PHOTO: The new facility will be located in the Fyffe Industrial Park; near Liberty Steel on Highway 75. (Tyler Pruett | Southern Torch)
By Tyler Pruett, Managing Editor
FYFFE, Ala. — On Friday night at 6:30 pm, the Town of Fyffe will hold a public meeting on the incoming poultry processing plant. The meeting will be held in the Fyffe Senior Center. (We'll provide live coverage of the meeting)
At the meeting, an environmentalist will be discussing any potential impact, DeKalb County Economic Development Authority Director Jimmy Durham will be speaking, and the owners of the company will be on hand to address the public.
Reportedly, the owners first looked at the City of Fort Payne which turned them down for undisclosed reasons. The business then approached Rainsville, and the city was interested, but the sewer access lines would not accommodate the facility. It would have cost Rainsville around $1 million dollars to upgrade the access lines.
The owners then approached the Town of Fyffe, which had a site available. Word got out about a week ago about the incoming facility, and it stirred some controversy in the area.
Today, we discussed the incoming plant with Fyffe Mayor Paul Cagle.
"We have an Industrial Park that has been in place for more than 10 years. Our site is build ready, and these folks want to be in business by the end of the year," Cagle said.
"The are still conducting preliminary tests. The contracts have not yet been signed at this point," said Cagle.
He also explained that, "they are currently conducting the environmental impact studies."
Cagle also related that the plant will be for filleting; which will mean cutting the already processed breast. No birds will be killed onsite. The company will be named Mountain Fresh Foods, LLC. And the business is North Alabama-owned; with one owner being from Guntersville and another from Decatur.
The company currently operates one facility in Guntersville, Farm Fresh Foods LLC, and is expanding to DeKalb County. Mayor Cagle and members of the Fyffe Town Council went and toured the Guntersville facility this morning.
"I was very impressed with their operation," said Cagle.
The Fyffe processing plant is estimated to provide 300 jobs for the immediate area, and wages of over $14 an hour.
"We are not opposed to bringing industry into this town that we think will benefit this town. We the council are residents of this town, the industrial board are residents of this town, and we are going to do the best of our ability to serve the public," explained Cagle.
"We, the council have been actively seeking quality industry to come in this town, and this is by far the best opportunity we've ever had," he continued.
"We are trying to help the community by providing quality jobs with good benefits," concluded Cagle.
Sad. Fyffe will look like Kilpatrick now.