BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

POTSDAM -- The residents at Meadow East apartment complex will keep their gas service.

Liberty Gas confirmed with North Country This Week that owner Brian Wolofsky of Montreal has reached an arrangement with the company to pay off a more than $51,000 back balance on the gas service for the complex at 118 Leroy St.

"While Liberty does not disclose specific account details, we can share that Liberty and the landlord have reached an agreement and gas service will remain on," Pamela Bellings, regional communications specialist for Liberty Gas, told the newspaper on Tuesday, May 7.

Liberty had previously posted a disconnect notice at the apartment complex directed at the residents there.

The notice had said that if Wolofsky did not pay the past due amount of $51,104.62 to the company by May 7, that the service to the apartment complex would be turned off.

In the notice, Liberty urged residents to work out a plan among themselves to pay the bill to avoid termination.

That situation appears to have been forestalled now that an agreement has been reached between the owner and the company.

Liberty declined to provide any details as to the specifics of the payment agreement.

A concerned resident who wished to remain anonymous said that there are 11 buildings at the complex, with 6 apartments per building, adding up to a total of 76 apartments at Meadow East, plus townhouses.

Wolofsky told North Country This Week after Liberty posted the notice that he was working on a short and long term solution to the issue.

Wolofsky issued the following statement Friday afternoon (May 10) to North Country This Week concerning the situation:

"In response to numerous inquiries over the last week as to source of the issue, it has been years in the making and dates to July of 2018 when the Village imposed an exorbitant burden on the community, nearly quadrupling it’s water bills in one stroke of the pen. Despite vocal opposition and 5 years of exhaustive efforts both politically, through showing the Village administrators that Meadow East simply could not afford the water bills imposed on it at current rents, and through the courts to mitigate the impact of that increase on tenants, the owners have concluded that passing on the increased costs has become unavoidable.

"Since its establishment, Meadow East Apartments has been dedicated to providing quality, affordable 1, 2, and 3-bedroom housing options for Village residents. However, in addition to exorbitant hikes in operational costs effected by Village leaders themselves, COVID also led to a substantial decrease in occupancy with the State Attorney-General allowing tenants to legally avoid paying rents, while not imposing any countervailing demand on the State or municipalities to delay or suspend municipal tax payments. These factors, combined with post-Covid-inflation-induced escalating expenses, have created a 5-year long unprecedented challenging environment for property management to meet all the demands while trying to hold the line on rent costs for as long as they could, while pleading with the Village to lower the water bill strain. These factors disproportionately burdened Meadow East, as it is one of the only non-tax-subsidized housing communities in Potsdam. Simply put, Meadow East is one of the only housing communities in Potsdam that actually pays its full share of taxes.

"The owners of Meadow East Apartments recognize the importance of affordable housing to the Potsdam community and assure residents that they will continue to prioritize affordability, quality, and timely maintenance to the best of their ability. But after 5 years of avoiding passing on these cost burdens to residents, at this time we see no alternative but to raise rents, which will of course, over time, affect the affordability of all housing in the Community."