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Thursday, January 30, 2014

Webb Explains Land Sale At Team Lawrence Commerce Park

   Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce Director Daniel Webb addressed the county commission Thursday to clear up any misunderstandings regarding the recent sale of land inside Team Lawrence Commerce Park.

   Webb addressed the Board of Commissioners in the wake of a lengthy discussion regarding a resolution that had been drafted in response to the sale. Some commissioners questioned the dollar amount per acre for which the 11+ acre parcel had been sold.

   Webb explained, “I know there’s been a lot of discussion about the sale of the property and a lot of different, rumors for lack of a better word…I just want to take a minute to address the commission and kind of let them know what happened and why the property was sold at the price it was sold for.”

   Webb said, “We first heard from this company (Federal Express) early last summer and they wanted to expand their current location they’re in now. We worked to try to get some land that they could get an option on, to lease if nothing else, so they could do an expansion there. It did not work out. We couldn’t come to an agreement on that so we let things go. We didn’t hear anything for several months. Right before Christmas we got a phone call…They said that they wanted to look at our Team Lawrence Commerce Park and asked would we entertain selling. I said, ‘Yes we would.’”

    “They offered $5,000 an acre for 11.92 acres. We took it to the Economic Development Corporation of Lawrence County, the property board, for a vote. Discussion was had and we decided $5,000 was not enough. There was some discussion about what the appraisal price was. To be honest I don’t know what the price was, but I was given permission to negotiate the sale of the land, to start out with $20,000 and go no lower than $15,000 per acre or to the appraisal price. We later found out that was $21,000. So therefore I really had no power to negotiate.

   “I went back and told the company that it looked like we needed to get $21,000 an acre. They told me they were not interested in that and they would be leaving Lawrence County altogether. I said, ‘We don’t want you to do that. Let me make a few phone calls.’ In talking with Mayor Keith Durham the city said, ‘We’re not going to lose this company. We will come up with the additional funds that are needed to get the sale of this land done for this project.’”

   Webb said that it is in the county’s best interest to keep the industry here. “The plant manager of Modine sees the value of having them in our community. He said they use them daily and it would be detrimental to them to lose them,” he explained.

   Webb told commissioners, “We called another property board meeting. The property board decided they did not want to make the city come up with the additional funds and agreed to sell it at $10,000 an acre, which was what the offer was for.

   “As you all recall back in 2000,” Webb continued, “When you purchased the land you purchased it for $4,500 an acre. We sold it for $10,000 an acre; above what the taxpayers paid for it…So I think you are getting a return for your money and in addition to that it’s a recruiting tool.

   “This is a Fortune 50 company that will be sitting on the southeast corner of Team Lawrence Commerce Park. It will be one of the first things that prospects see when they come into town. I’ve checked around in other industrial parks in Tennessee and this company is located in those industrial parks, as well. And those are in larger cities so I think we’re very fortunate to have them in a community of our size.”

   Webb assured commissioners, “The project is growing.” He explained that because the company asked for no local incentives, they gave no official estimate regarding the expected number of jobs or dollar amount of the investment to be made.

   “In working with them in the past week they have given me some new numbers,” Webb said. “Their investment will be no less than $5.2 million. Based on that investment I believe the county will collect $125,000 a year for their portion of the taxes. So you will be seeing a return on your money as well as the jobs. They have not given me jobs in writing yet. They haven’t told me that there will be additional jobs added (in addition to the number currently employed at their local site). We talked about the number being somewhere around 25. They think there will be more than 25, but I’m not here to commit to that because they haven’t showed me that in writing at this point.”

   Webb expressed his intent to help maintain open lines of communication and a better working relationship between the county, City of Lawrenceburg, and Economic Development Corporation of Lawrence County in this joint project. He concluded, “Overall I think that it’s going to be a great thing.”

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