Massena BDC stuck paying I-98 bill

MASSENA — There are more expenses associated with the Interstate 98 marketing effort than available funds to pay for them.

And until more I-98 donations funnel in, the Business Development Corporation for a Greater Massena is stuck paying the bill.

BDC Executive Director Jason A. Clark is also chairman of the Northern Corridor Transportation Group, which leads the charge on siting a Watertown-to-Plattsburgh interstate.

When the NCTG receives donations and revenues, it passes them on to the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency, which holds onto them. When the NCTG spends money on the I-98 effort, it typically bills the BDC, which in turn provides invoices to the IDA for reimbursement, according to BDC Board President Daniel S. Pease.

The BDC is waiting for more than $17,000 in I-98 expenditures to be reimbursed by the IDA. That number will soon grow to about $20,000, as Mr. Clark is sending another invoice of about $3,000 for expenditures over the last five months.

But there’s only $4,183 in the IDA coffers currently available to help pay for I-98, according to IDA Executive Director Raymond H. Fountain.

The IDA has failed to reimburse the BDC for the $17,000 because of violations of its procurement policy, Mr. Fountain said.

Even if those issues were cleared up immediately, available funds fall short of expenses by about $16,000.

“There has to be attention paid to your cash in and your cash out,” Mr. Fountain said. “I believe there certainly has to be attention paid to your funding.”

The low funds are due in part to delays in promised donations. The St. Lawrence County Legislature promised $20,000 in casino gaming compact money for I-98 earlier this year. Sen. Joseph A. Griffo, R-Rome, also said he would procure $20,000 in state funds, and the St. Lawrence River Valley Redevelopment Agency pledged about $10,000.

None of that money is available yet, Mr. Fountain said. The county has not received the casino gaming compact funding. And the state funding has been delayed.

“It’s the state and their bills are being paid slowly,” Mr. Fountain said.

Until those funds come in, the BDC, an entity jointly funded by the town and village of Massena, has spent $20,000 on I-98, Mr. Fountain said.

“They were advancing money in essence to the I-98 funding structure,” he said. “They were paying the bills in-house.”

Mr. Clark deferred comment Thursday to Mr. Pease, who said the reimbursement structure had not been a problem until earlier this year.

“It was never intended those monies be outstanding for as long as they turned out to be,” he said. “The BDC is not agreeing to fund the Northern Transportation Group ... We’ve acted as a conduit for bills.”

“It’s absolutely an issue now,” Mr. Pease said. “Before, it wasn’t costing the BDC anything.”

The BDC put the reimbursement system in place around 2008, Mr. Pease said. The transportation group billing the BDC was more convenient and expedited matters for Mr. Clark, he said.

“I think it was more acquiescence than official board action,” he said.

Mr. Pease said he expects the pledged donations to still come through, solving the current I-98 funding gap. Until then, the BDC is paying for the promotion of I-98.

“There’s not enough money in the account today to pay for the request for reimbursement, that’s true,” he said. “We’re on the hook. It was never the plan.”

He also wants to ensure the BDC is not footing I-98 expenses in the future.

“We need to protect the BDC from being placed in the position of funding those efforts without a clear source of repayment,” he said. “The BDC does not want to be in the position of funding the transportation group.”

At Wednesday night’s town budget workshop, Supervisor Joseph D. Gray questioned Mr. Clark about available I-98 funds. Mr. Clark listed the donations the county and Mr. Griffo promised, then said there was a balance left of about “41 or 42” in available funds.

“That’s basically what’s left of everything that’s been raised so far, not including the in-kind contributions from a couple of agencies. As far as cash that’s left either in that fund or committed to that fund, it’s somewhere around 42,” Mr. Clark said.

Mr. Clark did not specify whether the funding available was $4,200 or $42,000. When asked afterward, Mr. Gray and town councilmen Charles A. Raiti and John F. Macaulay said they interpreted Mr. Clark to mean $42,000.

Mr. Gray blamed himself Thursday for thinking that.

“I assumed, erroneously so, it was thousands,” Mr. Gray said. “I should have asked the question.”

Mr. Gray said he did not think the BDC was caught in the middle.

“I certainly had no understanding BDC money was being fronted for I-98,” Mr. Gray said. “If that’s the case, I will be calling for further discussion and analysis of that.”