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Council approves move to consider 10-year tax abatement for proposed radiation test facility at Westgate Tech Park
Summary
Developers and Amentum presented a planned 25,000-square-foot Radiation Combined Environments (RCE) test facility near NSA Crane; council voted unanimously to advance a request for a 10-year tax abatement to the next procedural step (declaratory and confirmatory resolutions to follow).
A development team asked the Daviess County Council on Feb. — during the council's February meeting — to advance a request for a 10-year tax abatement for a proposed Radiation Combined Environments (RCE) microelectronics test facility to be sited in the Westgate Technology Park near Crane.
Paul Kite of Strongbox Commercial, identified himself as the project developer and said the project will include two buildings totaling about 25,000 square feet: a testing facility and an adjacent test-preparation building. He estimated the total project cost at about $30,000,000, not including specialized test equipment, and said construction documents are being finalized with ground work targeted to begin this summer.
The project team said Amentum, a large defense contractor, will operate the facility. Tammy Walker, senior program manager with Amentum, said the site will provide a radiation test capability for Department of Defense microelectronics programs, will require a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license and inspections, and is expected to create roughly 15 jobs while drawing testing teams from DOD programs to the region.
Council members asked about environmental controls, setbacks and utility access. Developers said all radioactive material will be contained and operations would follow NRC requirements; they described the site as a 25-acre parcel south of State Road 558 chosen for industrial use and planned to be tucked away from residential areas. The team said water and wastewater extensions to the site are part of the county's Westgate "ready" program and expected to be in construction this summer and finished by November.
Grant (county staff) explained the county's typical abatement timeline: three meetings — an initial meeting (this instance), followed by a declaratory resolution and a confirmatory resolution at later meetings if the council remains favorable. The council voted to move the abatement request to the next step.
The motion to proceed was made by Council Member Matt, seconded by Council Member Tony; the vote was recorded as unanimous and the item will return in later meetings as the declaratory and confirmatory resolutions are prepared.
The council and presenters did not finalize abatement details at this meeting; the team requested the procedural step required to continue the local abatement process.
