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City Commission commits about $25,000
to prepare site for manufacturer’s
building
Reaver-Black opposes
funding without contract
By Fred Mramor
of the Desert Journal
Truth or Consequences City
Commissioners have committed $24,700 to prepare a site on city-owned land
where Arizona’s Elite Shutters plans to put up its building, although
the city doesn’t have a signed contract with the manufacturer that
recently vamoosed out of Mexico.
City commissioners agreed to pay $700
for a land survey and plat, $4,500 for a soil test, $4,500 for sewer,
$6,000 for pavement and curbs, $2,000 for electrical and $7,000 for a
water line in anticipation that Elite will set up shop in T or C.
Sierra County commissioners have agreed
to split these costs with the city, City Manager Richard Ramsey said
during Wednesday’s special meeting of the T or C City Commission.
Additionally, the Sierra County
Economic Development Organization will contribute as much as $40,000 to
construct the maquiladora’s building, commissioners said during a
February meeting.
City workers will provide labor for the
site development project at no cost to the city above regular wages and
salaries, Ramsey added Wednesday.
“Yeah but they might be fixing
potholes on my street instead,” Commissioner Lois Reaver-Black said.
Of the five city commissioners, only
Reaver-Black objected to the city spending money to prepare land for a
business that has not committed in black and white to opening in T or C or
to what its obligations will be.
Reaver-Black said it’s unfair to
taxpayers given the city’s tight budget and the city having cut back on
services and giving a dozen or so employees their pink slips.
But Mayor Jimmy Rainey said if Elite
backs out the city will still have an improved property that will be
attractive and marketable to any business.
“A contract will come later, either
this one or another,” the mayor said.
Other commissioners took up the
‘build it and they will come’ refrain.
“We need jobs and gross receipts
taxes or the city will shut down,” Commissioner Everett Banister
threatened.
“People will be living on dried up
land if we don’t bring in business,” Mayor Pro-tem Nadyne Gardner
said.
“The city commission is doing something it hasn’t done
before: bringing in jobs and we shouldn’t screw around,” Commissioner
Bud Stevenson said. Stevenson then lamented the loss of a T or C business
when he reported that the restaurant across the street from his K-Bob’s
Steakhouse, presumably the Santa Fe Diner, closed its doors Tuesday.
A hand-written sign that said “closed
for cleaning” was seen on the Santa Fe Diner’s door Wednesday
afternoon but whether the restaurant is closed temporarily or permanently
has not been confirmed.
City commissioners voted 4 to 1 to
commit $24,700 (half to be paid by Sierra County) to site development for
Arizona’s Elite Shutters, or some other business.
Commissioners on Wednesday also voted
unanimously to direct the city manager to determine the city’s costs -
estimated at $7,000 so far – in providing paving and utilities so that
Peppin and York can open a shop at the municipal airport.
Peppin and York Electronics of
Fredericksburg, TX, sells, installs and repairs radios and other
electronic equipment for airplanes at four locations in the southwestern
United States.
Peppin and York wishes to lease 1.5
acres at the T or C Municipal Airport city at $1 per year and will erect a
5,000-square-foot building.
Peppin and York plan to employ 15 to 20
persons in Sierra County at wages ranging from $15 to $17 an hour, the
city manager said.
Airplane owners and pilots will spend
from $4,000 to $40,000 for products and services on each plane and could
spend as many as three days in the area while their planes are being
serviced and will patronize local restaurants, motels and other
businesses, Mayor Rainey said.
Peppin and York plan also to open a
shop downtown for direct internet sales and help provide avionic
electronics courses at the T or C Learning Center.
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