Clinton County Fiscal Court, meeting in special session last Friday morning, August 2, has paved the way for a new industry to locate in the Albany/Clinton County area.

Cobb-Ventress, a subsidiary of Tyson Foods, will now make final plans to locate a poultry feed manufacturing facility just west of Albany near Gaddie-Shamrock and WANY radio station.

The county, in cooperation with Mayor Nicky Smith (who was also present at the meeting) and the City of Albany, has been negotiating with Cobb-Ventress for the past several months with Benny Garland, of South Kentucky RECC, acting as a consultant between the entities.

The court voted on two measures the company had requested prior to making a total commitment, those being an inducement resolution and a memorandum of agreement. The votes came following a brief closed session that began the meeting to discuss property and other aspects of the potential industry.

Following the closed session, Garland noted that Cobb-Ventress, Inc. was a part of Tyson Foods, which is headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas. He said the company had been looking for an area to build its poultry processing facility in south central Kentucky, and although some locations didn’t pan out, he (Garland) convinced the company there were other areas, including here in Clinton County, suitable for the facility.

The feed mill, according to Garland, will purchase corn and soybeans from local farmers and purchase as much as one million bushel of corn annually. The company currently plans to employ some 17 people at the facility to be located on Hwy. 1590, about a half-mile west of the city limits.

The company sought incentives from the county to locate its facility here, including the county agreeing to abate the local taxes for a 25-year period and “undertake the issuance of taxable and/or tax-exempt industrial building revenue bonds at the appropriate time to pay the cost of acquisition, construction and equipping.”

The industrial revenue bonds, at no cost to the county, would not exceed $10 million if tax-exempt and $15.2 million if taxable.

The resolution reads in part, “the issuer (county) proposes to enter into the appropriate time a lease and/or loan agreement with the company with respect to the project, whereby the company will covenant and agree to pay to a trustee on behalf of the issuer (county) amounts sufficient to provide for the payment of principal, premium, if any, and interest on the bonds.”

“That none of the bonds will be general obligations of the county; that neither the bonds nor the interest thereon constitute or give rise to any indebtedness of the county or any charge against its general credit or taxing power; that the bonds and the payment of interest thereon shall be secured and payable solely and only by a pledge of amounts to be paid by the company under such lease or loan agreement; and that no part of said project costs will be payable out of any general funds, revenues, assets, properties or other contributions of the county, the Commonwealth of Kentucky or any political subdivision thereof.”

Garland, in discussing abating the local taxes, said the amount was only about $45 per year on the property, but added although the county could abate the tax, school tax couldn’t be included and would have to be paid. “You cannot do away with the school tax,” he said, adding however that the revenue generated by the company could mean around $38,000 in extra revenue for the schools.

He also added the project could be capable of adding $5 to $6 million per year to the economy with the purchase and processing of corn and soybeans at the facility.

Garland added that, “Tyson will proceed if the court signs the memorandum of agreement and resolution.”

Magistrate Hershell Key moved to approve the inducement resolution calling for the industrial revenue bond sales and Magistrate Mickey Riddle moved to approve the memorandum of agreement, with both motions passing by unanimous vote.

Judge/Executive Lyle Huff thanked several entities and individuals for their work on the project, including the mayor and city, the Clinton County Extension Service, Garland and the South Kentucky RECC and the community in general for backing the project.

More information about the new poultry feed processing manufacturer will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead.