Machine-extracted (OCR) from the official document — formatting is approximate; the official copy governs.
Micron New York Semiconductor Manufacturing LLC Public Hearing November 6, 2025 A public hearing of the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency was called to order by Alexis Rodriguez at 6:02 PM on Thursday, November 6, 2025, at the Clay Town Hall, 4401 State Route 31, Clay, New York 13041, with the following in attendance: ONONDAGA COUNTY INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY: Alexis Rodriguez, Public Hearing Officer Robert Petrovich, Executive Director Jeffrey Davis, Esq., Agency Counsel PUBLIC ATTENDEES: Beth Lauzon Chris Eyan Mike Razey Eric Kanis Sonia Kragh Sam DAmico Neil Webb Bonita Siegel Victoria Garcia Daniel P. Gremilliody Donald Hughes Leigh Swanker Darlene Piper Elizabeth Tallman John Przepiora Peter Kragh Louise Hotaling Rosanne Rodriguez Jim Nistico Margaret O’Brien Chip Fike Paul Doody Dave Capria Robert Haahr Ryan Russell Frederick Carroll Jim Wheeler Joseph Blidy Don Keegan Beth Carswell Ralph Turner Janet Rathburn Bonnie Nash Arlene Osborne Jim Nash Roy Osborne Khadeejah Ahmad John McCammy Peter King Brian Bender Tom Land Mark Austin Anthony Longo Jim Wheeler Cody Kelly Mary Seleger Lucretia Hudzinski Chris Bolt Steve Seleway M. Caughey Tami Schanbacher Kirk T Cuates Nicole Capsello Richard Kornbluth Elizabeth Bridges Deb Sur Chuck Lincoln Jeremiah Thompson Glenn Coin Alex Schivner Jim Baker Daniel Smith Lance Rudy Rob Santucci Paul Graves Laura Roberson Hal Henty Michael Sicchio
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: I will begin the public hearing by reading the Notice of Public Hearing that was published pursuant to the New York General Municipal Law Section 859-a on the proposed project and financial assistance. Micron New York Semiconductor Manufacturing LLC, a Delaware limited liability company on behalf of itself and/or entities formed or to be formed on its behalf has submitted an application to the Agency, a copy of which Application is on file at the office of the Agency, which Application requests that the Agency consider undertaking a project for the benefit of the Company, said Project consisting of the following: the acquisition of an interest in all or a portion of approximately 806 acres of land located on the westerly side of Burnet Road (tax map nos. 046.-02-01.0, 046.-02-02.1, 046.-02-02.2, 046.-02-03.1, 046.-02-04.0, 046.-02-05.1, 046.- 02-05.2, 048.-01-01.0, 048.-01-02.2, 048.-01-23.1, 048.-01-23.2, 048.-01-23.3, 049.-01-15.0, 049.-01-16.0, 049.-01-17.0, 049.-01-18.4, 049.-01-19.1,049.-01-19.2, 050.-01-01.0, 050.-01- 02.1, 050.-01-03.1, 050.-01-04.1, 050.-01-04.2, 050.-01-04.3, 050.-01-04.4, 050.-01-05.0, 051.- 01-10.1, 051.-01-10.6, 051.-01-10.7, 051.-01-10.8, 051.-01-10.9, 051.-01-12.0, 064.-01-06.3, 064.-01-08.0) in the Town of Clay, Onondaga County, New York; the construction on the Land of two approximately 1.2 million square foot memory fabrication facilities and each containing approximately 600,000 square feet of cleanroom space, together with other ancillary interior and exterior support facilities and systems and sitework including but not limited to installation of a chilled water system, a process cooling water system, air handlers, electrical sub stations, switch gear, and compressed dry air systems, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, office and storage space, driveways, interior access roads, sidewalks, parking lots, landscaping, signage, electric and gas utility and internal communications infrastructure, electric substations, water and wastewater pretreatment and storage and industrial gas storage; and the acquisition and installation therein and thereon of related fixtures, machinery, equipment and other tangible personal property; the granting of certain financial assistance with respect to the foregoing, including potential exemptions from certain sales and use taxes and real property taxes and real estate transfer taxes; and the lease or sale of the Project Facility to the Company or such other person as may be designated by the Company and agreed upon by the Agency.
The Company will be the initial owner and/or operator of the Project Facility. The Agency has not made a decision with respect to the undertaking of the Project or the granting of the financial assistance. JEFFREY DAVIS: For those wishing to speak this evening, the comments raised this evening are for the OCIDA public hearing on the Micron application for benefits from the agency. This is not a public hearing or comment period on the State Environmental Quality Review Act, known as SEQRA, or the ongoing environmental impact statement. The comment period for the SEQRA process ended on August 11", 2025 ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: I'll begin calling individuals by their name to present their public comments. I just want to say we want to give everybody a chance to speak, so just please be respectful of everybody's time. When I call your name, please come forward to the podium and present your comments. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Beth Lauzon. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Beth, if you can spell your name and then present your comment, that would be great.
BETH LAUZON: Beth Lauzon, L-A-U-Z-O-N, Onondaga County resident taxpayer. Okay. I went through -- read through the entire application and the legal -- I just have a few questions and comments. I'm just going to quickly go through it. My first comment was, or question, is what you just read, the legal ad and the application, just vary a little bit in what the acreage is. In legal asset eight hundred six acreage, application from Micron they're stating a hundred -- one thousand three hundred and seventy-seven. I don't know — I don't know if they just didn't amend that or what, but that is quite a difference in acreage, and I'd just like to know which one is the correct. That's my first thing. Next one is the OCIDA application Section D and Exhibit C project narrative. Of course, Micron's going to say this so the project will not be undertaken but for the financial assistance provided by OCIDA, standard. My question is, what would happen if OCIDA does not grant such financial taxes said as requested by Micron? What are the financial consequences and other consequences to both parties? That's not really laid out, I would just -- I'm very interested in that part of it. Not talking about the environmental one, my question was, what is it going to be issued, I saw that something about tomorrow possibly, so we're going to skip that question. Now, I'm going to go into the project costs and finances. Fifty-one billion five hundred million total manufacturing facility project costs from Micron. Broke it down, wonderful. Project soft costs, one billion four hundred million. My question is, what does that cost include, it's not defined anywhere. I don't know what that includes, it'd be nice if you knew what the soft cost was on that. And these are going to be funded by the project, that large project is going to be funded by mainly bank financing, their equity, I'm assuming is Micron's equity, and of course the public assistance that we've already granted them via the feds and the state. Question. What documentation is going to be required by Micron supporting documentation to prove such equity, which they're saying is going to be twenty-three billion about equity and bank financing of five billion? What's the important document that approved that that is in place and ready to go, would be my question on that. Okay. Now, I'm going to get to jobs. The Section C, employment benefits, they're estimating four thousand four hundred and twenty-three full-time equivalent jobs over the next ten years with the estimated salary average of a hundred and seventy-six thousand one zero nine. Boy, that'd be wonderful if that actually happened, but my comment is, I saw that there's one part that wasn't filled out in Section C, and that's listing the current number of full-time equivalent jobs at Micron. I'm assuming that's the entire company at Micron, not just what's happening here, but I'm -- if I'm wrong on that, I'm wrong, but I didn't see that filled out. If that needs to be filled out, that'd be nice to know how many people they currently employ in Idaho, and Virginia. What do we have. Okay. Now, we're getting to the financial assistance side, the pilot sales and use tax exemption. The pilot is for ten years, it's going to be for the two fabs only. They're going to pay a total of eighty-four million five hundred and one thousand over ten years versus what they would pay the full tax rate of three hundred and sixty-eight million. That's what they would pay if they were fully taxed. That saved Micron, accepting Micron, two hundred and eighty-three million dollars in real property taxes over the ten years, that's your pilot. The sales tax and use tax exemption, you're going to waive one billion seven hundred and sixty million dollars in sales tax and use taxes, focus structure facilities; that's quite a bit. That's based on Micron's estimated cost of twenty-two billion. Comment. And I'm not sure about this, again, I've read it a bazillion times and I could be wrong and that's fine. You
