Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Oconee County Development Authority Subcommittee Not Unified On How To Respond To Prospect For Gateway Park

***Sell Land Or Lease Building?***

The Oconee County Industrial Development Authority Subcommittee on the Gateway Technology and Business Park met for nearly an hour on Monday without producing any sign of consensus on how to respond to an expression of interest for land in the Gateway property.

Rick Waller, who is chair of the IDA, favors constructing a building to sell or lease to the possible tenant as a way for the IDA to make money.

J.R. Charles, the county’s Economic Development director, recommended that the IDA sell the land so that the prospect, rather than the county, has the risk associated with the project.

IDA member Don Phillips said the group shouldn’t do anything until it puts in water, sewer and a roadway to the property. He said the county also needs to figure out what the land is worth.

Agreement On Questions To Answer

In the end, the Subcommittee agreed to initiate design work for the infrastructure and to get an appraisal.

It also agreed to ask County Attorney Daniel Haygood to answer another question that should help inform a future decision on how to respond to what is being labeled only as Project Sauce.

When the county agreed to buy the property in 1997, it agreed to pay to the former owner one half of the profit on any portion of the property sold to another party.

The Subcommittee members decided to ask Haygood to tell them if that condition would apply to a lease.

Project Sauce

Charles told the Subcommittee that the prospective firm is looking for a 60,000-square-foot-facility that would bring 50 jobs to the area.

John Daniell and Don Phillips

Of those 50 jobs, 25 would be transferred in from another location, and 25 would be new hires.

Charles said 15 of the 50 employees would be in management, and 35 would be “line” workers.

The former would earn $40,000 to $50,000 per year, and the latter would be making $14 to $15 per hour, he said.

Charles said at a meeting of the Subcommittee on Oct. 31 that the company is interested in buying five acres of land in the park or leasing a building.

The plant would not be producing industrial sewage, he said at the meeting on Monday.

1997 Agreement

In February of 1997 the county signed an agreement with Cathryn Branam and Rintha Branam, then living in Gwinnett County, to sell to the county 123 acres in four separate tracts along SR 316 on the southwestern edge of Bogart.

The stipulation that the county give the Branams half of the profit from the future sale of the land was part of that agreement.

Sale price for the property, when the county finally went forward with the purchase on Jan. 14, 2000, was $1,143,830.

Two of the tracts lie north of SR 316, and two smaller ones lie south of SR 316. None of the properties is contiguous with another of the remaining three.

The 1997 agreement with the Branams was not--until the meeting on Monday--a prominent part of public discussions about Gateway.

Roadway Interchange

County Attorney Haygood told me in an email message on Tuesday that former Board of Commissioners Chair Wendell Dawson wanted to purchase the property “to guarantee that Oconee County would have interchanges off GA 316 and thought this was a good location for one.”

Haygood, who was serving as county attorney at the time, also gave me copies of the purchase agreements.

The Oconee County Industrial Development Authority agreed to acquire the property on behalf of the county in that 1997 agreement.

In 2000, the county decided to convert the property into what is now Gateway Technology Business Park.

The county has tried unsuccessfully in recent years to purchase additional land to link the properties and has tried to negotiate sales in the past with a number of possible purchasers.

At present, the park has only one tenant, Alexion Pharma, which earlier this year backed out of an agreement to expand into the property that the Authority is now trying to use to entice Project Sauce to the county.

Different Perspectives

Waller asked Charles how the IDA could determine whether it was better to sell the property or to build a building and lease it to the interested company.

“I would let the company buy the dirt and build their own building and take the risk on themselves,” Charles said.

After some gap, Waller said “I’m still hung up on, well, I don’t know if hung up in the right way to put it, but I’m still trying to find a way for the IDA to generate revenue without having to, you might say, borrow money or get money from the county or do a bond or whatever else.”

“How long’s the county been owning that property?” Phillips asked.

“Since I was a child,” IDA member Matt Elder said.

According to county voting records, Elder was born in 1969, so that is a bit of an exaggeration.

Roads And Sewer

Whether the county leases or sells, “you’ve still got to develop it,” Phillips said. “You have to be able to get in and out of the property.”

“We need to get this sewer thing figured out,” he added. “And then start getting some numbers together to get the road in.”

Subcommittee Chair John Daniell, who is chair of the Board of Commissioners, didn’t give much of a sense of his inclination.

Elder spoke of the benefits of selling and of leasing.

IDA member Janet Jones said little during the discussion.

More Money For Gateway?

During the regular meeting of the IDA, which followed the Subcommittee meeting, Waller asked County Finance Director Wes Geddings whether it would be possible to divert unspent money borrowed for the Parkway Boulevard project to Gateway.

Geddings, in his financial report, said he expects about $450,000 to remain after all bills are paid for the construction of Parkway Boulevard, which links Epps Bridge Parkway with the Oconee Connector.

The original plan, Geddings said, was to have $250,000 remaining for beautification of Mars Hill Road and Parkway Boulevard itself.

Geddings said the balance could be used to pay down the debt on the $4.3 million bond or to increase spending on the highway beautification.

Waller asked Geddings to determine if the money could be used for another purpose.

Video Of Subcommittee

The video of the Subcommittee meeting is below. The meeting took place in the Chamber of Commerce Office in Watkinsville.

I did attend the meeting, but Sarah Bell recorded the video.

The dialog is quite slow to develop.

The recommendation of Charles to sell the property is at 18:05.

Waller responds at 21:25.

Phillips offered his perspective at 25:02.

