IDA approves multiple financing resolutions, adopts grant policy and schedules Bill School public hearing

The Herkimer County Industrial Development Agency held a series of routine and project-specific votes Monday, approving minutes and financial reports, adopting a uniform grant guidance policy and consenting to multiple lender-financing actions.

The board approved the October 2018 minutes and then accepted the October financial reports after staff described year-to-date results and outstanding receivables. "We do have a couple of, higher expenses, the property taxes, maintenance, and expenses," an unidentified staff member said while reviewing the reports.

The board adopted the agency's uniform grant guidance policy after a brief review. It also approved lender-financing resolutions involving a local gas lender (consent to cash-out refinance; staff noted a $1,000 IDA fee), HBK Industries (fee noted in the packet), and an Aldrich transaction that included assignment of project documents to a newly formed holding company.

Separately, the board approved fee adjustments for two solar projects to preserve mortgage-recording tax benefits for the applicants: staff proposed a reduced IDA fee (described as 25% plus the usual $1,000 administrative fee) yielding roughly $12,500 per project and $24,500 combined on the packet numbers. The board voted to accept the change and adopted the related resolutions.

The board also approved a $5,000 Chamber of Commerce sponsorship and passed a resolution to hold a public hearing for the Bill School project (hearing proposed for Dec. 19 in the office or chamber). Later in the meeting the board voted on a sale-price resolution for Bill School setting the price at $150,000.

Most motions were moved and seconded on the record; specific individual roll-call tallies are not consistently recorded in the transcript excerpt. Where a named opposed vote appears in the transcript, that was noted during the meeting.