Dale County economic development project moves forward

An economic development project for Dale County moved forward when the Dale County Commission and Ozark City Council approved a $100,000 incentive agreement for Motobbilt Inc., and Anvil Industrial Group LLC at special called meetings of both governing bodies April 18.

At the special called commission meeting, which served as a public hearing on funding the incentive payment, Dale County Commission Chairman Mark Blankenship said that the funds will be paid as reimbursement to the company for the relocation and construction expense in connection with the project.

Following an executive session held during the March 26 commission meeting, the commission reconvened and voted to approve allocating $100,000 to the unnamed project—code named Project G— as an incentive to bring that company to Dale County.

Alabama law allows a governing body to go into executive session—a confidential meeting closed to the public—in order to discuss specific items, to include real estate transactions in the interest of economic development.

“We approved this under a code name but according to Alabama law, a public hearing is held because we are using taxpayer’s money as an incentive to the private sector,” Blankenship explained.

With the approval of the incentive payment from both governing bodies involved, a final agreement is expected to be signed within a week, Blankenship said.

The $100,000 will come from the lodging tax collected which is earmarked for economic development, Blankenship said. “We have been accumulating that money,” he said. “This is the second time that we have used it. It is collected from the hotels operating in the city and county to be used for economic development and job growth.”

“We hear a lot about economic development but these are the people behind the scenes making it happen,” said Dale County Commissioner Frankie Wilson, thanking Ozark-Dale County Economic Development President Veronica Crock.

The cash incentive is to “reimburse the companies for relocation and construction expenses in connection with the companies’ development, improvement, installation, equipping and operation of an approximately 85,090 square foot facility located on property” owned by the city of Ozark, according to the legal announcement of the special called meetings.

Under the agreement, Ozark will lease some 13 acres and the facility on that land for use by the companies who will, in turn, “develop, improve, equip and operate as an industrial facility for the production of custom fabrication parts.”

The expected return on the incentive investment is “increasing the number and diversity of industrial jobs and related employment opportunities, enabling the local area to better retain, attract and locate other industrial enterprises, expanding the overall tax base of the county and enhancing the overall quality of life for the citizens of the county.”

The next regular meeting of the Dale County Commission is May 14 at the Dale County Government Building. A work session begins at 10 a.m. and is followed immediately by a voting meeting. Both meetings are open to the public.