Village of Farmingdale Election: Candidate Ralph Ekstrand

By Ralph Ekstrand 

Ralph Ekstrand, Bill Barrett and Tom Ryan of the Farmingdale 2035 Party have a plan:

$289,000 Grant from the State

• Village engaged consultants who, together with the Village Board and a Committee comprised of residents and business owners, began a three year study of downtown Farmingdale. The results show that a vibrant, revitalized downtown will only become a reality by utilizing transit oriented Development and mixed use buildings.  
• With our historic train station as a focal point, our plan includes controlled growth and walk-ability from the train station to Main Street.

For Store Owners to Survive They Must Have Reasonable Rents

• Our plan is to reduce the store owners rent by allowing landlords to build luxury apartments  above Main Street stores. The rent realized from the apartments will be used to reduce the rent paid by the store owners

Summer 2012

• Bartone Properties is planning a 115 luxury apartment building with retail space on the ground floor across from the railroad station.  This will be the Village’s first Transit Oriented Development.
• Cary Staller has submitted plans for a mixed use development in his buildings on Main Street across from Stuff-A-Bagel.  It will consist of three retail stores at ground level and 6 luxury apartments above.

Plans for 2013 

• Include an 85 room hilton business Class hotel, on the vacant lot on the corner of  Secatogue and Eastern Parkway.  No cooking facilities in the rooms and no on premise restaurant or bar.  In the twenty year agreement with the Village, should Hilton fail, the hotel building may only be managed by a nationally recognized chain, subject to approval of the current Village Board.  
• How will this help downtown Farmingdale? If the hotel is 75% occupied and each room spends $50 per day on shopping or wining and dining on Main Street, this will bring over 1.1 million dollars into downtown Farmingdale.  
• Downtown revitalization is dependent upon controlled-smart growth all as outlined in the 2 traffic studies, 2 parking studies, infrastructure study and the 2035 Master Plan.  These studies were prepared by the professional consultants and reviewed thoroughly during open meetings by the Village Board with Village residents and Village business owners.

We are asking for your vote to serve as your Mayor and trustees to continue to move Farmingdale into the 21st Century.“A Promise Made Is A Promise Kept!”

The election is Tuesday from noon to 9 p.m. at