Intergovernmental agreement for DAPC back before boards
kmyrick@polkstandardjournal.net
Local officials are getting their I’s dotted and their T’s crossed as the latest intergovernmental agreement between local entities and municipalities and the Development Authority of Polk County gets final OK’s from all involved.
DAPC president Missy Kendrick said there are still several local boards that still have to vote to approve the new draft, but a few have already approved new language for the agreement updated as the pace of business increases.
Her board gave it the OK to forward along to the rest of the municipalities and boards involved. The first among those to give it their thumbs up was the City of Cedartown’s Board of Commissioners during their June session.
The commission voted unanimously to approve after tabling a previous version of the document after they sought to have some of the items within changed.
City Manager Bill Fann said during the June 11 meeting that he was happy with the changes made within, which included the addition of board chairs to receive details about potential deals should city managers not be available to communicate with Kendrick, or whoever might follow her in the long future ahead.
He said that it made sense to have the board chair involved as a backup to whoever might be negotiating terms at the time, since they would be intimately involved with potential projects prior to their approval as part of the city’s role in attracting new businesses to the community.
The city attorney added his own nod of approval to the language, and cited the change made to allow for board chairs to discuss the language.
New language for the agreement still has to get approval from the Polk County Commission – since they approved a previous version and the language has been updated – along with others. Those include the Board of Education, the City of Rockmart, the Cedartown and Rockmart Development Authorities, and the Tax Assessor’s
Office.
Kendrick has good reason to hope this process moves along in July. She said that during the past months, prospect activity has been on the rise for potential new businesses coming to Polk County.
“We’ve had three different prospects looking at the SPEC building alone,” she said.
That facility in Cedartown is one of many the DAPC hopes to make a deal with an industry on in the future, and having an agreement with all parties giving their OK makes that process much easier when negotiating terms.
The intergovernmental agreement essentially provides all parties with a clear understanding of what incentives a business might be offered from municipalities and boards to move into the area, providing jobs and an increase in the amount of taxable property and business that is being done within the city.