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Utility Authority assisting Rentech
Published Thursday, August 21, 2008
NATCHEZ — The proposed, Rentech development recently got a boost when the county gave the St. Catherine’s Creek Utility Authority a $100,000 loan.
The money will help pay for general maintenance of the site and demolition of the International Paper building once Rentech construction begins. Rentech plans to turn coal into liquid fuel.
“We’ve got to have somebody to cut the grass, mind the fences — just general maintenance,” Economic Development Authority Chairman Woody Allen said.
The money was given to the EDA but was then passed straight through to the Utility Authority, which is a separate entity but is comprised of the same board members.
“The Utility Authority is there to promote economic development,” Allen said.
The creation of the authority was key to bringing in Rentech, Allen said.
“You have all the start-up costs that you have anywhere else and you have to have some way to fund this,” Allen said. “Had this not been done, we wouldn’t have closed the Rentech deal.”
When construction begins, the money will also be used to help with demolition and landfill costs for the old International Paper building, on which Rentech plans to build.
However, construction is nine to 12 months away and Rentech is still in the planning phases, Allen said.
“This is not something cookie cutter, that (Rentech) can go copy somewhere else,” he said.
In other news, Ken Herring, general manager of Adams County Water Authority, replaced Vidal Davis on the EDA board.
In late April, Davis quit the board citing mismanagement by the EDA’s Executive Director Jefferson Rowell.
Comments
Posted by grrbrts (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 3:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sounds wishy washy to me.
Posted by beammeupscotty (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 7 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Rentec bought this site but can't afford to maintain it. 100,000 is a joke ammount to maintain let alone demolish anythig on this site. That stink in the air smells like politics as usual.
Posted by SayItRight (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 8:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Way to go Vidal. Natchez needs more people like you who don't tolerate senseless crap just to be part of the crowd or on a board.
Posted by gator (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 9:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
SayitRight you are so correct . Our so called city leaders need to read that children's book , " Horton hears a who " . Poor Horton wasn't much at anything but he always said what he meant , and meant what he said .
Posted by steve_o (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 10:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
And what about the $100k from the June article?
http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/news/2008...
P.S. - ND, use a smaller type size and the last sentence from this online article would have made it to the printed edition!
Posted by gemccull (Gary McCullars) on August 21, 2008 at 12:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What a CROCK!
The St. Catherine’s Creek Utility Authority should be dissolved!
Posted by aak1972 (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 12:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Im with Krogers I would like to know who owns ST. Catherine or runs it! And who is "in charge' of this money? I think the democrat reported the money from the sell of this property went to the county, so why is St. Cathrerine having to maintain it? The utility authority and EDA have the same board members?????? Wow what a suprise!!!! The EDA board members and chairman Woody Allen are putting this money in their pockets!! When you see someone cutting this grass ask them what their pay is. and then figure out where 100,000 is going???!!
Posted by aak1972 (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 12:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Woody Allen says " the Utility Authority is there to promote economic development". What does the EDA do???? Is the Authority a private or government entity?
Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 1:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't understand this ST Cath Creek Authority. I am of the feeling, without a thorough understanding, that it should be dissolved.
I know it was created by the County, under Jake Middleton's initiative, or so I seem to remember reading in the paper a while ago? So is the county then loaning itself money?
I think that is illegal, this looks to me like a layered creation of entities. Such a layered set of entities, one owning the other, is often used to hide money and create a situation in which ownership is hidden, as well as who gets paid what. This type of illusion, is also used to hide where money ends up in whose pocket. I hope the State of MS auditors are keeping a close eye on this.
This is suspicious and the Board of Supervisors should be careful to NOT be involved with conflicts of interests and phoney transfers of money. If there is money being paid to someone under the table, if money is being paid for NO services rendered, I hope the guilty parties go to jail.
I am all for Rentech, but I would think that Rentech could cut their own grass, haul their own trash, and knock down old buildings same as anyone else.
If Adams Co wants to help them with grass cutting etc, then just say so and pay some honest workers to do the work without all this mystery and disguise of some third party that is in reality part of Adams Co public works as it would seem to me.
Posted by gemccull (Gary McCullars) on August 21, 2008 at 3:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Krogers, what is your source for the following statement:
"I know it was created by the County, under Jake Middleton's initiative, or so I seem to remember reading in the paper a while ago? So is the county then loaning itself money?"
From the sign in your yard last spring, I know that you were a Graning supporter, so why drag Jake into this fiasco???
Posted by EnKiKur (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 4:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It has to be part of the undislcosed deal with Rentech aak. Rentech wanted the Authority created. I wonder if the supervisors made a deal with Rentech to use the money the county has received so far to do work Rentech should be paying for itself. That would give Rentech an additional tax break on top of the already sweetheart deal they will be getting from the air force as one of the ten CTL plants to be developed with 25 year contracts if they meet certain qualifications. This would explain too why IP sold the land to the county and then the county sold it to Rentech.
Posted by EnKiKur (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 4:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Utility Authority is not part of any other body in the county, it is a separate political and corporate body unto itself. Nowhere in the act creating it does the Creek Authority have the power to cut grass and mind fences for another corporate or political body:
http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documen...
The St Catharine Creek Utility Authority is empowered only to do certain specific things and if you folks over there are wise you will make sure it sticks to those things and those things only while you lobby Dearing and Butler to disband it.
The county no longer owns that IP propety, it now belongs to Rentech and they should be taking care of it. Or did the supervisors not disclose all the details of the deal with Rentech? Or did they disclose any of them other than how much money the county supposedly got or will get?
Posted by EnKiKur (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 4:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is what the Authority was set up to do:
SECTION 1. The purpose of this act is to create the St. Catherine Creek Utility Authority for the purpose of providing solid waste, storm water, water and wastewater systems for economic development activities within Adams County. The act provides for a cooperative effort by an area situated within Adams County, Mississippi, including the areas situated within the corporate boundaries of any existing municipality and other eligible municipalities, public agencies and political subdivisions, for the acquisition, construction, operation of a user funded solid waste, storm water, water or wastewater systems, in order to prevent and control the pollution of the waters in this state by the creation of the St. Catherine Creek Utility Authority. This act may be citied as the "St. Catherine Creek Utility Authority Act."
It doesn't mention grass cutting or fence mending does it?
Posted by aak1972 (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 4:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I still dont understand why the county is lending another government entity money to take care of private property!!
Posted by EnKiKur (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 5:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is another reason the people should be wary of any Phase I recycling plans the DEQ helps come up with. Create an entity and then it thinks it can do whatever it wants no matter what its powers are.
You just can't trust politicians to tell you the whole truth about what they are up to. Here is an example from from Hinds and Madison County. See if you can figure out what's going on there:
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.ph...
http://www.fox40now.com/news/local/26080...
Jackson has become unreasonable. My niece went to a family dinner at my sister's house and parked on the street in a residential area because the driveway was full. Many cars park along the street, on both sides. My sister got a warning that if it happened again she could be fined 250.00 and up to six months in jail. So there is effectively a limit to how many people can visit your house. We don't need that kind of stuff down here and if we continue to allow local government to keep expanding with nosy do gooders those things will surely happen.
Posted by shedevil (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 8:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
i think the feds should be called in to investigate Woody & the EDA...this sounds so wrong to me....i wonder if they will come cut my grass
Posted by JunkyardDawg (anonymous) on August 21, 2008 at 11:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
At least it's just a loan and will have to be repaid.
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