Two steps forward for Industrial Development Authority
By SANDRA STONE The Meade County-Brandenburg Industrial Development Authority met Oct. 27 and went immediately into closed session. They returned to open session about 40 minutes later with two motions, one concerning the Bill Corum Commerce Park, the other the Buttermilk Falls Industrial Park site adjacent to Arch Chemicals. On a motion by Carl Austin, the Authority agreed to enter into a purchase option agreement with Medley Heating & Cooling and Medley HVAC and Plumbing for the purchase of 2.56 acres +/- in the Bill Corum Commerce Park. The option will run to mid-January 2007. Medley will then have 24 months to construct, or he will be required to sell the property back to the Industrial Development Authority. The motion passed unanimously. On a motion by Rick Myers, the Authority agreed to sign a letter of intent with AgriFuels for the purchase of 106 acres +/- pending the legal description and road completion. A purchase agreement will be signed in the next week following review by AgriFuels’ attorney. The purchase agreement runs through Jan. 15, 2007. Authority members Harry Lee Lusk and Carl Austin abstained from the vote in order to avoid the perception of conflict of interest as the Lusk Group has assisted AgriFuels with drawings, and Austin rents office space to AgriFuels. “We had the intention of signing the purchase agreement, but our attorneys haven’t had a chance to review the purchase agreement.” said Don Martin of AgriFuels, as he and Authority chair David Pace sat down to sign the letter of intent. “This has been an ongoing process for a year,” said Pace. He thanked Martin for his continued support of the industrial park site. “He’s been a strong supporter of this whole thing. It’s what’s made our group want to be a part of AgriFuels,” said Pace. “We think it’s just a matter of time before he has many neighbors down there.” “I appreciate your enthusiasm and hard work,” Lusk told Martin. “As a citizen of Meade County, I appreciate what you’ve done.” Magistrate Kent Allen also expressed his pleasure at being a part of the Fiscal Court that purchased the land for the industrial park. “I’d like to see Don’s company make a success of it,” Allen said. “Ten years from now, I’d like people to look back and say this Court had the foresight to take a risk.” “The Industrial Authority has been very flexible in working with us and our land requirements,” said Martin. The people we are partnering with indicated we needed larger rail service than we originally thought, and the Industrial Authority worked with us on that.” Martin went on to say the core business of providing ethanol was just one aspect of the project that attracted his partners in this venture. “They also like the strategic location (rail, river and road) which puts us within reaching distance of two-thirds of the American population.” Martin added that the establishment of a rail system would make the location even more attractive to other businesses. “Thank you again for your diligence, for bearing with me,” said Martin to the board.
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Photo by Sandra Stone