County Talks Stall on Land Lease

Since last July, the volunteers of the Rebuild Hi-Tor effort and the shelter’s board members have been talking with Rockland County officials on moving forward with their plans to build a new animal shelter in front of the existing one.

Although fundraising and tabling events are running smoothly, discussions with the county have seemed to have stalled.

Volunteer Chair Don Franchino’s plan for the new shelter is that it’s paid for through fundraising donations and that the new building will be built in front of the current building. They have been negotiating with the County for an expansion of the lease on the land where the present shelter exists.

As part of his plan, the cost of the county for the entire project will be $0 and Hi-Tor would request a 10-acre site from the county leased to the shelter to be cleared and prepared for the new animal shelter. This land would be leased to Hi-Tor for 99 years for $1. Hi-Tor will still be contracted with the county, but the operation of the new shelter will remain with the not for profit Hi-To Animal Shelter.

Back in October, Franchino and Hi-Tor Animal Care Center President Roberta Bangs met with County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef's office to discuss leasing the land from the county to build the new shelter. The county exec's staff last year that an issue that is a roadblock is the fact that land eyed by volunteers is park land, which cannot be built upon. At that October meeting, Franchino said that he will not have this process dragged out for several years.

Since then, there has been slow progress in the discussions with the county leading Franchino to call out the county on not allowing this to move forward.

“I will consider abandoning this effort and dump it in Scott and Harriet Cornells lap,” said Franchino in an email blast. “After all they have successfully put this County in debt for the foreseeable future. They obviously are not willing to accept a million dollar shelter for free—let them build one and put this county deeper in debt … The requirements he has stated in his letter requires extensive work and cost on our end. This is not our responsibility but falls directly on the County.  Let them work out the land at the County's expense.”

Vanderhoef's office say that they have been collaborating, but need to protect park land

"We are surprised at the negative language in Mr. Franchino's statement, as we have been communicating with him and Hi Tor in good faith," said Ron Levine, Vanderhoef's Director of Communications. "We have offered the organization land behind the existing shelter to build a new facility. We’ve had a whole team of county professionals looking into this matter and we have made every effort to work in collaborative way to come up with a solution. Nothing would please us more than to see them open a new facility. However, we are obligated to protect designated parkland on county property."

Franchino is from Nanuet and also runs a New City All State office with his sons. He is known in the community for his successful fundraising efforts.

Franchino said that he joined the Rebuild Hi-Tor effort because he felt it was necessary to raise funds for a new shelter because the current one is in such a dilapidated state with a roof that is in disrepair and not structurally sound.

However, “little did I expect dysfunctional politicians and their staff to be the real hurdle,” he said in his email. “It is time the public be brought up to speed.”

Their next community meeting, which is open to the public is  meeting open to the public is Wednesday March 13 from 6:30 to  9 p.m at Clarkstown Town Hall. This is an open meeting to discuss the progress of rebuilding the Hi Tor Animal Shelter and Adoption Center.

"Contrary to assertions made in his statement, we have not shut any doors on working with the group or set deadlines," said Levine. "We only ask that Mr. Franchino recognize that county government must abide  by specific procedures, regulations and laws."

We quickly arrive at the topic of why Crane has decided to reside on the fourth floor of a building overlooking the back of Marks & Spencer – and not in an airy, disused loft space in Shoreditch.

Crane tells me that it was all about giving the business some credibility and locating itself near to the kind of businesses it wanted to be working with. The relevance gained by making the move ‘put the business on rocket fuel’, Crane exclaims. In a funny turn of events, the space Grapple currently resides in was actually the location of one of Crane’s previous employers.

Back in the earlier days of his career, Crane worked for ad-supported mobile phone network Blyk when it occupied the site on Great Marlborough Street.

A chance situation involving the need for a witness signature for a set of tenancy documents meant that Crane was aware of a five-year lease, and when it came time for the entrepreneur to find a home for his new Grapple business the timing worked out and he could think of no better space to use.