could just comment if I am, but this part of the assessment of the manufactured facility land is based on the current vacant land assessment, and not the full assessment after the conclusion of the project and the improvements, correct. I'm assuming that's what it says in the application. So, this whole pilot agreement, how much they're going to save versus how much they would pay in real property taxes would be considering more, if I'm right, thinking about this, considering more over ten years if the full assessment is taken into consideration. That means the land that they get land that you have now, which is the current assessment and all their improvements. Once I've got those two fabs up and running and everything's hunky dory, my guess is the assessment is going to go up. That's going to go up, and this pilot would have to be totally redone based on that assessment and not the assessment on vacant land. I could be wrong, just let me know in -- in your response to that. So, basically the twenty-eight -- two hundred and eighty-three billion in tax revenue for the county, town, and school district, which is the pilot payments, in and of itself. The loss of two hundred and eighty-three billion in tax revenue for the county, town, and school district would be considerably — considerably more over the ten-year pilot, my guess. Another question I have which relates to that is, I saw that there was a pilots estimate table workshop in Section A of the application. That's when you kind of estimate what the improvements would raise, you know, the estimate, what improved the assessment in this matter. I didn't see photo anywhere in there, I could be wrong, I didn't see it anywhere in there. So, my question is, when is that information going to be made public? And I don't see how you could even make a decision on this until that is complete, until those estimates are complete. That's for the assessment. Let's see, the sales tax, same thing. But we're just good to go on that, so. The next thing is -- this -- this hit my eye, the local access policy waiver in Exhibit F for your application. Well, we knew this was going to happen, but Micron is seeking a waiver from the one hundred percent local access policy for the early work phase of fab one construction. They say they estimate that the ten-county region around this county would not provide enough qualified general contractors, subcontractors, labor for the fab one construction. Okay. My question is, all right, so we're not going to give them a hundred percent, so we know a hundred percent of the people who work in construct this place does not come from here; we know that. My question is, how many local contractors' people will be hired, employed by Micron to build fab one, any? Ten percent, five, twenty-five, fifty? We have no information on this. Does OCIDA plan to waive the local access requirement for the fab one early workspace of the manufacturer decision construction? My assumption is yes, but that's my question. And then this -- this caught my eye too just because it's, you know, it's money, it's caught my eye. The agency fee schedule, the OCIDA application section -- sales tax use exemption. Your fee charge you a company such as Micron one percent of the total project cost. I sat here and I did this ten times and this is what I come -- come up with. OCIDA is going to receive five hundred and fifteen million dollars from Micron for that one percent cost. Correct, because it's a fifty-one billion dollar project. So, OCIDA will get five hundred and fifteen million dollars if you grant them the one billion seven hundred and sixty sales use tax exemption. Where would that money go, should that happen, should -- should they, Micron, actually give you that fee? Where's that money going to go, into OCIDA's pocket? Is there any other, back to the public, where? And another thing that says it's due at closing, what does closing mean? Is that closing of the application, is that closing of the project? No definition of what closing means. Same thing with the pilot, that's an additional fee, one point two five percent total cost. Now, we're talking six hundred and forty-three million dollars, seven hundred and fifty million dollars. Again, that's -- it's quite a hunk of change going on there. Where's all that money going? It’s great, you guys get a brand-new building and
everything off of that. But my guess is what's really going to happen is going to be in this other section that talks about project that has exceeded two hundred and fifty million dollars for creating excess of five hundred new jobs, which is this project. Maybe eligible -- eligible to negotiate a non-standard A.G.C.P.U. with the OCIDA director Robert Petrovich. My question is, does OCIDA expect to negotiate a non-standard agency fees with Micron? And if so, will this be done with public input, or will it be done in private and the public will never know what that -- why that fee was decided and how much it is? That's my question on that. That's important because my guess is that's going to happen, I can guarantee you. So, and that this is my final common questions, and this is one that interests me the most because this is -- this is what I've worked my entire career doing, managing contracts. Does OCIDA application Section 12, representation certifications, indemnification, Section D, employment reports. Micron agrees to file with OCIDA at least annually reports regarding the number of people employed at the project site, salary levels, contracted utilization, and other employment reports information. My comment, question, since this project is touting high paying jobs as the main reason, four thousand over ten years, main reason that we are going to give them all this stuff; who will be collecting these employment reports from Micron and publicizing source information to the community annually and needs to be done? Because somebody needs to do it. Who will hold Microns feet to the fire in ensuring the promised jobs are traded and it go to local citizens, or else as it says in the thing, the benefits can be defaulted? My guess, because I used to work at government contract quite a bit, what happens is, we all get a heck, heck sign, sign, sign, throw it in the -- the file cabinet and it's never thought of again. Micron knows when we do that, government knows that we do that, everybody knows that we do that. If nobody wants to employ somebody to manage the contract, get these reports set, see what's going on. See if they're even, you know, holding up to this application that -- it says in here. I mean, there's a reason why we have these legal stuff in here. Not to just say, you know, you can just forget about it because no one's going to check on you, you know, when -- when do we get these fees? Did -- did you invoice them? No, nobody invoiced them; it happens all the time. This Section D, if this isn't done then my -- I will say that you're wasting money, and you're wasting time, and you're letting Micron escape. So, Section D is the most important thing to me. Thank you. That's all I have, thanks.
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Thank you. We have Sonia Kragh. If you could please say your name and spell it for me. SONIA KRAGH: Sure. It's Sonia Kragh, S-O-N-I-A K-R-A-G-H, and I'm a resident of the Town of DeWitt in the County of Onondaga. My name is Sonia Kragh, I have degrees in biology, chemistry, and medicine. I'm a member of Climate Change Awareness and Action and Dewitt Advisory Conservation Commission. I submitted review comments of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, and I'm sure the construction and operations of Micron will permanently and continuously affect the environment and our day-to-day lives. New York State and federal governments have already allocated our taxes to pay for one half of this project. The buck should stop there. Locally, we owe Micron nothing. Micron has asked to come here and have set their terms. It is time for Central New York to set their terms and put our lives and wellbeing first and foremost. Micron should pay all duly assessed county and local taxes for use in the community in which it resides. In addition, I believe the Central New York Community would be wise to ask Micron to contribute substantial monies to begin and fully fund an environmental mitigation
fund. This fund would be used for reparation of environmental impacts, such as those that occur from laying of gas, electric, and water conduits, and highway and rail build out to fill the wetlands, as well as unknown effects on surface and ground waterways that will begin and continue throughout the decades of project construction and operations. Here's a current example of environmental impacts that we may need to mitigate. We have all been inconvenienced by the Department of Transportation work related to dropping I-81 and rerouting 481. These projects are small compared to Micron. The DeWitt Advisory Conservation Commission has advised the Town to pursue more extensive air quality monitoring -- monitoring at two locations based on visible air particulate matter at the construction of the I-81 interchange and continuous truck traffic leaving the Jamesville quarry. The second permitting today will be about the rail car, and this is an example of air quality monitoring that will be needed. Jack has advised the Town to update its greenhouse gas inventory to know how emissions have changed from the baseline prior to this construction, and to set a new baseline before Micron construction with vehicle, rail and air traffic through DeWitt affects emissions further. The Town of Clay is going to see similar concerns with Micron construction. The environmental mitigation funds would look at how do you address these concerns? How do you fund these concerns? There's nothing here that outlines any monies that are allocated to these concerns? You may not be aware, but Micron is not giving the environmental community a seat at the table. We have asked in our asking to have a seat at the table, hopefully that will change. If Micron wishes to join our community, let it pay its fair share as a sign that it fully respects its role in our community. Thank you.
