Applicants for a proposed agricultural research facility in the town of Oneonta looked to provide clarity on the project at the Town Board’s Wednesday, Nov. 12 meeting, but board and community members said they felt many questions remained unanswered.
The applicants proposing the development, which they say is for an agricultural research project, are Tirusha Dave and Prashanth Gorantala, representatives from EcoYotta Inc. Dave said at the beginning of Wednesday’s meeting that she has heard statements, including “several inaccuracies and mischaracterizations,” about the project and the process behind it.
“First and foremost, it’s not a data center,” Dave said. “The core function of our project is agricultural, a hydroponic farming operation that grows produce year-long using sustainable technology.”
She said this explanation was addressed at the Town Planning Board meeting in July, but the portion of the discussion was not “accurately reflected in the official minutes” and that has led to “continued misunderstanding about the nature of our project.”
Board member Kim Fierke said later in the meeting that on May 1, the application proposed the parcel be rezoned to industrial to “accommodate a data center.” Gorantala said that was a recommendation of the code enforcement officer at the time and was changed immediately.
The term agribusiness, Dave added during public comment, is not new or “manufactured,” but is used frequently by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. She said agribusiness “refers to any business engaged in the agricultural production, processing or technology that supports farming.”
Referring to comments that have suggested the project could consume enough energy to power 400 homes, Dave said the number is incorrect. She said consumption depends on the hydroponic design and the research cycle.
At the Wednesday, Oct. 8 board meeting, T.J. Ruane, an attorney with Whiteman Osterman and Hanna representing EcoYotta Inc., said applicants are seeking a planned development district, or PDD, at 357 county Route 9, which allows for the board to add conditions. He said that the research center would use computer servers to produce heat to grow plants using a hydroponic system, according to Daily Star archives.
During the EcoYotta presentation, Fierke asked about the oversight of the project.
Gorantala said he is doing the “same exact project” in New Jersey. Applicants did not name a specific municipality. In terms of who will be working at the facility, he said it would be a research-oriented facility not a business.
“That’s where SUNY comes in with internships and SUNY Cobleskill,” Gorantala said. “There are so many different universities.”
Interim Town Supervisor Brett Holleran said there are still unknowns about the nature of the project, including engineering information, noise specifications and a food distribution plan.
“Every time we come up or think of this, we actually come up with a different question because we just haven’t seen anything concrete,” Holleran said. “That’s really what the problem is, I think, or trepidation with us — for every question you answer, we come up with five more. I think it’s really because we haven’t see anything concrete.”
Nathaniel Nichols, an attorney with Whiteman Osterman and Hanna filling in for Ruane, said applicants are willing to answer any questions, but it is hard to answer all questions during the presentations as further questions arise. He said “if there needs to be ongoing dialogue” between the town and the applicants, it could be facilitated.
Fierke said the board has yet to see a business plan, comparing it to going to a bank and asking to open a business without a business plan.
Nichols said the applicants are aiming to perform research into a global problem. A PDD application does not need to take financials into account, he added, and does not need to include the “viability of a business.”
If it is meant to be a research facility, Nichols said, research typically operates at a loss for some time. The goal would be to obtain grants in the future to fund the research.
Responding to concerns about where the research facility could go in the future after problems are solved, Dave said she has reached out to more than a dozen farmers in upstate New York and New Jersey. They have closed their seasons and cannot open until the spring because they are unable to grow anything sustainably.
Once the research is completed, she said, and EcoYotta can create a prototype, it could then be implemented with small-based farmers to allow them to remain open during the winter months.
SUNY offers a strength in the Oneonta location, Gorantala said, allowing for internship opportunities.
Board member Patricia Riddell Kent said later in the meeting that she is “deeply concerned with the rising number of rezoning requests in the town” over the past few years.
“I feel like they are being used as a work around to the standards of our zoning code,” she said.
Joe Camarata, another board member, motioned at the end of the EcoYotta presentation, to hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9 at Town Hall for EcoYotta to “review and update us as a board.” It will be open to the public. The next step ideally would be to make a referral to the Otsego County Planning Department, and then set a public hearing, Camarata said.
The motion passed 3-1, with Riddell Kent voting no. She said she would have voted to approve the special meeting, but not for the other elements of the motion.