I was happy to learn yesterday about two "new businesses" coming to a vacant site in Kingston — until I read the fine print.

On the surface, the news was that two manufacturers had announced plans to set up shop on the Flatbush Avenue site formerly occupied by Colony Liquors, which bolted for Greene County a few years ago.

The reality, though, is that one of the two "new" companies, Stavo Industries, merely is moving from another site in the city; and the other, Wolf-Tec, simply is moving to Kingston from the adjacent town of Ulster. Stavo says it will add 14 employees to its current staff of 47, and Wolf-Tec says it will add 27 jobs to its current 69, but I'll believe it when I see it. After all, if the total number of jobs promised at TechCity and the Kingston Business Park in the past decade had materialized, Ulster would be the boom county of New York state. Instead, it continues to be on the brink of bust.

Part of the problem, I suppose, is that we've so lowered the bar in our economic development expectations in these parts. Kingston, after all, is the city where economic development is defined as tearing down a McDonald's restaurant in order to build on the same site ... another McDonald's restaurant; tearing down a Stewart's convenience store in order to build on the same site ... another Stewart's convenience store; and tearing down a Citgo gas station in order to build on the same site ... another Citgo gas station.

A new era is about to begin in Kingston with the swearing-in of Shayne Gallo, the city's first new mayor since 2002. Here's hoping Mr. Gallo sets the development bar higher than it has been in recent years and brings real economic growth to the city.