“Shock, then Plan: Local Officials on Indian Point Closing Report” by Lanning Taliaferro

“Cortlandt Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi is calling for a Blue Ribbon Commission to deal with it — and not for the first time.

CORTLANDT, NY — Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi heard about the possibility that the Indian Point nuclear power plant will be closed by 2021 the same way most of the region did.

Now she’s thinking ahead to the loss of jobs for local residents and revenues for the local school district, library, fire department and other work of local governments; and to the process of phasing out, decommissioning, reclamation and security.

“I found out about this through the New York Times article,” she said Friday evening. “Subsequently I’ve been in conversation with all the other elected officials that serve our town. We’re all on the same page. No one was notified. They all read it first through this newspaper article. No one is pleased about that.”

She talked, among others, with State Sen. Terrence Murphy, some of whose northern Westchester and Putnam County district is in the 10-mile zone, He was also shocked by the news.

“At this point we are still trying to obtain more information, but most troubling is the lack of transparent planning for the proposed shut down of the plant,” he said in a written statement. “Having spoken with several local officials, our focus must be ensuring the well being of those most directly affected. If these reports are in fact true, I can assure you, we are going to work in a bipartisan way to make sure the people who live and work here are taken care of.”

Puglisi immediately sent a note to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, calling for a Blue Ribbon Commission to deal with the closing and the inevitable aftermath.

“2020 is just a couple of years away,” she said. “All these key issues need to be addressed with all the stakeholders. “

A blue ribbon commission can only be called by the governor, Puglisi said— for example, the commission that dealt with the closing of the GM plant in Tarrytown, called by the governor’s father, Gov. Mario Cuomo.

“I sent a letter to Cuomo in 2011, when he first made the announcement that he wanted to close Indian Point, asking him to do that,” she said. “In 2021, same questions, same challenges.”

Puglisi estimated the job loss at at least 1,600, between employment at the plant and contractors. Local businesses that depend on those workers will be affected too. Community events and activities will be hit hard — Entergy like other local companies sponsors many and gives grants for many programs.

As for local government, 46 percent of the village of Buchanan’s tax revenues come from Entergy. For the town of Cortlandt, Entergy’s contribution is 2 percent.

The biggest impact would be on the local schools, and that will affect local homeowners. One-third of the annual revenue of the Hendrick Hudson School district comes from Entergy, “and 69 percent of the local property tax bill is school taxes,” Puglisi said.”

To read the complete report at Peekskill Patch, click the link below:

http://patch.com/new-york/peekskill/local-officials-shocked-indian-point-closing-report