The Cayuga County Industrial Development Agency rejected the city of Auburn’s offer for free office space at Memorial City Hall due to two sticking points, according to an IDA board member.
Herb Marshall, a longtime member of the Cayuga County IDA board and a former Cayuga County Legislature chairman, told The Citizen on Friday that utilities at the city hall office and the exclusion of the Cayuga County Public Utility Service Agency are what led the agency to seek an alternative.
The IDA will lease an office in the Carr Building on Genesee Street in Auburn for nearly $20,000 a year.
Auburn Mayor Jimmy Giannettino offered the office space at Memorial City Hall during a county-led meeting on economic development. The office would’ve housed the city and county IDAs, as well as the Cayuga County Development Corporation and the Small Business Development Center.
Marshall disputed that the office was free. He told The Citizen that the city would’ve required the IDA to pay for utilities, along with other expenses.
Giannettino explained that charging for utilities may have been mentioned in an earlier discussion, but the city determined there was no way for them to break out those costs for one office within Memorial City Hall. He confirmed what he told The Citizen in an earlier interview — that the city would have charged for network connections, improvements to the room and supplies.
Part of the city’s offer, according to Giannettino, was providing staff at no charge to the agencies. He previously said that his secretary, Rhonda Miller, could be available to answer phones or open mail if no one was in the office.
“Even if we did charge them utilities,” Giannettino said, “it would be less than $20,000 a year that they are paying for rent.”
Marshall revealed another reason why the IDA opted not to accept the city’s offer. He wanted the Cayuga County Public Utility Service Agency to join the other entities in the space, but he says the city “did not specifically want them there.”
The agency, according to its website, aims to “create opportunities for residents and businesses of Cayuga County to access clean, affordable, renewable power.”
There has been criticism of the agency over the years, which Marshall acknowledged.
“They have not done their job the way that it should have been done in the near past,” he said.
But Marshall believes CCPUSA is a critical part of the economic development landscape in Cayuga County. The IDA’s projects, he explained, mostly relate to power generation.
“My view is we need to have CCPUSA, who has the ability to receive and pass on electricity, at the table,” Marshall said.
According to Giannettino, CCPUSA was not part of the discussion about the office because the meeting was focused on the economic development agencies.
With the obstacles too difficult to overcome, the IDA voted to lease space at the Carr Building. It was a split vote, with Marshall, IDA board chair Raymond Lockwood, Andy Rindfleisch and Legislator Bob Shea supporting the decision. Two members, Donna Adams and John Latanyshyn, opposed the move. Gina Speno abstained because she is marketing the building as a licensed real estate salesperson for Venture Brokerage Group.
Marshall said he offered an office to the city at the Carr Building, but the city already has its own space at Memorial City Hall.
Government reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on X @RobertHarding.
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