SHERBURNE – The Chenango County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) is entertaining an application for a tax abatement deal that could lead to the first cannabis operation in the Sherburne township.

The IDA accepted a tax break application Wednesday from Lifelong Agriculture LLC, a Long Island based company seeking to start a cannabis cultivation and packing operation at the former location of Purdy and Sons Foods on County Road 24.

Lifelong Agriculture is asking the IDA to green light a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) deal that would give the company tax concessions, provided that it creates jobs and grows the tax base over time. While the IDA has accepted the company’s PILOT application, the business proposition must still go through the Sherburne Town Board and the company conduct a site plan review on the 7.7 acres of farmland before it can begin operations.

“IDA law requires that we are open and we provide all information from the application to the projected taxes to all taxing entities in the location. That's the town, village, school, county, and anybody that’s associated with it,” said IDA Vice-Chairman Brian Burton. “We’re just approving acceptance of the application. We are not approving the PILOT; we're not approving anything else moving forward at this point – just that we have a completed application and [Lifelong Agriculture] can take the next steps required.”