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Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency Regular Meeting Minutes March 23, 2023 A regular meeting of the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency was held on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 335 Montgomery Street, Syracuse, New York in the large conference room Floor 2M.
Patrick Hogan called the meeting to order at 8:34 am with the following:
PRESENT:
Patrick Hogan Janice Herzog Susan Stanczyk Kevin Ryan
ABSENT:
Fanny Villarreal
ALSO PRESENT:
Robert M. Petrovich, Executive Director Nate Stevens, Treasurer Nancy Lowery, Secretary Svetlana Dyer, Assistant Secretary Karen Doster, Recording Secretary Alexis Rodriguez, Assistant Treasurer Len Rauch, Economic Development Jeff Davis, Barclay Damon Law Firm Amanda Fitzgerald, Barclay Damon Law Firm Matthew Pelligra, Office of Economic Development Mike Lisson, Grossman St. Amour Breanah Lane, Grossman St. Amour Rich Dausman, Cryomech, Inc.
Ilari Savola, Bluefors Cryocooler Technologies Paul Reichel, Bond Schoeneck & King Anthony Bell, RPNY Solar 4, LLC Rob Panasci, RPNY Solar 4, LLC Stephanie Loucas, RPNY Solar 4, LLC Jake Clay, RPNY Solar 4, LLC Michelle Molinet, J.W. Didado Electric, LLC John Sidd, Hancock & Estabrook Christine Stevens, VIP Structures JoAnne Getman, VIP Structures Ken Bush, County Legislature Rick Moriarty, Post Standard Matt Mulcahey, Channel 3 News Dennis Harmor, Channel 9 News Conor Wright, Channel 9 News Chris Bianchi, Syracuse City School District APPROVAL OF REGULAR MEETING MINUTES — FEBRUARY 9, 2023 Upon a motion by Janice Herzog, seconded by Susan Stanczyk, the OCIDA Board approved the regular meeting minutes of February 9, 2023. Motion was carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT Nate Stevens gave a brief review of the Treasurer’s Report for the month of February 2023. Patrick Hogan stated there are several PILOT payments to the municipalities and asked for a separate report on the money sent out to the different entities. Nate Stevens stated yes. Upon a motion by Susan Stanczyk, seconded by Kevin Ryan, the OCIDA Board approved the Treasurer’s Report for the month of February 2023. Motion was carried.
Nate Stevens gave a brief review of the Payment of Bills Schedule #479.
Janice Herzog asked about the $1,350 payment to the Downtown Committee of Syracuse. Robert Petrovich stated it is an annual membership in support of the Downtown Committee making sure they achieve their mission of making downtown vibrant and interesting. He stated we wanted to be supportive of that and have been supportive in the past.
Upon a motion by Susan Stanezyk, seconded by Janice Herzog, the OCIDA Board approved the Payment of Bills Schedule #479 for $91,423.65 and PILOT payments to Onondaga County for $116,979.93, Village of Baldwinsville for $92,618.00, Town of Clay for $4,286.00, Town of Van Buren for $21,539.00, Town of DeWitt for $35,981.62, Town of Cicero for $4,227.00, Town of Lysander for $49,326.00, City of Syracuse for $2,040.96, Syracuse City School District for $7,389.73, North Syracuse School District for $26,251.00, Liverpool School District for $53,941.00, East Syracuse Minoa School District for $178,085.53, Baldwinsville School District for $328,643.00, Town of Lafayette for $2,908.00, Lafayette School District for $$9475.00, Onondaga County for $15,864.00, City of Syracuse for $7,475.00, City of Syracuse School District for $13,998.00, Town of Salina for $4,584.00, Village of Liverpool for $4,538.00 and Liverpool School District for $31,677.00. Motion was carried.
The Conflict of Interest was circulated and there were no conflicts reported.
Upon a motion by Janice Herzog, seconded by Susan Stanczyk, the OCIDA Board approved the 2022 Audit of the Agency. Motion was carried.
