It gets real: Feds subpoena records from Troy Council

My version of the story is below but so I don’t rehash all the old news or t 
he Times Union article, the subpoenas issued Wednesday does lead to some interesting questions and observations:

-Why did the EPA subpoena the Council, which had nothing to do with the actual demolitions, rather than go directly to the administration which did? Also, all the records – with the exception of emails and other communications, are already public documents.

-Attorney Don Boyajian’s name is the only one mentioned in the subpoena. His partner, Bill Dryer represented former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno in his second trial that ended with an acquittal ending a nearly decade long investigation and prosecution by the feds. 

-Including the fact Boyajian owned the buildings in 2010, there are other constants from 2010 through 2014: Bill Dunne was on the Council in 2010 and, after being term limited out at the end of 2011, became director of the Planning Department for Mayor Lou Rosamilia in 2012 and Fire Chief Tom Garrett was chief then and when the King Street buildings were knocked down.

-At this stage of the game it is far better to receive a subpoena than not since the targets likely won’t hear anything until there are indictments – if any should be forthcoming, that is.  

-Rosamilia, after taking a beating about frozen pipes and hosting one of the worst press conferences in the history of not just Troy but the world, goes back into hiding with a solid “no comment.”

-The Council, under President Rodney Wiltshire, is again vindicated for holding hearings into the demolition projects.

-I don’t recall the April 2013 demolition of the Ardex Building at 744 Pawling Ave. but the feds remember it because they requested documents related to that too. As an aside, Reeves was in town for that one and did declare the emergency himself.

-The federal government takes its time when investigating such matters but for them to first question City Hall employees in City Hall, like investigators did earlier this year, and then issue subpoenas it is painfully obvious they are taking the whole thing seriously.

-It’s just one more disastrous turn of events for Rosamilia and one more reason I don’t think he runs again.

STORY

The Troy City Council received a sweeping federal subpoena, Wednesday, as part of the ongoing probe into controversial demolition projects on King Street and at the King Fuels site.

According to the subpoena, first reported by the Times Union, the Environmental Protection Agency is demanding a host of records from January 2010 to the end of 2013. That includes records from the last two years of Mayor Harry Tutunjian’s term and includes three consecutive city Councils.

The row of buildings on King Street was demolished by an emergency decree called by Fire Chief Tom Garrett. Former City Engineer Russ Reeves was on vacation at the time. He had previously denied a request by the buildings’s owner, attorney Don Boyajian, to declare them a public hazard and to knock them down under the city’s emergency demolition procedure.

The city Council, through a half dozen public hearings, the FBI the EPA and the state Labor Department have been looking into whether or not public safety was in jeopardy during the demolition. Asbestos was known to have been in the buildings but not properly abated and the buildings were demolished while Bomber’s remained open next door. Patrons were seen freely entering and exiting the bar/restaurant while the wrecking ball swung not 50 feet away.

According to the subpoenas, if the Council turns over records the individual members do not have to appear in Albany on April 1.

Earlier this year the FBI and EPA interviewed City Hall employees and last year Reeves, who had resigned at the time and Barbara Tozzi were also interviewed.

“It has been my contention from the beginning that the demolition at 4-10 King Street in August 2013 was conducted unethically, and possibly illegally,” said Councilman Ken Zalewski, D-District 5. “The City, in its attempt to circumvent the standard demolition process one day after the City Engineer went on vacation, placed the public at risk of exposure to airborne asbestos particles. “

Mayor Lou Rosamilia, through a spokesman, tells the Times Union his office had no comment on the subpoenas.

 Council President Rodney Wiltshire tells the Times Union the Council’s investigation is validated by the fact federal investigators are bringing the issue to a grand jury. Councilman Jim Gordon, R-District 1, tells the newspaper he reached out to the EPA to see specifically what documents they want.

The EPA is also asking for records regarding the demolition of a number of buildings at the former King Fuels site located on a tract of land in South Troy owned by the Troy Industrial Development Agency. The demolition followed no engineer approved plan, the work was conducted in such a manner it threatened to breach a gas main and there was no asbestos abatement. It was so shoddily done, the demolition was the reason Reeves resigned.