OCO: IDA Gateway Subcommittee 11 13 17 from Lee Becker on Vimeo.

Video of Full IDA

I left the subcommittee meeting to attend the meeting of the Board of Education.

Sarah Bell remained and video recorded the regular meeting of the IDA, which is below.

Waller’s question about the remaining money from the Parkway Boulevard construction is at 8:25 in the video.

IDA 11 13 17 from Lee Becker on Vimeo.

10 comments:

Let'sGoOconee said...

The Oconee County Industrial Development Authority agreed to acquire the property on behalf of the county in that 1997 agreement.
In 2000, the county decided to convert the property into what is now Gateway Technology Business Park.
The county has tried unsuccessfully in recent years to purchase additional land to link the properties and has tried to negotiate sales in the past with a number of possible purchasers.
At present, the park has only one tenant, Alexion Pharma, which earlier this year backed out of an agreement to expand into the property that the Authority is now trying to use to entice Project Sauce to the county.

---

1997 Agreement?

Let's be honest & blunt: The Oconee County Industrial Development Authority has been an abysmal failure. The IDA has had two decades to do something with Gateway. There has been one tenant, Alexion.

Failure is failure. Gateway is so close to UGA. How is it not a business incubator in the fields of bioscience, engineering, etc., etc.? The additional fact that IDA Chair Rick Waller has a business relationship with the county piles on to the mess. Some of the best schools in the state, and y'all can't attract businesses? Since 1997?

Poor leadership by the IDA Chair & members, and county commissioners, past & present.

One tenant. One. Since 1997.

Better leadership needed now on the IDA and commissioners (what exactly does Bubber bring to the table in the year of 2017?). Hey, maybe Gateway can house another Burger King & Bojangles.


http://georgiainnovationcorridor.org/

http://www.georgiatrend.com/May-2011/Oconee-County-The-Future-Is-Here/

Xardox said...

Here comes yet another study.
Those who do studies find Oconee County a great source of business.
Just sell it as is and let the new owner figure out the water and sewer deal.
Be done with it.
Of course, that could also mean the end of the IDA.
Gee, now it's sounding an even better idea.

Anonymous said...

All the previous comments are spot on.

Easy to play with other people’s money.
Waller wants to keep playing post office landlord, Charles wants to have a win on his resume and the rest are confused and play it safe by kicking the decision on the issue down the road.
Complete incompetence.
We will be reading the same report out of this committee a year from now.

Thank you, Lee & staff, for videoing and reporting on the important issues facing our county and future.

Anonymous said...

Is the IDA in the money-making business or in the jobs creation business? Here we have a company that wants to move here, create new jobs, and invest in our community... And Waller is worried about how he can make money off of it!

It's fairly obvious that Rick Waller is looking for every dollar that he can get his hands on. He straight up asked Wes Geddings if the IDA can have $450k out of the Parkway Boulevard fees. Dispicable!

If this project doesn't land in Gateway Park, I'm holding Waller accountable and will tell the Commissioners to ask him to resign!

Zippity said...

Yes, seems quite simple. The company wants to buy the property and move here. The property is available for this purpose. The IDA should not be money making. It should be job creating. Get on with it for goodness sakes before this company moves elsewhere.

Anonymous said...

I believe the infrastructure is not complete for either track of land. So to geberate cash to cover infrastructure cost may be a good idea. Otherwise, they are looking for additional tax dollars to complete the park. So "making money " seems to mean money for infrastructure to allow sell of all the park. Two year time frame so why not investigate.

Sarah V. Bell said...

I agree with all the statements above. The IDA is the Oconee "shadow government"--unelected and not accountable. If they were a business, they would have been out of business years ago. What have they produced for the County? Nothing except bills to cut the grass. I am a capitalist. We should let the realtors sell the property and the new owners develop it. Since when did that job become a government job? Government is too much in our business as it is. Disband the IDA and use their $1 million plus budget to do something useful for the County.

Anonymous said...

Sarah, the IDA does not have a $1 million budget. They have a lease worth ~$130k per year, a far cry from $1 million. The money mentioned in the video include: $850k in SPLOST for Economic Development (not necessarily for the IDA) and $250k from the Parkway Boulevard project that has to be used for roadway beautification. And since they meet in public and are publicly appointed, they do not meet the definition of a "shadow government."

Concerning the industrial park, I'm also frustrated that the IDA/County Commission haven't made put the necessary funding into it to make it attractive to industry. However, a publicly-funded industrial park is necessary. It publicly broadcasts where industry is welcome in the county (NIMBY, anyone?), it concentrates infrastructure in a particular area, and it puts public good ahead of personal profit when industries ask for support/perks/favors, etc.

Besides, we have a privately-held industrial park that has also sat idle for more than 30 years (where Caterpillar is located), so simply being privately held is not a criteria for success.

Sarah V. Bell said...

To Anonymous at 8:28 am:

I misspoke. Their budget is larger than $1 million. They have that much and more in the bank right now. They get $11,000+ from the USPS every month, plus SPLOST money. They have a large amount of money which could be used more efficiently for the County.

Lee Becker said...

Anonymous 8:28 a.m.

You are correct in saying that the $850,000 earmarked in SPLOST 2015 does not mention the IDA. It says the money is for "Economic Development Facilities." The IDA requested the money. All discussion at the BOC running up to agreement on the SPLOST referendum assumed that the money was for the IDA. The IDA has assumed that the money is there for it to spend. And County Finance Director Wes Geddings has referenced the money in his financial reports to the IDA.

Lee