BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency
BWB Building
201 West Third Street, Jamestown, NY
2nd Floor Board Room
&
Fredonia Technology Incubator
214 Central Avenue, Dunkirk, NY
2nd Floor Conference Room
June 28, 2022
10:01 a.m.
Michael Metzger Chairman
Hans Auer Treasurer
Gary Henry Secretary
Brad Walters Member
Kevin Muldowney Member
Rhonda Jonson Member
Jay Churchill Member
Rhonda Johnson Member
Also in attendance:
Mark Geise Administrative Director/CEO
Richard E. Dixon Chief Financial Officer
Milan K. Tyler, Esq. Counsel
Carol Rasmussen CCIDA Staff
Kristine Morabito CCIDA Staff
Crystal Erhard CCIDA Staff
Jeanette Lo Bello CCIDA Staff
Rosie Strandburg CCIDA Staff
Kayla Strandburg CCIDA Staff
Jason Toczydlowski CCIDA Staff
Greg Bacon Post Journal
Adam Rizzo Solar Liberty Portland Community, LLC
Nathan Rizzo Solar Liberty Portland Community, LLC
Tim Odell Staff Intern
June Gilroy ABO
Thierry Demoly ABO
John Gula ABO
Absent Board Member(s):
Steven Thorpe Member
Meeting was called to order by Mike Metzger, Chairman, at 10:01 a.m.
Mike Metzger
I would like to call the County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency Board of Director’s Meeting to order. We are at two locations. BWB Building – 201 West Third Street, Jamestown New York, second floor Board Room and the Fredonia Technology Incubator, 214 Central Avenue, Dunkirk New York, second floor conference room. We are electronically via livestream on YouTube and Zoom. Its June 28, 2022 and its 10:01 a.m. Roll call please. Let the record show that there are eight members present and we do have quorum. I would like to accept a motion to approve the May 24, 2022 minutes, which thanks to Jeanette, you have already received.
Dennis Rak
Motion.
Kevin Muldowney
Second
Mike Metzger
Motion made by Dennis and seconded by Kevin. Are there any changes, corrections, questions? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying Aye.
Board
Aye – Unanimous.
Mike Metzger
Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carried unanimously. I would like to ask our County Executive PJ Wendel who always frequents our meetings – thank you – we much appreciate it – would you like to make a statement at this time?
County Executive PJ Wendel
Thank you for the opportunity. I can’t stress enough – we’ve been out – you’ve seen the projects at Americold you’ve seen other developments happening here in Chautauqua County. It’s easy to criticize when something fails with the IDA but I think that’s short sited. I think we need to look at the vision, the plan, what the Board is doing, what Rich, Kayla, Mark, the whole group is doing to promote economic development here in the county and moving our industry forward. Again, I’m excited and proud. The hardest part, as you all know, are these projects that are baking in the oven and when we are actually able to share them with the community. Recently, I’ve been out to places and what’s going on with the County, I don’t see much going on – I’ve told people it’s a lot like a swan. We look good on the top of the water but you don’t realize the business going on underneath and how fast the people are peddling and everyone at this table understands that and people viewing understand as well. Again, from myself personally I can’t say enough. Thank you. The relief knowing that this activity is happening, this economic development growth of our industries and making opportunities for people to come to Chautauqua County – start their business and grow our economy is a huge help – on behalf of myself and the residents who are thanking you every year when we come up with our budget and we know the funding is there based on sales tax revenue and what our businesses are doing for us – I appreciate it. Always look forward to these meetings and being part of it. Thank you.
Mike Metzger
Thank you County Executive PJ Wendel. Thank you for your continued support and your kind words, much appreciated.
Now, I will ask Rich Dixon, our Treasurer, to introduce some of our guests present.
Rich Dixon
Yes. Thank you Mike. We have with us today three members at our board meeting from the Authority Budget Office. We are in the second day of their compliance audit. June would you like to introduce yourself and your other teammates?
June Gilroy
Sure. My name is June Gilroy, this is Thierry Demoly, and John Gula from the Authority Budget Office.
Rich Dixon
Thank you June.
Mike Metzger
Thank you for attending. Let’s move to New Business please. We have our first New Business A being presented by both Mark Geise and Nate Aldrich who are present at the Incubator. Mark please.
