A sign touting a zoning change for a parcel of private property and Facebook chat has inflamed some Senatobia residents who came to a city planning and zoning meeting earlier this month.
And while the sign is real, the paperwork to actually seek an industrial zoning change for 290-acres has not been presented to the city, the sign was put up without the landowner’s knowledge, no purchase has been made and all speculation about the change and what it might bring are just that.
P&Z Chairman Ryan Sawyer said the matter was not on the agenda and P&Z would not discuss the issue until they had the facts and details of the proposed zoning change.
Those in the audience demanded answers three times and Sawyer said it could not be discussed. City policy is to only discuss issues formally listed on a meeting agenda that is adopted at the first of each meeting.
Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves said the city has no formal details and said the zoning change “was not going to happen right now.”
Graves said some of the rumors of what the industry is and what it will do are not true. Prime Resources, LLC, is the entity at the center of the city’s concerns.
The company’s website lists its headquarters as Miami and says it has a pyrolysis and gasification process that transforms plastic waste into aviation fuel. Basically, the company would haul in plastic, sort it, shred it and then cook it in a device similar to a petroleum cracking still.
The site where the sign was erected has access to rail and highway as well as natural gas and city water.
The company is headed up by CEO Edwad Rodriguez and COO and former NBA All-Star Theo Ratliff. The actual number of jobs created, how much the company would pay in taxes and a timeline to begin construction and how the company might expand in future phases, has not been made public.
As with all economic development projects, Prime Resources interest in Tate County was kept confidential until the sign was put up.
