The Citizen

After months of meeting with company officials and listening to public comment, the Skaneateles town planning board approved the major site plan for GE Inspection Technologies' proposed new 67,500 square-foot facility on Visions Drive in Skaneateles Falls.

The approval, made Feb. 27, came with revisions to address neighbors' concerns about lighting, landscaping, drainage and other issues.

GE's new manufacturing facility was also the topic of discussion at a public hearing earlier this month at Skaneateles Town Hall.

There, town planning board chairman Mark Tucker, one of only four people in attendance for the Onondaga County Industrial Development Authority hearing, expressed his support of the new facility.

“I think it's a big plus for the communities, that we keep jobs in the community,” Tucker said.

The project is estimated to cost more than $9 million, including more than $1 million for site work and close to $6 million for building construction, according to the IDA's project summary.

The IDA has calculated a rough estimate of $267,816 for GE's PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement, but the actual figures will be calculated after the facility is finished, said IDA assistant secretary Don Western.

Weather permitting, GE Inspection Technologies, which designs, services and manufactures devices to inspect and monitor equipment, hopes to break ground in late April. It currently shares a Jordan Road building with Welch Allyn's Lighting Products Division.

The new building is expected to create at least 50 new high-tech jobs over the next five years, in addition to the 153 already existing positions.

“With our tight timeline to have the building finished by December, getting approval at the February meeting allows us to stay on schedule,” said company representative Lindsay Theile, adding that GE is also grateful to the county and state for their support of the project.