By Billy Davis

Crenshaw’s mayor broke a 2-2 tie in a called meeting Wednesday night, supporting a motion and a second that would allow the town to apply for a $150,000 state grant to aid Rolando Curtis Foods.

Well, not exactly.

The board motion by Alderman Shirley Morgan technically stated only that town government send a “letter of intent” to the Miss. Development Authority that would restart the application process.

But that isn’t quite so either.

Aldermen voted last year to apply for the grant, but Mayor Sylvester Reed said Wednesday that the application had been delayed until the plant showed more progress toward an opening date. More equipment has arrived at the plant, and now the town needs to send a second letter, he said.

“It’s now time for us to make a move to keep this thing moving this way,” Reed, during board discussion, said of Rolando’s progress. 

Rolando CEO Roland Butler spoke for about a minute Wednesday and assured the mayor and aldermen that the plant is in better shape than “Ford and GM,” referring to the beleaguered U.S. automakers.

“So that’s a testament to us,” he said.

The former Dana plant and adjoining acreage was county-owned when supervisors signed it over to Butler in August 2006 in exchange for a promise of jobs in Crenshaw. The poor Delta town has about 1,000 residents and no industrial employer.

The Rural Impact Fund (RIF) grant, if approved, would go to the Town of Crenshaw from MDA, the state’s economic development agency. The grant funds would then be given to Rolando as a loan.

While aldermen took turns looking at the letter, their discussion seemed to indicate that they were voting to reapply for the MDA grant, and the recipient of the letter would be MDA and Butler would receive a copy.

At one point Alderman Patricia Dodson sought clarification about the board action, asking Reed, “What are you asking for?”

“That intent has been shown,” Reed replied.

An attempt to reach Dodson, who is employed at Crenshaw Elementary School, was unsuccessful.

Morgan made a motion twice during board discussion to send the letter, but neither she nor anyone else clarified the intended recipient of the town’s letter.

“The letter is going to me,” Butler said Thursday, when asked by a reporter about the purpose of the called meeting.

Butler said at first that the purpose of the called meeting was to reapply for the state grant. But when pressed about the purpose of the “letter of intent” discussed by the mayor and aldermen, he acknowledged that it is going to him so he could show it to financial lenders.

“A lender needs a lot more than just a letter,” he said during a brief phone conversation.

The Panolian received a copy of the letter only after the meeting from Alderman Alberta Bradley. The letter is addressed to Butler at Rolando’s address, 101 Jones Street.

The letter requests itemized figures from Rolando that show expenditures for upgrades to the factory, expenditures for equipment, projected employment figures for three years, and an “itemized listing” of the proposed use of RIF funds.

“When we receive these items we can complete the letter of intent,” the letter concludes.

The 2-2 vote included “yea” votes from Morgan and Dodson while Bradley and Alderman David Whitsell voted against the motion.

Neither Bradley nor Whitsell explained their “nay” votes before or after Reed broke the tie, but Bradley said Thursday that the vote amounted to a ceremonial gesture.

“We built five homes in Crenshaw with a grant from MDA, and some of those homes must be repaired due to shoddy work,” she said. “Until they’re fixed, we can’t get any more grant money.”

Crenshaw’s town government voted in September 2007 to apply for the RIF grant. A ribbon cutting had been held a month earlier, and Butler said then that the plant would open in weeks and produce rice, bottled water and other goods.

Butler repeated more promises Wednesday, saying that installers are presently readying the equipment to get ready for production.

 The installation could be delayed by the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, he said.

Butler told county supervisors last May that the first workers would start after the Memorial Day holiday.

At the same time Butler told The Panolian that hirings at the plant were expanding beyond Crenshaw to Batesville after he failed to hire any Crenshaw residents despite conducting interviews in the town.

To date no workers have been hired at the facility, and no product has left the plant.