Just about anything but a junkyard would be welcome at the former Summit Shock in Fulton.
That's what owner Judith Mills and her son Dean Hansen, who would run the junk and recycling facility, heard Monday when the Fulton Planning Board continued a public hearing on the proposed project.
A crowd of about 50 people-including Sheriff Tony Desmond and a deputy--forced the meeting from the town offices into the Highway Garage, but emotions stayed mostly cool.
Because the Schoharie County Planning Commission hasn't yet acted on whether Ms. Mills can open a junkyard at the former prison, no decision on her request for a special use permit was expected Monday.
But Fulton Planning Board Chairman Peter Shulman warned Ms. Mills that if they fail to properly notify abutting property owners of the Planning Board's October 19 meeting, when they do plan to make a decision, the answer will be no.
Several neighbors complained at the first hearing in August that they were never properly notified about the project.
Monday, Mr. Shulman said notifications mailed out the second time had the wrong date for the hearing-the 17th instead of the 22nd-and he chastised Ms. Mills for not having the paperwork to prove they'd been mailed at all.
"If there's a third time, we will dismiss your application out of hand," he warned.
Neighbors' concerns over the proposed recycling center and scrap yard-by definition a junkyard-include traffic, noise, and pollution.
"Maybe you might consider withdrawing the junkyard and going ahead with all of these other lovely things that the town would love to have here," Mr. Shulman told Ms. Mills.
Among these things: A convenience store, medical clinic, senior housing, nursing home, Laundromat, and office and rental space.
As the hearing wound down, Ms. Mills and Mr. Hansen, who has a background in scrap and junkyards and would manage the facility, said they would if they could.
"But no one's signing on the dotted line," Mr. Hansen said.
Ms. Mills said she's had conversations with groups like Catholic Charities who might be interested in using the site as a safe house, but they can't come up with the funding.
"Or the junk yard would go away entirely," said Ms. Mills, who also said they were mislead repeatedly by New York State when they purchased the site at auction.
They were never told the site had been contaminated by a DEC spill and they were told there were no land use regulations regarding what they could or couldn't do with the property, she said.
Randy Simms, who lives in Summit, was one of those who said he found that believable.
"I'm not saying I'm for or against this, but DEC just swept that whole mess under the rug," he said. "This guy's trying to do something legitimate..."
Katherine Hawkins, of Fulton, was another who said she wasn't necessarily thrilled with the idea of a junkyard, but she sees potential for the site as a solar farm and said Mr. Hansen has agreed to look into that.
"I'm willing to give them a hearing on it," she said, with her concern more who would monitor and inspect the site.
Don Clark, assistant fire chief in Summit, said he's concerned about what would happen if there's a fire at the site, both in terms of having enough volunteers-it's also in the West Fulton fire district-and in what might be burning, including tires, chemicals, and the nearby pine forests.
Other neighbors asked about community benefits like jobs and taxes.
Mr. Haskin said property taxes are $12,300 a year-though one speaker pointed out that's with or without the junkyard-and said he would hire locally, 5-7 people to start.