IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. -- The developer of Irondequoit's mixed-use I-Square project says he's fighting to reclaim his reputation after getting caught in a political crossfire.
He says he plans to sue the Monroe County GOP and its chairman, Greece Town Supervisor Bill Reilich.
“You're talking about my livelihood, my business, my reputation," said developer Mike Nolan. "It's not just politics. So I don't care what his motivation is. It's wrong."
This comes following a public feud between Reilich and Nolan, after Reilich criticized the appointment of Irondequoit town supervisor Adam Bello to Monroe County Clerk.
Reilich called I-Square "failing," and mentioned financial woes.
“What I found unfortunate is this attack on a business in Irondequoit, not on the government, or anything I did, but really on a private business that’s investing so much in our town," Bello said.
Monroe County's industrial development agency released a statement that appears to back up Reilich's claims that the developer defaulted on I-Square's PILOT agreement.
The West Irondequoit Central School District along with COMIDA approved the 25-year payment in lieu of taxes plan back in 2013. COMIDA says to satisfy terms of the agreement, a second, 15,000 square foot, three-story building had to be built by the end of 2015. COMIDA says one of its representatives visited the site Sunday and confirmed the construction of that second building remains incomplete. That assessor said, instead, a small, unidentifiable building sits on the designated parcel.
Developer Mike Nolan claimed an operations and recycling building on site was built by the deadline, COMIDA says that building does not meet the specifications of the agreement. Under the Event of Default, COMIDA can take one of four steps which include the termination of the PILOT agreement.
"We have a contract with COMIDA that provides a clear process. Their release clearly violates that process and contains inaccurate information. For COMIDA to fabricate this release this morning in order to back up the GOP Chairman is unimaginable," said Nolan.
COMIDA said in a statement that its findings were confirmed by Irondequoit Town Assessor Enza Mineo.
But then Mineo responded with her own statement, saying she has "no idea what the COMIDA statement is based on."
Reilich then released another statement saying he understands the challenges of running a business and his issue is not with the developer, but with Bello.
"I truly believe this project can be successful; I'm just disappointed that Adam Bello has decided to abandon them during this difficult time," Reilich said.
But Nolan still has questions.
“Why nobody else at the county level is stepping up?" he asked. "Why Cheryl Dinolfo hasn’t called on her ethics committee that's newly-created to investigate this? That’s getting more frustrating as the day goes on, just seeing all these people standing by somebody’s lies. I don’t understand. There’s something wrong here, and we’re going to find out what that is.”
Nolan says he's meeting with attorneys to discuss the lawsuit.