Council approves tax abatement

Green Valley Ranch LLC will receive a five-year, $10 million tax abatement.
Jay County Council approved the abatement and other financial items at its Wednesday night meeting.
Green Valley Ranch is expected to create 20 jobs in return for the abatement, said Bill Bradley, executive director of Jay County Development Corporation.
Plans call for building five chicken layer barns, an egg-processing building and an egg wash lagoon just east of 2104 E. 300 South, rural Portland. The barns will house 2.69 million birds.
Council member Jeanne Houchins asked if there is a system in place for verifying the number of employees a company receiving an abatement has. Bradley said while that hasn’t formally been done in the past, council could request documents verifying employment numbers.
Council also approved grant money for the county health department, with $9,000 to go toward paying for the Public Health Coordinator. Another $7,400 will go toward a new refrigerator to store additional vaccines.
From the infrastructure fund, council approved payments of $5,000 for equipment at the retirement center and $150,000 for an ambulance.
Council approved a $229 payment from the county economic development income tax fund for costs related to send Ralph Frazee to Washington, D.C., to represent Jay County at an economic development conference.