Kyle Stucker|Fosters Daily Democrat
ROCHESTER — City Council voted 11-2 Tuesday to buy two pieces of land for $270,000 to help accomplish the intersection upgrades needed as part of gunmaker Sig Sauer’s plan to create a new campus along Route 125 in Rochester.
The city will buy 8 Amarosa Drive and 0 Milton Road, located in front of Sig’s planned multi-building campus at 7 Amarosa Drive in North Rochester, and perform the intersection upgrades.
Sig, according to a letter of intent it has signed with the city, will contribute $500,000 to the multimillion-dollar intersection project and later purchase any and all of 8 Amarosa Drive and 0 Milton Road not used to perform the upgrades.
“(The letter indicates) they will pay fair market value for whatever property that is left,” Mayor Caroline McCarley told councilors before they voted Tuesday night. “We don’t know how much of it we might be using. We could end up with a design that didn’t actually use any of it, conceivability I suppose, but yes we do have a letter of intent from them to that effect and a commitment to work with us in terms of making all of this work as best as possible for everything up there.”
Residents and some city councilors have voiced concerns about the deal in recent weeks, questioning Sig Sauer’s commitment and why the city is spending tax dollars amid the COVID-19 pandemic to buy land to help out a large company like Sig Sauer.
The state recently gave the company$21 million in financing and an unconditional guarantee of up to $19 million to create its new 210,000-square-foot, multi-building campus. The Army also recently gave Sig Sauera $77 million Army contract for weapons.
“I hate to tell ya, but Sig Sauer’s got a lot more money than Rochester,” former City Councilor Ray Barnett said during a public meeting in December, referencing Sig filings that show the company makes $300 million in U.S. sales alone. “Let them buy the land when they’re ready. Let them pay for whatever improvements to the intersection they deem necessary. Let them foot the whole bill. The city should stay right out of it.”
However, city staff, McCarley and other city councilors have said the land deal isn’t just about Sig Sauer.
They’ve said Rochester having full control over upgrades to the intersection would benefit both existing businesses in the Crossroads Industrial Park and neighboring area, as well as new development expected to come in North Rochester once Si Sauer’s new campus opens.
“It only makes sense that the city purchase these parcels, modify the intersection in the most beneficial manner and then convey the now modified parcels to Sig,” City Manager Blaine Cox said in December. “If the city owns the parcels during this process, it will be far less complicated.”
More: Sig Sauer Academy's $13.5M 'Experience Center' approved in Epping
Jeremy Hutchinson and Palana Belken were the only city councilors who voted against the $270,000 purchase Tuesday night. Each have been firmly against buying the land instead of Sig Sau, and Belken asked Tuesday if Sig has made Rochester a “very solid promise” about buying the land back.
Doug Lachance has also previously voiced opposition to the deal, but supported it Tuesday because he said he sees the value and benefits for the city. By city charter, the appropriation needed nine votes to pass Tuesday.
“I have been voting against this project from day 1,” he said before voting Tuesday. “I’m voting in favor of purchasing the land tonight, but I want to make it clear that it’s not to suggest I’m supporting this project wholeheartedly at this point in time. I have real concerns.”
Lachance referenced a letter the city received from Trinkets and Treasures owner Brian LaBranche.
LaBranche, a former city councilor whose business is located at the intersection, is concerned the intersection work will have a negative impact on his business like the struggles he experienced in 2017 when work on a nearby water and sewer project significantly reduced traffic flow and the number of customers coming into his store.
Lachance also expressed concern the intersection project could cost around $2 million, given the $270,000 land purchase, the $200,000 the city has already appropriated for engineering work for the project, and the cost of construction.
“You can be sure as we move through this process… I’m gonna be right here arguing we need some assurances as a city that we’re not wastefully spending tax dollars,” said Lachance.
