After failing to meet a Dec. 31 phase one construction deadline, California-based Silicor Materials was given another deadline by the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors Monday, a deadline with a price tag of $150,000.
“They need to commit $150,000 in escrow to ensure performance or this deal is null and void,” Columbus-Lowndes Development Link CEO Joe Max Higgins said during Monday’s board meeting.
Higgins also recommended the board extend Silicor’s start-up deadline to June 30, 2013.
“They either meet the June 30 deadline or it’s over,” Higgins said. “If they commit the $150,000 and don’t meet the start-up deadline, they lose the escrow money.”
The board unanimously supported Higgins’ recommendations.
The Dec. 31 start-up date is the latest in series of missed deadlines since the company announced in August 2011 its plans to locate in Lowndes County.
Work was slated to begin Sept. 2, but the board of supervisors granted the company an extension through Dec. 31, stipulating they meet specific, monthly benchmarks or risk having the county cancel the project. At stake for the company is approximately $19 million in financial incentives from Lowndes County.
State lawmakers awarded a $75.25 million incentive package to the company last September, including a $59.5 million equipment and construction loan, $11.25 million for infrastructure and $4.5 million for local workforce training.
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