Cortland Standard .net

By COLLEEN SIUZDAK
Staff Reporter
csiuzdak@cortlandstandard.net
HOMER — After a purchase made by Mayor Genevieve Suits and her husband, Paul Suits, some village residents praised the couple’s action, while others questioned their motives.
The Suits family purchased the Homer Oil Co. building at 4 Center St., which totals 3.7 acres and is assessed at $356,100, according to information from the county’s Real Property Tax Services website.
The conveyance amount for the transfer of property is $110,000 according to the information on the deed available at the County Clerk’s website. The actual purchase price was unavailable by press time.
The conveyance amount is the amount the Suits’ family paid to acquire the property, Deputy County Clerk Tammy Locke said Tuesday morning.
Locke said the purchase price would not be available on the document because it is included on a private form that is sent to the state Department of Taxation and Finance to record the transfer.
Other variables can come into play regarding what was conveyed for the property, including the exchange of other properties, goods or services.
The date on the deed isJuly 30, 2014, but Locke said it is not unusual for the clerk’s office to receive the file at a later date.
Several county residents did not know of the purchase and some question what the Suitses might be doing with the land after they demolish the building.
Homer resident Bill Bowker said Tuesday he thinks it is “shady” that the Suits announced the purchase a month before the March 18 village election and he is questioning the impact the purchase may have on undecided voters.
Bowker added he is unsure how he feels about the purchase without the Suitses disclosing a plan about the property.
“It would not surprise me if she does win because if people are on the fence, people could say ‘we’re glad you did that, therefore we’ll vote for you,’” Bowker said, adding Suits might gain votes from the move.
Genevieve Suits said in a previous interview with the Cortland Standard the purchase was not politically motivated but an opportunity to get rid of an “eyesore” in the village.
Numerous calls made to the mayor about the purchase price of the building have not been returned.
Maribeth McEwan of 52 Cortland St., said she is happy the building will be demolished, adding she was one of the residents concerned about the health impacts caused by the operations of Homer Oil Co.
“I am happy that they are going to be tearing it down,” McEwan said Thursday morning. “I’m just a little concerned what they might be putting in there.”
When asked if she thought the purchase had something to do with the village election next month, McEwan said the connection was an “obvious thing.”
“She might have said they have been trying to do it for a year, (but) I haven’t heard anything about it before it was printed in the paper.”
Despite her views on the purchase being politically motivated, McEwan thinks the demolition of the building will be beneficial for the village, saying the building as it stands is not safe.
“It should never be zoned for a business, not in a residential area with all the houses around it,” she said.
Other residents believe the purchase will be beneficial to the village, applauding the Suitses for taking it over.
Harriet Higgins, a Virgil resident who has a business on South Main Street in Homer, said she is happy about the transfer of property, noting it encourages a growing economy in the village.
“It’s business as usual, we encourage growth and development,” Higgins said.
She does not think the purchase was a political move and says anything done with the building will be good for Homer residents.
“You don’t want to divide the community on elections,” Higgins said. “If people want to step up and volunteer for public service, that’s a good thing.”
Although the Suitses have not claimed to have a plan for the property, resident Sherry Barhite who lives in front of the old building on Center Street, said she thinks otherwise.
“I don’t think the purchase was politically motivated, but I believe they have something in mind for the property,” Barhite said in her home Tuesday afternoon. “I’m sure they are weighing out different options.”
Barhite has been following the development of the building, noting it is a potential health hazard and she said she is happy the building will be demolished.
“We’re just hoping they can demolish it and do it in a timely (manner), not invasive with our lifestyle,” she said.
Originally a milk-processing plant, the facility has been a point of contention for village residents since Homer Oil began processing soybeans into liquid oil and meal for livestock in 1989.
Nearby residents complained of adverse health effects from the plant’s daily operations, though it was never confirmed the facility was the source. Homer Oil closed its doors in 2004.
In August 2013, the property was almost purchased by Chuck Rader, former chief executive officer of IsleChem LLC., and a member of an investment group calling itself Homer Soy Products.
Rader planned to invest$1.4 million to revive the plant but decided not to follow through on the purchase, citing an inability to find buyers for the soy feed and oil the plant would have produced.