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Taylor County Development Authority briefs Perry council on site work, Georgia Pacific timeline and recruitment progress
Summary
Bob Kadin, TCDA director, updated the council on local business retention, recruitment, site readiness and the Georgia Pacific (GP) remediation and permitting timeline, including upcoming public comment opportunities tied to DEP information requests.
Bob Kadin, director of the Taylor County Development Authority, gave a quarterly update to the City of Perry City Council on economic development activity, site-readiness work and the status of the former Georgia Pacific (GP) mill site.
Kadin told the council that since his arrival 13 months earlier TCDA has engaged 36 prospective companies and currently has 10 active projects. He said TCDA is working closely with Florida Commerce and Select Florida and has secured technical support for local employers; he noted Duke Energy’s ongoing support for site readiness and an awarded $10,000 grant earmarked for marketing and website improvements.
On the former Georgia Pacific site, Kadin summarized recent changes: GP’s sale closed July 4, equipment auctions are scheduled, and asbestos remediation completion was extended to Oct. 4 after contractors found more asbestos than expected. Kadin said Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a request for additional information (an RAI) on Aug. 12 asking for a decommissioning plan for the wastewater treatment plant, a well-life plan and a groundwater-monitoring plan. GP has a statutory reply window (60 days plus a likely 30-day extension is possible), and the RAI triggers a public-notice and comment process, including an anti-degradation assessment.
Kadin also told the council that GP has submitted a wastewater permit application that would move the plant’s discharge point back upstream of U.S. 19; he characterized the move as a “Plan B” if a separate lawsuit over pipeline access is decided against GP. He emphasized that the permit and related filings will produce additional public comment periods.
In response to council questions, Kadin said recent visits by Florida Commerce staff yielded useful employer retention intelligence, and that he expects some local projects (he referenced a company tied to “Nammo” in the transcript) could produce roughly 100 jobs, while others are smaller. He also updated the council on city- and county-level site-preparation work, including a Duke Energy site-readiness review with several recommended follow-on studies that the TCDA is pursuing.
Kadin closed by urging residents to attend a Tuesday county commission meeting where Chet Thompson, former GP environmental manager, will present a question-and-answer session designed to help local residents understand remediation timelines and intervention points.
The council asked few direct follow-ups; Kadin agreed to continue regular quarterly briefings and to share additional site-readiness cost estimates and Duke Energy correspondence with the city.
This briefing provided the most recent public account from TCDA of recruitment activity, outstanding permitting for the former GP property, and the likely upcoming regulatory public-comment schedule tied to DEP’s RAI.
