Summit Poultry Inc. in Pine Bluff has settled a debt of some $41,000 to the city's wastewater utility, putting the company closer to reopening a processing plant with more than 100 workers.
Summit in December had announced plans to reopen in early January, but the utility's commission refused to issue a new wastewater-discharge permit -- a requirement for the plant -- until the debt was settled.
The utility won a judgment for unpaid bills totaling $41,521 after Summit closed the plant in 2014. Summit had bought the plant a few months earlier from Horizon Foods and assumed the debts Horizon incurred there, including a $37,258 wastewater-treatment bill. The judgment also included a $4,263 wastewater bill Summit built up in the few months it operated the plant. It has been closed since 2014.
The utility's commission and Summit negotiated for a couple of weeks before last week's settlement, Ken Johnson, the utility's manager, said Tuesday. The Pine Bluff Commercial first reported the settlement.
Richard "Rick" Peters, the processing plant's manager, said Tuesday the target date for reopening is Feb. 6, depending on when the company actually receives its discharge permit. Some 100 workers have already been hired, he said. "If not Feb. 6, then as soon as humanly possible," Peters said.
Reopening the plant involves "a very complex set of conditions that have to come together at the same time," Peters said. "You don't just flip a switch. Those delays with wastewater have caused us huge problems. I've had a dozen other components on hold, waiting. Every day things change, so you have to juggle them around."
Last week, Summit handed over a cashier's check for $14,644 to cover part of the debt, Johnson said. Summit also agreed to pay $16,877, divided into 12 monthly installments, with the first payment of about $1,400 due in about 90 days. The utility forgave the remaining $10,000. Summit also paid $1,250 for a wastewater-discharge permit.
The utility commission is independent, so no other city action is required for the settlement to go through, Johnson said.
Withholding the permit, even if it meant delays for Summit's plan, appears to have been accepted by the community, Johnson said. "The response has been positive, upbeat," he said. "I think people understand the importance of the utility and expect us to be paid for the services we offer.
Johnson said the wastewater utility commission in 2005 paid for extensive upgrades to the city's wastewater-treatment plant "to accommodate industries just like this, not just for Summit, but for other companies interested in that facility. We're proud to have a 100 percent compliance record on our effluent discharge."
Summit still needs to install pre-treatment filters "to keep out feathers and other incompatible material," Johnson said. He said the Feb. 6 reopening date is feasible from the utility's view. "If they do their work, I think that's very do-able. We're happy and excited that Summit is here, but the bill needed to be paid," he said.
Business on 02/01/2017