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Thank you. Next, we have Bonita Siegel. Please state your name and spell it for the record. BONITA SIEGEL: Bonita, B-O-N-I-T-A. Siegel is S-I-E-G-E-L. BONITA SIEGEL: I am a Clay resident, I live about a mile and a quarter as the crow flies from the corner of Caughdenoy Road and 31. I'm also on the Board of Directors of the Urban Jobs Task Force of Syracuse. I wanted to address something that's already been mentioned when I've read through the documents Exhibit F, the local access policy waiver, which is a brief, but states that Micron is requesting a local access policy waiver for the early works phase of fab one construction. It's based on the fact that they feel that the estimated percentage of available local labor provided by trade unions within the ten-county region isn't adequate to meet their needs. They state that they make every effort to maximize the employment of local labor. When I look at the pilot, I don't see an affiliated community benefits agreement or what exactly are the benefits anticipated for this fifty-year generous pilot. When I look at what promises have been made to date, first of all, we don't have access to the project labor agreement between Micron and the trades union, it would be great if we could get that. But there was a statement, memorandum of understanding for Micron Community Investor Framework in Central New York. And this was put out October of 2022. It was an M.O.U. between Micron and Empire State Development. And in that document, it does state some goals, I'll call them promises. Micron will use good faith efforts to achieve thirty percent of eligible construction spent from eligible categories with companies owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals with priority given to, and then it lists numerous categories that fall under what they abbreviate as setting. It then goes on to talk about a twenty percent regarding operating spent. A little further down there's discussion of Micron will work with state and local partners and construction
contractors and subcontractors to establish a target percentage of the construction workforce to be from disadvantaged populations. Micron will encourage contractors to conduct focused recruiting and pipeline development activities to stride in good faith to meet the target. Micron will encourage construction contractors and subcontractors to use Syracuse Build as a first source model to identify candidates for hiring from disadvantaged populations. I know that when urban jobs have approached OCIDA in the past about projects and promises, a resolution to come forth to utilize L.C.P. Tracker to monitor what was happening in projects that didn't end up happening, but given the vast project that this is, and the promises that have been made that are going to impact not just this small township compared to the vast area, I think there need to be accountability measures. People need to be clear about what is being promised between the parties, and if this E.S.D. promise means anything to OCIDA, I'm not sure if it does, but I think that the -- the public would like to know more and that accountability would be very important from OCIDA and other involved parties. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Thank you. Next, we have Don Hughes. Please state your name and spell it for me. DONALD HUGHES: Yeah, sure. Don or Donald, D-O-N-A-L-D. Last name is Hughes, H-U-G- H-ES. And just a question, is this going to be turned into a transcript? Do you know?
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: There will be meeting minutes of this public hearing on the Agency's website. DONALD HUGHES: Does that mean it's going to be turned into a written transcript? ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Yes. DONALD HUGHES: Yes, thank you. I'm so sorry. Okay. I don’t mean to disturb your electronics. So, good evening, hi everybody. Davis and Petrovich and I didn't catch your name, T'm sorry, but -- ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Alexis Rodriguez.
DONALD HUGHES: Alexis, thank you. I'm Don Hughes, I've lived in Syracuse for forty years and have been active in the Sierra Club, a national environmental organization for nearly as long. Iam speaking on behalf of myself, long -- as a long-time resident of the County, as a taxpayer and as a parent and grandparent. And while I generally support the overall Micron project, I am opposed to the tax break -- breaks and tax incentives, which are being offered by OCIDA. And here's why. Micron Technologies is planning to build the largest semiconductor facility in North America here in the Town of Clay. It is said to be the largest public private investment in New York State history. Its impact on the community and the environment as described in the environmental impact statement seemed to be finalized will be enormous. It is projected that the five-county area will gain sixty-four thousand new residents. Onondaga County itself is expected to grow by fifty-four thousand with thirty-two percent of that in the City of Syracuse, that comes to seventeen thousand new residents there that was -- that will need to increase school populations throughout the county, greater traffic and roadways, more need for emergency road
crews, greater strain on hospitals and other medical services. Larger demands for electricity, utilities, water, and food. The company is receiving over twenty-two billion dollars in federal and state financial assistance for the construction of two, just two of the four planned application plans. They are getting five billion dollars more in federal support than when this project was first conceived. I think that's an important thing to think about for a site, five billion dollars of extra federal assistance since this was announced in 2022. The total cost for the first two fabs are estimated at fifty-one billion plus. So, forty-three percent of the project costs, the two fab project costs will be paid for public tax dollars. My point here is that nothing about this project is typical; the magnitude of the project is huge. An enormous amount of public dollars being invested to build the project is which is a fundamentally private enterprise. OCIDA should not follow the standard script when it comes to creating financial incentives for Micron. I, therefore, recommend that OCIDA greatly reduced the tax incentives offered through the pilot, keeping in mind that Micron can easily afford to spend more on the community than they should. I do want to acknowledge that the company has been, to date, very generous in supporting STEM education in many school districts and has already invested in clean room technologies of O.C.C., but we need to go beyond STEM. I note that the pilot proposed — the pilot agreement as proposed gives them a reduction of two hundred and eighty-four million dollars over a period of forty-nine years, which applies, as I mentioned, two factories. The two -- those two factories will be up and running in ten years, why are we looking at forty-nine years? This takes money away from schools, libraries, the Town of Clay and the County for the next half century. So, my first comment is that the length of any pilot, given to Micron, should not exceed ten years. But I would go further, I would propose that Micron should not receive a reduction in school, town and county taxes. Rather, those funds should be paid into the County and the Town of Clay to deal with the many additional costs with government entities will incur as the factories are built, we're going to need more police, more D.P.W. workers, more medical workers, more emergency vehicles, more training equipment to deal with hundreds of tons of chemicals, many of which are corrosive, toxic, flammable, which are going to be brought into the facility every week of the year. In addition, we need to monitor -- have environmental monitoring to look at air and water quality. Micron's impacts will extend throughout the region well beyond the borders of the Town of Clay. So, my second major comment is that pilot funds should be shared throughout the county. The Town of Clay will be most immediately and directly affected, but other areas will be hit with these extra expenses as well. And as for school taxes, I recommend that those be spread out among the impact of school districts in the county with emphasis on the northern suburbs where the project is located, and also the City of Syracuse, which is typically underfunded. Finally, OCIDA has proposed giving Micron the complete exemption from sales taxes on construction materials. That's standard practice for the agency vetted projects. But again, this is not a typical project. I would like to see the agency reduce the exemption on county sales tax from the full four percent to three percent, which would net the County an estimated two hundred and twenty million dollars. These unencumbered funds would help the County with the many additional expenses associated with Micron's giant project. I suggest that they could be used to help address the lack of affordable housing, a situation which is sure to worsen and more and more workers show up to build this thing. There are sure to be other Micron related issues which the County will have to deal with, for example, flooding. It's almost a certainty that flooding in Clay would get worse. Thank you for the opportunity to comment. I hope that you will consider the long-term implications of your actions that you will reverberate through our beloved Central New York Community for many decades to come. Thank you.
