Town Board approves request for merger of IDAs
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

Amherst Council Member William A. O'Loughlin Jr., former chairman of the Erie County Industrial Development Agency, does not agree with the Town Board's decision to request consolidation of the ECIDA with the Amherst Industrial Development Agency.

"Even if the Town Board had the power to cause that merger, which we don't, I would not be for merging Amherst with anyone, because they have done the job - the finest, most effective job for the last 20 years," he said.

With a 4-3 vote on Monday, the board passed a resolution which asks the New York State Legislature to adopt a local law allowing the merger of the ECIDA and the AIDA.

In March, the resolution, sponsored by Council Member Dan Ward, was tabled. Then in April, the town attorney's office sent a correspondent to the Town Board to address the idea of a merger, noting that the AIDA has debt instruments not scheduled for retirement until 2030.

Based on state law, it would have to be determined how the transfer of debt and assets would be handled.

Town attorney Tom Jones also warned of "questions regarding the disclosure of liability and the assumption of liability by the surviving agency."

O'Loughlin said that by abolishing the AIDA the taxpayers would be burdened due to loss of business development. He added that the loss of the AIDA would in a sense kill the economic center of activity in Erie County.

"The AIDA is composed 100 percent of business people, with no politicians ... they are free from political considerations when they are conducting business of growth in the Town of Amherst," he said.

Ward, who also served as an ECIDA chairman, said one center for handling all economic development is the best way. He added that having more agencies often means competition and conflict between IDAs.

His longstanding view has been that state legislatures should allow only one IDA per county.

"I feel like the IDA is out of control ... and has fanned the flames of suburban sprawl in Amherst," he said, adding that it hasn't been about providing good-paying jobs but about the cost of building and construction that sooner or later ends in the shuffling of jobs.

Currently there are 200 IDAs in New York State. The ECIDA was formed in 1970, and the AIDA in 1973. IDAs are created by the state Legislature.

Calls to Jim Allen, executive director of the AIDA, were not returned.

e-mail: jfinch@beenews.com