Mark Geise
Thank you Mr. Chairman. I think we all recognize that the County has a lot of brownfields. Brownfields are sites that were previously used for industrial purposes. In some cases they may have some level of contamination or not. They could have even suspected levels of contamination. For a couple of years now we actually been actively looking at those sites and identifying, and evaluating them. One of the sticking points of getting those into active use is doing the environmental due diligence on those brownfields and also then remediating them and certain developers looking at those site don’t always have the funding, the cash available to go and do that so one of the programs that the Environmental Protection Agency offers every year is a grant cycle to apply for funding to establish a brownfields revolving loan fund and grant program. Nate has taken the lead on applying. We’ve applied for two years – one for the RLF I think that was two years ago – that’s one every other year – then one last year was environmental brownfields assessment program. We were rejected those two years. This year we got the grant. It’s a $600,000 grant. There is a match requirement. The County, through our Capital Projects Funding is providing a cash match and the IDA to administer the program is providing in-kind match. So, it ends up being about a $720, 000 program and again it’s a revolving loan fund. We will get paid back, part of it could be a grant. We haven’t worked out all the details of exactly what that looks like. We did submit a work plan a couple of days ago to the EPA. It’s modeled after Niagara County’s very successful brownfields revolving loan fund. They have had an active program for years. We are excited about this and to start getting these brownfields back into active use. Do you want to add to that Nate?
Nate Aldrich
No Mark. I think you hit on just about all points. I’d be happy to answer any questions.
Mike Metzger
Any questions for Mark or Nate?
Gary Henry
Do we have any specific sites that are looking for this already?
Nate Aldrich
As part of our EPA grant application we did identify and prioritize sites per their requirements of the application but we are not bound by those sites. We took at both the Jamestown and Dunkirk brownfield opportunities areas, boundaries and using our existing inventory as developed in the last several years with consultant support and assistance. All those details will come to light later this fall when we formally roll out the program and develop the application. There’s certainly eligibility requirements and an EPA review to make sure specific sites are eligible. We are still shifting through all those details.
Mike Metzger
I think unfortunately, given our County you probably have a lot of sites to choose from.
Nate Aldrich
We do. Yes.
Mike Metzger
Good question.
Mark Geise
The thing about brownfield sites obviously that in almost every case they are located in areas that already have the infrastructure. They are already zoned correctly. Typically the neighbors are used to activity there. It’s not like a big shock to the neighborhood. There are a lot of advantages to looking at brownfields. Unfortunately, a lot of them aren’t that big but there are certainly very attractive sites for us to be concentrating on.
Mike Metzger
Excellent. Any other questions of Mark or Nate? Thank you for being so successful in acquiring this grant.
Mark Geise
That’s Nate.
Mike Metzger
Our superstar grant writer Nate. Thank you very much. Great job. Dennis if you could please move New Business A.
Dennis Rak
Resolution 06-28-22-06 of The Members of The County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency Accepting Grant Funds From The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to Establish a Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund and Approving Entry into Various Agreements to Launch Said Program
Mike Metzger
Thank you Dennis. Do I have a second?
Kevin Muldowney
I’ll second.
Mike Metzger
Thank you Kevin. Motion made by Dennis and seconded by Kevin. Any further discussion or questions of Mark or Nate? Hearing none, I will have a roll call vote please.
Board
Aye – Unanimous.
Mike Metzger
Let the record show eight votes carried in the affirmative. Motion carried unanimously. Thank you and good luck. New Business B is going to be introduced by Rich and Milan.
Rich Dixon
Rosie is on vacation so you’ll have to put up with me today. Resolution B, C, and D are three solar farms and they will be explained in more detail by Nathan and Adam Rizzo who are joining us today from Solar Liberty. The first project is 3.92 megawatts in the town of Portland. Richard Lewis, the Town Supervisor is very much in favor of the project. The Town is lead agency and they have approved it. The second project is 3.6 megawatts. Again the town was lead agency and they approved it. So, we have a couple of resolutions for those that Milan is going to talk about after Nate and Adam speak. The third project is – we are just doing a preliminary due diligence resolution for SL Fredonia which is a 4.68 megawatt project in the Town of Pomfret. Dan Pacos, Town Supervisor is in favor of the project and the Town will also be the lead agent. At this point, I would like to turn it over to Nathan and Adam Rizzo from Solar Liberty and they can talk about all three of those projects and then we will take the resolutions next Mike.