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Next we have Darlene Piper. DARLENE PIPER: So, Darlene D-A-R-L-E-N-E, Piper P-I-P-E-R. I came with nothing to write out because I didn't know where to talk, but I want to make one more voice to let you know there's a lot of us, even though the audience is small, that’s opposed to this. Forty-nine years? You look at your audience and most of those people will be dead; it's extensive. As the four speakers said before who were very well spoken about what issues are, forty-nine years is a long time, forty- nine years for the school district to not get tax benefit from that, from the Town not to get it, from the County. I'm just flabbergasted at forty-nine years, and they're already getting a massive amount of funding our bank. Who's going to check this, that the steps are being made, is it OCIDA, another thing, another entity? And so that's my big grief, is that mostly the school district is going to be losing funding. Who's going to support that funding? The taxpayers, which are us, which we didn't get support from the federal government for either. So, I don't know where forty-nine years came from, and why forty-nine years; why not make it an even fifty? You're going that far, go to fifty, it's easy to keep track of. So, that's my main issue with this whole thing is the places that need that tax funding, the schools, Town of Clay, Onondaga County will not be receiving those. And where -- who's then going to make up for those, because of the influx of employees and the influx of construction workers and stuff, somebody's got to pay those taxes to maintain the infrastructure that's happening. My other issue too, with all these documents and the numbers that seem to be just kind of made up as you go along. The salary, I always have questioned the salary. It came up -- it keeps increasing, which I'm like, phenomenal with, but if you do any averages, you get the high and the low. I don't want the average; I want to know what the low guy's making.
DARLENE PIPER: Who's walking in there off the street and what are they making because that's what most of the people are going to be making. What are most of the people going to be making when they work for Micron, and Micron is their employer. What is most of them going to be making, not the C.E.O., most of them. When they walk in and they start out. Not ten years from now, not five years from now, or forty-nine years from now. What are most of them making when they walk in that door from the City of Syracuse? So, those are my comments, so thank you. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Next we have John, and I cannot pronounce his last name. John, can you please pronounce your name for us and spell it? JOHN PRZEPIORA: I certainly will. My name is John Przepiora, that's J-O-H-N P-R-Z-E-P-I- OR-A, and I reside in Syracuse, New York, Onondaga County. And as a county resident and taxpayer, I'm here today to speak in opposition to property tax discounts for Micron.
Micron is already getting in the neighborhood of twenty-two billion dollars in federal and state and senate to locate here. In my opinion, additional incentives amounting to two hundred and eighty million dollars in property tax deferral over the next forty-nine years, which amounts to a mere one point seven three million and property tax deferral annually. Which is unnecessary and an inconsequential amount to Micron in comparison to the federal and state incentives that are already being applied. And frankly, over -- the over five hundred million annually that Micron
pays to a shareholders. I did a calculation and when I did it first I -- I got the number wrong because I couldn't believe it. But, you know, there's a thirty thousand percent difference, you know, in -- in terms of what Micron is paying to shareholders and what will be paid to the residents of Onondaga County. Anyways, that's three hundred times more going to the shareholders versus the county residents. The -- these property tax discounts can be put to better use in support of the treasuries of the county, the town, and the school district. The Micron induced growth will increase school population, we know that, and induce the need for other essential public services such as police, fire, affordable housing, et cetera. So, in addition, the potential adverse impacts on water and air quality resulting from chip fabrication and the operations, that is. Plus, the induced rising cost of housing, electricity, and other consumer needs presents an indirect cost to the taxpayers -- to the residents of Onondaga County for which they should be made whole. Canceling the proposed tax discounts is not the only thing that must be done to make county residents whole in this venture, but it is a small step -- small first step towards assuring the Micron development benefits county residents instead of burdening them with its weight. Now, until OCIDA and Onondaga County fully disclose the impacts on public service needs, the pilot agreement must be paused; until Micron agrees to a community benefits agreement that protects the people of Onondaga County, the pilot agreement must be paused. And until Micron and Onondaga County put in place an effective joint citizen and expert project oversight, community engagement, and environmental management council, the pilot agreement must be paused. So, one more brief note I'd like to make on the sales tax exemption, which amounts to one point eight billion, this discount should not be granted without enforceable conditions that materials incorporated in the development be from sustainable sources, including the use of low carbon concrete, and steel, and native landscape plannings in order to reduce the environmental impact of the construction. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak.
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Next we have Louise, another one I can't pronounce. LOUISE HOTALING: Hotaling. L-O-U-I-S-E H-O-T-A-L-I-N-G, I'm a resident of the Town of Clay, only a few houses from the development. My concern is definitely forty-nine years is way too much it's - - it's excessive. I mean, in the past we -- we haven't learned anything. G.E. got twenty-five years, they pulled. Carrier got money, they pulled. Miller got money, they pulled. Now, we've said, oh well, we'll get forty-nine years out of them that way, so we're
sure they're going to be here for a while. That's not a solution to what's happening, the people that are going to suffer, the people that are paying the taxes, your -- your local residents, you -- you have to have all these things that we are going to need. We -- like they said, we need larger schools, we need road things; where's all that cost going to be put onto? The residents. And as it is, the town of Clay, actually, we pay more taxes than a lot of the local areas around us. How much more do they expect us to carry on our backs for Micron? And we're going to have to have extra, you know, workers. But a lot of them workers could be construction workers, so how many are they actually going to employ after? And they -- they -- we've had nothing but brief answers for this whole project. We weren't told where they're going to put their waste, we weren't told anything. And now we're told, oh, we're giving them a forty-nine-year tax break. I mean, something is wrong with this policy. And from what I have seen so far, a site is so far in their pocket, we get nothing. And what we need besides this, we need an outside group of people to form -- to keep an eye on this because who's going to regulate what's really happening with this plan? We haven't had any direct answers from day one, and we need some residents that
have to form a panel that they're on and they hold them accountable because who is holding them accountable? Nobody. I mean, you can't just give a company open policy through promises; promises don't mean anything. And when it comes to our water and our -- our, you know, environmental impact, that's huge. And us, people on Caughdenoy Road that are just a few houses away, we're not even going to be able to use our septic systems, so how does that affect us? Our house goes from our value to nothing. I mean, are they going to be responsible for hooking us up to a sewer since they're making it so that we're not going to be able to use our water, or our sewer? Where do we stop letting everything go to the wayside and try to correct it after? The time to correct these things is now, not after, because after is too late. Thank you. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Next we have Jim Nistico.
