Continued expansion of an industry in the Liberty County Development Authority’s Tradeport East Business Park has led the authority to approve temporary modular buildings to house offices for Arconic.
Arconic Forgings and Extrusions is the current owner of the Firth Rixson plant at Tradeport East. Arconic told the authority that the firm is relocating offices to make room for more machinery. They will house the offices in temporary buildings for up to two years while they plan and construct permanent offices.
The international corporation produces products for aerospace, automotive, building and construction, commercial transportation, industrial solutions, energy, and defense and space.
The Liberty County Chamber of Commerce, which is a tenant in the LCDA building, is also looking to expand and Chamber CEO Leah Poole asked for a one-year extension of the Chamber’s lease while her organization looks for another location.
The authority members discussed a lease extension agreement that Poole will take to the chamber board. Authority member state Rep. Al Williams said the two organizations being in the same building was a benefit to both.
After talking with their attorney, Kelly Davis, the authority decided to send what they called “demand letters” to users of the LCDA’s water and sewer system at the Dorchester Shooting Preserve who allegedly owe payments.
In a March 11 letter, LCDA Director of Administration and Finance Carmen Cole explained that application and impact fees should have been paid when cottages were built on the preserve, but the payments were not made. The March letter said $300 in application fees and $3,262 in impact fees were owed on each of two cottages.
The required water meter had never been installed in one of the cottages. Cole’s March letter was directed to developer Claude Dryden and the followup demand letter will be sent to him soon.