Typeset from the PDF of the official document (read by OCR) — headings, motions and recorded votes are detected automatically, so spacing may differ from the original. The official copy governs.
Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency Regular Meeting Minutes May 21, 2018 A regular meeting of the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency was held on Monday, May 21, 2018 at the 333 West Washington Street, Syracuse, New York in the large conference room on the first floor.
Patrick Hogan called the meeting to order at 8:15 am with the following:
PRESENT:
Patrick Hogan Steve Morgan Susan Stanezyk Victor Ianno
ABSENT:
Janice Herzog Kevin Ryan Fanny Villarreal
ALSO PRESENT:
Julie Cerio, OCIDA, Executive Director Isabelle Harris, Secretary Karen Doster, Recording Secretary, Agency Tony Rivizzigno, Barclay Damon Law Firm Kevin McAuliffe, Barclay Damon Holly Granat, Onondaga Co. Office of Environment Travis Glazier, Onondaga Co. Office of Environment Ken Bush, Onondaga County Legislature Mitch Latimer, Carpenters Union Lauryn LaRorde, Syracuse Central School District APPROVAL OF REGULAR MEETING MINUTES — APRIL 10, 2018 Upon a motion by Susan Stanczyk, seconded by Victor lanno, the OCIDA Board approved the regular meeting minutes of April 10, 2018. Motion was carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT Isabelle Harris gave a brief review of the Treasurer’s Report for the month of April 2018. Upon a motion by Victor Ianno, seconded by Steve Morgan, the OCIDA Board approved the Treasurer’s Report for the month of April 2018. Motion was carried.
Isabelle Harris gave a brief review of the Payment of Bills Schedule #418.
Upon a motion by Victor Janno, seconded by Susan Stanezyk, the OCIDA Board approved the Payment of Bills Schedule #418 for $83,391.97 and PILOT payments to the Town of Camillus for $4,625.64, Town of DeWitt for $14.77, Town of Elbridge for $1,884.66, Town of Geddes for $62.70, Town of Onondaga for $3.01, Village of Camillus for $799.95, Village of Solvay for $501.16, Jamesville DeWitt School District for $98.66, Jordan Elbridge Schools for $15,954.91, Marcellus Schools for $238.81, Solvay Schools for $3,199.36, Syracuse City Schools for $12,463.47, West Genesee Schools for $11,235.32, City of Syracuse for $8,153.50 and Onondaga County for $16,392.45. Motion was carried.
The Conflict of Interest statement was circulated and there were no comments.
Tony Rivizzigno stated this is an extension of the Tessy Agent Agreement. He stated they ran into some problems in terms of completing the project and need more time. He stated their request is to extend the Agent Agreement until November 2018.
Susan Stanezyk asked what the original date was. Tony Rivizzigno stated it expired end of ycar. Upon a motion by Susan Stanezyk, seconded by Victor Janno, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution granting an extension to Tessy Plastics until November 2018 to complete the initial project. Motion was carried.
Tony Rivizzigno stated COR’s project was to expand the Inner Harbor over a period of time and a couple projects are already done. He stated the Agency Agreement technically expired so all we are extending the agreement for 5 years so they can continue their projects. He stated the PILOT provides they will get benefits if they build something but ifthey don’t they pay regular taxes. He stated in the event they do another project they will need the sales tax exemption so this is extending the Agent Agreement that will give them the benefits.
Upon a motion by Steve Morgan, seconded by Victor Ianno, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution granting an extension of the Agent Agreement for an additional 5 years to COR Inner Harbor Development. Motion was carried.
Kevin McAuliffe stated this is request in regard to a conflict waiver with NexGen. He stated he has been helping them with their State grant and sales tax issues. He stated it is very confusing in New York for manufacturers to understand what is covered and what is not. He stated he thinks NexGen didn’t understand what is covered and it is very easy to not understand. He stated if things are taken off a railroad car and right onto the assembly line then it is tax exempt but if it comes off the railroad car, and gets used a day later than it is not tax exempt. He stated the problem is nobody knows this until 2 or 3 years later when tax and finance comes in and audits them. He stated when he is representing a manufacturer in an IDA, he makes the IDA exemption very expansive and covers everything he can. He stated NexGen was here before the Board already and now that he and Tony Rivizzigno are working in the same firm he needs a waiver from this Board in order to represent them.
Patrick Hogan stated that maybe down the road we can look at some way to expand that. He stated the nanotech industry is a different industry.