JIM NISTICO: Hello, my name's Jim Nistico, and that's J-I-M N-I-S-T-I-C-O. And I do appreciate all of my fellow community members, they have stressed some value and valuable concerns. However, I'm going to be one of the people probably in the minority in this room. I'm in favor of what Micron is doing, and I think the pilot is a necessity in order to play with the alpha population centers that we won the bid from, such as Austin, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; D.C., various other locales. I understand the concern of the forty -- forty-nine years, but it is a necessity to level the playing field. I also understand the concerns for the population base to the added stress that the, you know, influx of construction will cost, and possibly the additional cost of things. However, there will be population growth to help handle that cost. More people moving in is more tax base, and more tax base creates more wealth. And with a project like Micron, it is a game changer for the Syracuse area. It is -- it allows Syracuse to have nicer things, Clay to have nicer things, things that we have visited in, like, Florida, we see cranes in the air, this and that. We always -- we always said, there are a lot of people I know said, why can't that be here? Now we have that opportunity. I encourage anyone to go down to Manassas, Virginia; Chantilly, Virginia. I have business down there as well; I am a resident of the town of Clay and a business owner. Also, in the town of Clay, but I also have business down in Manassas and Chantilly. And you should see the growth that's there, the prosperity. Lots of good things are going on there, and that can be us. And yes, we need to have, you know, hold Micron to the fire on certain things, but embrace the growth. It will be beneficial for all of us. And that's all I have.
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Next is Chip Fike. CHIP FIKE: I'm going to defer my time because like everybody in front of me, I was going to say the same thing, so I'm going to defer my time to somebody else. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Thank you. CHIP FIKE: You’re welcome. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Dave Capria. DAVE CAPRIA: Yeah, my name is Dave Capria, D-A-V-E C-A-P-R-I-A, I'm a Town Counselor here in Clay, I sit right there. And I was telling everybody when I ran a few years ago, I'm for Micron, but I just want to see it done properly where it benefits people and everybody,
and not just a certain few, I've always said that and be very transparent. So, the one thing everybody's been doing lately is just tossing around all these numbers, forty-nine years I think may be a little excessive, especially with the school taxes. I believe the Central New York -- Cicero North Syracuse School District at the start of the year had to eliminate thirty-eight positions, but they did through attrition, they didn't have to get rid of anybody. So, I mean, there's already, I mean, something there if they do not -- if we get less taxes because of this, I mean, I think that could hurt, especially for forty-nine years. I mean, we're going to have tens of thousands of students go through our school systems here in Onondaga County over the next forty-nine years. I wouldn’t want to see them being shorted out of an education because Micron wants like a bigger tax rate than they should get. So, what I want to do is everybody's tossing around numbers like, just saying, like, if somebody here won a thousand dollars, a thousand one- dollar bills would be four three -- four point three inches. And then most people make roughly around seventy thousand dollars a year, that's about twenty-five feet high if you did it in one- dollar bills. And then a million dollars is three hundred and fifty-eight feet, if you had a million- dollar bills, a billion is -- a billion is sixty-seven point nine miles. Micron last year, I believe if I got it right, made six billion eight hundred and fifty-thousand-dollar profit. And that would be, if it's right here, five hundred and seventy-seven miles tall in one-dollar bills, fresh, new one-dollar bills. And, I mean, you hear in Washington now they're just talking a trillion, I just thought I’d throw that in there, and that is sixty -- almost sixty thousand miles high. I'm saying -- so, Micron eight point five billion dollars, I'm just trying to let people know how much that is. They made that in profit last year, and they want -- I don't think we should shortchange ourselves with forty- eight year — forty-nine years. I think that's just a little bit too long for tax breaks and things like that, I mean, we want it to benefit our kids and everything like that, especially with the schools. And so that's now, I was just trying to let people know how much we're really talking here, and it's -- Micron made a lot of money last year and I think we should just see our fair share of it, that's all. Thank you.
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Next is Ryan Russell. RYAN RUSSELL: Hello, Ryan Russell here. R-Y-A-N R-U-S-S-E-L-L, soon to be a Town of Clay Counselor-Elect. I don't know where I'm going to be up here so I — well, first off, I just want to say I'm feeling very humbled by all the — COURT REPORTER: Could you speak up? RYAN RUSSELL: Oh, I'm sorry. How's this? How's this, is this better? COURT REPORTER: Yes. RYAN RUSSELL: Okay. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Get closer. RYAN RUSSELL: How's this? Still new to all this, thanks. So, I appreciate your patience. First, I just want to thank everybody for coming out here. You've humbled me with all of your knowledge and experience in depth. Man, I want to have so many conversations with all of you. But to get right to the point, I guess I'm just concerned because as I hear all these numbers playing around, they just feel very arbitrary, forty-nine years, two hundred and eighty- four million dollars, only a quarter of the tax that's going to be paid to our schools.
And when I hear all this, I have no context though. This could be a fantastic deal and I don't know simply because we don't know the full economic impact. We don't know how that's been modeled; we don't know how these numbers came about. And so, I want to ensure that if this is going to go through and that Clay is going to have a partnership with Micron, a partnership is built on trust and equity of risk. And the thing that I don't want to see is a case where the Town of Clay in New York has to socialize all the risk and the losses for this project whereas Micron gets to make all the profits for this. So, if these economic models have been made, and this proof behind and the rationale behind these tax breaks can be justified, please, release it to us so that we can look it over and understand, so that way we can take the appropriate steps and risks that we should -- that we can handle. Because as of right now, when I hear that they're only paying a quarter of their projected school taxes, something that makes up only three percent of just their current years revenue, much less forty-nine years' worth of revenue, that doesn't assure me that we have really set ourselves up for success here. I hope that we can get this information from the County and from everyone associated with, that way we can make the best decision possible for both Micron, ourselves, and our community. Thank you for your time and thank you for being here.
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Next is Jim Wheeler. JIM WHEELER: I pass, I -- I thought it was just a sign in sheet, I didn't have my glasses. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Oh, no problem. Don Keegan. DON KEEGAN: Hi, I'm Don Keegan, K-EE-G-A-N. I'm from the North Syracuse Central School District, and I'm here on behalf of the District. Our Superintendent, Dr. Terry Ward, wanted to be here tonight, we had another event at our high school, so he asked that I come and make a few comments. You know, although North Syracuse Central School District was not involved in the negotiation of a pilot, we understand the importance of economic development and the need to provide incentives. We also recognize and appreciate the tremendous effort by local and state leaders who work diligently bring Micron to our region. I feel as an educator I have to just say this, that, you know, I'm a father of five kids, and five adult children, and four of them have left the area because there's no job opportunities for my — my children here. And so, when I think about the roughly eight thousand kids in our school system here in North Syracuse, you know, I think about their career opportunities and -- and so, you know, that -- that's the perspective we're coming from as a school district. We want to make sure that there's good opportunities for kids and -- and -- but I do need to mention that, and it's important that Micron recognizes this, and the Central New York community recognizes that, and our local taxpayers, obviously, that -- that pilot revenue doesn't benefit the school district. With the New York State Tax Cap legislation, what we have to do is we take that pilot revenue in and we directly pass it on to the taxpayers, and we lower the tax levy. So, Micron's going to come in and -- and definitely create opportunities, but create some challenges as well for the school system. And so, despite, you know, media will report that sixty-three million dollars of pilot revenues being paid to the school district, we're going to take that money and lower the -- lower the tax -- the tax
levy. And to put that in perspective, the -- the lowering of the tax levy and that first year represents about point seven percent of the levy. So, it's -- it's not something I don't -- I think that the taxpayers are really going to notice, but it's important -- important to note. Our district is deeply committed to preparing students for success in college and careers and life after graduation, and -- and doing this requires investment in programs, technology, and facilities to ensure that our students gain the skills they need to be successful in today's rapidly evolving economy. Again, this pilot, this financial arrangement, does not provide additional resources to address those challenges. You know, we -- we are concerned about that. But again, we're also excited about the opportunity for our kids and for the community. And we hope that as -- this is — this -- see that deliberates this pilot that there may be opportunities to enhance some of the supports for our local school system. And so, with that, thank you for listening. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Thank you. Next is Ralph Turner.