Robert Petrovich stated Cryomech has been before the Board on many occasions expanding, growing and doing a great job in the space of cryogenic computing. He stated they have been a great business in the community and supportive of everything we are trying to do with respect to White Pine and Micron. He stated we are very pleased to have them here this morning. Rich Dausman introduced Ilari Savola with Bluefors. He stated Cryomech is in the process of being acquired by Bluefors, a Finnish company who started in 2008 and has been a partner of theirs for 15 years. He stated currently they are about 400 employees and are integral in quantum computing which is what is spurring the growth at Bluefors as well as Cryomech. He stated Cryomech is a sole supplier to Bluefors. He stated it is a partnership in their opinion that will really guarantee them another 60 years of manufacturing here in Syracuse, Town of DeWitt. He stated they are going to be a great partner and they are excited about their future. Patrick Hogan asked if Cryomech is before the Board today because they are required to inform the IDA Board on a new partnership. Robert Petrovich stated yes and said it is the title as well as codifying and blessing the transaction between Cryomech and Bluefors. He stated the Agency has a lease/leaseback and benefit package with Cryomech that Bluefors is going to take over. Jeff Davis stated items 2 and 3 on the agenda are both for Cryomech. He stated item 2 on the agenda is the 2019 project that has already closed on the lease/leaseback transaction and item 3 on the agenda the Board recently approved but that lease transaction has not yet closed so we are doing this as two separate resolutions.
Robert Petrovich stated item 3 on the agenda is the latest expansion by Cryomech. Janice Herzog asked if the Cryomech team they already have will all stay in place. Rich Dausman stated the entire leadership team stays in place and nothing really changes from their plans for the future for growth. He stated it is business as usual.
Susan Stanczyk asked if they expect any expansions. Rich Dausman stated yes and right now they are pushing the building out and adding another 35,000 square feet. He stated they are currently 76,000 square feet. He stated they purchased the land behind them so they have room to grow even further. He stated Bluefors has a large customer base in the US so they will probably have service, stock room and spare parts. He stated further out there has been some high level discussions of possibly bringing some manufacturing from Finland to the US but that is to be determined. He stated their biggest struggle is finding people to join them. Janice Herzog asked if there was an employee increase with the expansion. Rich Dausman stated yes. He stated they are at 171 employees now and have 24 job openings. Nate Stevens stated the October 2022 project had employment goals of retention of 166 jobs and creation of 15 jobs.
Janice Herzog asked if there is still the common goal of local labor. Rich Dausman stated yes. Janice Herzog stated this transition is a great testament to what they have done with the company and it’s exciting.
Upon a motion by Janice Herzog, seconded by Kevin Ryan, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution consenting to the sale and assignment of the right, title and interest in a certain project facility by Cryomech, Inc. to Bluefors Cryocooler Technologies Inc. Motion was carried.
Upon a motion by Susan Stanczyk, seconded by Janice Herzog, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution approving the sale and assignment of the right, title and interest in a certain project facility by Cryomech, Inc. to Bluefors Cryocooler Technologies Inc. Motion was carried.
Anthony Bell stated RPNY Solar 4 is proposing a 2.75 megawatt AC community solar project in the Village of Minoa, Town of Manlius. He stated they have obtained all of their local approvals from the jurisdictions. He stated they went through a planned development district (PDD) process for the local zoning and that was approved the end of last year. He stated they have all their permits and entitlements for their building permits which they are in the process of applying for in the next few months. He stated they have obtained their PILOT support letters from the town, village, county and East Syracuse School District as part of the application requirements. He stated this project is hopeful to start construction on Q2 of this year.
Patrick Hogan stated this is not RPNY’s first project across the country. Anthony Bell stated they have a portfolio north of 60 megawatts and active projects across the country. He stated in New York alone they have 2 active projects, 3 under construction or starting construction very soon and another 6 along various stages of development.
Patrick Hogan asked if the company is based out of San Francisco. Anthony Bell stated the company’s headquarters is in San Francisco but he is not from San Francisco.
Patrick Hogan asked if the company manages all the projects. Anthony Bell stated they are an owner-operator so they develop, construct and operate through the life of the project. He stated they are not a solar developer who gets entitlements and approvals then sells to a construction company and operator. He stated they own and operate all the projects in their portfolio. Patrick Hogan asked if the company is assuring the Board that they are using local labor for this project. Anthony Bell stated yes.