Nathan Rizzo
Thank you very much for having us on today. We would like to get started with the SL Portland sites. Would that be best to start with?
Rich Dixon
Yes.
Nathan Rizzo
For SL Portland we have two projects as mentioned. We have SL Portland Array 1, which is located on Main Street in the Town of Portland. It’s set back by the railroad tracks. We worked with the Town of Portland to avoid any Chenango gravelly loam soil which is best for grape growing and we found opportune spots where it limits the impact from both a visual aesthetic perspective from the Town. It also sets the systems back away the majority of homes. We worked quite readily with the Town of Portland to develop projects that make the most sense in these particular areas. Both systems are fixed tilt 20 degree racking systems. From a visual aspect perspective we have a condition to our permit that we’ll work with the Town a year after the installation of the projects to put any visual screening up or vegetative buffers that they might want to isolate the system from certain perspectives. As of now, there may be glimpses of the system from certain portions but the systems in their entirety are not readily visible from public road ways and neighboring homes.
Rich Dixon
Thank you. Adam and Nate if you want to talk about the Fredonia – that project as well.
Nathan Rizzo
Ok. SL Fredonia is located on Route 60 at the crossroads of Eagle Street and Route 60. It’s across the roads from those crossroads. It’s set back from Route 60 approximately 200 feet. We worked with the Town of Pomfret to design the system to have limited visual from the public roadways and also any of the homes. This portion of Route 60 is quite open land with the topography lends itself quite well to hiding the majority of the system from the public views. We’re looking for that particular project – it is a fix tilt and the modules are mounted at 20 degrees. We will be looking to interconnect at the sub transmission lines that run perpendicular to the property. So, what’s particularly nice about this project is we don’t need to come to Route 60 for interconnection purposes. The entirety of the system, the facility, the interconnection point – everything is very well defined in the area of the solar project. Again, we worked with the Town and at this point, based upon our renderings and our visual assessments there will not be any vegetative buffers for this particular location.
Rich Dixon
Nate or Adam, could you talk briefly about President Biden when he decided not to put the tariff on the panel. What that means for projects in the United States and for you guys – that he postponed that for two years. Can you explain to the Board what the impact that might have had and now what’s happening without it.
Adam Rizzo
Good Morning. Thank you for having us today. Rich, that’s a great question. We were a bit caught off guard earlier this year with potential tariff on solar panels being imported that no one was anticipating. It through the solar industry for a bit of a loop because everyone was scared to import solar panels because you didn’t know what the potential tariffs were going to be on the equipment and it could be retroactive as well. It pretty much put a pause on every project being developed and looking to construct until that was resolved. Recently, the administration put a two year hold on any new tariffs for the solar panels, allowing solar projects to move forward and to have some certainty on what the potential cost implications would be for that solar equipment. So, it’s been a great thing for the industry and solar panels are starting to be imported again into the United States. There’s just not enough solar panels being produced in the United States at this time to fulfill the demand for the industry. We hope that that will change as more both domestic and foreign corporations are looking to expand their domestic production here in the United States. At this time there just isn’t enough capacity to support the industry so we still need to import and use panels from oversees at this time.
Hans Auer
How about supply chain issues? Do you see them pushing back potential completion dates and have you been able to manage some of the global supply chain issues? I wonder if that has hit you directly and now with the shut down again in China maybe you could talk a little bit about that and how it effects your business.
Adam Rizzo
Thank you for your question. It’s a good question. It definitely pushed completion dates out for our projects, unfortunately. Equipment that used to be readily available within three to four weeks, we are now seeing many, many weeks for us to get equipment. Some of the transformers and different pieces are fifty-two weeks from the time you order them. Those type of things have been very difficult to manage. It’s also resulted in price increases for us on many of these electrical components and just labor and general things. All aspects of projects really have increased in terms of the cost implications. We’re still working on ways to make these projects happen and for them to pencil out, but it definitely has had an impact on all of us in the industry overall.
Mark Geise
Maybe you could speak to the decommissioning plans for these projects.
Adam Rizzo
Nathan would you like to handle that?
