The Pierce County Industrial Development and Building Authority (IDBA) recently discussed and/or voted on the following during their regular monthly meeting October 7.
Chamber service agreement update: IDBA Executive Director James announced the service agreement between the IDBA and the Pierce County Chamber of Commerce was up for review.
Originally put in place in 2024, the agreement was never formally reviewed, which meant by the terms of the original agreement the original terms rolled over to the following year.
James was keen to resume the yearly review and renewal schedule and proposed providing a 60day notice to the chamber, informing that organization the current agreement would be terminated and give them time to come to the table with a new proposal to be implemented in January 2027.
The board unanimously approved a motion to terminate the current service agreement and provide the chamber with a new proposed agreement by December 31.
Seminole LLC: Approximately five acres of land along Homestead Rd. will be sold to Seminole LLC for the purposes of setting up a manufacturing/ retail/construction site.
However, the sale is contingent upon the site being successfully rezoned, which requires a favorable recommendation from the Joint Advisory Development Board after which it would go before the county commission in December for final approval.
James indicated he wished to discuss with legal counsel if a potential clawback clause might be worked into the sale agreement. The gist of the clawback clause would be if the proposed facility is not built within 24 months after purchase of the property, the IDBA would have the option to buy the land back at the original purchase price.
The goal of such clauses in not specific to the current purchaser, Seminole LLC, but rather is meant to broadly prevent land speculation purchases within the industrial park, which has been a problem in the past.
The request for a recommendation to approve rezoning the parcel went before the Joint Planning Advisory Board Oct. 13, but was tabled until the Nov. 10 meeting.
RSDI application: James updated the board about the recent Rural Site Development Initiative (RSDI) grant application discussed at last month’s meeting.
The grant application was turned in Oct. 9 and could possibly qualify the industrial park for up to $2 million in development funds. James said there is a 10% match requirement on grant funds and odds were good the IDBA could expect to receive a minimum of $500,000.
Funds from the RSDI grant would go toward cutting road access into the rear acreage of the park, though plans are still in the preliminary stage and subject to change.
Partnership report (Pierce County): Interim County Manager Thomas Sauls delivered an update on recent events in the county, saying September was “a great month”. Sauls reported that the recent bouts of heavy rain had produced a “setback” on the Gilman Rd. project, which received a lot of attention on social media. Sauls commended the workers for filling in the hole created by runoff water in less than a day and a half, working in the middle of the downpour to do it.
The service delivery strategy for the county has been updated to reflect Blackshear taking over permitting and code enforcement within the city limits.
Regarding the ongoing updates to Tiger Field track, Sauls said, “I’m excited about Tiger Field. It looks like a damp mess right now, but I am looking forward to that. It’s going to look great.”
Land leveling in the industrial park has also recently been completed.
County Chairman Neal Bennett also reported an AFG grant of approximately $250,000 had been used to buy new oxygen backpacks for the county fire department, citing a cost of roughly $4,000 to equip a single firefighter.
Partnership report (Chamber of Commerce): Pierce County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Christi Pitts was not on hand to deliver the monthly partnership update.
Closed session: The IDBA board went into a 28 minute closed session for the purposes of discussing real estate.
Upon resuming regular session, the board determined no action to be taken at the time.
Minutes: The PCIDBA’s September minutes of both their were unanimously approved and entered into the record with no comments or questions.
Next meeting: The PCIDBA’s next regular meeting will be 8 a.m. November 4 in the Chamber of Commerce board room, located in Blackshear’s Historic Train Depot.
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