Workshop meetings are open for the public to attend, but there is no public input...residents can't speak.
Workshops are not recorded either (video or audio), although meeting minutes are taken, and after approval by the board, are recorded and available to view here.
4 comments:
I have nothing against the family OR the project BUT how many times have we heard him say he wasnt getting and special financing, any comida breaks, state funding, etc?
Apparently he meant he wasnt getting any at that exact minute, lol. Even in the last Medley article he is quotes (in the comment section) as saying :he should get the same state funding he is getting, nothing." lol
I haven't heard him say he wasn't getting any special financing - I heard him say he was going to try to get some State "green" funding (but he never did get that), and a PILOT at the Public Hearing in front of the Planning Board not too long ago.
Here's the COMIDA website that lists some incentives - Link.
I know saying the word "PILOT" makes people's skin crawl due to Congel and his "Special PILOT" (that's what he has....a "Special PILOT" because his PILOT payments are paying the mortgage...) - but many local companies have used some of the incentives mentioned in the link above.
Wegmans, Greece Ridge Mall, Cranberry Landing, Legal offices etc., they all take advantage of the deals that COMIDA offers.
As much as I hate PILOT deals (there are no uniform standards and each company gets to negotiate it's own "deal" - which, in my opinion, opens up the whole program to abuse...ahem, Congel) - this is a local person who has done more in 3 months than Congel has done in 3 years.
As far as the comment in the comment section of the article - he did say that Congel "should get the same state funding that I-Square is getting...nothing".... I-Square is not getting any State funding (yet).
I don't have any problem with this family getting COMIDA breaks - he's shown commitment to the project, started demolition months ago, and is involving the public every step of the way. I wish more "developers" were like that.
What gets me mad is the latest trend of the Town Board doing everything at workshops....and calling a Special Workshop for reviewing the PILOT makes me scratch my head. Why not discuss it at a Regular Town Board meeting where the public can comment?
Workshops aren't recorded (video or audio), and no public input - just the way they like to do the "business of the Town".
At the February 13, 2012 Planning Board Meeting, while the Board was making a mess of seqra regulations, the applicant did state he would be applying for some COMIDA assistance.
Medley is the only comida deal ever granted that allows the Owner to levy taxes on tenants then have the money used to pay the mortgage. Never done before in the history of comida.
I Sq should get breaks on sales, recording and on the increase in existing taxes.
I have asked several times for the Board to adopt state RPTL 421-f that allows residents to get tax breaks if they improve their homes. The breaks do not lower taxes, they only allow for less of an increase.
Hopefully board members will explain the $90,000,000 milestone investment that protected the residents. That will be pure theater.
Because YOU asked so nicely then the board should do whatever you asked....Dont you ever get tired of yourself? Who are YOU to always dictate what the town government (not county or school) does?
I love this, "while the board was making a mess of the seqra regulations", Remind us all again of your success? Your career? WHat are your qualifications again that make you such an authority? Please, get a grip.
And by the way, wasnt that same thing being asked of the county (allowing residents to improve their homes without an increase in assessment) but the majority wouldnt even bring it to the floor? Go speak there! Write letters to them!
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