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Rip Van Winkle environmental clearance required before public hearing; Wallace Campus, High Street and UTEP rewrite remain in pipeline
Summary
Board members said Rip Van Winkle cannot move forward until environmental documentation is provided; Wallace Campus remains under review, High Street is in a holding pattern, a Baxter pilot was not completed, and a consultant is working on rewriting the UTEP with a March outline expected.
The Poughkeepsie IDA updated the board on several projects in its pipeline and on a consultant-led rewrite of its Uniform Tax Exemption Policy (UTEP).
The board said the Rip Van Winkle project cannot proceed beyond current steps until the applicant provides its environmental certificate; once the agency receives the required documentation and C-corporation approval, the board can schedule a public hearing. The board noted the environmental documentation and the board packet will be posted on the agency website for review before a hearing.
The Wallace Campus application remains in the pipeline with no movement reported. The board said Grow America will review the Wallace Campus application and may perform a cost-benefit analysis; the consultant is expected to provide a contract amendment to extend the original UTEP-related contract and to handle cost-benefit analyses on a case-by-case basis.
High Street is described as being in a holding pattern with a deadline in late December (transcript: "they have until, I believe it's December 26"); the board said it will follow up with the applicant. The Baxter-related PILOT (payment-in-lieu) pilot was not completed: the building was sold and the owner did not finish the PILOT arrangements; counsel wrote off unpaid legal fees as bad debt according to the transcript. The board said IDA pilots are not transferable under the agency’s older UTEP.
On UTEP, the consultant is reviewing the city’s new zoning and will provide a preliminary review and outline in March; the board said it will align incentives in the UTEP with the city zoning where appropriate and keep the policy simple.
The board discussed outreach to New Rochelle’s IDA and said Grow America personnel previously met with the board to discuss reviewing pipeline projects.
