Good news and news that perhaps gave them cause for concern greeted members of the county council at the beginning of their meeting Tuesday night at the Vincennes Fortnightly Clubhouse. 421 N. Sixth St.
Representatives of Farbest Foods first announced that the company had selected a site in Bruceville behind Barney’s Mini Mart on Indiana 67 for the company’s grain-milling plant.
They asked for and got council approval of tax abatement on the project.
That $18 to $19-million project will provide some 20 jobs but also millions of dollars in “new” money for area grain producers who will provide feed for the turkeys to be fattened up for processing at the company’s $80-million plant planned for the U.S. 41 Industrial Park in Vincennes.
That was the good news.
The other news was not quite so good.
Ted Seger, president of the Huntingburg-based company, told council members that the construction cost on the processing plant came in high, $19 million more than estimated.
Seger said that cost would need to be reduced, to between $70-$75 million, in order for the project to move forward.
But Seger said he was confident the cost could be pared down. He said engineers were reviewing the project’s size, looking at ways in which it could be squeezed down, and that the purchase of certain pieces of machinery and equipment that wouldn’t be immediately needed would be delayed until the plant was ready to begin a second shift.
Seger said next week he should have a revised project plan and a new construction cost.
“I think we’ll be at a figure that will allow us to proceed with the project,” he said. “I’m confident we’re going to be where we need to be.”
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