RALPH TURNER: Good evening, and thank you. My name is Ralph Turner, R-A-L-P-H T-U- R-N-E-R, I live at 4188 Rigel Course in Liverpool. I'll try and be brief. I know I will probably echo some sediments -- sentiments about the native landscape plantings. I believe Micron is -- that is part of their plant as far as planting trees around the --around the fabs. Secondly, I have a question on who would be responsible for cleanup of some of the waterways, like especially Mud Creek, which I have seen some dumping or -- or refuge -- refuge. And such as heavy metal structures and lumber at the location on Verplank road, the -- the overpass on Mud Creek. And I asked about who would be responsible or accountable, because when I have gone to the Town, they've said, yeah, we'll check it out. Then I -- I go back to Mud Creek, the dumping or the garbage is still there. And they say, well, it's not ours, it's -- it's the counties or it's D.E.C.'s. When I call D.E.C., then they want me to be an investigator and an enforcer and -- and tell them who did it. And that's my question is just about responsibility and accountability. Is there going to be communication and cooperation between all these different entities? You know, we've heard about some of the arrangements for exchange of -- of wetlands and so forth. But the -- the actions are slow and communication is not clear. Secondly, with the property, or, I'm sorry, next with a property tax, yes, if -- if the residents could have a low property tax of zero, or some major reduction supported by Micron, that would be wonderful. If Micron would contribute to things like education, now we know they have -- they're giving support to places like Onondaga Community College in their clean room. But how about our even younger students in middle grades. The thing is about getting them prepared early on, they have a better chance of making it to the finish line. You know, we've had programs where they're -- they, you know, they get to college and then -- then they can't -- they — they found out they're -- they're -- they're missing something, but if we can get community support, that's what I'd like to see. Community engagement also and things like the health of the -- the -- the residents and the -- and the towns people health, not only for your employees who would be at risk for things like burns and other respiratory things. But also, the residents in the communities who might be subjected to whatever's coming out of the two hundred and fifty foot -- the - - the air or whatever that is coming out of there. And basically that's -- that's what I have to say. Thank you.
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Next is Bonnie Nash. BONNIE NASH: I decline because all my concerns and questions have already been addressed by him and all of the speakers, and I give my turn to Jim Nash. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Thank you. JIM NASH: Thank you. I won't take a lot of time, but I would like to say that it's my understanding that there are going to be fifty thousand jobs because Micron is going to be here. Nine thousand of those jobs are going to be working at Micron, and the others are at the add on jobs or the supportive jobs. So, it occurred to me that fifty thousand people will be earning money that are not earning that money now, and fifty thousand people will be paying a whole lot of taxes. They're going to be paying property tax, they're going to be paying real estate of other types or taxes, sales taxes. And I think that we've got to consider that, that's got to be factored into it, and I know there was another gentleman who was saying the same thing. We have to reflect on this, that in a way when you look at it that way, I look upon Micron as the goose that lays the golden eggs. And I know how people feel, they want money, they want Micron to pay a lot of taxes and so forth. Well, a lot of taxes are going to be paid, a lot more than Micron could ever pay, and they're going to be paid by the employees of fifty — fifty thousand employees, workers. And we have to think about that, that's a very important consideration. Thank you. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Next is Khadeejah Ahmad?
KHADEEJAH AHMAD: Yes. Good evening. It's spelled K-H-A-D-E-E-J-A-H. Last name is A- H-M-A-D. Good evening everyone, my name is Khadeejah Ahmad. I am speaking on behalf of myself as a longtime resident of Onondaga County and a taxpayer. I'm also the Syracuse Organizing Manager with Jobs to Move America, a national strategic policy center focused on ensuring that public spending translates into concrete public benefits here in Central New York. While I generally support the overall Micron project, I have concerns regarding the pilot tax abatements, the two hundred and eighty-four million that otherwise could be going to our community. It raises the question, how can we ensure that this investment is not just another corporate handout but actually results in real community benefits.It is projected, as previous speakers have said, that the five-county area will see a population growth of sixty-four thousand residents, eighty-five percent of which is estimated to be in Onondaga County, and thirty-two percent within the city of Syracuse.This will lead to increase school populations without -- throughout the country, greater traffic on roadways, more need for emergency services, hospital, and other medical services, larger demands for electricity, utilities, water, and food. With forty- three percent of the existing two fab project being government funded, Micron has a responsibility to reinvest in the community. Particularly since Micron's forty-nine-year pilot abatement will take money away from schools, libraries, the Town of Clay and the county, this may have serious impact on school districts in the county with emphasis on northern suburbs where the project is located, and the city of Syracuse, which is notoriously underfunded. With the level of public investment Micron is receiving, they can and should invest in -- invest more in the community, including investing in our school systems. Micron must expand its direct investment in our public-school career and technical education programs, and hands-on learning opportunities in both K through twelve schools and community colleges. Micron must also
commit to ensuring that pathways you help build are accessible, inclusive, and equitable for all learners in our community, including those with disabilities and English new learners. Given that Syracuse has the highest child poverty rate in the nation, this is an incredible opportunity for changing that. Micron must also guarantee equity in hiring practices and workforce development, commit to workforce development and hiring policies and programs free of access barriers such as G.E.D. requirements, transportation, childcare, English language proficiency requirements, and discrimination against workers impacted by the criminal legal system. And lastly, I'll say that Micron must also reinvest in our community with growing population demand by strengthening our regional healthcare systems to meet growing demands in population, invest in our public transportation infrastructure, ensure that micron facilities are accessible to all C.N.Y. residents, and also invest in affordable, safe, and secure housing for existing and new residents. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak tonight. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Next is Peter King.
