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EDA advances meat-processing project; two members abstain from votes over investment
Summary
The Page County EDA approved conditional payment for legal services and appointed Jonathan Comer chair of the farming subcommittee after two members recused themselves because they invested in the project. Investor Jeff Noland said the group exceeded its $1 million fundraising minimum by about 10%.
The Page County Economic Development Authority voted Feb. 2 to move forward on administrative steps tied to a proposed meat-processing facility, while two members abstained from related votes because they are investors.
Director of Economic Development and Tourism Nina Fox reported that EDA members Dennis Fleming and Bart Price recently invested in the project and therefore stepped down from the farming/agriculture subcommittee and will abstain from future votes involving the project. Leslie Currle moved that Jonathan Comer serve as chairman of the farming/agriculture subcommittee; the motion passed 3–0 with Fleming and Price recorded as abstaining. The EDA also reviewed an invoice from Flora Pettit PC for $5,167.56 and approved paying it contingent on verification that remaining funds are available from the EDA’s $30,000 allocation to the project.
Investor Jeff Noland said the investor group exceeded its minimum fundraising goal of $1 million by about 10 percent and that roughly half of the investors are from Page County, with about 80 percent of investors also producers from neighboring counties. Noland reported the Town of Shenandoah rezoned 420 South Third Street for the project in December and that the investor group closed on the property on schedule. He described plans to apply for state incentives and grants and to split operations regionally—processing, freezing and branding in Page and slaughtering and harvesting on land in Rockingham County.
The EDA’s motions on leadership and the conditional invoice payment were recorded with the following votes: Missie Deibert, yes; Leslie Currle, yes; Jonathan Comer, yes; Dennis Fleming, abstain; Bart Price, abstain. No formal county permitting or incentive approvals were reported at the meeting.
