The Rotterdam Town Board has complied with a state Authorities Budget Office recommendation to dissolve the town Industrial Development Agency, despite the objections of some local officials.
During the board’s meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 22, it approved starting the process to dissolve the Rotterdam IDA and accept ownership of the Curry Road Plaza property. Remaining IDA funds will be handed over to the town and earmarked for economic development. Eight payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements will also be transferred to the town, with plans to later transfer each to the Schenectady County IDA.
IDA Chairman Robert Mallozzi and Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority Chairman Ray Gillen ceremoniously handed a check for $175,000 to Town Supervisor Harry Buffardi. The funds will be placed in the town’s general fund.
Gillen said the check represented the minimum amount being transferred to the town. The exact amount is unknown since the IDA still has to pay all remaining obligations before its bank account balances are transferred.
“The Rotterdam IDA is very proud of the work we have done,” Mallozzi said. “We ran this organization as honestly and diligently as possible.”
Town resident Kevin March said the funds being transferred back to the town was “wonderful,” so work can begin at the longstanding vacant former Kmart site at Curry Road Plaza.
“I think this is a great first step in order to getting something done with it,” March said.
The DEC recently issued a notice that cleanup at Curry Road Plaza is complete.
“Cleanup is complete, which opens us up for other forms of development there,” Supervisor Harry Buffardi said. “Unfortunately, the Rotterdam IDA is in the process of dissolving and they won’t be able to continue that effort that they have put together. I certainly would like to thank them for their efforts for what they’ve done.”
Buffardi said the IDA was in a better position than the town to encourage economic development because it didn’t have the government restrictions the town faces.
“If there is anything good about this, it has reinvested Metroplex to give this a second look, to get invested in this again,” Buffardi said. “Now that IDA is going to be moving out, Metroplex is going to be joining us in this effort to go forward.”
The state AB0 sought to terminate the Rotterdam IDA because it fails to comply with a provision of the General Municipal Law requiring any IDA to hold outstanding bonds or notes.
Another recommendation by the ABO is proving more difficult to follow, as the town looks into what legal authority it has to recover approximately $29,000 in stipends paid to past IDA board members. Stipends were received until 2010, with the exact start of compensation still being looked into by the town.
According to state Municipal Law, board members are to serve without compensation.
Councilman Robert Godlewski pointed to the recommendation during the meeting and said the town should seek to recover the stipends.
“I was told that there is nothing in General Municipal Law that allows us to do that,” said Godlewski about recovering the stipends. He suggested the town should sue the individuals to collect the funds.
Town Attorney Kate McGuirl said the town doesn’t have the authority to sue to collect the stipends, but a taxpayer may sue for the money to be returned. Also, McGuirl said the District Attorney’s Office could prosecute any type of wrongful action by a town officer.
Godlewski argued the town is assuming the rights of the IDA through the dissolution, and since the IDA could sue for the funds the town would now have the right. McGuirl said there is no precedent for the situation.
“As I was looking for the authority that made it mandatory as opposed to permissive, it is not located in General Municipal Law,” McGuirl said about collecting the stipends.
McGuirl said she hoped the issue could be addressed through the state Comptroller’s full audit of the town, which is expected at a later date.
“If the Office of the state Comptroller can direct us to do something that not only is mandatory, but would be permissive … I think that would certainly be something that the board would be interested in,” McGuirl said.
