Village seeks to buy Elco property
By Susan Campriello
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

ATHENS - The village of Athens, with assistance from the Greene County Industrial Development Agency, hopes to buy waterfront property near Fourth Street upon which Elco Electric Launch Incorporated is located.
Alexander "Sandy" Mathes, executive director of the IDA, said Friday he had been negotiating the terms of a purchase option with the property's owner, Dr. Thomas Glendening, who has been involved with waterfront redevelopment projects in Newburgh.

"We have been talking with him for a couple of months so we can then try to get a business or do something at that site, but at this point there is no agreement," he said.

The village of Athens has scheduled a public hearing for 12:30 p.m. today to discuss a $750,000 Restore NY grant to finance rehabilitation of the property. The hearing will be canceled if an agreement with Glendening has not been reached by that time. The grant application can't be submitted so long as Glendening owns the property, according to Mathes.

Glendening said Sunday he had been "obliquely" approached about selling his property but that no offers had been made. The Daily Mail had not been informed of an agreement before the time of publication Sunday night.

Last September, Elco Electric Launch Incorporated entered into an agreement with the Athens Local Development Corporation to retain and create jobs in Athens.

Operations at Elco ceased as recently as last fall.

Robert Lievense, who owns Elco, was unavailable to speak about the company, according to his wife and the company's co-owner, Judith. She had no comment about a Motion of Summary Judgment In Lieu Of Complaint recently filed by the ALDC to recover from the company almost $280,000, which includes an unpaid balance, late charges and interest. She said she was not aware of any possibility that the land could be sold.

Athens Mayor Andrea Smallwood said over the weekend that she would like to see the Elco building remain as a manufacturing facility and for it to be used by a company able to create and maintain jobs.

She and Mathes said that the village could either keep the waterfront property, if an agreement with Glendening is reached and renovations are completed, or sell it to another business.

"We are trying to make something happen at that building," Mathes said.

To reach reporter Susan Campriello, please call (518) 943-2100, ext. 3333, or e-mail scampriello@thedailymail.net. Village seeks to buy Elco property