We heard tough news on September 13, 2011, which was that Hannaford had withdrawn their proposal to to build a supermarket in New Lebanon.

We put this website up originally in the spring when the proposed supermarket was threatened by DOT (Department of Transportation) requirements.

But that resolved well, thanks in part to local response, and so did requirements about the septic system from the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation).

But the agreed changes cost money to implement. And Hannaford still had the challenge of moving existing businesses on the proposed site to another location.

We don’t exactly know how these mounting costs brought Hannaford to a tipping point at which they withdrew, or whether the matter can still be fixed.

But we do know that there are many people in New Lebanon and surrounding towns who were counting on the arrival of the supermarket and are devastated by the prospect of its loss.

LVBA has put together a team of local specialists in construction, real estate development and economic development. They will work to assess what went wrong and come up with some solutions to propose to Hannaford.

But Hannaford has to keep an open mind to reconsider New Lebanon. That’s why we are sponsoring a new letter writing campaign. This way you can let the parties involved know how important you think it is for them to work toward a solution.

On the tab above you’ll names and addresses for elected officials and for Hannaford.

On a separate tab you’ll find a sample letter geared to an elected official, which you can also send to the Hannaford. We set it up this way so that your letters could be used both to activate the full support of our representatives and also give your opinion to the Hannaford.

Feel free to use our sample or to write your own letter. Don’t hesitate to send your letter to everyone listed.

Soon we’ll include a poll on which you can indicate how many letters you have sent. This will give us a running total that is very helpful to negotiations.

Thank you so much for being part of the LVBA Save Our Supermarket campaign.

Sign up for the LVBA newsletter, Grow the Valley, to get monthly information about what’s going on in town, including developments about the supermarket.

The next update will be on October 1. One way or another, we’ll find a way out of our food desert!