Lapham, Landry butt heads over Crockwell Pond purchase by Glens Falls

By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer

Ward Four Councilman Ben Lapham and Ward Two Councilman Bob Landry are at odds in connection to the Common Council’s Sept. 23 vote, 4-1, to allocate $30,000 to purchase the Crockwell Pond property on East Sanford Street.

Mr. Lapham cast the no vote.

That night, Mr. Lapham wrote on Facebook that Mr. Landry “presented in detail why he thinks the Glens Falls taxpayers want to be spending money to buy swamp land in Queensbury to build a new ‘Crandall Park.’ I voted against it. Why would anyone think this is a good idea? The city does not have enough resources to be chasing old men’s fantasies.”

Asked by The Chronicle to respond, Mr. Landry said, “This is not the first time Ben has made discriminating statements about my age. I’m not sure why he does that but it tarnished the reputation of the entire Council and is a violation of Federal Age Discrimination laws.
“It has the smell of politics as well. Our governments fail when emphasis is placed on items like this rather than items that the residents of our City elected us to focus on.”

Mr. Lapham posted that citing “old men’s fantasies” was a “reference to the old boys network that the city suffers where candidates run unopposed and agreements are made behind closed doors with no discussion, no public comment, no transparency.”

He said he was reacting to Mr. Landry’s comment at the meeting about “the possibility of Crockwell Pond being part of what someday may be looked at as the new, or the next, Crandall Park.”

At the meeting, Mr. Lapham told Mr. Landry, “You have repeatedly said that the Glens Falls taxpayer should not be burdened with paying for this park.

“Also, there is a park on the east side of Glens Falls. There is the baseball park. It’s called East Field. And you said yourself, this isn’t even in Glens Falls — this is in Queensbury.”

Mr. Lapham added on Facebook, “To be clear, I am not against the restoration of wetlands or a visitors interpretation center. I am against using taxpayers money to fund an expanding project seen as a ‘new Crandall Park’ by a member of the entity’s board.”

Mr. Landry serves on the board of the not-for-profit Crockwell Partnership formed to support the Crockwell Preserve, the 6.5-acre former Glens Falls Tennis and Swim Club property in the town of Queensbury that the city purchased for back taxes in 2018.

Mr. Lapham also wrote, “Councilmember Landry should have recused himself from voting based on his obvious conflict of interest.”

Councilman Lapham said just after the vote, “Just for the record, Councilman Landry has always abstained when dealing with the Crockwell Preserve.”

“I’ll change my vote and I’ll abstain,” Councilman Landry responded.

“You can’t. You voted.” Councilman Lapham retorted.

Councilman Landry, asked by The Chronicle to respond to the contention he should have recused himself, said, “At this time there is no formal connection between this purchase and the Crockwell Preserve initiative. If there were, I definitely would have abstained, as I am involved with the initiative.”

The Sept. 23 resolution says the contract still has to be created by SUNY Adirondack and supported and reviewed by the Warren County Board of Supervisors before the mayor can sign an agreement for the city to purchase Crockwell Pond.

Ward Three’s Diana Palmer abstained from the vote as a board member of SUNY Adirondack, the pond’s current overseer.

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