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Potsdam village getting legal help for Vecino PILOT application

Posted 6/19/19

BY CRAIG FREILICH North Country This Week POTSDAM -- The village Board of Trustees has voted to enter into a legal services agreement for help with a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes application by the …

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Potsdam village getting legal help for Vecino PILOT application

Posted

BY CRAIG FREILICH
North Country This Week

POTSDAM -- The village Board of Trustees has voted to enter into a legal services agreement for help with a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes application by the Vecino Group for its renovation of Old Snell Hall into apartments, offices and a performance space.

The law firm Barclay Damon will assist with the application to the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency, which can approve and promote the PILOT, as Vecino moves closer to beginning its gutting of the old downtown Clarkson building for conversion into a state and federally assisted low-income housing project, along with space for the St. Lawrence County Arts Council and refurbishing the building’s theater.

As a requirement for the PILOT application, Vecino will “pay for any and all legal services provided to the Village of Potsdam by the law firm of Barclay Damon,” and that Vecino will “place funds in escrow with one of the local taxing jurisdictions against which Barclay Damon may submit invoices for services rendered,” the resolution, approved at the board’s June 17 meeting unanimously.

In May a $5.6 million grant of loans and tax credits toward the total $15 million plan was awarded by the state from a pool of money earmarked for building or preserving affordable apartments and revitalizing communities.

The plan is for 59 apartments affordable to households with incomes below 60 percent of the area median income, along with the other features, such as a hub for the arts housing SLC Arts and a community theater, as well as the Shipley Center for Innovation, a Clarkson University business incubator.

The plan by the Missouri-based Vecino Group also includes installation of new mechanical and electrical equipment in Old Snell Hall.