Ritchie Helping City of Fulton Finish Cleanup of Former Nestle Site

State Senator Patty Ritchie is announcing she has secured $200,000 in state funding for the city of Fulton to finish cleaning up the former Nestle factory site and allow new business to move in.

“This funding will not only allow the city of Fulton to get nearly two dozen acres of land back on the tax rolls, it also will help to attract new businesses and create new job opportunities for the hardworking people of Central New York,”  Senator Ritchie said.

“In addition, this particular piece of land is a gateway into the city and a clean site with new development is the perfect way to welcome people to the community and let them know what a special place Fulton is.”

It has been nearly 15 years since Nestle left the site off Route 481 in Fulton.  The city acquired the vacant property through a tax foreclosure with the understanding that the former Nestle factory buildings would need to be demolished and the 24-acre site would need to be cleaned up.

The city signed a contract with a construction company to do the work, but after completing most of the demolition, the company was unable to finish the job.  The city then took out a loan to finish the work, but with rising costs, the loan was not enough. 

“We certainly appreciate the efforts of Senator Ritchie.  She does many great things for the city of Fulton, but this might be the most important thing she has done for us.  It was not feasible for us to take out another loan, and Senator Ritchie came through once again. The city of Fulton cannot thank her enough for this, and all she does for our city,” Fulton Mayor Ron Woodward Sr. said.

The earlier cleanup allowed the city to sell two acres of the land to the supermarket chain Aldi, which opened a store on the site late last year.  Mayor Woodward says he has received numerous other inquiries to fill in the remaining 22 acres.