi, Jesse.
Hi, Lucas.
So, Jesse, what are you expecting to hear from the County Executive today?
Well, according to a press release we received from the county executive’s spokesperson Mary Rozak, McCoy will be announcing a number of policy initiatives to promote affordability, public safety and overall quality of life for residents.
What exactly those policies will be remains to be seen, kind of remains to be seen, so I can’t really say. However, McCoy has, in the past, hinted that he would be making some more announcements regarding new developments on the former Saint Rose campus.
And what kind of developments are you thinking?
I don’t know for sure. But, there are a number of buildings on the campus that have not been purchased or developed. The last big announcement we heard from the county about new developments had to do with a real estate firm intending to purchase the Thelma P. Lally School of Education for $4 million dollars. Although, hat deal has not yet been finalized.
McCoy said if the deal comes to pass, the county will be able to pay off $29 million of the initial $35 million in bonds it is on the hook for as part of plans to redevelop the campus.
We also heard from McCoy last year that the $35 million in bonds the county used to back the purchase of the campus property would be paid off by his State of the County address.
Here is McCoy in November:
“And I will stand here and tell you that will be paid of by my speech February of next year when I talk about my State of the County – when we close the other ones that we’ll be announcing shortly. Now, mind you, I just want to say this it takes time to close, you’re not going to close overnight, but that $35 million bond, we’ll make our first payment in February so it will be paid literally before we make our first payment,” McCoy said.
Just to clarify, the county took out an additional $5 million in bonds to maintain the campus, bringing the total amount to $40 million.
And then, when McCoy made the announcement about the School of Education earlier this month, he said he was theorizing about the bonds being paid off.
Here what he said.
“I said in theory, we will have this paid off by my State of the County, so give me time after this press conference, because stay tuned for the State of the County, it takes time to close, you don’t close in a day, so that’s why I said in theory yes we will have it paid off, but as everyone behind me can tell you, it takes time,” McCoy said.
So, we may hear that the county has enough potential buyers to pay off the bonds it owes to M & T Bank, but that remains to be seen.
That's WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief Jesse Taylor reporting. Thank you, Jesse.
Thank you, Lucas.
