On Tuesday, July 15, at 6 p.m. the outgoing Newburgh Industrial Development Agency met. Outgoing, since according to IDA Administrative Director Robert McKenna, the new board will be appointed at the next City Council Meeting held on July 21. McKenna had delayed appointing the new board to see if legislation pending in the State would change IDA laws. An IDA Reform bill did pass, but others did not or were not acted upon, so Newburgh will soon have a new IDA board. None of the current or previous City Council members will serve on the new board.
Mayor Valentine made reference to this last meeting during opening remarks.
“Live Work Learn Play needs support services”
One resolution was passed at the meeting, awarding a design contract to Urban Design Associates for design work in connection with the Live, Work, Learn, Play project. McKenna mentions that Duany’s firm had been considered but was ruled out due to scheduling and expense. UDA has worked with Live, Work, Learn, Play before and was their recommendation. The contract has a ceiling of $50,000.
“I think we’re going to reexamine our contract”
Next was a six-month synopsis of the activities of consultants Community Initiatives Development Corporation. McKenna said they were evaluating whether to continue with CIDC; as he stated after the meeting, CIDC “hasn’t paid the returns.”
Most of CIDC’s report consisted “Major Housing or Mixed-Use Projects” and “Commercial Development Projects.” The major projects included work on Joe Klein’s Empire Management Services, approximately 170 dwelling units in multiple buildings; Gerry Sanchez’s City Club at 120 Grand Street; Gerry Sanchez’s Broadway lot at 150 Broadway; a development at 170-172 Broadway; and Newburgh Housing projects. Additional buinsess included orchestrating a meeting between city officials and the Port Authority Stewart Airport General Manager Diannae Ehler.
Unitex: looking to expand
There was an update on the Unitex project. McKenna stated there was no need for an additional resolution to be passed since whatever business they wanted to proceed with would be covered by the prior resolution.
West Street Medical Tech Update
The meeting concluded with an update on the West Street Medical Tech project.
