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Ulster County IDA gives tax breaks to project with environmental concerns
William J. Kemble reports in the Daily Freeman that on March 15 the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency gave the Canadian battery maker Zinc8 tax breaks of up to $186,000 on sales tax for purchases and services for setting up shop at iPark 87. Zinc8 also gets to take out a $10 million bond. The board said they voted to approve the bond without finalizing the terms of the bond. But the agency's attorney Joseph Scott said, “The expectation is that the interest rate will be a fixed rate … and they expect that rate to be between 7.25 and 9 percent.... The maturity date of the financing will be between 10 and 20 years.” New. York Senator Chuck Schumer in August 2022 and Gov. Kathy Hochul last January both claimed a deal had been reached for Zinc8 to move to iPark 87, but the Daily Freeman says that a final agreement has not been announced. The state Department of Environmental Conservation formally lists the site under the state Superfund Program. The possible contamination of the site has been traced to the 1950s when Building 033 was used for degreasing activities for an ambulance and a fire truck. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.