County approves land purchase for Fibrowatt

By Angela Schmoll
angela@surrymessenger.com

DOBSON — A land purchase approved Monday night by the county commissioners is the first phase in making good on $3 million promise to Fibrowatt LLC.
The incentive package, which includes the site for the plant and extension of water and sewer lines from Elkin, is expected to cost the county about $3 million.
Commissioners voted unanimously after a closed session Monday night to exercise an option to purchase the 64-acre tract from Tommy and Judy Strickland of Dobson. The land near the intersection of N.C. 268 and Gentry Road is adjacent to a tract owned by Duke Energy.
Earlier this year commissioners negotiated an agreement with Elkin to purchase water so lines could be extended to Fibrowatt’s preferred location on N.C. 268 four miles east of the town.
County Attorney Ed Woltz said Tuesday the board had, in closed session, agreed to option the land earlier this year. “The board had previously expressed their intent to exercise the option,“ he said.
The formal vote took place after Monday night’s closed session, approving the $384,000 purchase price for the property, which has a tax value of $191,440.
“Part of the county’s incentive to the company is siting,“ Woltz said, “which may include grading and other site work.“
He said the details of the incentive agreement are still being ironed out, even though the company announced its intent to locate in Surry County a little more than month ago.
“We expect to have the incentive package back from Fibrowatt any day now,” Commissioner Paul Johnson said Tuesday. “We want to make sure everything is in place. Our option was running out and we wanted to make sure we had the land. “
Surry County courted Fibrowatt, which burns waste from chicken houses to create electricity, since the fall of 2005 when the Economic Development Partnership began recruiting the company based on the number of chicken houses in Surry and the surrounding counties.
Fibrowatt will construct a $150 million plant expected to employ about 80 people when it opens in late 2011. The plant will generate up to 40 megawatts of energy, enough to power about 30,000 homes, by burning around 350,000 tons of poultry litter per year, all generated by local chicken growers. About a third of the new jobs would be at the plant while the others would involve transportation of the litter.
The company, which has its roots in the United Kingdom, pioneered the technology for such waste-to-power conversions and operates a similar sized plant in Benson, Minn.
Taxes on the plant and equipment would add around $900,000 annually to county coffers. Fibrowatt would also pay around $180,000 in supplemental taxes for the Elkin City Schools district and around $100,000 to the CC Camp Volunteer Fire Department, which could double what that agency now takes in, or lead to a significant tax decrease for district property owners.