Agency ready for Broome Tech Park public engagement

TOWN OF MAINE, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) — It’s go time for the Broome County Industrial Development Agency as it looks to begin the public engagement process for the proposed Broome Technology Park.

Last Wednesday, The Agency announced that it has been selected as the lead agency by the DEC to conduct the State Environmental Quality Review, or SEQR, process. With that, The Agency says it’s ready to begin a collaborative and multi-step process to explore the parameters of the project.

The Agency says the park would create new jobs, a larger tax base, attract newcomers to our area and provide economic sustainability for decades. The SEQR involves a number of studies on the potential environmental impacts of the development, including water, air and soil, as well as traffic and noise.

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Agency Executive Director Stacey Duncan says the SEQR process will occur in tandem with the engineering and design efforts for the park. Duncan says the architectural and engineering firms have been selected and the next step is to start scheduling public visioning sessions.

“Here’s some ideas, here’s some concepts, what do you like? What don’t you like? What would you like to see as part of this overall development? So, our plan has always been to invite the community in to help us ultimately come up with what that final plan looks like,” Duncan said.

Duncan says it will be a thoughtful, deliberative process that will likely take a year. In the meantime, The Agency launched a dedicated website with answers to Frequently Asked Questions and more at BroomeTechPark.com .

The Town of Maine, which opposes the project, had also applied to be the SEQR lead agency. A number of Maine residents have expressed concern over potential traffic, noise and a change to the rural character of the area.

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