May 21st COMIDA Meeting
Summary of COMIDA Meeting for May 21st, 2023Observed by Deborah Rice Gordon
This COMIDA meeting can viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkaF1m0gn5U
Public Comments:
- County Executive Adam Bello, Don Jeffries, the President and CEO of Visit Rochester, Matt Hurlbutt, President and CEO of Rochester Enterprise, and Bill Mahle, Brighton Supervisor spoke in support of the Top Golf project pilot agreement. They noted employment and tax revenue projections, increase in tourism, growth of local restaurants and hotels, and use of land that has been vacant for years among other factors.
- Tim Starwald, a local business agent for Iron Workers 33 spoke about the Fairlife Project and local worker waivers. Waives have been granted because of the lack of certifications, however, there are local workers who have done the same work and are available.
- Claudia Perea spoke in opposition to the Top Golf project. Her concerns included the need for tax investment in rural areas, the impact of climate change driving businesses to relocate here and the loss of tax revenue needed by schools. She noted the report issued by the NYS Assembly-Tax Incentives: A Failed Approach as well as other reports.
- County Legislator Rachel Barnhart spoke in opposition to the Top Golf project. Part time, low paying jobs, unknown effects on local businesses, lack of independent assessment of benefits and costs were some of the issues raised.
A local labor monitoring report was given by Joe Spinelli. In March, the residency of 525 workers was checked with 7 having proof of residency issues. For April, the residency of 480 workers with 11 being non-compliant.
Brian LaFountain gave the local labor exemption report. Two exemptions were granted to a contractor at the Fairlife Project due to lack of local certified expertise in specialized construction techniques. This claim was refuted by Troy Milne, who explained that the contractor needs to be certified and not the employees and requested that be reflected in the records. In his opinion, local iron workers should have been employed. The third waiver was for the Gannett building project due to the installation of a specialized storage system, which was not bid on by local contractors.
Financial report
As of April 30th, $6.9 million has been allocated to the workforce development program. Year to date revenue is higher at this point in the year as compared to 2023.
Project Application Reviews:
Requests for sales tax exemptions, recording tax exemptions and/or real property tax abatements were approved for the following projects:
- Westfall Brighton SRE, LLC for new construction on East Henrietta Road in Brighton. The project consists of a golf entertainment venue with high-tech golf driving range games, full-service restaurant and bar, and an event space. Since Top Golf is considered a tourism destination, it qualifies for consideration by COMIDA. Caliber will continue to own the land, which is a former landfill site. The town of Brighton and Top Golf will enter into a host community agreement and Top Golf will pay Brighton an amount equal to the real property tax abatement, thereby making the town whole. The vote to approve was not unanimous.
- DelMonte Development LLC for new construction at 460 East Henrietta Road at the City Gate location in Rochester. A long-term stay hotel (Element by Westin) and a select services hotel (AC Hotels by Marriott) will be built. The vote to approve was not unanimous.
- Maguire Family Properties, Inc. for expansion and modernization of a structure at 1525-1685 Lyell Avenue in Rochester for their tenant, Atlantic Plywood, Inc.
- Galina Elmgrove LLC for new construction at 275 Mile Crossing Boulevard in the Town of Gates. The project is a speculative office/warehouse flex space in the Elmgrove Crossing Business Park.
- 49 East Avenue, LLC for the renovation of an office building at 49 and 61 East Avenue in Rochester into a mixed-use development including 54 residential units.
- ESIV LLC for the construction of a residential building. Erie Station Phase IV will be a 55+ community comprised of 73 apartment and townhouse units located in the Town of Henrietta.
The following modification request was approved:
- Ambassador Union Street, LLC for an extension of their sales tax exemption through December 31st 2026 for their project in Rochester.
Jay Popli gave reported that a revision to the housing policy is being discussed. The policy may be ready to be presented to the Board in June.
Executive Director Report:
- An executive session was called to discuss personnel matters. After the session, a motion was made to create and fill a new Executive Director position. The motion passed unanimously.
- An upgrade to the project tracking system is needed. Quotes were received and Mindex was chosen. A motion to enter into a contract was approved.
- Electric utility issues in Henrietta, causing potential projects to locate elsewhere, were discussed. A proposal to apply for a $17 million grant under the Fast New York program to address electric distribution problems was presented and approved.