Watervliet hosted a public meeting Thursday with answers about Price Chopper's bid to build a new store on the historic St. Patrick's Church lot. Our Erin Vannella was there and has more.

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WATERVLIET, N.Y. -- Watervliet hosted a public meeting Thursday with answers about Price Chopper's bid to build a new store on the historic St. Patrick's Church lot.

Met with a lot of controversy thus far, the idea moves to spare the parish of $6 million worth of repairs and, instead, create a new store, parking lot and applied landscaping.

Price Chopper advertises 40 new positions at the new store while saving positions from the old Second Avenue store location that would close in the process. But no amount of good news seems to be good enough for church neighbors.

"Build elsewhere, yeah, on the periphery in the community? Of course. Price Chopper has always been integral in the community. On the periphery, or figure out a way to develop utilizing the current structure, and that would be a win-win for everyone," said Watervliet resident Christine Bulmer.

“My family chose to invest in that neighborhood. We have a two family house and we really wanted to raise our family there. Now because of that supermarket, that investment we chose to make is going to be worth substantially less than what it was,” Watervliet resident Margaret Marci said.

Price Chopper's is the only proposal being made. There've been no other offers on the table.

Also, the city makes a point to say its leaders are not driving this effort, but guiding it.

This is actually a contractor sale between a private owner and purchaser.