March 29th 2022
COMIDA BOARD MEETING SUMMARY MARCH 29, 2022 OBSERVED BY DEBORAH RICE GORDONBrian LaFountain gave an update on the Amazon Manitou site. As of March 19, the local labor was at 66% of all workers, with a goal of 70%. Projections for the end of the project are 69%. The dollars paid to local vs. non-local labor is 71.2%, which is ahead of budget and the target of 70% The local labor monitoring report was distributed prior to the meeting and a project on Union Street using nonlocal labor was discussed.
PROJECT APPLICATION REVIEW:
Requests for sales tax exemptions, recording tax exemptions and/or real property tax abatements were approved for the following applications:
- American Management, LLC, for expansion of the American Fleet Maintenance facility, a related company dealing in heavy truck repair, located at 275 International Blvd. in Rochester.
- Coopervision, Inc. for renovation and expansion of their existing facility in Scottsville. At the public hearing for this project, the Gates Town Supervisor supported the project but expressed concerns for the impact of the property tax abatement on their small tax base.?
- 1200 Lee Road, LLC for an expansion of the Alliance Precision Plastics Corporation facility on Lee Road in Greece.
The following requests were approved:
• MS International Inc. for an extension of the sales tax exemption through June 30, 2022.
• 2064 Fairport Nine Mile Point Road for a transfer of benefits for this sports medicine facility to the new owner.
OTHER BUSINESS:
A number of administrative issues were discussed since this meeting served as COMIDA’s annual meeting.
• Mark Iacona and consultants gave an overview of the Rochester Jazz Festival including the economic impacts, scholarship opportunities, community regard for the event, and the positive effect on job creation. He requested up to $75,000 to support 20-30 student internships. A motion to enter into a contract for this support was passed.
• The Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) is a Department of Defense program sponsored locally by COMIDA that provides support to local businesses who may work with the government or military. A PTAC representative presented an annual report and funding request for 2022-23. Funding was approved.
• COMIDA’s annual report for 2021 was discussed. Fifty-three new projects were reviewed representing $1.4 billion in company revenues. Two thousand new jobs were created over 3 years in these companies and over 6000 construction jobs were generated by these projects.
Audit Committee Report:
No problems or deficiencies were identified in the 2021 audit conducted by Mengel, Metzger and Barr CPA. No changes were suggested for the committee charter, whistle blower/internal control and accountability policies. A motion to approve these passed.
Financial Committee Report:
The fee schedule was reviewed and the committee recommended acceptance without changes. No changes to the committee charter were suggested. Changes were recommended for the disposition and procurement policies as well as the investment and deposit policy limiting deposits to $15 million for any one financial institution.
Compliance Committee Report:
The termination of a pilot program is possible because the residence was being used as a short-term rental rather than being owner-occupied, as required in the program. Thirty days will be given to correct the situation but the pilot will be terminated if a cure is not adopted. Re-capturing the benefit value will be investigated. A motion to notify the owner of the default passed. No changes were recommended for the annual review and compliance procedures.
Governance Committee Report:
No changes were suggested to the committee charter. Two policy changes were recommended: (1) the investment and deposit policy will be changed so that deposits at any one financial institution do not exceed $5 million, and (2) for solar and wind projects, a one-time $25,000 payment to fund workforce development programs will be required. The committee recommended that the full board re-adopt the By-laws with changes related to signing authority, the Mission Statement with the removal of the word “recreational” and adopt the Performance Measurement Report. The committee also recommended the full board re-adopt all other polices with no changes. All recommendations were approved.
Election of officers – Ann Barr was elected as chair, Jay Popli as vice-chair, Troy Milne as secretary, and Lisa Bolsner as treasurer. The ethics officer will be the chair of audit committee and the contracting officer will be the executive director.
Finance Committee Report:
Ann Burr, Lisa Bolsner, Red King and Troy Milne were approved as members. • Board self-evaluation resulted in mainly positive feedback with opportunities for education as to policy. Training sessions were discussed for the future.