News
PINE BLUFF ALDERMEN WILL TALK NEW FLAG, TAX REQUEST
BY THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Monday, March 17, 2008 2:59 PM CDT
A proposed sales tax credit for a new industry and a new city flag will be on today’s Pine Bluff City Council agenda when aldermen meet at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.
Phuellink Investments LLC, a California-based company doing business as Pine Bluff Poultry, announced in December it would occupy the former Tyson Food plant on West Second Avenue and begin hiring employees in April, and expected to have hired 300 people by the end of 2008.
The tax credit, if approved, would give the company a refund on any sales or use tax levied by the city on any materials the company purchases for the construction of a building or the remodeling of an existing one, according to the proposed resolution.
The company has said it plans to spend $3 million this year and next remodeling the plant, to process spent hens.
It is not unusual for the state, counties and cities to provide tax incentives for new employers to attract new jobs.
The local tax credit, if approved by the council, would expire three years after it was authorized. There is no cap on the amount of taxes it could potentially have refunded within three years of opening.
Aldermen will also consider adopting a new flag for the city, replacing a dated logo that is expensive to purchase, according to Greg Gustek, executive director of the city’s Image Campaign committee.
The current flag, which flies now above Saracen Landing along Lake Saracen and hangs inside the City Council Chambers, has red and blue triangles framing a blue river and a green pine tree.
The new design display an anchor and refers to Pine Bluff as the “Harbor City, the anchor of Southeast Arkansas.”
Other activities in Pine Bluff this week:
The Pine Bluff Jefferson County EOC office will be closed this week for USDA commodity distributions. The distribution dates and locations:
Tuesday — Wabbaseka Community Center for residents living north of the Arkansas River, beginning at 8 a.m.
Wednesday — Pine Bluff at Hestand Stadium, 420 Blake St., beginning at 8 a.m.
Applicants should bring identification. They can pick up foodstuffs for their households and two others with a signed note from each household and identification from the other households.
Details: Call (870) 536-0046.
Betty Bradshaw with the Area Agency on Aging of Southeast Arkansas will present a program to the Pine Bluff Rotary Club at noon Tuesday at the Pine Bluff Country Club.
The Pine Bluff School Board will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Jordan-Chanay Administrative Center, 1215 W. Pullen St.
The Metropolitan Emergency Communications Association Board will meet Thursday at 1 p.m. in the EOC room of the Office of Emergency Management.
Center Grove Water Association’s monthly meeting will be held on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the new water office at 1631 S. Rock St., Sheridan.
Registration continues this week for the 11th annual Bill Sanders Memorial Benefit Bass Team Tournament, sponsored by the Area Agency on Aging. The tournament will be held on March 29 on the Arkansas River at Regional Park.
Details: Call (870) 543-6300 or toll free at (800) 264-3260.
“Identity Theft” will be the topic of the program during the meeting of the Crime Victims’ Support Group on Wednesday. The meeting is scheduled from 10-11 a.m. at the Area Agency on Aging, 709 E. Eighth Ave.
Details: Call the Rev. Edna Morgan at 535-0101.
The Jefferson County Retired Teachers Association’s annual health fair will be held from 11 a.m. to noon Thursday in the Donald W. Reynolds Community Services Center, 211 W. Third Ave.
Health care professionals from the Pine Bluff area will be on hand to perform various types of screenings and provide consumer and senior information. The health fair is open to the public.
Details: Call Thelma Y. Denton at 536-6528 or Toni Bradford at 879-5270.
The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service’s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program will hold its 16th annual Nutrition & Health Awareness Fair on Tuesday.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hestand Stadium, 420 Blake St.
Details: Call Vanessa Woods-Evans at 534-1033.
A report on the congressional district caucus/special state convention held in Little Rock will be given during the meeting of the Jefferson County Democratic Women on Monday. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Garden Room of the Holiday Inn Express at The Pines mall.
Details: Call Becky Robinson at 766-4188, Mary Whiteaker at 247-2880 or Elnora White at 535-3804.
Barbara McKinney of Irving, Texas, will be the guest speaker during the meeting of the Pine Bluff Christian Women Connection, scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at the Pine Bluff Country Club.
McKinney is a graduate of Baylor University at Waco, Texas, with a degree in business administration and a minor in personnel management. She and her husband operate a business at Irving.
All women in the area are invited to attend.
Details: Call (870) 489-1742, 535-6884 or 536-5518.
Print this story | Email this story
|
