Legislature committee backs transfer of Enterprise

The property in the town of Ulster was part of the IBM campus, then TechCity, and now is county-owned.

TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. » A plan to transfer an Ulster County-owned property at the former IBM-Kingston site to the county Economic Development Alliance was approved by key legislative committee on Tuesday despite the concerns of some lawmakers over the composition of the alliance.

Members of the Legislature’s Economic Development, Tourism, Planning, Housing and Transit Committee unanimously approved a resolution to give the alliance ownership of Enterprise West, a portion of the former IBM property, and later TechCity, that now is owned by the county.

The Ulster County Economic Development Alliance will be responsible for marketing and ultimately selling the property, though the county will maintain control over any development that occurs there.

Several committee members said they are troubled by the composition of the Economic Development Alliance and the weight the County Executive’s

Office has on it.

Currently, the sevenmember alliance is made up of three members of County Executive Pat Ryan’s staff, the chairman and deputy chairman of the Legislature’s economic development committee, and two members outside of county government, also appointed by Ryan. Deputy County Executive John Milgrim said the staff members would be removed from the committee because the county will be responsible for providing administrative duties to the alliance.

Several lawmakers, though, said there needs to be a legislative influence beyond the economic development committee chairman and deputy chairman.

Legislature Chairman David Donaldson said the Ryan administration has agreed to “increase the legislative influence on the board,” though exactly what that would mean remains uncertain.

“I’d like to know exactly what the makeup of the board will be,” said Tracey Bartels, a non-enrolled county legislator from Gardiner who aligns

with Democrats. “I want to know what that board is going to look like.”

Economic development committee Chairman Brian Cahill said committee members have to have faith that the administration will keep its word.

“At some point, we have to have a level of trust here,” said Cahill, D-town of Ulster. “I think we have to build trust, and this is a really good place to start.”

The full Legislature is to vote on the resolution to transfer ownership of the property to the Ulster County Economic Development Alliance on Tuesday, March 16.