County, landowner should reach deal

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June 30, 2012

County, landowner should reach deal

Anonymous Daily Star The Daily Star Sat Jun 30, 2012, 03:25 AM EDT

The phrase "eminent domain" conjures up the worst stereotype of government: An uncaring bureaucracy that will snatch a family's home away to serve "the greater good," such as the construction of a new highway, power line or pipeline.

But the real story is not always so black-and-white.

Take the case (figuratively speaking, at least for now) of Delaware County versus Benedetto Borgia Jr. of the Bronx.

The county has been trying to purchase a 6.45-acre parcel from Borgia to complete a land deal aimed at giving Amphenol Corp. a new site for its manufacturing facility in the village of Sidney.

According to the county's Industrial Development Agency, numerous efforts to reach a deal with Borgia have fallen flat, even though the county is offering more than twice what Borgia paid for the land several years ago.

This puts Borgia into the position to sour a deal that would guarantee more than 900 jobs for the region over the next 20 years.

We have said before that it was worthwhile for county and state officials to seek an incentive package to keep Amphenol in Sidney. The company is one of only a handful of major employers in the region, and the loss of jobs would have a significant negative impact on the area if Amphenol were to pull up stakes and take its business elsewhere.

Last year's floods were the impetus. The new site, on higher ground near the Kmart shopping plaza in Sidney, is high enough to shield Amphenol's manufacturing process from future flooding.

We understand the position of IDA chairman James Thomson, who defended the county's decision to seek eminent domain proceedings.

"It's not like we are the big, bad government agency that is trying to steal his property," Thomson told The Daily Star last week. "This is vacant land that has never been used. It's not like we are taking someone's home."

But we would encourage the county and Borgia to come back to the bargaining table and try again to reach a deal. In the end, it will likely be better for both parties if that happened. Borgia would doubtless get a better deal, since any eminent domain proceeding would only offer him the fair market value for the parcel. And the county would be spared the time and expense of taking the matter to court.

Given that Borgia seemed unaware of the "several" offers Thomson said the county had made to him, it seems there is ample room for further negotiations before this issue would land in court.

We hope this matter can be resolved without invoking eminent domain, so that the Amphenol deal can move ahead in a timely fashion.