Patrick Hogan stated if an issue comes up and you can’t find local labor then you come before the Board for a waiver. Anthony Bell stated they are aware, fully committed to adhering to that policy and an attestation letter was signed by the president and founder to that affect. He stated he believes what happened last time they were before the Board was an unfortunate misstep on their part where they tried to communicate too much too early before they had actually done any of their labor due diligence. He stated they were trying to be transparent and forthright before they understood anything. He stated they have learned from that and their current labor and materials sourcing is still undergoing but it is his understanding from talking to their prime EPC contact that it is going very well on the local labor front.
Robert Petrovich stated he wants to make sure the applicant is aware that the Agency is very keyed in because there are construction jobs but there are no permanent jobs and we always find that to be a source of concern. He stated every project has construction jobs and the fact that solar projects don’t have permanent jobs, it is even more important to make sure the local access policy is adhered to. He stated the Agency is not adverse to waivers but there needs to be a case made for a waiver that is compelling and not just that it’s difficult to find people. He stated the whole purpose of getting benefits from this Board is that local labor is used and skills and training are advanced to that labor shed so that they can grow and prosper as well. He stated he wants to make that point on the record. Anthony Bells stated understood.
Upon a motion by Susan Stanczyk, seconded by Janice Herzog, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution authorizing a public hearing for the RPNY Solar 4, LLC project. Motion was carried. Rob Panasci stated he is the attorney for the applicant and he has represented some of the developers in the past so he understands the waiver requirement. He stated a question they have for the Board is tree clearing and in order to meet some of the conditions for DEC there is a potential for bat habitat in this area. He stated you can only cut trees from November to March 31 and they want to start to start construction in Q2. He stated in order to do that they are asking for some consideration to allow for the applicant to cut trees before the approval. He stated they would like to cut some trees before an approval is made. Robert Petrovich stated there is a but- for provision and it is understood that minor earth work and very limited site prep in order to stage equipment has been looked upon as being ok in the past. He stated what needs to be explained to the Board is are they clear cutting the entire site or are they removing a couple of trees here and there. He stated that has a bearing on what the ask is.
Jeff Davis asked if the Village of Minoa building permit says they can start tree clearing or not. He stated he understands they want to start construction in Q2 and asked if the building permit is a triggering item because that might be a start of construction that this Board needs to consider or is this site prep work done in advance that does not trigger a building permit at the local level and therefore falls in the category Mr. Petrovich was just saying. Rob Panasci stated they were only going to cut the trees and get them so they don’t have to worry about the bat habitat. He stated there was going to be no other site prep done. He stated the idea was to make sure they were cut before bats can nest in there. Anthony Bell stated they forwarded a figure they prepared and of the proposed project area it is 14% or 1.8 acres of trees. He stated it is not the entire site and certainly not clear cutting. He stated the trees in question are thin, not dense so even the 1.8 acre is an over estimate.
Robert Petrovich asked if they are operating near or within a designated wetland area to do this. Anthony Bell stated none of the areas are wetlands.
Robert Petrovich stated he thinks we should take a deeper dive into this and his recommendation is not to take action on this and staff will follow up with counsel unless counsel feels we are in a position to grant it now. Jeff Davis stated it is not a request for a resolution being passed but he thinks it should be reviewed and get back to them.
Rob Panasci asked what more can they provide to the Board. Jeff Davis stated as of now answering the question on what the position the Village of Minoa may be because they need the right building permit. Rob Panasci stated ok.
Patrick Hogan asked Mr. Petrovich if there is a concern with the state. Robert Petrovich stated they are obviously looking for projects that would advance regardless of IDA benefits but the whole but-for conversation comes into focus and he would rather avoid that issue. Patrick Hogan stated he assumes the tree cutting company is not out of state. Anthony Bell stated no.
Robert Petrovich stated Barclay Damon is conflicted out and John Sidd is representing the Agency as conflict counsel.
Michele Molinet stated they need a sales tax abatement increase because of material pricing escalations throughout the project from the beginning of exception until they are through with construction.
Patrick Hogan stated the Board has been hearing this from a lot of companies.
Upon a motion by Janice Herzog, seconded by Kevin Ryan, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution authorizing an increase the J.W. Didado Electric, LLC Project sales and use exemption. Motion was carried.