PETER KING: Hello, my name's Peter King, I'm a Onondaga County Syracuse resident for twenty-five years. I -- my basic comments on this probably in agreement with a few who have already commented, that I believe that this project has gotten already is -- is -- is a different kind of project entirely than any -- any OCIDA has ever considered. Unless OCIDA, of course, on the board when Solvay process started at late 1800s, this is more or less that scale of thing, and I think it's useful to -- to use some social memory when considering this -- this project. The -- the - - the level of investment it -- I think two billion is -- is probably a drop in the bucket for Micron. Tt makes more sense I think for OCIDA at this point to consider -- well, let's start with the sales tax that's already been agreed on that I believe yes, you should very definitely be looking at the -- the greenest possible landscaping and -- and not to make it look good, but for possible flooding concerns, which will may emerge as many of us have commented that the removal of the wetlands will, you know, would may have that negative effect. But moreover, that I believe for the pilot agreement itself, the County and the towns will need that if for -- for needs unforeseen, just starting with transportation that, you know, I think it -- it may be in -- in employee's interest not to replicate creating another urban highway, and just to say that in -- in the manner of dealing with traffic, I think of -- we might consider Syracuse as recent experience that we're -- we're starting to re-examine the traffic patterns in Syracuse in a more holistic way and looking at safety consideration for pedestrians and so on. So, I think the pilot -- I honestly think that Micron will not hold it against you if you -- if you do not give them a pilot agreement. I — I think this is possibly a formality, we -- we do not need in that sense, or we should re — reconsider that when you -- you examine all the externalities, the -- as I mentioned, storm water, street planning and -- and basically urban planning in general. Because this landscape is going to entirely change over the next five years to something you won't recognize. But I believe that's basically my comments at this point. Thank you very much.
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: That is everybody who I have in front of me that is registered so that wanted to make a public comment. Is there anybody else in the audience that wants to make a comment at this time? JEFFREY DAVIS: Just come up. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, come forward. TOM LAND: My name -- my name is Tom Land, I live in the town of Salina and just to — ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Can you spell that — TOM LAND: T-O-M L-A-N-D. Just to comment, an earlier gentleman mentioned the growth in Chantilly and Manasas, Virginia, and I lived in Northern Virginia for twenty-one years, and while generally for this project I would dare say that the -- the growth that's happening in Northern Virginia is going to happen regardless because of government contracting and being in the D.C. metro area. So, just -- just -- that's just -- that's just a counter to that. Thank you.
ANTHONY LONGO: Hello, my name is Anthony Longo, L-O-N-G-O. I'm a resident of Liverpool in the County of Onondaga. I just want to voice my support for this project. I think a lot of people in this room remember when factories were closing and a lot of people left this area. The area start to turn the corner, but I just want to say that with Micron this will bring a lot of jobs back here and a lot of people who are in poverty who need this opportunity, who need that step up, will have that opportunity. I know it's hard to pass tax incentives, but if we don't step up, then other communities are going to step up and they're going to offer the tax incentives. T'm sure there's a lot of communities across this country who would love to be in our shoes, but who can't. So, that's all I just wanted to say that this community, I — we need this opportunity. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Hang on one second. Yeah, he was coming up before, so he let him speak first. Yeah. CODY KELLY: Good evening everyone, thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak tonight. I'm Cody Kelly, C-O-D-Y K-E-L-L-Y, and I live in Clay, I'm the County Legislator for the Fourteenth District that we're standing in right now. I would like to speak out in support
of tonight's discussed pilot agreement because this pilot agreement made us competitive not just throughout the United States, but internationally. It's simply not realistic to say that Micron was ever going to pay an additional two hundred and eighty-four million in property tax, or the full extent of proposed taxes that you would see without this agreement, because without this agreement this project does not happen here. If we're lucky maybe it would end up in Phoenix or Austin, but it wouldn't be in Clay, and there's a good chance it would probably be in Taiwan. So, this project shores up domestic manufacturing right here in Clay, right here in Onondaga County that supports our national security. Without Micron, without this agreement, I wanted to just quickly reference a few things that I pulled up from Governor Hochul's website on what else this community would miss out on, and some of the impact -- economic impacts that this -- excuse me, that this pilot made possible. So, quickly, these are from the Governor's website, an economic impact study by the Regional Economic Models, Inc. Company estimated that Micron will generate over the first thirty-one years of operation an average of nearly fifty thousand jobs per year, and additional sixteen point seven billion dollars in inflation adjusted economic output. And nine point six billion dollars in real G.E.T. on average, they will provide an estimated annual average of five point four million in real disposable personal income to New York residents. It will generate an average annual increase of five hundred and fifty-six million in state
government revenue totaling seventeen point two billion dollars over the first thirty-one years of the project, an average annual increase of eight hundred and twenty-six point one million in local revenue to governments, which totals twenty-five point six billion over that same period. This project is already benefiting the community, just a few weeks ago we were able to visit the new Clean Room Simulation Lab at Onondaga Community College. That Micron initially was going to support to the tune of two-and-a-half million dollars, I believe they later doubled that commitment to five million dollars. It's a tremendous facility that provides people in this county economic opportunities. A few weeks ago, we welcomed a delegation of international businessmen from Japan that are exploring additional investments that we're not even talking about here tonight that will provide additional residents, additional tax revenue, additional people in schools, and yes, individuals paying those taxes to spread out all of the proposed costs. So, a few weeks ago I was able to chat with the people at I.B.E.W., they're expanding their services, they're training more people. We're providing people sustainable pathways out of poverty. So this is not about charity, this is about permanent improvements to the quality of life here in Onondaga County for everybody involved. And I encourage anybody to reach out if I can provide any additional information, so, thank you.
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Are there additional people who want to speak? I'll let the woman go next to you go first because she hasn't had a chance to speak. LUCRETIA HUDZINSKI: Lucretia, L-U-C-R-E-T-I-A, Hudzinski, H-U-D-Z-I-N-S-K-I. I'm a resident of Clay, and we just want to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself, so I always refer to people, there's documentary in the local library regarding when G.E. came to the area and twenty thousand new people came to the area. There has to be -- I think that there should be some tax relief for the people coming in from Micron. However, let's just make sure that whatever that is, that you have a budget, that the fire department will know how to handle the new chemicals and the new toxins that will be -- and if there's a -- an accident or a fire, are they able to handle it, are they going to have to bring new equipment in and new training? So, have a budget, does that tax relief going to compliment that? Are the schools going to have to build new buildings throughout the county? What -- what impact will that have as well? And someone has brought up the affordable housing. I've brought up many times and you can ask Damien, I've talked to him about this. We have no affordable or low-income housing in the area for our seniors, as well as our residents. And many of the places that are being built now could be given -- those developers could be given tax breaks, and they haven't gotten it to do affordable or low income housing because some of the people working at Micron are not going to be able to afford to live in those places that are being built now. So, we have to keep that in mind, so I'm just saying create a budget, all the impact that this will have on schools, fire, health, hospitals, and then making sure that we're not exceeding the tax breaks, and it's -- we're going to have a burden.
JEFFREY DAVIS: Okay. Is there anybody else who -- I just want to -- if there's anybody who hasn't spoken that would like to speak? Yes, sir. Please approach, state your name. STEVE SELEWAY: Okay. My name is Steve Seleway, S-E-L-E-W-A-Y. I didn't do my homework, so I'm just going to speak it out. So, when this thing first happened, I live about a half a mile from where it's going to be, and you can imagine what we thought at the time. All the things that were going to take place, the traffic pattern, I -- I heard they're going to expand 31 into six lanes or something, they're going to put another exit in. So, those concerns are from the community, you know, these are on -- this isn't about the money part because I understand that. Micron is going to go forward, we got to live with it, you know, even though we don't want it because it's going to change the whole neighborhood, especially if you live that close. So, that's my concern is it's going to completely transform where we move to, into another, a city, maybe with all the people that are coming in. So, we got, like I said, we've got to live with it. I know it's going to bring in jobs, but I want those concerns to be addressed as well. The standard of living that will change with all the, you know, the roads, all the things that have to be done with a -- with a company like that coming in, and I appreciate that. I appreciate they're going to bring in jobs, but I just want to bring those concerns up as well. Thank you.
