A $50 million project to expand electric capacity in the Gang Mills area could receive a tax break, according to action by the Steuben County Industrial Development Agency.
Corning Valley Transmission Project manager Dennis Bender told the board substations in the Corning area are running out of capacity to serve industries such as Corni-ng Inc.’s Sullivan Park and others in Gang Mills.
Bender said New York State Electric and Gas plans to build new substations and upgrade others to increase capacity in the region.
“This is the right thing to do for current and future needs,” Bender said.
The SCIDA board agreed to consider a 20-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes proposal to reduce NYSEG’s property taxes on the project. The proposal could be approved by the board within six weeks.
But the board stopped short of agreeing to a similar request for tax relief from Crowley Dairy in Arkport.
Hornell IDA Executive Director Jim Griffin said Crowley officials notified him Wednesday they had just received permission from their parent company, HP Hood, to proceed with plans to construct a $3.5 million cooling plant.
“The problem is, they’ve got to start in February,” Griffin said.
Since the Hornell IDA holds the title to the Crowley factory, it cannot give the firm a tax break.
The plant employs as many as 120 workers and provides a market for 200 local dairy farmers, Griffith said.
SCIDA board members said they wanted more time to consider the proposal before taking any action.