OPEN MEETINGS LAW — VIDEOCONFERENCING Jeff Davis stated at the last meeting it was discussed that the State has authorized participation of Boards by video conference. He stated the Board has always been able to participate or call in but they couldn’t vote. He stated now a board member can call in and vote on an action provided that certain things were done; A) there is a quorum of people in the room and B) there has to be an extraordinary circumstance as determined by the Chair, staff and counsel as to why that person is unable to attend. He stated an example is if somebody had Covid and wanted to participate in the meeting. He stated they can call in and if there is a quorum in the room they could vote and their vote would count towards the vote on the project. He stated in order to establish a policy to do that we had to go through the governance committee at the last meeting who reviewed it and referred it to the full board. He stated the public hearing was done and now the policy is back before the Board to adopt. He stated it is a tool in the tool chest the Board can utilize it consistent with what the state allows for participation.
Nancy Lowery stated no one attended the public hearing and there were no comments. Upon a motion by Janice Herzog, seconded by Kevin Ryan, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution authorizing the use of videoconferencing as permitted by Section 103-a of NYS Open Meetings Law. Motion was carried.
Robert Petrovich stated there are a number of homes on Burnet Road the Agency owns as part of the preparation of White Pine for the Micron project. He stated we are at a juncture now where we are going to be advancing toward demolition of those homes during the construction season. He stated we are trying to facilitate a doing good opportunity by creating a path for Habitat for 8 Humanity to enter the property and take out certain doors, fixtures, windows, cabinetry etc. He stated they don’t demolish, take roofs off, remove siding or things like that but they can use and repurpose things for the community at a deep discount. He stated we wanted to create that opportunity for them to do that and in order to do that we need to put forward an explanatory statement that is pushed out for a 90 day waiting period. He stated once we get past the 90 days of notification we can then proceed with Habitat to effect that outcome.
Jeff Davis stated we are dealing with the state statutes in terms of disposition of property that we own so we need to go through procedural steps to do that. He stated he is contacting Habitat for Humanity to do some of the steps that need to happen on that side. He stated this is the preliminary step that gets things rolling so we can make this a good deed.
Patrick Hogan asked if we will require the Agency to be named as an additional insured by Habitat. Jeff Davis stated yes and Habitat typically has volunteer organizations that do volunteer days for Habitat for Humanity so they would be covered under insurance provisions through Habitat for Humanity. He stated they will go out and determine what houses they want to do. Patrick Hogan stated the Agency owns the houses and what is in them. Jeff Davis agreed. Patrick Hogan stated in essence we are gifting public property. Jeff Davis agreed and the Agency is disposing of materials in a way that is in essence a gift.
Robert Petrovich stated having Habitat come in and take some of the materials out, the expectation is it will reduce our demolition cost because some of the material will already be gotten rid of through a deconstruction process with Habitat. He stated there will be less for the demolition contractor to take off site and dispose of.
Patrick Hogan stated he knows it has to be done legally but there is no doubt Habitat for Humanity is a great organization and his inclination is let’s do it. Robert Petrovich stated to the extent we can do it within the guiderails of policy and statute, staff will do that. Kevin Ryan asked if there is an environmental survey on each property to see if there is any hazardous material or asbestos. Robert Petrovich stated it is a prerequisite of doing demolition in order to get the permit that you have done a pre demolition survey. Jeff Davis stated one of the resolutions the Board passed was authorizing steps to engage with a contractor to do a scope of work to do that exact thing.
Kevin Ryan stated he thinks we should do this because we need to get things done and if there is a 90 day waiting period to satisfy the requirements, let’s move it.
Upon a motion by Janice Herzog, seconded by Kevin Ryan, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution authorizing preparation and transmittal of an explanatory statement with respect to the potential sale of certain property on Burnet Road, White Pine Commercial Park. Motion was
carried.
ENGINEERNG SERVICES — CONTRACT AUTHORIZATION Robert Petrovich stated this is part of the review process that is going to be necessary with respect to the White Pine Micron project in support of the IDA in review of SEQR related activities across the White Pine site in order to advance the project for construction. He stated as the Board will recall an RFP had been issued to engineering firms to provide service to the Agency, not unlike our legal firms and others. He stated this is a proposal that was received from JMT and staff is requesting the Board’s authorization to engage in this contract. He stated the $4,250,000 will be a pass through and will be billed by the consultant to the Agency, then the Agency will bill Micron and Micron will reimburse the Agency.
