Debate over Industrial Park Purchase Continues

During this month’s County Commission Meeting, the purchase of land at the Industrial Park became the center of attention as Ray Brewer, Darren Breaud and the Industrial Development Board all wished to purchase parcels of land.

Ray Brewer’s request was the first to be discussed as the purchase included the Emergency Access Road which has become a point of discussion since last month’s Commission meeting after citizens in Commissioner Doug Jobbitt’s district asked to have the gate taken down.

“There’s a private road that’s listed in the deed [of Industrial Park] that is also listed as an emergency access road. I don’t understand how we can sell the emergency access road,” said Doug Jobbitt.

Commissioner Allison Tanner asked the mayor if the property is sold, would the easement for the road run with the land to which Mayor Jonah Keltner did not know the answer.

Commissioner Wendell Kelley said he had a call from Kevin King. “He said he was in opposition to the gate being taken down because he had stuff come up missing [before the gate was put up]. The road’s in decent shape, it’s not being maintained by the county.”

Commissioner Jobbitt said it was because they put up a sign that says private road. Ray Brewer, who was requesting to purchase the land with the road and gate included, stood up and said, “It’s funny to me that Mr. Jobbitt is all for opening the gate but then you just said you can’t get a tractor trailer in there [which was said earlier in the meeting]. You’re right. It is an emergency gravel access road. You’re absolutely correct it is not a public access road. There is a complete and total legal difference. The gate has been put up by the county years ago, as well as the signs saying ‘Authorized Vehicles Only’ and ‘Employees Only.’ The reason it’s there is because the only time there has been theft is when they tried to open the gate because anytime you give a thief an entrance and an exit, they like to steal.

“And let me tell you something else, you open that gate, who wants to have it on their hands if a kid rides a bicycle and gets run over by a tractor trailer who unloads at our shop three or four times a week and then five or six of them big box trucks. Who wants that on their hands?” said Ray Brewer. “Real good idea. It ain’t a dog park, it ain’t a walking trail and it ain’t a bicycle route.”

“And from your point of view, just like when I tried to put water and sewer down there, and you came to me and gave me crap 15 years ago and it was the Industrial Park when you were commissioner here,” said Commissioner Jobbitt.

Brewer asked what that had to do with anything, and Commissioner Jobbitt responded that it was the same kind of situation and it was nothing personal.

The two continued to argue before Mayor Keltner and Sheriff Dwayne Kilpatrick asked them to get back in order. After more debate, the point was made by Commissioner Aren Ragsdale that even if the gate was kept in place and sold in the deed to Mr. Brewer, it should be written in the deed and resolution to keep the road an emergency access road and all emergency service personnel should be given a key. Both Commissioner Jobbitt and Ray Brewer both agreed, and the resolution was amended.

The resolution for Brewer’s purchase of the land was put to a roll call vote where it passed with commissioners Brian Peery, Kyle Bobo, Patrick Halfacre, Jim Grinder, T.J. Hinson, and Bill Dyer voting no, Commissioner Timmie Hinson passed, and Commissioner Jobbitt abstained. Commissioners Allison Tanner, Ragsdale, Wendell Kelley, Jerry Ashmore, Austin Carroll, Ronnie Brewer, Robert Brewer, Caleb Feichtinger, Larry Pigg and Larry Hensley voted in favor of the resolution.

Darren Breaud, owner of B&B Race Cars, came before the commission in hopes of purchasing Parcel 9 of the Industrial Park in order to build a building for his business.

Parcel 9 is made up of approximately 6.7 acres which will be officially determined by a new survey. The resolution stated the land would be sold at a rate of $7,000 per acre, and Breaud would be responsible for all closing costs and the cost of the new survey. The contract does include “other language that is typically a part of such a purchase, such as buy-back clause for the County, etc.” The funds from the sale of the property will go into a Reserve Account and be designated for economic and community development.

Commissioners Doug Jobbitt and Jim Grinder sponsored the resolution and the resolution passed in a unanimous roll call vote.

Mayor Keltner then led the commission to vote on selling the Industrial Park to the Industrial Development Board, pending grant approval. Instead of selling approximately 82 acres at $7,000 per acre for approximately $574,000, the numbers dropped down to 70 acres for approximately $490,000 after the two parcels sold to Brewer and Breaud. Due to the change in figures, Rob Inman who came to speak on behalf of the board, was not able to go through with the deal before consulting the Industrial Development Board.

Commissioner Halfacre asked if the commission should sell the land to the Industrial Development Board since business owners have now approached the commission, asking to purchase the land.

“I have sat here for the past three years and not seen a soul come in and try to buy anything in the Industrial Park,” said Commissioner Tanner. “We were blessed to have these gentlemen come in here and want to buy [the parcels]. I don’t foresee anybody else coming in here... but we have somebody wanting to pay a really good price for it, wanting to bring industry into our community and I don’t understand why there’s pushback.”

Commissioner Halfacre said that he wasn’t pushing back and he was happy that they wanted to buy the land.

The resolution was put to a roll call vote, giving the Industrial Board their approval ahead of time. All commissioners voted in favor of the resolution except for Commissioner Halfacre who passed.

Budget Amendments

Commissioners Halfacre and Carroll sponsored a budget amendment, allowing the Library to accept government grants in the amount of $24,000 to put $5,667 into “Other Contracted Services,” $7,197 into “Library Books/Media,” $269 into “Furniture,” and $11,867 into “Office Equipment.”

The resolution was passed in a unanimous roll call vote.

Another resolution was brought before the commission that moved $1,896 from the “Sheriff Data Process Reserve” account into the “Sheriff Dept/Office Supplies” account in order to purchase office supplies. The resolution was passed in a unanimous roll call vote.

The next resolution was to move $150,763 from the county’s General Fund into the Sheriff Department/Vehicles fund to pay off the remainder of their bill for the new trucks. The money came from a grant that was approved in one of last year’s commission meetings. The resolution passed in a unanimous roll call vote.

Another budget amendment came before the commission, seeking to move $21,344 from the “General Sessions Fines” account to the “Sheriff Department/Judgements” account so the amount can be paid out to the Perry County General Sessions Court. The resolution was passed in a unanimous roll call vote.

A budget amendment authorizing $2,034 from the General Fund to be used to pay for cyber security protection for the County Mayor and County Trustee offices which will protect their systems from malware, ransomware, and spam and phishing. The $1,017 for each office will be an annual price. Commissioners Ragsdale and Bobo sponsored the resolution and it passed in a unanimous roll call vote.