The New York State Empire State Development Corporation (NYSESDC) recently informed the Town of Malta that it was taking appropriate motions to seize control of the Luther Forest Technology Campus.
Currently, the Luther Forest Technology Campus is owned by a separate development corporation known as the Luther Forest Technology Campus Economic Development Corporation, which is locally controlled and governed, designed in part to protect the health, safety and economic interests of Malta residents, according to information from the town.
NYSESDC told the town that the Luther Forest Technology Campuse Economic Development Corporation made failures that will jeopardize the timely completion of infrastructure needed to support the opening of GlobalFoundries in 2012.
On Monday, Oct. 25, the Malta Town Board passed a resolution asking NYSESDC to hold a public meeting at Town Hall to discuss and explain the impacts of the corporation’s proposal. The Town Board is concerned that a state takeover would have negative ramifications.
On Thursday, Oct. 28, Malta Town Supervisor Paul Sausville told the Spotlight that he received a call from Chairman and CEO of the ESDC, Dennis Mullen, regarding the town’s resolution and said they now have a meeting set up for Monday morning to discuss the ESDC’s proposed actions.
`Our goal is to get clarity on what their intentions are and to get the infrastructure needed to support GlobalFoundries completed,` said Sausville. `We will know more after Monday, but I had a very positive conversation and [Mullen] is very sensitive to the needs of our citizens and wants to work with us to make sure everyone comes out winning here.`
Sausville said the town has a host of agreements with the tech campus that could be upset if the ESDC were to take over the property. Among the problems that could potentially arise, said Sausville, is a possible effect on the tax base, a disruption of the sales tax formula if the property were to be tax exempt, and other contracts and arrangements could be disturbed.
`[Mullen] assured me this morning that he’s very much aware of these issues and has our best interest s at heart, so we will talk a little more about that on Monday,` said Sausville.
Sausville said from his understanding, the infrastructure concerns at the center of this matter are related to a need for a secondary source of water besides the county water line, a need to complete construction on Cold Springs Road in the Town of Stillwater, and a need to provide redundant utilities like gas and electric.
Check back to spotlightnews.com for updates on this story.“
