Edelweiss Dairy LLC, on Osmun Road in Freedom, was formed in 2016 from Edelweiss Dairy Inc., which was incorporated in 1962.
In order to replace 50-year-old barns, Edelweiss Dairy, owned by John M. Borer, applied to the Cattaraugus County Capital Resources Corporation for tax-exempt bonds for financing and a mortgage tax exemption.
The Capital Resources Corporation, which is made up of members of the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency, has generally provided tax exempt bonding for nonprofit groups.
In this case, said IDA Executive Director Corey Wiktor, Edelweiss Dairy was seeking to finance the new buildings through tax-exempt industrial revenue bonds and conventional bank financing. Wiktor also heads the Capital Resources Corporation. The expansion will feature a 120-cow milking wheel.
The tax-exempt financing will be used to pay for eligible solid waste disposal facilities in the dairy expansion. Not part of the Capital Resources inducements is a methane digester that will be installed by a third party, an addition that is not included in the owner’s cost of the expansion. The digester will produce natural gas.
Edelweiss Dairy was formed to allow a third generation of the Borer family to work into ownership. The new facilities are expected to require hiring 12 new full- and part-time employees to the 20 full-time and one part-time employees.
“Is this expansion a result of Great Lakes Cheese needing more milk?” asked IDA Chairman Thomas Buffamante.
“It’s fair to say a good portion of our milk will go to Great Lakes Cheese,” replied Borer.
Wiktor said the Capital Resources Corporation will offer Edelweiss Dairy sales tax exemption on materials and equipment. The value of those inducements has not been calculated.
A public hearing on the plans will be set later this month in Freedom.
During its meeting Wednesday, the Cattaraugus County IDA approved inducements for a $6.5 Kless Boys project in Yorkshire.
The tourism destination project will bring together classic cars, a restaurant and a wide range of potential events.
The IDA approved a sales tax exemption worth $520,000 and $81,250 for a mortgage tax recording fee exemption.
A 10-year payment in lieu of taxes agreement starts with a payment of $16,956 and escalates until year 10 with a payment of $653,031.
The current taxes on the unimproved property over 10 years would total $185,663. The P.I.L.O.T. payments over the 10 years will total $3.1 million.
“It’s going to be a tourism destination,” predicted Wiktor. “It’s going to be a marquee place to show and see classic cars.”
The IDA also agreed to let its 30-day extension of a year-long moratorium on wind and solar projects expire without making any changes. The IDA has a $5,000 per megawatt fee for solar and wind developers, which remains unchanged when the moratorium expires at the end of the month.
The IDA’s Uniform Tax Exemption Policy came under fire from Farmersville Town Attorney Peter Sorgi, who attended the meeting with Supervisor Pam Tilton.
Sorgi asked why the IDA policy still contained a requirement that the Cattaraugus County Legislature sign off on large wind projects.
The towns of Farmersville and Freedom are afraid the legislature will kill the Alle-Catt Wind Farm project in their towns. They want the best financial deal to offset the impacts of the wind turbines.
“Why should the county legislature have a veto?” Sorgi asked. The county was seeking to kill the project through the back door, the attorney added.
IDA board member Joseph Snyder said the objective of the 2018 legislature resolution he and others authored was not to kill the Alle-Catt Wind Farm, but to give a voice to those beyond the municipalities with wind turbines who would also be impacted.
Wiktor noted that Invenergy, the Alle-Catt Wind Farm developer, has never submitted an application for a P.I.L.O.T. They may never have to because the state has given authority to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to set taxing values for alternate energy.
County Legislator Ginger Schroder, a member of the IDA board and longtime opponent of Alle-Catt, said she had twice invited Invenergy to submit an application for a P.I.L.O.T. “I will support it,” she said. “I will vote yes.”
Schroder added: “I still hate the project. I don’t think it belongs here.”
Tilton, the Farmersville supervisor, said the town wants to make sure it gets the economic benefits if the project goes through.
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