Town of Massena Business Development Corporation

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION FOR A GREATER MASSENA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES February 18, 2016 Board Members: Larry Ralston, President Dan Pease Ron Bacon Paul Rufa Dave LaClair Excused: Jeff Dobbins Chris Herrick Staff: Tom Sullivan, Executive Director Linda Williams, Secretary Public: Sam Carbone, Town of Massena Steve O’Shaughnessy, Town of Massena Call to Order BDC President, Larry Ralston, called the meeting to order at 4:30 pm. Minutes of the January 2016 Regular Meeting A motion was made by Dave LaClair to approve the minutes of the January 2016 Annual Meeting; that motion was seconded by Ron Bacon and passed with all members present voting ‘Aye’ (Dan abstained as he wasn’t at the meeting). Minutes of the January 2016 Regular Meeting A motion was made by Dave LaClair to approve the minutes of the January 2016 Regular Meeting; that motion was seconded by Ron Bacon and passed with all members present voting ‘Aye’ (Dan abstained as he wasn’t at the meeting). Financial Report s for Decembe r 2015, January 2016 The reports are not available Comparative Budget s for November 2015, December 2015 The reports are not available Infrastructure Committee Tom: There was no meeting this month. Marketing Committee Tom: The Committee met on the 12th. We discussed the website, and will have Jason Hendricks go to the BDC office to look at the site to see what we might do. Operations Committee Tom: There was no meeting this month. Alcoa Update Tom: The lay-offs will take place, about 37-39 will be laid-off, a total of 99 people will be taken off the Massena payroll. The former East Plant is going with the new company, and this may be good news for Massena, just one division of the West Plant is expected to become a part of the new company; all of the environmental clean-up will become part of the new company (AFE). Industrial Park/Rail Spur Tom: Our insurance is all settled now. On January 28 Paul and I met with Pat Curran of Curran Renewable to get a sense of where they are at, they are trying to get rates. As fuel oil prices have dropped so has the demand for pellets. He has had conversations with people to get some brokers working to get chips shipped out. The rail spur is ready to be used, but the snow would have to be cleared before it could be used. We are in negotiations with another entity that is interested in using the spur. We are in discussion with another company looking to use property in the Industrial Park. Mayor’s Leadership Council Tom: No meeting this month Moving Massena Forward Community Coalition Tom: No meeting this month North Country Alliance Tom: The group met on Wednesday, and we were all reminded that funds are available for loans North Country Regional Economic Development Council Tom: Nothing new here, the search for new projects continues North Country Re-Development Task Force Tom: There was a BOA Subcommittee meeting on February 3, we discussed re-use of the RACER site; SKEO people started laying out their plans for the re-use of the RACER site RACER/General Motors Site Tom: RACER will always have a say in what is done with the property, they will always have a responsibility regarding the usage of the property. We have been informed that the site should be a CSX Super Site soon. River Valley Re-Development Agency Tom: There was a meeting on the 9th, the RVRDA is very happy with our prompt repayment of the loan and said they are very willing to work with us again Start-Up New York Tom: Nothing to report February 18, 2016 Minutes - BDC Board Meeting Pg 2 of 4 Staff Report Tom: We did give the loan to the Winter Chill Project, and I will be talking to Joe about the repayment of that. I have had a couple of requests for assistance with revitalization on property in town. Eric Brown from the Buxton Company has contacted the Town/Village, they do marketing research, matching companies/businesses with communities. I have been talking with people at the OBPA, and we are discussing how we can all work together. The Village was contacted by a design company, Deenam Blake, in January looking for zoning and building code information. They were talking about a $2,000,000 building project; they did not give any further information. New/Other Business Larry: I asked everyone if they would look at our website and offer any suggestions as to how we might enhance it. Has anyone any suggestions? Paul: I believe the main problem with the site is that it is not very user friendly. Larry: It is my understanding that we can manage our own portion of the site and we should have Linda trained to do that. Please contact Tom if you have any suggestions. Liaison Reports Sam: Has anyone looked at the Department of State Water Front Revitalization? Tom: I know that the Village’s grant writer has been looking at some of those. I am also involved with the Blue Water Corridor Group, working with the Racquette River right now. There was discussion about different projects being considered regarding water ways in our area. Sam: Steve and I attended the RIOT meeting, there were many break-out meetings for different areas of enterprise. We also attended the People Project which is working with particularly distressed areas, there was a lot of information about a county in West Virginia that is extremely depressed due to the shutdown of the coal mines, and what they are doing to re-invent their community. Steve: When we were talking about the Budget, we were talking about how you could track what you have been doing. Tom: We are talking to people, but they really aren’t anxious to let us publicize their names and often we are dealing with search companies that don’t divulge the company they are working for. Paul: What are you looking for? Steve: I really didn’t have any perception, but remember it being mentioned that you would have something. Tom: I understand what you are looking for, and I think that you’ll have to trust that we are working on finding business. Also, frequently when we get calls they are looking for financial assistance, and we don’t have the ability to offer any though we do direct them to places we feel may be able to help them. Steve: I realize that that, and I do fully support the BDC and your efforts. It was just something that I had remembered being mentioned. February 18, 2016 Minutes - BDC Board Meeting Pg 3 of 4  The BDC management will bring a list to the next meeting with the understanding that it is confidential. Questions from the Press No representative at this meeting Adjournment A motion was made by Dave LaClair to adjourn at 5:45 pm, that motion was seconded by Chris Herrick; it passed with all members present voting ‘Aye’. The next meeting of the Board of Directors of the Massena Business Development Corporation will be March 17, 2016 at 4:30 pm, in Room 30 of the Town Hall. Respectfully submitted, Linda Williams, Secretary NOTE: The time of the March 17 meeting has been changed to 5:00 pm. February 18, 2016 Minutes - BDC Board Meeting Pg 4 of 4