Cobleskill’s Mill Services is looking to move down the road—from MacArthur Ave-nue to Richmondville.
And Richmondville loves the idea.
Daniel Holt, president of the wood-finishing facility, told Richmnondville’s Planning Board last Tuesday that they’re considering two sites there: One off Route 7 and Beards Hollow near the old Zabata farm, and the other on Podpadic Road.
Mills Services hasn’t filed any formal plan; Mr. Holt said he was just trying to find out if Richmondville officials were receptive to the idea.
“I’m just trying to get a feel-ing [whether] the town is look-ing for manufacturing to move in,” Mr. Holt said. “If a facility like ours fits in with [your] plans.”
Yes, said Planning Board Chairman Harold Loder.
“We’re looking for busi-nesses to move and I look forward to working with you,” he said.
It’s been less than a year since Mill Services received special Empire Zone benefits status to update its Cobleskill facilities.
Mill Services currently em-ploys about 65; Mr. Holt said that number could climb to as high as 200 after expansion at a new site.
Mr. Holt said the firm needs about five or six acres and they plan to build a new steel manufacturing facility and warehouse of about 80,000 to 100,000 square feet.
When finished, the one-story factory would be about 120 feet wide and 600 to 700 feet long, he said.
Mr. Holt said Mill Services is looking at about a two to five-year plan, and hopes to break ground in 18 to 25 months and move the Coble-skill plant over one section at a time.
“We’re not a noisy facility,” he added, “It will probably be pretty quiet…”
Mr. Holt said their preferred site is about 20 acres near the antique barn at the corner of Route 7 and Beard’s Hollow Road, which is in the town’s Empire Zone.
Also under consideration, he said, is a larger parcel near the Lancaster Development building on Podpadic Road.
Building there, howeve,r would likely require the re-placement of a Schoharie County-owned bridge, he said.
Water requirements for the plant would be minimal, he said, and mostly for four bath-rooms; they would put in a tank for the required sprinkler system.
The plant would be heated with waste wood; as a metal building, Mr. Holt said, “it would be fairly safe compared to the one we’re in.”
Supervisor John Barlow said access to the Beards’ Hollow Road site, especially, needs to be carefully planned because of fast-moving traffic and poor visibility there.
Building in an Empire Zone, Mr. Holt said, would cut their power savings by a third.
“And Richmondville Power & Light is certainly a big in-centive for us to move here,” he added.
Just last January, the state Empire State Development Corporation approved a $180,000 grant to the com-pany, Eastern Forest Products and its affiliate EFJ Inc.
As part of its planned $4.5 million investment, EFJ agreed to add 15 jobs by Janu-ary 2011 to the 52 already ex-isting.