The city of Eupora and Webster County have signed nondisclosure agreements with a company identified as an industrial prospect.
This is a timeline of local government meetings held since last spring in which the new prospect was apparently discussed or related action taken:
• May 16: Chad Winter, volunteer president of the Webster County Economic Development District, tells the Webster County Board of Supervisors that an industrial prospect had made a site visit to Eupora Industrial Park located off U.S. 82.
• May 31: Winter and Conrad Lucas, whom Winter later identified as a representative of an industrial prospect, meet with supervisors in executive session to discuss economic development. No related action was taken during the recessed meeting.
• Aug. 1: Winter meets briefly with the Eupora Board of Aldermen in executive session for the purpose of economic development with no action taken.
• Sept. 19: The Board of Supervisor meets in executive session to discuss economic development during a recessed meeting; no action was taken. Meeting minutes show the board went into the session after Winter, Executive Director William “Skip” Scaggs of the North Mississippi Industrial Development Association and Eupora Alderman At-Large Jerry Gary joined the meeting.
Sept. 21: Eupora Mayor Blake McMullan and the Board of Aldermen meet nearly an hour in executive session with Winter for the purpose of economic development. No board action was taken during the special-called meeting.
• Sept. 30: The Board of Supervisors meets in executive session to discuss economic development during a recessed meeting; no action was taken. Records do not specify who remained in the boardroom with supervisors during that time. However, minutes do show that McMullan, Gary and Lucas were present when the meeting began.
That afternoon, the Board of Aldermen hold a brief special-called meeting with the only agenda item being economic development. The three aldermen present voted 3-0 to authorize the mayor to sign a nondisclosure agreement on a “prospective industry.”
• Oct. 3: The Board of Supervisors approves a motion for the county to enter into the same nondisclosure agreement, effective that day, and authorizes the president to sign. The vote was unanimous among the four supervisors present.
That night, in what appears to be related action, Eupora aldermen voted to advertise for a public hearing to amend the city Zoning and Building Ordinance. They voted to amend Section 3.61 in I-I (Industrial District) to remove the word “glare” and to include as a permitted use “agriculture greenhouses.”
A public hearing will be conducted on the amendments at 6 p.m. Nov. 7. Consideration and final adoption of the zoning amendment will occur during that night’s regular board meeting.
Alderman Gary stated after the Oct. 3 motion was adopted that this was being done for potential economic development.
NDA Details
The city provided a copy of its NDA to the Progress-Times after the newspaper filed an open records request for the document. Listed as the “Local Parties” are the Mississippi Development Authority, NMIDA, Webster County Board of Supervisors and the city of Eupora.
They entered into the agreement with Craft House Foods, a West Virginia limited liability company.
The agreement states the company and local parties have agreed to enter into an NDA for the exploration, development and potential operation of one or more such facilities on a site identified as the “Eupora Property.” It is effective for one year.
According to the document, Craft House Foods is in the business of developing, managing and operating controlled-environment agriculture facilities and other agribusiness entities. The website bizapedia.com gives the company’s principal address as Wallback, W. Va., and shows it filed as an LLC on Sept. 13. Lucas, who met with supervisors in May and September, is listed as one of three contacts.
Eupora’s West Industrial Park includes a 20-acre “Ready Site” off U.S. 82. The state has appropriated $100,000 in bond funds to the city to construct an industrial access road that will lead to the site.