Nathan Rizzo
Sure. So the decommissioning plans – the Town of Pomfret had us follow the Chautauqua County’s language from a perspective of a decommissioning bond that would be reviewed every four years. Similarlily we’ll have to put together a decommissioning bond for the SL Portland projects, but the overall impact for the projects from a construction perspective are very limited from concrete use to anything that will really disrupt the project once it becomes time to decommission the systems. We’re looking to utilize driven piles so the vertical post that hold the solar modules or go into the ground for the mounting system are post driven, so those are very easy to remove along with very little use of concrete. So the only concrete located on the projects will be at the transformer pads. So, again very limited amount of space that will be very easy to remove once the systems have served their useful life. The conduit and wiring again is something that can be easily removed, but all aspects of the system, I know from a decommissioning bond perspective the County and the local municipalities don’t want to see recycling costs included in the overall decommissioning costs but all of the equipment really is recyclable. It consists of steel, aluminum, glass and copper. Once the system has served its useful life all of the goods can be recycled and put back into different industries.
Mike Metzger
What is the typical life of these projects?
Nathan Rizzo
We tend to look at the warranty from a solar module perspective. The solar panels have a twenty-five year warranty. They are made up of silicon. Silicon in its most basic form is quartz sand. If you think back to chemistry class, the silicon cell is an element that has a half-life. So, the solar panels do tend to degrade. They’ll degrade about 2% in year one and .2% every year thereafter. So, even after a twenty-five year warranty period, the modules are going to be producing about 10% less power. So, really form a viable lifespan perspective, we’re looking at a viable life span of thirty to thirty-five years for the solar modules themselves. Some of the electrical equipment, such as the transformers, we can just look to the utilities. There is a longevity to the systems depending on how the solar systems are performing and efficiency improvements – there may be opportunities to keep the systems energized for a very long time depending if the County and the local municipalities would still allow the solar project to be energizing the grid.
Mike Metzger
Thank you. We have to thank Nathan and Adam – for your continued commitment to Chautauqua County and our economic development because these are just some of many projects that you have in our County. We can’t thank you enough. Milan would you like to entertain the deviation hearing please.
Milan Tyler
Happy too Mr. Chairman. I would first point out that we should deal with these as the Portland two projects together because they are a little out of sync with Fredonia project. So we will deal with them separately and the reason for that is the practice of the Board has been to not move these projects forward, any solar projects forward, unless and until the Town has either given their formal or informal go ahead. So, for example, that’s why the Fredonia project is behind in terms of timing the two Portland projects. I think you’ll see that with all of the solar projects we’ve done and are doing. Very often when a developer comes with more than one project, but they are out phase moving forward at that rate. If it’s ok with you Mr. Chairman, I would like to do the deviation hearing for both the Solar Liberty Portland Route 20/Main Street and the Solar Liberty Portland Fay Street projects together. Notice of the deviation hearing was sent to each of the effected tax jurisdictions. We’ve received no written correspondence from any of the affected tax jurisdictions, so at this time I would like to ask if there is anyone who would like to speak in favor or against or otherwise with regard to either of those two projects. Hearing none, I would like to close the deviation hearings on both the Solar Liberty Portland Route 20 Main Street and Solar Liberty Fay Street. So, I think Mr. Chairman, we are ready to do the resolutions. We can take them together if you would like or do them separately.
Mike Metzger
Let’s take them separately, since it would reflect our agenda.
Rich Dixon
Mike, I just want to stop you there. We have grouped the resolutions by project. So there are two resolutions for each project. We had planned to take them together and they are listed together.
Mike Metzger
Yes. Thank you Milan for conducting the deviation hearing. I’ll ask Kevin to move New Business B, both of those resolutions.
Kevin Muldowney
Resolution 06-28-22-01 Deviation Approval Resolution – Fay Street & Resolution 06-28-22-02 Final Approving Resolution – Fay Street
Mike Metzger
Thank you Kevin. Do we have a second?
Dennis Rak
Second.
Thank you Dennis. We had it moved by Kevin and seconded by Dennis. Any further discussion?
Milan Tyler
Mr. Chairman, I would like to summarize both of these. The first is the deviation resolution, as we just did the deviation hearing. Again, this is a fairly typical PILOT. Its $3500.00 per megawatt over twenty-five years, as we have just discussed, with 2% annual increases. That is sort of becoming right in the ballpark of what we’ve done for others. The second, is the final approving resolution. We’ve had the public hearing, SEQRA as was mentioned, was done by the Town. The IDA was named as involved agency so we are bound by the Town’s negative declaration that there is no significant adverse environmental impact on the project. So, if both of those are approved, this will be the final approval by the Board and we will work with the applicants council to put all the documents in place, sign and then close probably in the next few months.