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Anyone else who hasn't spoken yet? TAMI SCHANBACHER: Hi, my name is Tami Schanbacher. JEFFREY DAVIS: Please state it once you get to the mic so she can pick it up. TAMI SCHANBACHER: Hi, it's Tami Schanbacher, T-A-M-I S-C-H-A-N-B-A-C-H-E-R. So, I'd like to piggyback off of what that gentleman just said. I also own a house directly across from where Micron's going on Route 31, and I am concerned about what's going to happen there for us people that are at ground zero. Back in April I read on syracuse.com that the County purchased three homes as well as approximately a hundred acres that butts up to another parcel of my property that I own in Stearns Road. So, I read that it would become public knowledge for what the County paid when they closed. It's now November 6th, I read this at the end of April and I still haven't seen anything. So, I think it's very odd that this much time has gone by. Did the deal go -- did it not go through? Is it being hidden? What -- what's going on, because my property -- two -- my two properties that I own are -- I -- I don't know what's going on with them. So, if I could find out what's going on with those three properties that were supposedly sold, and the hundred acres, or the approximate hundred acres. That's it, thank you. ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Anybody else who hasn't spoken yet that would like to speak?
JEFFREY DAVIS: I don't know if you want to speak, we -- we do have a second public hearing specific to Micron's application for the rail spur, okay. So, if I -- if -- once people are done speaking here, we will be closing this public hearing, and then reopening the second public hearing with regard to their application on the rail spur. Alexis will read yet another public hearing notice once we do that. So, I'll -- if anybody who has spoken before that wants to speak again, I think is an opportunity now. Once we close a public hearing, we're going to take five minutes so that we can stretch our legs a little bit, and then we'll come back and -- and reopen the second public hearing. KHADEEJA AHMAD: Sure. I just wanted to add — JEFFREY DAVIS: Okay. You're going to have to state your name again and — KHADEEJA AHMAD: Okay. JEFFREY DAVIS: -- and go through that process. KHADEEJA AHMAD): Sure, yes. Khadeejah Ahmad, K-H-A-D-E-E-J-A-H A-H-M-A-D. One thing I didn't get to say that I just wanted to respond to one of the speakers before me, it's not being generally supportive of the economic prosperity that this project could result in.
There's just a few things that we want to ensure go right. And yes, this is an opportunity to bring domestic manufacturing jobs, high road jobs, back to Central New York, and have New York be like a leader in this, right. But we need to do this right, and we need to do it with Micron being transparent. And it was brought up like the wages, like, we need to know exactly what the titles, the wages are per year. For -- and what the benefits are, like being promised averages doesn't really make sense. And we also need worker voice centered, worker safety centered, you know, there's - - there's a lot of toxic chemicals used in the process. So, I mean, I'm not going to go into all the environmental and toxic concerns that are, you know, also a huge part of this. But then thirdly, I also want to say the community the -- the impact of the water and the energy and the twenty-four seven, you know, usage that Micron is going to do on the grid, like, what -- who is to guarantee that that's not going to fall on the rate payer? So, there are a lot of community concerns that need to be answered while we want this project to be successful. So, I just wanted to reiterate that, like, that is a perspective I'm coming from. And yeah, we would love to see it actually be, you know, what Syracuse and this deserves and what Central New York, you know, is long overdue.
LOUISE HOTALING: Louise Hotaling. I was just thinking that maybe with some of this that we're promising them, we could actually put in a clause that they have to hire so many people because — they promise fifty thousand jobs, well, we're not going to ever see that. But that they have to do a certain amount or they don't get those benefits. And then the other part of it is for the tax -- I know a person before me said, well, we're bringing in all these people, they're going to be paying taxes. Well, a lot of the things that are being built around here right now are town homes, apartments, they're not going to pay any taxes. And the people that are going to be temporary workers coming in doing the construction, they're not going to pay taxes, they're going to rent and they're going to leave the ones that aren't from this area. So, that might be something that we could add in there, that there is a clause that they have to hire so many, and we should put in something that in the event that they do pollute Oneida Lake, that they're held accountable, because we fell for that with Onondaga. I mean, it's -- it's got to happen so that we have some type of, you know, security. Thank you.
DONALD HUGHES: Don Hughes. We don't have to lose -- we don't have -- we do not have to worry about losing Micron, they are committed. They're here, they've gone through this whole long environmental impact statement process. They've made investments in O.C.C., they've made investments in the schools, they -- they are stuck there with their heels here. We want to engineer create craft, we want to put it an agreement tax structure that is equitable for the community, that achieves the greatest good for what comes out of this major project, which will have positive environmental effect -- positive economic effects. But is sure to come with problems, sure to incur greater expenses, impose greater expenses on the community, and risks, risk to the environment, risk to our water supply, risk to our air quality. So, keep that in mind, thank you.
NICOLE CAPSELLO: Good evening. I'm Nicole Capsello, last name C-A-P-S-E-L-L-O. I am a resident of Cicero, I'm a school age parent. I'm also the President of the Syracuse Teachers Association, I am an at large director for NYSED, I sit on our -- our area Labor Federation Boards. So, I represent a lot of people, not only in education, but in labor, and we do appreciate the opportunities. We've been working hard with Micron, I've been on, you know, sitting in with the money that has come in for our school districts to start up C.T.E. programs, and it's exciting. There are things that are coming our way. However, there is a sustainability issue, and the tax breaks to Micron as far as school taxes go, do create a long-term problem for us. And I—I think we are -- we really want to see this work. We really want our kids to be able to stay in the area. We want our labor force to grow through our C.T-E. programs that you are currently offering to help get off the ground. But in the long term, we have to ensure that there is a plan in place, that Micron ground will continue to invest in those programs even if they take the tax breaks, because the costs continue to rise. And the teachers, we -- we still continue to need them and there is a shortage. So, we need to be able to attract people into this field. And even though we will have people moving into the area, we're not sure they're going to be property owners, we're not sure they're going to be paying school taxes. They may be living in rental properties, they may be coming and going. So, we need some assurances that certain percentages of those jobs at Micron are going to be for community members who are already here and who are going to stay. So, I -- we welcome the opportunity, but I just want to say that for someone who hears from thousands of educators and laborers on that, we still have concerns and we just want to make sure that we are -- we are included in those conversations, and that there is some guarantees that we will be the ones benefiting from those jobs. Thank you.
ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Is there anybody else who would like to comment at this time? ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ: Hearing none, I'll move to close the public hearing. I just wanted to note that a copy of the application, including a cost benefit analysis, is available at the office of the Agency and on the Agency's website for review by interested persons. A copy of a recording of the hearing will be available on our website as well. Written comments are kept on file and available for public viewing at the office of the agency. There being no further business, this public hearing is closed at 7:38 PM on November 6th, 2025. Thank you. Dated: November 17, 2025 ONONDAGA COUNTY INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY Airis? Rade g isc By: e Alexis Rodriguez, Public Hearihg Officer