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Ag center may come under private ownership
BY JAMES JACENI CH • STAFF WRITER
MONTEREY - Though the Allegheny Highlands Agricultural Center Steering Committee had little new to report on the proposed Allegheny Highlands Agricultural Center, negotiations are under way for a land purchase, and a group of private individuals is considering investing and forming a corporate entity to own the facility.
"I gave the same presentation to the board of supervisors and county administrator and press about a month and a half ago," steering committee member Scott Smith told the Highland County Board of Supervisors and the Economic Development Authority Tuesday.
The center is a regional project, Scott said. It is expected to provide an economic boost to Highland and Bath counties in Virginia and Pocahontas and Pendleton counties in West Virginia. The steering committee includes various business and agricultural interests from throughout the region, including Augusta County, he said.
If all goes according to plan, the center would process 10-12 animals per week, Smith said, including deer. The processing part of the plant would be open to anyone who wants to make use of its services. It will not be run as a members-only cooperative.
"Our vision is to have a centralized area for all resources the agricultural industry might need," said Smith.
The steering committee hopes the facility will bring producers and consumers closer together by providing local meat products for sale locally. It won't have an on-site retail establishment, but will act as a distribution center to stores and restaurants. The center would market and distribute wool, meat cuts, and possibly live animals - cattle and sheep. It would have loading docks, scales, and pens. "We are not a sales barn or auction facility, just a way station," said Smith.
The center would also provide training in meat processing and food preparation, plus meeting space for agricultural groups such as wool producers and the schools' Future Farmers of America chapter.
Smith said the center could be funded entirely with private investment, Smith said. "No government grants or subsidies are being asked for. We decided to pursue a private investor. We do not intend to seek government grants or subsidies. However, a marketing cooperative (is a possibility) down the road; we may look for a grant to start it up."
As for location, "We looked at a number of sites," said Smith. "We have decided on one particular site. We are moving ahead with buying the property."
Wednesday, EDA member Betty Mitchell explained the committee has looked at several potential sites in the four counties, one of which is its first choice. Committee members are still in negotiations with a private landowner for that property, but declined to say where it's located until that process is complete. The committee is negotiating on behalf of the group of investors, but the investors will need to form a business entity in order to purchase the land if things work out.
Supervisors and the EDA went into closed session Tuesday to discuss the ongoing negotiations with committee members. The closed session included Smith and Rodney Leech of the steering committee; Dave Smith, Clay Hamilton, Jim White, Mitchell, Lloyd Bird, Bryan Obaugh and Trent Burkholder of the EDA; supervisors David Blanchard, Robin Sullenberger, and Jerry Rexrode; and county administrator Roberta Lambert.
Mitchell explained, "The (steering committee) asked to meet with the board of supervisors and EDA to discuss sensitive proprietary information regarding negotiations."
"It does need to be in closed session," Rexrode agreed. "Do I hear a motion to go into closed session?"
After unanimous votes by the board and EDA to go into closed session and in response to a request for specificity,Sullenberger explained, "This is standard procedure for a project that has not been announced ... Projects have been lost in divulging proprietary information before being finalized. (Closed sessions are) typically done in all jurisdictions I work in." Sullenberger is director of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership, which specializes in economic development in the Shenandoah region.
Rexrode further clarified, "There's a new entity involved … Are they going to be involved or not involved?"
Mitchell said the identity of the parties who might be investors forming a business to own and operate the facility would have to remain undisclosed at this point.
The county recently changed the zoning ordinance to permit slaughterhouses as a conditional use in agricultural and light industrial zones. A secondary ordinance change permitting livestock markets and sales pavilions in agricultural and light industrial zones is slated for a second public hearing on April 24.
These two changes, which were requested by the steering committee in anticipation of getting the facility off the ground, are intended to make it possible to locate a slaughterhouse in Highland and possibly accommodate a way station and distribution point at the facility. The changes faced stiff public scrutiny, especially in the area of required setbacks in the abattoir change and wording in the livestock market change, and required more than one public hearing before enactment.
The potential positive impact the proposed facility would have for Highland, as estimated by the steering committee, includes adding 4-5 jobs with a livable wage and $1 million in infrastructure investment.
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