Mike Metzger
Thank you Milan. I appreciate that clarification.
Milan Tyler
I’m sorry, one more thing. The resolution does set forth the estimated amounts of each of the types of financial assistance which is real property mortgage recording tax and sales tax. Your resolution also includes a map to show where these projects are, as well as, the economic impact calculation. With that I am done.
Mike Metzger
Thank you Milan. Any questions of Milan, Rich or Nathan or Adam regarding these exciting projects? Hearing none, roll call vote please.
Board
Aye – Unanimous.
Mike Metzger
Let the record show eight votes in the affirmative. Motion carried unanimously. If I could please have Gary Henry move New Business C5. Those two resolutions please.
Gary Henry
Resolution 06-28-22-03 Deviation Approval Resolution – Route 20 & Resolution 06-28-22-04 Final Approving Resolution – Route 20
Mike Metzger
Thank you Gary. I have a motion. Do I have a second?
Dennis Rak
Second.
Mike Metzger
Motion made by Gary and seconded by Dennis. Milan please.
Milan Tyler
This is almost parallel to the last set of resolutions that you did. Again, the economic assistance is set forth in the resolution. This is the first project that Rich mentioned. This is on Route 20, also known as Main Street – a 3.92 megawatt project. Again, we had the deviation hearing a few minutes ago. The same PIOLT $3,500 per megawatt, 25 years, 2% increases. Same thing with SEQRA -town lead agency so we are bound by it. If approved we will move this forward. This will be the final approving by the Board.
Mike Metzger
Thank you Milan. Any questions of Milan? Hearing none, roll call vote please.
Board
Aye – Unanimous.
Mike Metzger
Let the record show eight votes in the affirmative. Motion carried unanimously. Now, I will ask Hans Auer if you could please move New Business D2 please.
Hans Auer
Resolution 06-28-22-05 Due Diligence Resolution and Agreement – SL Fredonia
Mike Metzger
Thank you. Do we have a second?
Kevin Muldowney
Second.
Mike Metzger
Motion made by Hans and seconded by Kevin. Milan please.
Milan Tyler
This is a due diligence resolution only. It doesn’t bind or commit the Board in any way, but it expresses that the Board has enough interest that they are directing staff and council to start conducting due diligence. Before this comes back to the Board we will hold a public hearing, we will do SEQRA and again we understand that the Town is going to assume lead agency status – their SEQRA finding would be binding on the IDA. We would talk to the applicant about a PILOT and assuming that it deviates from your UTEP we would send a PILOT deviation notice, come back to the Board, do a PILOT deviation and we would work with the applicant on other due diligence. For example, if there are any questions that any of you have, that you want us to ask of the applicant, we would do so, including things like the decommissioning or anything else that the Board has in mind. Then, we would come back to the Board, hold a deviation hearing and look for final approval and it may be as early as the July meeting, but this does not bind the Board, it just authorizes and instructs us to conduct that due diligence before coming back to you.
Mike Metzger
Thank you Milan. Any questions of Milan? Roll call vote please.
Board
Aye – 7 -Unanimous. – 1 Abstention – Dennis Rak
Mike Metzger
Let the record show we have seven votes in the affirmative. One abstention. Motion carried. Now we will move to the New Business E, the Loan Workout Policy, which for your information was approved by the Governance Committee. Rich Dixon please.
Rich Dixon
Thank you Mike. At the recommendation of our auditors and to clean up some practices particularly that started during covid, we made some tweaks to how we handle our loans and how we handle the write-offs. The policy will be changed for all of our loan funds. The first change were just some grammatical changes that Mark had done. We had said before that the maximum term for working capital would be 7 and the maximum term for machinery and equipment would be 10 and the maximum amount for real-estate loans would be 20. We’ve added a qualifier there that these terms are subject to change based on the CCIDA Board of Directors discretion. The next change, as Milan described, is that we are – on the loan workouts that the Board has authorizing the Project Manager, the CFO Portfolio Administrator, which is me, the Controller and the CEO to workout interest only, forbearances, term changes with individuals that are having problems. This came to the forefront during covid as you all know. It was amazing the number of forbearances we did and the number of interest only we did. Again as Kayla will report later, we are happy to say that 99% of those people are back paying and that’s great. The Board is authorizing us to do that. The last change is that all loan write-offs will be approved by the Board. So, we won’t write-off a loan until we bring it to the Board and explain why – either we’ve gotten everything we can collateral wise and there’s nothing more to get and we feel it’s time to write it off. So, those are the changes and those were all approved by the Governance Committee Mike. That’s all I have.
