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The Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) received a revised request yesterday for bonding support for the Arrowhead Ventures project, a mixed-use development in the Village of Lansing, adjacent to the Shops at Ithaca Mall. Last December, the IDA, by a 4-3 vote, declined to support Triax Management Group's initial request for support.

The Arrowhead project involves a BJ's Wholesale Club, 12 units of senior housing, and expansion of a reclaimed wetland for bird habitat. Developers seek a payment-in-lieu-of-tax (PILOT) financing agreement (known as PILOT increment financing) to support qualifying project costs related to development of the senior housing and wetland development parts of the project, required by the Village of Lansing.

Eric Goetzman, of Triax, told the IDA that his group has been able to reduce project cost significantly, from $1.8 to $1.2 million, through project revisions including a change in materials for the housing units-using fabricated-on-site concrete walls which will make the units highly energy-efficient. The reduced cost, he said, will enable a 15-year payback on the financing, instead of 20 years, as initially proposed, and the housing units will be 100% on the tax rolls, instead of 50%, as set out in the initial proposal.

IDA members debated whether to put the matter to an immediate vote, but ultimately decided to schedule a special meeting next Monday, March 21 to consider it. Chair Martha Robertson, who voted no in December, said she supports the revised proposal, especially in light of serious economic challenges the County will face from decisions being made in Albany and the sales tax revenue the retail portion of the project is projected to generate.

In other action, the IDA, without dissent, advanced to public hearing recommended amendment of the payment-in-lieu-of taxes (PILOT) agreement for the AES Cayuga power plant. The hearing, and an anticipated public information meeting prior to the hearing, have not yet been scheduled.

Negotiations that have occurred over the past nine months have resulted in the plan to reduce the AES Cayuga's PILOT in 2011-12. Beginning in School Year 2011, the plant would make payments based on an underlying value of $112,500,000 rather than $120,000,000. The reduction means the plant would make payments of approximately $3.1 million, a decline of approximately $207,000 from the prior agreement. The reduction is the result of continuing economic challenges experienced by the coal-fired plant in Lansing, which has resulted in a continued drop in the value of the plant. The negotiating team included representatives of Tompkins County, the County's Industrial Development Agency, the Town of Lansing, and the Lansing School District.

The parties have also agreed to re-open the PILOT agreement later this year to consider further changes, either upward or downward, that may be warranted as economic conditions change.

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