GENEVA — The Ontario County Industrial Development Agency could be providing administration for the Geneva IDA soon.

The IDA, led by Ryan Davis — he also serves as the county’s director of economic development — is proposing to provide administration for the Geneva IDA, work currently done by Acting City Manager Taylor Youngs.

Davis said the proposal needs to go before the county IDA later this month. He said no cost has been determined and that he didn’t believe the IDA had made a formal request for the county IDA to take over administrative duties.

Mayor Jim Cecere, who briefly spoke on the proposal at City Council’s Aug. 5 meeting, supports the city getting out of administering an agency not directly tied to city government.

“We have a resource constraint in the city as Acting City Manager Youngs, who currently serves as executive director of the IDA, has a full plate with her new role and simply cannot dedicate the proper amount of time for the IDA role,” Cecere said. “Also, as acting city manager, her serving as the executive director may pose a conflict of interest.”

Cecere said he is “glad the city IDA is reviewing this with the county. It’s a prudent move to align with the county and their fully staffed economic development office. I have full confidence that both the city IDA and the county economic development office will generate terrific results for Geneva.”

Speaking at the Geneva IDA’s meeting Aug. 7, board Chair Anne Nenneau said she’s open to a change in how the agency is overseen.

“I think we’ve got an opportunity to see how it works with the county,” she said.

Davis, who attended the IDA meeting, said he expected a period of 12-15 months to start out with under a proposed city-county arrangement. However, he said while county administration of the Geneva IDA could continue beyond that point, it would be premature to estimate if this would be a permanent framework.

A deal could come before the start of the Geneva IDA’s next fiscal year, which begins in September.

Youngs admits there are issues with representing the city and the IDA.

“It’s easier to have one hat on,” she said.

This would not be the first time the IDA was administered by someone outside City Hall. MRB Group provided interim services following the departure of City Manager Sage Gerling in 2022.

Nenneau also observed at the Geneva IDA meeting that the agency, which is tasked with economic development, appears to be at a crossroads, citing the costs of keeping the Geneva Enterprise Development Center running and what she viewed as a lack of community support for economic development projects.

“The message has been pretty clear over the last couple of years: ‘We don’t want developers coming into town.’ And that’s unfortunate,” she said. “We’ve tried to fight it.”

She added that “Article 78s (court actions) are pretty easy” to file and can stall or prevent projects “that are viable and helpful.”