At their Aug. 7th meeting the Chipley City Council once again addressed the issue of eventually annexing land proposed for sale to EcoLifestyle Homes for an assembly center, if the city runs water and sewer lines to the site. The city already has a ordinance requiring the annexation; however county officials and the Washington County Chamber of Commerce are asking for an exemption to the requirement on behalf of the company.

 

Ted Everett, Chamber of Commerce; Peter Herbert, County Administrator; and Joel Pate, chairman of the County Commission, were on hand at the council meeting seeking the city's blessing for the exemption and offering to split the county's taxes on the property (for a total of approximately $40,000 a year) if the city would put in the sewer and water without exercising the annexation requirement.

 

According to the three men, EcoLifestyle doesn't want to be annexed into the city and pay city taxes, but does want sewer and water and is expected to bring 400 to 800 jobs to the community and surrounding area. As required by the City, the business would pay an 25% up charge for water piped out of the city limits.

 

Currently ECOLifestyle Homes advertises assembly center locations in Hawaii, California and Mississippi, and said they are interested in the Chipley location for another assembly center because of the Foreign Trade Zone status being sought by the City and County working together.

 

Councilman Tommy McDonald initially questioned the advisability setting a precedent for other businesses that might be looking at coming to Chipley. However, later agreed with Mayor Linda Cain that some changes in the agreement proposed by the county might give the city the insurance it is looking for regarding the project.

 

Reacting to the County and Chamber's request for quick action on their requests, McDonald said "expediency should never replace wisdom" when it comes to making decisions that could affect the city's income.

 

All of the Council agreed that the city's budget is tight and all possible income is needed to offset expenses.

 

Also looking at expenses, the Council said they may be forced to charge the Chamber of Commerce rent when they move into the remodeled old city hall. Mayor Linda Cain questioned why the Chamber was given a 99 year lease on the old city hall to start with.

 

While the city's budget for the new fiscal year has not yet been formulated, Chipley Administrator Jim Morris said he was sure the Chamber would have to pay for upkeep of the building and the utilities used at the Chamber offices.

 

Council members said the rental charge could extend to the Washington County Historical Society which has been promised use of the old chamber offices when they are vacated before the end of the year.

 

In other business the Council:

 

* Set the first public hearing on the 2008-09 city millage for Sept. 9th at 5:30 p.m. The millage was at 6.1 mils, up from the 5.17 mils under the current year's millage rate. Council members said they initial millage rate was set high, but could be lowered at the public hearing. (It can be lowered, but not raised at that time.)

 

* Received a report that the Chipley Fire Department had given out over 630 smoke alarms since April of 2004.

 

* Was informed that Material Handling Systems, Inc. is interested in purchasing approximately one acre of land in the Chipley Industrial Park to build a 5,000 square foot manufacturing and repair facility for overhead bridge cranes and hoists. A 5,000 square foot expansion would be proposed for a later date.

 

* Received a report that Steve Ostrowski, Jonathin Rackard, Jason Byrd and David Pettis have completed their Firefighter I class and will take their state board test within the next two months.

 

* At the request of Trudee Wills, representing the Washington County Tourist Development Council, appointed Councilman McDonald as the city's representative to the TDC.

 

In final action at the meeting, Councilman McDonald gave a power point presentation on the work needed at the Glenwood Cemetery.

 

Breaking the work down into three phases, McDonald said Phase I (2008-09) would be directed toward actually finding the boundaries of the cemetery; setting the corners of the 1966 addition; eliminating some of the roadways in the cemetery (which would allow for more grave sites); and updating the computer software used for mapping the cemetery.

 

Council members were asked to review the proposal for discussion at another meeting.

 

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