By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
A town of Freedom family dairy is planning to update its 50-year-old facility with a state-of-the-art dairy farm with help from the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency.
Edelweiss Dairy LLC, 10,826 Osman Road, Freedom, was approved earlier this week for mortgage tax abatement and a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement to construct 650,000 square feet of barns that include a 120-stall rotary milking parlor.
The mortgage recording fee exemption will save Edelweiss Dairy LLC $4,062,500 and the $1,071,930 PILOT is for 10 years after value added of $28.5 million, according to Corey Wiktor, IDA executive director.
The $32.5 million project includes $15.5 million in revenue bonds and $17.5 million in bank financing.
No sales tax exemption was necessary by the IDA because of Edelweiss Dairy already has an agriculture exemption, Wiktor said.
Edelweiss Dairy LLC currently has 20 full-time employees and one part-time employee. Two years after the project’s completion, the dairy pledged to have 10 new full-time employees and one new part-time employee.
Without the IDA financing assistance, the dairy project will take longer to complete, the application states. If it is not able to complete the project to its potential, Edelweiss will not be able to hire additional labor.
The IDA application states that updating the dairy will not only provide a healthier atmosphere for the cattle, but a cleaner, more efficient facility for employees. The new milking parlor will also milk cows more efficiently and produce more milk.
A manure processing facility including separators and methane digesters, will permit the dairy to recycle cows’ bedding.
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