Jeff Davis stated as requested this is a flat fee process taking us through December 31, 2025 which is an outlier date. He stated the Board needs a consultant to help us review the environmental stuff that is going on by the applicant at the site when their application is fully submitted and they are prepared to move forward. He stated this is lining us up for that. Susan Stanczyk asked if there are extensions built into that resolution. Jeff Davis stated no and anything beyond that date would be a different request.
Jeff Davis stated JMT has worked with the Board during the generic environmental impact process so they have a lot of institutional knowledge with regard to the site and its development to the point that we completed the generic environmental impact statement process. He stated JMT does not have a conflict while some of the engineering firms in our stable have a conflict 10 that could present a concern. He stated their proposal was important to us in terms of another firm starting from scratch or it likely would be a higher number.
Janice Herzog asked if we would want to revise the action item to say this is a pass through item for the public record. Robert Petrovich stated it will be in the public record through the minutes. Jeff Davis stated the completed application provided to the Board states they are responsible for paying all engineering and legal services. He stated this is consistent with the application they are signing and submitting but because this is a pass through expense they are not paying it directly to JMT or anyone else. He stated the Agency has to do it through a resolution process. Upon a motion by Susan Stanczyk, seconded by Janice Herzog, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution authorizing a contract with JMT of New York, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $4,250,000 for engineering services to provide planning, environmental and engineering support in connection with development of White Pine Commerce Park. Motion was carried.
ENGINEERNG SERVICES — CONTRACT AUTHORIZATION Robert Petrovich stated this resolution is to engage the services of Barton & Loguidice to help us with planning and environmental engineering related to the Caughdenoy Industrial Park which was formally known as White Pine South. He stated this is to master plan for the approximately 105 acres that the Agency owns south of Route 31 in support of supply chain or other advance manufacturing microelectronic projects that would come to the area as a result of micron. Patrick Hogan stated this is consistent with the vision of the County Executive as well as this Board. Robert Petrovich stated yes. He stated staff is looking at this as a springboard off of the success we have had at Hancock Industrial Park and there is potentially one parcel left there. He stated it has been a raging success. He stated we think it is a no brainer here being proximal to Micron and supply chain companies are going to want to locate here. He stated we are trying to figure out whether to have one or two larger pads for development or 4, 5 or 6 pads of development that would be occupied by supply chain companies. He stated part of the $15,000 is to figure that out and what is the best use for programming in support of supply chain. 11 Jeff Davis stated consistent with what the site presents to us, it has an easement that comes across it for OCWA and other things, having an engineering firm come in and lay that out as to what needs to be happen with easement and site features will be important for staff to go out and market the site to other companies.
Upon a motion by Janice Herzog, seconded by Susan Stanezyk, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution authorizing a contract with Barton and Loguidice in an amount of $15,000 for engineering services to provide planning, environmental and engineering regarding Caughdenoy Industrial Park. Motion was carried.
PUBLIC RELATIONS/MARKETING SERVICES — CONTRACT AUTHORIZAITON Robert Petrovich stated consistent with legal, engineering and other services we RFP for and hiring a stable of firms to help us with various marketing public relation aspects of what this Board does and what this office advances on behalf of economic development, through the RFP process we have stable of firms we can work with. He stated staff has done a review and submitted some proposals from different firms and the recommendation from staff is that ABC Creative would be the best firm to facilitate marketing and PR particularly given the fact that there is a lot activity going on with respect to White Pine and Micron. He stated obviously what this office has already engaged in but other projects that are significant and coming to the area, we feel it is best to have a coordinated and focused message about what the Board is doing, what the IDA is doing, what the economic development office is doing in supporting economic development and the County Executive’s agenda across the entire area. He stated it is staff's recommendation that we retain ABC. He stated the office has worked with other firms but we feel ABC is going to meet our needs with respect to programming, with respect to social media and taking a hard look at our website. He stated it’s time for us to step up and do something like the Binghamton IDA website who ABC is working with now.
