City, county will provide $8.9 million in incentives to Sanderson

Sanderson Farms Inc. will receive nearly $9 million in economic incentives over the next 11 years from the city of Kinston and Lenoir County.

The city and county will provide the incentive grants in exchange for a total investment of $126.5 million in three sites and creating 1,650 poultry processing jobs.

The members of the city council unanimously approved their economic development agreement with Sanderson on Monday; the County Commissioners approved a similar agreement in late April just before the company announced it was coming to Kinston.

According to the agreements, the city and county will split the costs of the grants, which come in the form of cash incentives for job creation and investment in Sanderson's processing plant, feed mill and hatchery.

The incentive money will also be used to purchase 110 acres of land in and around the city for the feed mill and hatchery.

The city will provide electric, water and sewer service to the feed mill and hatchery, and will provide water to and treat human waste coming from the processing plant.

Sanderson will purchase the 164-acre processing plant site, which the city will then annex at the company's request.

That site, located across U.S. 70 from the Electrolux and West Pharmaceuticals plants, will also house a wastewater treatment plant. The facility will be used to treat all poultry waste and stormwater runoff from the plant's paved surfaces, said City Manager Scott Stevens.

The treated wastewater will be deposited onto a spray field located to the rear of the plant.

The city will also annex the 98-acre feed mill site, located west of Parrott-Dickerson Road. The hatchery will be built on 12 acres within in the city's U.S. 70 West Industrial Park, according to the agreement.

In addition to the incentive grants, the city will provide water to the processing plant at the current "large industrial customer" rate of $1.50 per 1,000 gallons at a pressure rate of 40 Psi. That rate will be fixed until August of 2013 barring any changes in the city's wholesale price for water.

The city and Sanderson will re-negotiate the water rates in 2013 and lock in the new rate until August of 2018, according to the agreement.

David Anderson can be reached at (252) 559-1077, or danderson@freedomenc.com