Brockport forms Local Development Corporation

The formation of a Local Development Corporation and/or an Industrial Development Agency was approved to help Brockport village obtain tax-exempt status.

Trustee James Whipple said the real reason a village would form an LDC or an IDA is because a village is not allowed to buy and sell property. When a village wants to entertain buying, selling or refurbishing properties they have to have an LDC or IDA in order to do that."

Whipple said the IDA works more toward promoting industrial development of an area whereas an LDC is more economic in nature. "If we needed to purchase property along the canal bank for future development, either of these designations would allow us to do that," he said.

Mayor Josephine Matela, at the March 18 board meeting, requested authorization for a contract for an attorney and an accountant for the Local Development Corporation. She said it would cost less than $2,000 to get the information together for the formation of the LDC. Village attorney Edward Riley cautioned the board to look into whether the formation of an LDC or an IDA would be most advantageous.

The village, he said, looked into the possibility of forming an LDC about 10 years ago but the plan never moved forward. "An LDC isn't something you would use every year but when the need arises to purchase a property you need to have it in place," he said. "An IDA or an LDC also has the ability to obtain certain types of grant funding that would be unavailable to the village."

The first phase of Brockport's canal revitalization, Whipple said, was to make enhancements to the canal between Park Avenue and Main Streets. The second phase, he said, involved making improvements to the south side of the canal. "That project is stalled right now because there needs to be some serious repair work to the canal wall and funding from the New York State Canal Corp won't be available until at least 2003," he said.