Greenwood is pursuing a plastics manufacturer that could create up to 75 jobs, according to an official involved in the recruitment.
Angela Curry, executive director of the Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation, told the Greenwood City Council Friday that the unnamed prospect is a California-based business with locations across the country. She said the company would be making a $2 million investment in the new plant.
At the special called meeting, Curry asked the city to kick in $200,000 toward an incentive package she is putting together to present to the company. She said she also would be approaching the Leflore County Board of Supervisors for a matching amount, and the foundation would provide an additional unspecified sum.
“The better package we can provide to them, the better off we are in getting this company to come to Greenwood,” said Mayor Carolyn McAdams. “I think it is worth a shot. We want industry here. We want people to have jobs here.”
The council will make a decision about the funds at its next meeting on May 15.
Curry said the chief executive officer of the plastics company visited Greenwood a couple of weeks ago to look at available buildings. She said the final selection of the city where the company will locate would be known in the next six months. Another unnamed Delta community is in the running as well, she said.
Also during Friday’s meeting, Eddie Curry, director of the city’s Wastewater Division, informed the council that the repair of a separated sewer line near the treatment plant has run into more complications.
Late last month, the council declared a state of emergency following the failure of the 24-inch underground line. The leak has caused a section of Ione Street between the wastewater plant and the Leflore County Humane Society to cave in.
The line was installed during the construction of the $40 million facility, which opened in 2016.
Curry said he had hired a company from the Gulf Coast to try and seal the leak with foam by going down into a 23-foot manhole connected to the line. Although the top of the pipe was sealed, the bottom was still leaking. Yet, it is now too dangerous to go back down into the manhole because it has also started to crack, Curry said.
He said the area will have to be excavated, with digging to begin next month, so the line can be replaced. In the meantime, the city will continue to bypass the failed line.
“You have a lot of steps to take now since this has happened,” he said.
Curry said that he is unsure of how much the repair will cost the city, but it will be a large amount.
“We tried all the routes that we could do to try and save it,” he said.
McAdams said she has talked to both the engineering firm, Neel-Schaffer Inc., and the contractor, Max Foote Construction Co. of Mandeville, Louisiana, that were involved with the plant’s construction about covering the cost of the repair. It is possible the city will have to pursue litigation, she said.
“We are definitely not just going to sit here and take this,” McAdams said. “We are definitely going to go after our money because I think we have a good case.”
Ward 7’s Carl Palmer asked Curry if he knew how the damage was done to the manhole. Curry said it is not normally a issue with a facility this young, but it is possible it was damaged during installation.
•Contact Lauren Randall at 581-7239 or lrandall@gwcommonwealth.com.