Julie Cerio asked what is the downside to putting more under the IDA umbrella as opposed to waiting for the State to decide. Kevin McAuliffe stated there is zero downside. He stated the company runs the risk of losing the audit and you don’t know it until 3 years later. He stated an IDA exemption can be a large bucket but a manufacturer’s production exemption is sort of a self- declared exemption and it is completely subject to the discretion of Tax and Finance. Julie Cerio asked why everything wouldn’t be put under the IDA all the time. Kevin McAuliffe stated people don’t understand it and they think everything is exempt.
Upon a motion Susan Stanczyk, seconded by Steve Morgan, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution providing a conflict waiver for Kevin McAuliffe with respect to the NexGen project. Motion was carried.
Holly Granat stated we were awarded $200,000 toward clean up and she believes it was focused on the two major cells on the site. She stated we can work with EPA on our work scope. She stated within the next few months we are going to be building our contract and getting everything in line for work.
Isabelle Harris stated we were also awarded a grant for demolition for Roth through National Grid for $125,000.
Victor Ianno asked how much has to be done there. Isabelle Harris stated we have to get the buildings down which we are in the process. She stated we can’t demolish anything until we get agreement with DEC and we are working through that now. She stated they are working with John Ciampa and we hope to have the buildings down by next summer.
Travis Glazier stated JMT has done a great job in working with the DEC and they came up with — a plan that is really going to forgo a lot of those outstanding liabilities that are listed there. He stated it could have been large dollar figure but DEC is going to take on a lot of those costs. He stated they are working through this but essentially the Board is going to get a stretch of about 12 acres of developable property with very limited remediation needs and that is where the tax breaks come in. He stated the future developer will gain all that. He stated the only catch is that DEC is going to ask to recoup some of the money they invested on the sale of the property. Steve Morgan asked what the estimated timeline is on this. Julie Cerio stated the DEC has control over the timeline and what gets done when. Travis Glazier stated he thinks it is reasonable to say we could put out an RFP next spring, maybe the winter. He stated a lot of it comes down to the negotiation but we are talking about negotiating our way out of % of the expense of cleaning up the site so we want to make sure we do that correctly. He stated then you have to make a determination about what their timeline is.
Victor Ianno stated this is at lease a two year project. Isabelle Harris stated at least a good year and maybe a little bit more but with JMT we would be able to mitigate some of the costs. She stated the costs keep coming but working with them we have been able to find ways to work around some of it and we are still doing it.
Julie Cerio stated we are going to get some revenue from the trail piece. She stated she is not sure how much but originally it was much lower and now we are in the $100,000 range. Victor Ianno asked where the trail fee is coming from. Travis Glazier stated the Loop the Lake is a federally funded project. He stated they are going to pay OCIDA for the cost of losing the rights to that parcel of property.
Isabelle Harris stated there are a lot of moving parts going on so maybe next meeting when we have a better idea of all the costs and what is coming in staff can present the whole thing. Travis Glazier stated it is a great investment and is going to be a very worthwhile investment with what the Agency has been paying in the front end and save a lot on the back end. Victor Ianno asked when we think about marketing. Julie Cerio stated the whole reason we are doing what we are doing is to find out what is there. She stated when we market the developer that is coming in will know what is there, what tax credit they will get and know what they need to do to clean it up.
Victor lanno stated after we complete this part do we still need to do clean up. Travis Glazier stated the Agency won’t do the clean up because the developer will get the tax credits. He stated we are just making a plan on what needs to be cleaned up.
Victor Ianno stated a developer isn’t going to know what he is getting into. Isabelle Harris stated we are doing the investigation now so they will know when we are done. Travis Glazier stated they will have a final determination on what exactly needs to be done on that property. He stated we are now coming to an agreement with DEC about exactly what needs to be done to have the property be used.
Travis Glazier stated we are fortunate that it is OCIDA working with DEC and it has helped a lot. He stated they understand why OCIDA is in this, it is a benefit to the community and DEC is working very proactively. He stated the Agency is out ahead of this a little bit but over the long run you are going recoup some of that through some money coming in and once the site begins to market we will see a value to it.
Patrick Hogan stated the federal grant is unique to this project. Travis Glazier agreed and the near west side proximity makes it because there is a big social justice component. He stated a lot of the brownfield efforts to clean up properties are where disadvantaged folks are exposed to contamination. He stated that was a big part of it. He stated you wouldn’t get this type of clean up in other areas.
Upon a motion by Steve Morgan, seconded by Susan Stanezyk, the OCIDA Board adjourned the meeting at 8:39 am. Motion was carried.
Nolet ~Tsabelle Harris, Secretary