CLARK CO. BOARD SUPPORTS AG PARK
Friday, December 19th, 2008 -- 3:20 PM
The Clark County Board of Supervisors threw their overwhelming support behind a plan to develop an agribusiness park near Owen Thursday night.Meeting at the Clark County Health Care Center, supervisors voted 24 to 4 to support the plans being hammered out between the Clark County Economic Development Corporation, City of Owen and the Health Care Center sub-committee.
The acreage surrounds the Health Care Center. Some of it is owned by the county and lies in the Town of Green Grove. It will likely be annexed into the City of Owen so the community can start TIF districts, and other financing vehicles, to develop the infrastructure for the park.
Drivers of the plan envision a mammoth 52,000 square-foot Innovation Center as the centerpiece of the park. They hope to partner with tech schools and the University of Wisconsin to provide a central hub for researching emerging technologies, such as biofuels, and hope that Center will lure companies to locate in the adjoining parks.
The next steps will be more critical, and, possibly, more difficult to iron out. The Health Care Center sub-committee "controls" the county-owned land and will set covenents and prices for the acreage. Backers of the park hope to get a deal on the land, while some with the cash-strapped Health Care Center may look to recoup the $15,000, or so, they currently receive by renting the land to an area farmer.
Board Chairman Wayne Hendrickson said the board would likely get some recommendations on how to sell the land during their meeting in January or February.
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