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Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency Regular Meeting Minutes May 20, 2014 The regular meeting of the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency was held on Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at the 333 West Washington Street, Syracuse, New York in the large conference room on the first floor.
Chairperson Donna DeSiato called the meeting to order at 8:00 am with the following:
PRESENT:
Donna DeSiato Daniel Queri Michael Allen Lisa Dell Jessica Crawford Victor Ianno Janice Herzog
ALSO PRESENT:
Julie Cerio, Office of Economic Development Kristi Smiley, OCIDA, Secretary & Treasurer Karen Doster, Recording Secretary, Agency Nora Spillane, Office of Economic Development Linda McShane, Office of Economic Development Tony Rivizzigno, Gilberti Law Firm APPROVAL OF REGULAR MEETING MINUTES — APRIL 8, 2014 Upon a motion by Daniel Queri, seconded by Mike Allen, the OCIDA Board approved the regular minutes of April 8, 2014. Motion was carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT Kristi Smiley gave a brief review of the Treasurer’s Report for the month of April 2014. Upon a motion by Mike Allen, seconded by Lisa Dell, the OCIDA Board approved the Treasurer’s Report for the month of April 2014. Motion was carried.
PAYMENT OF BILLS — SCHEDULE #374 Kristi Smiley gave a brief review of the OCIDA Payment of Bills Schedule #374.
Upon a motion by Victor Ianno, seconded by Daniel Queri, the OCIDA Board approved the Payment of Bills, Schedule #374 with General Expenses being $148,479.20, Marketing being $1,900.00 and PILOT payments to Town of DeWitt for $10.89, Town of Onondaga for $2.22, Jamesville DeWitt Schools for $71.26, Onondaga County for $710.35 and City of Syracuse for $1,104.79. Motion was carried.
The Conflict of Interest Statement was circulated and there were no comments.
Upon a motion by Victor Ianno, seconded by Mike Allen, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution approving Julie Cerio as Executive Director. Motion was carried.
Donna DeSiato asked Julie Cerio to say a little about herself. Julie Cerio stated that she has been an attorney practicing law for the last 10 years. She stated that she has been with the Office of Economic Development since March. She stated that it is a great exciting place to work with all kinds of wonderful people coming up with great ideas. She stated that there is a lot coming down the pipe for OCIDA. She stated that staff has been fabulous in welcoming her and teaching her what she needs to know. She stated that she is looking forward to continuing working here and making the community a better, stronger and vibrant place.
Mike Allen welcomed Julie Cerio.
Donna DeSiato welcomed Julie Cerio and said that we like to think about putting economic development into the center of our work and the Board is always interested in being involved in anything they can do to promote our region.
Donna DeSiato stated that the Board wishes Mary Beth Primo in her new role well. TESSY PLASTICS CORP. — SEQR AND INDUCEMENT Kristi Smiley stated that she held the public hearing and there was one comment from the Supervisor. She stated that the Supervisor is very much in favor of the project. Donna DeSiato stated that she knows that Tessy has been before the Board before and it is exciting to see the expansion.
Ed Petruniak stated that Tessy is going to purchase the Honeywell building which is about 120,000 square feet and make it a state of the art medical cleanroom manufacturing facility. He stated that they have had a lot of growth at the Elbridge plant and at the point now where they are full and can’t expand. He stated that as he mentioned last month they picked up some more under arm deodorant work from Colgate/Palmolive so they are excited to take that work on and move some existing medical work from the Elbridge facility over to Visions Drive.
Donna DeSiato asked if they are going to create a cleanroom. Ed Petruniak stated that it will be about a 65,000 square foot cleanroom. He stated that they are expecting to add in total 100 jobs over the next five years.
Victor Ianno asked how many employees Tessy is up to now. Ed Petruniak stated that they are about 800 employees.
Victor Ianno asked if they are all in Elbridge. Ed Petruniak stated yes and depending on workforce another 100 temps. He stated that they have a facility in Shanghai with 365 employees and Lynchburg, Virginia with about 200 employees.
Donna DeSiato asked what the educational level expectation for the employees that they are adding on. Ed Petruniak stated that the production work that is going on in Elbridge is really high end work. He stated that it is very sophisticated plastic injection molding and assembly equipment. He stated that it is a lot of experience to keep it running.
Upon a motion by Victor Ianno, seconded by Janice Herzog, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution for SEQRA purposes concerning the environmental significance of the project and the project being an unlisted action pursuant to SEQRA and will result in no significant adverse environmental impact. Motion was carried.
Upon a motion by Lisa Dell, seconded by Janice Herzog, the OCIDA Board approved an inducement for a straight lease transaction for the Tessy Plastics Corp project consisting of the acquisition of 700 Visions Drive, interior renovation to convert the building into a 50,000 square foot clean room manufacturing facility with office and support space in the Town of Skaneateles. Motion was carried.
Ed Petruniak thanked the Board and stated that they appreciate the support that the Agency has given them over the years.
Kevin McAuliffe stated that he anticipates that Tessy will closing next week and ordinarily you don’t discuss the PILOT and issues at this board level but they have an unusual situation where the assessment and the purchase price are quite disparate. He stated that they will work with staff and Tony Rivizzigno on the PILOT.
Kristi Smiley stated that they will work with the new Supervisor.
Tony Rivizzigno stated that the Jewish Home is refinancing their previous bonds. He stated that they had bonds with the OCIDA in 2005 but this time they are going to the Onondaga Civic Development Corporation because the IDA doesn’t do not for profits. He stated that they are in the process of refinancing roughly $20,000,000. He stated that they are going to pay off the old bonds from the Agency. He stated that as part of the bond procedure there needs to be a defeasance counsel which is an attorney that makes sure when the pay the bonds off they do it properly. He stated that it is not a big deal but bond counsel requires it. He stated that Harris Beach is doing to the bonding for the Jewish Home so the thought is to let Harris Beach be the defeasance counsel at a minimal charge to the Agency.
Kristi Smiley stated that Gilberti Law Firm is counsel for the Jewish Home so there would be a conflict.
Upon a motion by Victor Ianno, seconded by Mike Allen, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution appointing Harris Beach as defeasance counsel for the redemption of the 2005 bonds for the Jewish Home project. Motion was carried.
Mike Allen stated that he would like to thank everyone for the last year and half. He stated that his experience with the IDA Board has been wonderful and has opened his eyes to a lot of things. He stated that everyone has done a great job, a great job for the community.
Donna DeSiato thanked Mike Allen and thanked him for serving.
Upon a motion by Victor Ianno, seconded by Mike Allen, the OCIDA Board adjourned the meeting at 8:37 am. Motion was carried.
Hei aw Mon (bo Kristi Smiley’ Secretary