In the roughly two years since the Auburn-Cayuga Development Corp. was created by Mayor Tim Lattimore, the economic development group has gone from announcing bold ideas and publicly seeking participation to one that few people have heard from in months.

But A-CDC is still around.

The group's president said A-CDC has been intentionally keeping under the radar since receiving its fair share of negative publicity, from being questioned by former city councilor Bob Hunter for the way it was run to being accused of forgery on a memo.

The last several months of quiet have been a welcome change - that's the only way for any economic development group to be successful, said David Colegrove, president of A-CDC.

Colegrove said the group has been working on two major energy projects recently, both of “general value to the community.”

Going into specifics about the projects, he said, would not be beneficial. But he said A-CDC would likely be ready to make them public in the next couple of months.

“All economic development happens quietly, or should,” Colegrove said. “We've studied or considered scores of different projects only to find out that they weren't viable. (If made public), we would have put out at least a dozen big disappointments.”

Colegrove said the two current projects are the biggest undertakings for A-CDC so far, and he said the success of the projects would be validation for the formation of A-CDC.

Questions surrounding operations of A-CDC were quick to arrive after it formed at the beginning of 2004. Many came from Hunter who questioned the ethics of the way the organization was run and, most notably, the mayor's involvement with the group.

Lattimore, who eventually disinvolved himself from the group to absolve himself of any conflict-of-interest issues, said he believed A-CDC “had something going” before politics entered the picture. The questioning, Lattimore believes, at the time hurt the group's reputation, which can make or break an organization reliant on forming strong relationships with others.

“It put a cloud over it,” Lattimore said. “People don't want to have to deal with that. They tried to have a bomb go off there to taint the organization.”

Hunter said he would have been supportive of a private economic development group existing to supplement city efforts, but he questioned the ethics of some actions taken by the group. That included, Hunter said, using the mayor's office for A-CDC operations.

“I'd be happy to see anyone come on board that is legitimate and up front with what they're doing,” Hunter said.

Hunter also questioned whether the group ever obtained official status to be the not-for-profit organization it claimed to be. The letter Lattimore sent out to area vendors in December of 2003, an initial initiative of A-CDC, claimed the organization had 501(c) status, which would make any contributions to the group tax deductible.

The organization became incorporated in March 2004. It was set up as a not-for-profit organization, although it is not listed on the New York Department of State Web site database that lists all active and inactive not-for-profit corporations in the state.

Colegrove said the nonprofit status was still in the process. Ultimately, a goal of the group is to be a nonprofit organization, but for the time being, he said that wasn't a huge issue because of the modest amount of money involved.

Currently, A-CDC numbers about 50 people, consisting of various businesspeople in the community. Its initiatives are funded by private contributions. Its board of directors consists of five individuals who meet at least quarterly, Colegrove said.

Since the public squabbles over A-CDC - largely between Hunter and Lattimore - died down, A-CDC has largely kept out of the limelight both in the eyes of the general public and A-CDC's public counterparts - the city and county economic development entities.

County economic development director Jon Christopher said he hadn't heard anything from A-CDC recently. The last dealings A-CDC had with the city were in August when Colegrove approached the Auburn Industrial Development Authority asking for assistance with an A-CDC project.

A-CDC was in the midst of developing a project to install compatible heat and power units at the Auburn Holiday Inn, the Auburn YMCA, the Springside Inn, Cayuga Community College and the soon-to-be-built SpringHill Suites by Marriott.

The units produce hot water and generate electricity, lowering energy costs for businesses.

Colegrove said that project is still in the works, but he called it “minor” in comparison to the two upcoming energy projects the group intends to make public in the next couple of months.

One of the advantages A-CDC has over the public economic development entities is that it is allowed to operate as privately and secretively as it chooses.

“People who pursue economic development do it quietly until they have the essential elements in place,” he said. “Then, they announce it.”

Staff writer Anne Gleason can be reached at 243-5311 ext. 248 or at anne.gleason@lee.net