Mike Metzger
Great. Questions of Rich? Again, this was approved by the Governance Committee. Hearing none, I will entertain a motion to approve our modified Loan Workout Policy as presented by Rich.
Dennis Rak
So moved.
Mike Metzger
Do I have a second?
Kevin Muldowney
Second.
Mike Metzger
Motion made by Dennis and seconded by Kevin. Thank you. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by Aye.
Board
Aye – Unanimous.
Mike Metzger
Opposed? Abstained? Motion carried unanimously. Now, we’ll move to New Business F and this will be presented by Kristine.
Kristine Morabito
Thank you Mr. Chairman. This discussion is just for informational purposes to make the Board aware that the CCIDA had received a LEAD application which is our sales tax only abatement program from a new entity call Xmas Dave, LLC. Xmas, LLC is owned by Dave Gordan of Erie County New York, who is purchasing the former Petri Baking Products facility located at 18 Main Street in Silver Creek. The application and benefits were approved by the Transaction Committee on June 22, 2022. The application, meeting minutes and the cost benefit analysis were provided to you in your board meeting documents in the advance of the meeting. Again, it’s for sales tax abatement. The project budget is
$350, 000 not including the acquisition and the requested benefits were up to $28,000 in sales tax exemption. This will be at their 130,000 sq. ft. facility again located at 18 Main Street in Silver Creek. They are projecting five construction jobs related to the renovations and improvements of the building and very conservatively, they are projecting six full time permanent jobs ranging in payroll form $30,000 to $50,000 per year plus benefits. The permanent jobs will be established in the first year and will remain the same in future years. In terms of SEQRA review this was a Type 2 SEQRA with no further action needed. Timeline – they have already purchased the building and they are ready to begin making the improvements as soon as possible with phased in cleaning and improvements that are projected to be completed by June 2023. As mentioned, we also performed a cost benefit analysis for this project and the benefit to cost ratio was 36 to 1. Excellent return on our investment.
Mike Metzger
This will be transformational for the Town of Silver Creek.
Kristine Morabito
In recent years this building has been owned by a regional company that issues the space for warehouse distribution and storage with one part-time property manager. That has been going on ten years now. There will be a lot more activity, a lot more jobs downtown and I do know they are planning to paint the building and make property improvements also. So, this right in the heart of Silver Creek on Main Street so it will be, as you say, transformational.
Mark Geise
Mr. Chairman, I might add – people ask me well what happened to Petri Baking. I thought they were coming back. In 2020 Mr. Habib had announced plans to purchase the building and reopen it making cookies again. We worked with him and provided a lot of technical assistance, Kristine did. We lined them up with assistance with the state. We approved incentives through the IDA and he was sort of at the five yard line ready to punch it across and that’s about when covid hit. So, because of that and supply chain issues he was concerned about workforce etc…It delayed things and he just decided to pull the plug on it. In the meantime the building sold and Mr. Gordon bought it. He is very established. He’s got a successful WNY business and so he’s going to do warehouse distribution out of it. We think it’s a good outcome for the facility. He is going to invest in it saves that building. That’s the back story.
Kristine Morabito
If I could add, Dave Gordon owns two very popular websites – Christmas.com and Christmascentral .com – they provide fulfillment services for major retailers that we are all familiar with. Those that buy Christmas decorations – that’s where your purchasing your Christmas decorations – they are being fulfilled through his business – for his own websites and also for major retailers. So, part of that is going to happen in Silver Creek in Chautauqua County.
Mike Metzger
Excellent project. Thank you. Any questions for Kristine or Mark?
Milan Tyler
Mr. Chairman, may I add that there is no action to be taken by the Board as this is the LEAD Program that the Board approved a couple of years ago. This is, I believe, the third time we are doing this LEAD Program and it was enacted, as most of the Board recalls, to give sales tax only for smaller projects that didn’t really – they weren’t’ big enough to bare all the time, cost and expense of a full PILOT application etc. So as long as is interior renovations, as Kristine mentioned, that would make it a TYPE 2 action under SEQRA and therefore no further action is needed and as long as financial assistance is under $100,000 and therefore under the GML we don’t need a public hearing or a specific Board resolution, the Board has approved this program. So what happens is that an application comes in, Project Manager reviews it, the transaction committee approves it and that’s sort of the end of the story, except that we report back to the Board after each one of these and if the Board has any direction or comment or anything else than the transaction committee would act appropriately. So, this is just a reporting back and to get any further guidance or feedback from the Board on this application or the program in general. There is no action to be taken right now.
