A Buyer for Pennington Stave?

By PJ Martin

Editor, The Herald-News

 

The Edmonton – Metcalfe Industrial Development Authority (IDA) held a special-called meeting on Monday, June 29^th.

The following people were present: Chairperson Lisa Boswell, Donna Caffee, Luke Wilson, Matt Gallagher, Jerry Garmon, Secretary/Treasurer Alley Bragg, Mayor Doug Smith, J/E Larry Wilson, Chad Pennington of Pennington Stave Company, and PJ Martin from The Herald-News.

Boswell opened the meeting and said, “So, our thoughts and definitely our prayers are with Terry (Garrett).”

“All right, first item on the agenda is the KACo. Okay, so I got the scoop on the KACo bill. Our premium, it went up about $425 from the prior year, which is not bad. It is based on three things. The value of the building, what we do for a budget, and the sign. So, the sign out there, TVA money, we had to put the sign up, and so the sign has to be insured…all of these things that are itemized is like a standard deal that comes with pay code.”

A motion to pay the bill early and get the discount was made by Caffee, seconded, and approved.

Next, Boswell asked, “So, Chad? You wanna tell us what you…?

Pennington replied, “It was brought to my attention the loan payment had expired… it expires July 1, yeah. And I want to talk to you all about leaving it the same for now at the lower rate.”

Boswell asked how long? Pennington replied six months, a year, or whatever the board thinks is best. Boswell then asked him what his plans were, and he said to get back up and running. She asked him if he had a time frame for that.

He answered that he had contracts, “I can’t exactly talk about it right this second, but once we get through this here (payment question), I’ll gladly go that direction.”

“If we’re going to leave the payment here? Oh. And then what do you want to do with the difference? asked Boswell, adding it was a balloon payment at the end and that he would be paying interest on that all the way to the end of the loan.

Gallagher made the motion to extend the lower loan payment for another year, and that was seconded by Caffee. Upon voting, there was one nay vote cast by Jerry Garmon, but the motion passed.

Pennington then asked, “Would y’all be interested in selling the building?”

“I thought we sold the building. I mean, it’s a lease buy, is it not? It’s a lease buy,” replied Boswell.

Pennington stated, “I’ve got somebody… But I’ve got somebody else that’s in the industry, a group B, and they can use the equipment that’s there. and get these jobs back quicker than what my current partner and myself would be able to do. And what they would be interested in is purchasing the building and buying out the equipment… So, I think it would be a good win for all of us.”

“I would have to look at the contract, but it is my understanding that you cannot sell that building until the contract is paid up. But I’ll look at it again,” stated Boswell.

What’s the payout of the building tonight?”

“I don’t have that. I don’t have the…it’s on the financials,” said Boswell, looking toward Bragg.

“It’s like $299,000. $299,000 for the building, our loan to the bank… Chad’s balance is 1.2, $1,298,650.20. That’s after his June payment that he did make,” replied Bragg.

Pennington then asked, “But what would you all consider taking as a one-off?”

“Oh, I don’t know. That would definitely have to be a closed session, and I can’t put the number up. For sure, we would have to have it appraised and that sort of thing. So, I don’t know. We can’t give you that number today,” said Boswell.

Pennington then asked, “How do I get that answer?”

Boswell replied, “We can put it on the next meeting.”

“So, I mean, this is a non-profit group. So, what would have to happen? To make all this, you know, I’m getting somebody else that’s willing to invest in our area, to basically buy the building, buy the equipment from us, and get the jobs back in here within the next couple of months. We’ve got some contracts that are available now. We just have to go through the steps and get the build purchased. We still have to use it for the equipment run. Get everything paid off to clear us and clear you,” stated Pennington.

“Motions on the table. I made a motion to adjourn,” said Gallagher, to which Boswell replied, “I don’t have a second.”

The July meeting is scheduled for July 20^th, and Bowell asked, “Can we meet before then? How’s everyone else? I mean, this week’s just off the table”

“I think it would be best to have some legal advice here for us,” said Garmon.

“Look for an email, because we’ll have to have another meeting,” said Boswell before the July 20^th, adding, “Yeah, we’ll have a special call meeting prior to that, but it just cannot be this week.”

The meeting was adjourned.