Joint council/EDC meeting ends in no decision

GONZALES — The Gonzales City Council and Gonzales Economic Development Corporation (EDC) met in a special joint meeting last Thursday to discuss details regarding economic development negotiations received from a business prospect that was interested in moving to town. Both boards deliberated in a closed session to mull the offer made by the business and incentives that could be made to woo them to locate here. The discussion was code named “Project Elevate.”

At issue was a request of a preliminary commitment of EDC funds and financial incentives for the creation of local jobs and capital expenditures. On the city's side, the business was asking for incentives in the form of tax abatements for their commitment of job creation.

According to documents, Livestock Nutrition Center was interested in making a long-term investment in Gonzales in exchange for governmental assistance. The company said that it believed that Gonzales was a good fit to grow its network and promised an estimated 15 jobs to the area.

In return, the EDC was to provide the company a tax abatement or equivalent dollars of 80 percent for the first five years following completion of construction of the company's new facility. After that time had expired, the tax abatement would drop to 50 percent for an additional five years.

The company stated that the tax relief would assist with construction-related expenses and help them to develop a market share into the region at a faster pace.

After the closed session, council and EDC met in open session to vote on any decisions that they had made. No action was taken by either board, and the meeting was adjourned.