By Haley Smith
Staff writer
When it comes to a potential purchase of an old industry site, the El Dorado mayor is looking to ensure control over what type of business comes to the area, while the El Dorado Works Board chairman isn’t sure the city’s budget can handle the expense.
Last week, Mayor Frank Hash asked the El Dorado Works Board to consider purchasing the Pilgrim’s Pride property, located on a 49-acre plot at 1902 S. West Ave. But the board expressed reservations due to lack of both funds and a plan, as well as the loss of $100,000 in annual property taxes.
One concern brought up at the El Dorado Works Board meeting was the fact that the industry budget did not have the $2 million needed to acquire the property.
Board Chairman Robert Reynolds said he feels it would be better for the city to have the land purchased directly by a private industry instead of straining the city’s budget for industry.
“I do not know of another source (of funding) for this, but I am not 100 percent sure that there isn’t more somewhere else. The best thing that could happen would be that a private industry would buy it and put something in there,” Reynolds said.
But Hash said the money could come from the 1-cent sales tax.
Hash said he felt that purchasing the property would be the best thing for the city.
“I have my own notions as to why it would benefit the city, but it would be best to hear from the (El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce) on what this could bring in,” Hash said.
Reiterating a point he made at the meeting last week, Hash said the last plant at the site gave off unpleasant odors and by purchasing the property, the city would be able to screen what business locates there next.
Hash said he was unaware of any other businesses that may have expressed interest in purchasing the former Pilgrim’s Pride property and it would be hard to tell how quickly the property would sell without city involvement.
“All that we know was what was expressed to us, which is that they were willing to sell it to us,” he said.
Hash said he also had no idea of how long the city would hold on to the property as he was unaware of how long or how active Pilgrim’s Pride was in looking for a new owner.
“This is hard to determine. I don’t know if Pilgrim’s Pride has marketed this property publicly,” Hash said. ” It is too early to tell.”
He said, if the city purchases the land, city officials would need to decide on a plan for how to sell the property. Hash said he would like to talk to the chamber officials to see what they think would be a good use of the property, specifically looking at whether the property should be sold as is or broken down into parts.
“We need to look at what we want to develop. We could have one or 10 businesses on that property,” Hash said. “This has been sitting there for 10 years idle and it should be used for something besides an eyesore.”
When asked about how much the city would seek for the property, Hash said it was “too early to broadcast that until we have had time to massage out an idea of what we want.”
Reynolds said the city needs to take a closer look at the benefits and costs of the purchase before making any decisions.
“We need to look at what we will have to deal with. Once we look at all sides we can decide ‘Yes, we should do this’ or ‘No, we shouldn’t do this’ and go with it,” Reynolds said. “This is a complex issue and big to wrap your head around.”
A meeting with the El Dorado Works Board, City Council members and chamber President Mike Dumas originally was scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, but was canceled by Friday afternoon. When asked why the meeting had been canceled, Hash said city officials wanted more time to examine potential uses for the property and adress concerns about overspending.
Haley Smith can be contacted at 870-862-6611 or at [email protected]. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter at @hsmithEDNT.