Economic board breaks down marine costs

PENN YAN—The Finger Lakes Economic Development Center (FLEDC) discussed the cost sharing of the Penn Yan Marine development during their meeting Wednesday, March 20. Chief Executive Officer Steve Griffin said there were some “substantial steps forward” in getting verbal agreements to the sharing of the $2.25 million cost of wastewater and water upgrades being done to the property developed by Chrisanntha Inc. He said the challenge is in how they will structure the debt paybacks, and they still need to go before the town and village boards before anything is officially agreed upon.
Griffin said the cost percentages would be divided approximately 40 percent to Yates County, 30 percent to the village of Penn Yan, 20 percent to the Penn Yan Central School District and 10 percent to the town of Milo. He said the formula the group put together looks at a lot of different factors, but the percentages were based on how much revenue each municipality would receive from the development during a 10 year span.
Griffin said the deal would basically add up to a 100 percent payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT), with the main difficulty being how to apply this to upscale housing.
In other business:
• The board moved to formally terminate the PILOT on the Dundee Foods building located at 74 Seneca St. The board discussed during their February meeting sending a letter to building owner Aceyt Foods saying they would terminate the PILOT if they do not begin utilizing the building. Since Aceyt has conducted no work since purchasing the building, the board moved to officially terminate the PILOT.
• The board agreed to send a letter to Finger Lakes Rail in regards to a complaint by a Seneca Lake resident not being able to use an existing road crossing on his property which the company allows a neighbor to use. Griffin said there is not much the board can do to fix the situation other than contacting the rail company and trying to influence their stance on the issue.