Forwarding this to people who might be interested - Ruth Ann ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------- From: Josh Kuperman <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 14:55:28 -0500 We have two main immediate concerns. Ultimately, we need the laws governing the racetrack to be strong enough so that the most important historical landmark in Saratoga Springs is preserved. Currently, the only laws (that we've found so far) protecting the racecourse are the very minimal requirements for Historic Review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. We are doing whatever we can to insure that the NYRA complies with those existing laws on construction. This is why I'm getting copies of documents relating to construction at the Racecourse. Sadly, I don't know of any requirement for even minimal documentation of what changes they're making. I would think that anyone other than the NYRA would realize the need to photograph and otherwise document the ongoing construction and the value of recording what was there before. We are documenting what the NYRA has actually done, what they were legally required to do and what they should have done. Since the last time we sent out any e-mail we attended the meeting of the NYS Racing & Wagering Board and a Saratoga City Council Meeting. The NYSR&WB meeting was encouraging in many ways. The Board is pretty much limited to insisting that the NYRA obey the legal requirements and the NYRA asserted that they had. I will get copies of the documentation that the NYRA presented, so it will become apparent what they did, when they did, and how they did it, eventually. I received responses to two foil requests: I asked the city for copies of building permit applications made by the NYRA for construction at the racecourse. They xeroxed the documents in file 8094 and gave them to me for $9.50. (I'm actually quite impressed with the city. They provided the requested documents within 5 days from when I asked for them.) I made a much broader request for documents related to historical review of documents related to construction at the Racecourse from the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. They acknowledged receipt and promised to get back to me by April 11, 2000. I will try to go through and get some more stuff up on the web site over the weekend. -- Josh Kuperman [email protected] http://www.racing.saratoga.ny.us -- This e-mail was sent to the Friends to Preserver Historic Saratoga Racecourse It is sent because your address was added to the list because either 1. You requested it at http://www.racing.saratoga.lib.ny.us/friends.html 2. You asked us. 3. We thought you might be interested. send e-mail to [email protected] if you don't want to hear from us