On Thursday, Brian P. Canfield, Pottsville, who had been chairman of the Schuylkill County Industrial Development Authority for four years, introduced the man who would be taking over the role.
At the 46th annual meeting of SCIDA, held Thursday night at Union Station in Pottsville, David L. Snyder, Minersville, was named the new chairman.
“Officers at SCIDA have three-year terms. And I was asked to stay on for one more year to help with the transition from the TIF to the NID,” Canfield said.
He was referring to the Tax Incremental Financing District and the Neighborhood Improvement District at Highridge Industrial Park.
“And tonight we approved one of the final pieces of the paperwork to complete that,” Canfield, who was named the new secretary of the SCIDA board Thursday night, said.
Snyder is the retired chief lending officer/senior executive vice president of Miners Bank. He has more than 40 years of banking experience. He said he was vice president of the SCIDA board for eight years.
As president of SCIDA, Snyder said, “I want to try to turn up the networking process a little more. The more information we can put out the better. We can offer different things to the community as far as business and maintaining jobs.”
With a motion by board member M. Joseph Brady, which was seconded by board member David A. Donlin, the SCIDA board approved the following slate of officers for 2016: Snyder, chairman; Martin Brophy, vice chairman; Canfield, secretary; Clyde C. “Champ” Holman, assistant secretary; John F. Reilly Jr., treasurer; and James Hepler, assistant treasurer.
The SCIDA Board of Directors consists of up to 15 members appointed for five-year terms by the Schuylkill County Commissioners.
Also during its annual meeting Thursday, the SCIDA board took a few steps to save money in 2016.
“The SCIDA officers are recommending the following steps be taken in light of the declining cash balance of the authority, which, as of Dec. 31, 2015, was approximately $450,000,” Canfield said.
With a motion by Donlin, which was seconded by board member Darlene Dolzani, the board took the following actions, which included cost-saving measures:
• Reduce the administrative reimbursement to SEDCO (Schuylkill Economic Development Corporation), from $40,000 annually to $28,000.
• Eliminate the position of authority solicitor and appoint the firm of Williamson, Friedberg & Jones as legal counsel to the authority on an as-needed basis. “That will save the annual retainage cost of $7,200,” Canfield said.
• “Request an allocation of $2,000 from the TIF fund to cover a portion of the cost of the 2015 and 2016 audits, $1,000 for each year, given the fact that the majority of the audit cost is related to the TIF fund accounting,” Canfield said.
• Requested the Schuylkill County Commissioners consider adding SCIDA as a line item to the county’s budget in order to help offset some of the authority’s operating costs.
• Appoint Jones & Co. to audit the SCIDA financial records for 2015.
• Adopt the same fee schedule for 2016 that was in place for 2015.
• Compensate Letitia Reiser, SCIDA executive secretary, $2,500 net of taxes for her services as executive secretary for calendar year 2015. This will processed via a contribution to SEDCO with SEDCO then issuing a check to Letitia net of withholding taxes.
The board also approved the resolution regarding the NID, which Canfield referred to, which authorizes SCIDA, Schuylkill County, Cass Township, Foster Township and Minersville Area School District to create the “Highridge Improvement District,” and that intergovernmental cooperation agreement will provide for the implementation of the Highridge Neighborhood Improvement District, Canfield said.
Frank J. Zukas, SCIDA executive director, presented the organization’s annual report.
“The end of 2015 marked the 46th year of operations for the authority, which maintains an outstanding loan portfolio of 20 projects totaling over $200 million in financing for local business. In total, SCIDA participated in projects that have retained or created over 3,500 jobs in Schuylkill County,” Zukas said.
Highlights from 2015 included:
• Worked with West Brunswick Township and the Borough of Deer Lake in sponsoring three traffic lights on the Route 61 reconstruction project. “The project will serve 17 different industries in the Deer Lake and Auburn industrial parks which are located in West Brunswick Township. SCIDA agreed to fund $2,000 per year, per light, for a three-year total of $18,000 to help offset the cost of maintenance and operation of the traffic lights. The lights are now operational and construction has been completed,” Zukas said.
• Continued its efforts to monitor proposed energy-related projects, including a project in the developmental stages, Ember Clear Co., also known as Future Power PA, located in Frailey and Porter townships. “In 2015, Tyr Energy Inc., an American subsidiary of an international trading conglomerate based in Tokyo, acquired a 100 percent interest in Future Power PA, with plans to move to construction in spring of 2016. Tyr Energy has over 1,700 megawatts of its portfolio of 10 generating facilities across the U.S. which includes natural gas, solar, wind and biofuel projects. The proposed 344 megawatt plant near Good Spring has been redesigned to utilize natural gas versus anthracite as its fuel source. This redesign was prompted by the availability of natural gas from the 42-foot Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project which will transit through the Ember Clear property, allowing a direct tap off to fuel this new facility,” Zukas said.
SCIDA was organized by the county commissioners in 1969 to enable local industrial and commercial businesses to take advantage of tax-exempt financing for projects that create or retain jobs in Schuylkill County.
Its mission is achieved through the issuance, by SCIDA, of tax-exempt bonds and mortgages, sold either on the open market or purchased entirely by local banks.
Quarterly meetings of SCIDA’s board of directors will be held this year at 9 a.m. on the following Fridays: March 18, June 17, Sept. 16 and Dec. 16 at the SEDCO office at Union Station, Pottsville.