Patrick Hogan asked if the website would be just for Micron. Robert Petrovich stated it will be the IDA website with dropdowns to get information about Micron as necessary. He stated it is more of a holistic marketing and PR approach that we are going to take. He stated we are going to look at potentially doing some interviews, blogs and different things. He stated we are taking the first step on this journey and we need to figure out where that is going to take us but we are excited about this and long overdue.
12 Susan Stanczyk asked what happened to the contract to redesign the website. Nate Stevens stated we successfully updated the website and it was built to simply transmit and hold required information. He stated our role is very different from a public relations perspective. He stated now it is time to consider things like Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn presence and integrating these things into one service.
Susan Stanczyk asked if the contract has expired. Nate Stevens stated he believes so. Janice Herzog stated it is important to have access to that because staff goes out on the road for potential prospects.
Robert Petrovich stated one of the things that has hamstrung us is the fact that our collateral materials and our ability to push people to a website where they can get details and substantive information on what we are trying to do, what their needs would be and be able to bring that together to have a project here. He stated we are a little bit one arm behind the back but never the less successful and this will take us to another level.
Patrick Hogan stated now with Micron this is critical to have independent information that comes from us that is factual because there is a lot of misinformation out there.
Upon a motion by Kevin Ryan, seconded by Janice Herzog, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution authorizing a contract with ABC Creative Marketing Group in an amount not to exceed $75,000 for public relations/marketing services for OCIDA to communicate the Agency’s objectives. Motion was carried.
Robert Petrovich stated the access agreement has been requested by Micron to allow them to get on the White Pine site on or about May | to commence a geotechnical investigation that will provide information to them beyond what the Agency did on a preliminary nature so they can advance their foundation designs and other critical infrastructure that needs to go in the ground in support of the ultimate design and construction of the fab complex. He stated staff has been 13 with counsel working to negotiate an access agreement that certainly protects the IDA but also allows them to advance their information gathering. He stated they are going to be working on the main campus, west of Burnet Road, on the geotechnical investigation. He stated the geotechnical investigation will probably be taking them anywhere between 4 to 6 weeks to complete. He stated they are eager to get started and we want to be helpful to facilitate them getting on the site.
Jeff Davis stated in addition to geotech they are doing inspections and due diligence which is consistent with the environmental review done previously. He stated it is a Type 2 action under SEQR and companies are allowed to go out and do inspections and due diligence on properties like this, including geotech. He stated there are some small areas of wetlands delineation they need to complete and some other items they need to accomplish as part of what they are doing for their environmental review. He stated they need people to walk around the site and look at various things. He stated this access agreement is specific. He stated it is specific to various scopes of work they have created and they need to accomplish in order to complete their due diligence and inspections. He stated it requires them to have insurance that protects the IDA. He stated it requires them to provide the Agency notice as to when they are going out. He stated it is not the commencement of construction. He stated it is due diligence work they need to do like any other applicant would need to do on land they are looking to locate a facility on. Kevin Ryan asked if the access agreement has been negotiated and drafted yet. Jeff Davis stated the access agreement has not been reviewed by Micron yet but it has been prepared on the Agency side. He stated some mapping needed to be provided to them which was just received yesterday. He stated they have provided us with the relative scopes in the areas they need to go on the property. He stated this is consistent with other agreements prepared by the Agency. Robert Petrovich stated generally speaking the Access Agreement has a sunset of July 31 but if necessary, appropriate and reasonable we would be willing to extend that in order for them to accomplish the remainder of the work they need to do.
Susan Stanczyk asked if the Board is voting on executing the agreement. Jeff Davis stated yes but because this is property OCIDA owns and people will be coming on to it, we thought it would be appropriate to come to the Board to authorize the access and have this discussion. He 14 stated it is not commencement of construction and it really is necessary and required due diligence.
Upon a motion Janice Herzog, seconded by Susan Stanczyk, the OCIDA Board approved a resolution authorizing the execution and delivery of an access agreement with Micron in connection with development of White Pine Commerce Park. Motion was carried.
Upon a motion by Susan Stanezyk, seconded by Janice Herzog, the OCIDA Board adjourned the meeting at 9:34 am. Motion was carried.
Pitivpceny Phe cee.
Nancy Lowery, Secretary 15