DAPC extending SPEC building loan, budget approved
The business of the Development Authority of Polk County rolls on after a break in August for the organization’s latest board meeting.
Among the work completed during the Sept. 14 session was approval of a budget for the 2019 fiscal year..
Board member Britt Madden Jr. reported that with a budget passed and financials overall are positive.
“We’ve got $197,000 in the bank right now, which is a good thing,” Madden said.
He added that contributions from both Polk County and Carroll EMC for the year were dollars well received and appreciated.
“I feel like we’re moving forward with everything just as well as we can,” Madden said.
DAPC President and CEO Missy Kendrick added her own thanks to be included in the record for the Carroll EMC contribution made in 2018, which was celebrated at a recent lunch that included their CEO Tim Martin.
“I think he appreciated that, because it gave him an opportunity to meet some folks here in the community,” Kendrick said.
Among the items covered by the DAPC’s board was extending a loan taken out previously to cover costs incurred during the construction of the Northside Industrial Park SPEC building in Cedartown.
Renewal of the loan required the DAPC to adjust their figures slightly for how much they expected to pay over the long term back to the bank for borrowing the money.
The terms of the loan extension pinned interest rates at 3.75 percent on money borrowed. The DAPC has also extended a loan used to purchase the Earley property in the past, and will use money made once the properties are sold to payoff the costs incurred.
Any profit leftover gets used to make new purchases of land for future industrial use, and to promote them to companies looking for space statewide.
The loan for the SPEC building is being lengthened another 18 months.
“Our hope is that we have the building sold before we get to the end of the term,” Kendrick said.
With the DAPC board’s approval of the loan extension, it will require them to vote again to increase the line item in the current fiscal year budget approved in last Friday’s meeting for the amount of interest to pay back.
Interest is also still ticking along for the Earley property, purchased in past years for potential newcomers to Polk County. Some of that land is under contract still with a project announced earlier in the year for a new training center for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 926.
They’re looking to relocate their Clayton County operations to Polk on a 90-acre portion of the Earley property.
Kendrick added in her update to the board that projects continue to show interest in Polk County, and work is underway to attract additional business to setup shop.
One project she also updated the board on was future upgrades at Meggitt in Rockmart. They announced an initiative to spend on equipment and make more than 200 additional hires at their aircraft parts plant in the heart of Rockmart.
Kendrick said some changes are being made to the way the project is being structured and now the company won’t seek tax abatements from local officials in their deal. Instead they’ll seek to be eligible for state grant money.
“They’re moving forward no matter what happens on the backend,” Kendrick said.
The DAPC also got a visit from one of the members of the LEAD Polk Class of 2018, Sarah Horne. She came to report on the class’ progress in learning leadership skills alongside an education into all parts of Polk County.
Horne also updated the board on the effort the class is making in their community project to provide a computer lab at Camp Antioch, and said LEAD Polk raised enough money and got timely donations from businesses to continue forward on their goal.
“Anytime you can invest in a child, it’s an eternal blessing,” Horne said.