Mike Metzger
Thank you Milan. I believe that we have another project that will be introduced similarly. Any questions for Kristine or Mark? Ok, let’s move to New Business G which will be presented by both Rich and Milan.
Rich Dixon
Again, I apologize, this is another one of Rosie’s projects. Maesteg, LLC has three subsidiaries. They have the Barn at Farmington Hollow which provides outdoor venues for weddings and events. They also have cabins at the Hollow which are for visitors coming in. They also have a farm and market where they sell produce, poultry and maple syrup. We received a tax lease PILOT application for a new event pavilion which can accommodate weddings and events. It’s approximately 4,000 square ft. in the Town of Cherry Creek. The Town Supervisor is very excited. We did a short environmental assessment form and we determined that this was an unlisted action. The SEQRA was done before it started. They applied for a Tourism Tax Lease PILOT application which is part of our Uniform Tax Exempt Policy. The project cost was $589,000. They will create five FTE’s in year one, eight FTE’s in year two and nine FTE’s by year three. Alyssa was on the phone with us at the Transaction Committee Meeting. She was dressed as a working farmer and she said when she got done she had to go feed the goats – Fabulous project there. They bring a lot of people to the community from all over, not just Ohio. They get people form Jersey and they stay in the cabins. I know PJ was up there not too long ago and took the tour. It’s a fabulous place and they were just excited that we could help them make this place a reality. Milan do you want to talk about what happened at the Transaction Committee Meeting?
Milan Tyler
Again, there is no action before the Board today, just really a reporting back, and to back up a step as we all recall the typical first step in a PILOT project – this is not under the LEAD Program – this is bigger than that – this is going to be a regular typical PILOT. The first step is usually a due diligence resolution. The Board has also authorized a transaction committee to act in lieu of the actual due diligence resolution. That’s typically for smaller projects and or projects that have a specific timing issue. So, in this case the Transaction Committee met and gave an initial go ahead to go through the same due diligence that we would do on any other project. So, the due diligence steps that I talked about before with Pomfret are exactly what we will do here. The Transaction Committee approved going forward. As Rich mentioned, it is tourism so it falls under your Tourism Destination definition, attracts a significant amount of visitors from outside the economic development region, therefore will not be a deviation from your UTEP. It is such a small project that it is going to be a TYPE II, so SEQRA won’t be an issue but we will still conduct the due diligence, do a public hearing, and then come back to the Board. The Board obviously still has final authority, this is just reporting back and getting any feedback from any of the Board if there are any questions or due diligence that you want us to conduct. They’ve asked for mortgage recording tax pursuant to your UTEP, sales tax and mortgage recording tax. Again, when we wrap it all in a bow we would come back presumably at the July meeting and ask for full Board approval. So, there is really no action, just wanted to get any feedback from any of the Board Members or any members of the public as to this project.
Mike Metzger
Thank you Milan. It’s basically a family run business and they are very hands on in the operations. Also, this is both on the snowmobile trail and the horse trails.
Mark Geise
I worked on those snowmobile trails and horse trails.
Mike Metzger
Thanks to Mark Geise, that trail is extremely successful and brings a lot of people outside of our region, as I believe, they are boarding horses and doing everything. Questions for Rich or Milan? Again, two very exciting projects, transformational for the area and great for economic impact. Let’s now move to the Executive Director’s Report.
Mark Geise
Thank you Mr. Chairman. I’m going to be quick. Three things really quick. There was a ribbing cutting for Americold last week. Americold is an 181,000 sq. ft. cold storage facility located in the Town of Dunkirk on Route 60. Over $40 million dollars invested there. Ninety percent of their capacity is going to be for Wells. We helped Wells, they did a $90 million dollar renovation there, new equipment, etc. The County Executive was there and we both spoke at the event. It was just really exciting. What an exciting day to be able to stand there and look at this incredible facility. Kristine was there and she did all the heavy lifting on it from the IDA perspective and just a really thrilling day. I wanted to thank the Board and everyone that supported that project and I congratulate all of you. The second thing is that I wanted to mention that the County received almost $25 million dollars from the ARPA and we worked on the committee under the leadership of County Executive Wendel to establish 43 projects that were approved in the plan by the legislature. One of those projects was $400,000 was allocated for business assistance. There are really three different things that we did with that. One is that we provided grants to businesses and non-for-profits to help them with upgrading their marketing. That can be anything from social media to website development, signs, branding etc. We worked in partnership with the SBDC and the Chamber of Commerce. We did the marketing and we had a list that unfortunately we weren’t able to serve all – we have sort of a pipeline and we will continue to work on that. We were able to help 35 businesses. It averaged over $8,000 per business. I have heard from a lot of people that have gotten back to me and said thank you so much, I don’t know how else we would have done this – We’ve needed to do this for years, we haven’t had the money to do it, it’s sort of the last thing – you have to pay your rent, your employees and marketing sometimes falls by the waterside. This provided the funding for them to do what they needed to do. The other things that we did – we’re working with Insyte Consulting to implement ESG, Environmental, Social, and Governance practices within – up to five companies to work with them directly to really take a close look at the ESG to improve their company culture – to help them retain and attract employees. They are also doing – I read the draft a few days ago – a do it yourself manual assessment tool where companies that don’t want to necessarily work with an Insyte to do this deep dive can look at these things themselves and work on these practices. It has been something that has been on our radar. I know that Hans has brought it up a number of times and it’s an important thing on many levels. Thirdly, we are working also as part of the $400,000 with Invest Buffalo Niagara on their Economic Gardening program. They are going to help up to five companies that are sort of at the second level – companies that have established a good brand and their market and are ready to go to the next level. They come in there and they help them to get to that next level. They are working with two companies in Chautauqua County now. It’s something that they’ve done in Niagara County, Erie County and they really wanted to do it here. They have two companies that they are working with now and we are excited about that too. I just wanted to remind everyone that Thursday we are celebrating the CCIDA’s 50th Anniversary with the Tarp Skunks at 5:00 p.m. We are having dinner at the Jamestown field and the game starts at 6:30 p.m. Please come. It’s open to the community. We hope that the community and all of you come and bring your families. We look forward to celebrating on that special day. Any questions?
Mike Metzger
As always, you have a lot going on. It’s exciting. Thank you. Now, Rich Dixon, the Treasurer’s Report please.
Rich Dixon.
Reviewed and discussed Treasures Report.
Mike Metzger
I want again to note that if you look, our grant income through five months is greater than we had budgeted for, for the whole year. That’s tremendous. Extremely well done. And of course, professional fees are going to be greater as we’re doing more projects than we anticipated. As Rich identified, we will be bringing to this Board in the next meeting a revised budget to better reflect his year but it’s because of our excellent performance this year. Thank you Rich. Any questions of Rich? Ok. I will entertain a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report as presented.
Dennis Rak
So moved.
Mike Metzger
Thank you Dennis. We have a motion by Dennis. Do I have a second?
Kevin Muldowney
Second.
Mike Metzger
We have a motion by Dennis and a second by Kevin. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by Aye.
Board
Aye – Unanimous.
Mike Metzger
Any Opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carried unanimously. Now I would like to accept a motion to move into Executive Session for discussion of any particular property purchases or specific information on companies or relative to employees. Do I have a motion?
Kevin Muldowney
Motion.
Mike Metzger
Thank you Kevin. Do I have second?
Dennis Rak
Second.
Mike Metzger
We have a motion by Kevin and a second by Dennis. All those in favor?
Board
Aye – Unanimous.
Mike Metzger
Any Opposed? Any abstentions? Let the record show, motion carried unanimously
Executive Session
Start Time: 11:08 a.m.
Executive Session
End Time: 11:28 a.m.
Mike Metzger
Thank you Jeanette. For Milan’s purposes only, let the record show that no official actions were taken during Executive Session. Any Old Business to come before this forum? Hearing none, our next CCIDA Board Meeting will be July 26, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. It will be a dual meeting again at both the BWB building in Jamestown and the Fredonia Technology Incubator in Dunkirk New York. As always quorum is extremely important and we thank all of our volunteers and staff for all the excellent work for the economic development for this County.
The meeting is adjourned. This meeting is adjourned at 11:30 a.m.
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(Assistant) Secretary (Vice) Chairman
