First, my boy Josh Flory over at the Property Scope has the latest on the Midway court slugfest. Click right smack here for it. And, speaking of which . . . the County Commission on Monday will talk more about a proposed tax incentive for a potential Midway Road area employee.
The plan is to give KaTom Restaurant Supply Inc. a four-year payment in lieu of tax, or PILOT, to set up shop in the area. Obviously, the folks out in East Knox County don't like this.
There's some thought that the proposal is just another way to set up a business park, piece by piece, and that this would be the first step. Personally, I can think of worse things to go there than a restaurant supply business, but that's easy to say because it's not in my backyard. Heh.
Anyhoo, it looks like some commissioners will push for the PILOT, but not limit it to just the Midway area. They feel that if KaTom is serious about relocating from Russellville to Knox County then it will look at other spots, too, if given the PILOT.
I don't know. I think the interest is more about that Midway property than it is about Knox County. It's close enough to recruit, but also a short commute for the current employees who don't live in the county.
In the meantime, this is just a small battle. If approved, the county commission still has to rezone the property. That won't have the political ease of a PILOT.
If I were KaTom I'd run screaming. There might be some people in this scruffy little city that want to see it become more, but most inhabitants either don't care or go well out of their way to ensure Knoxville never becomes anything more than what it is.
ReplyDeleteI'd lie and say otherwise if I thought the situation could be reversed, but it can't. Knoxville will never, ever realize its potential as a regional powerhouse.
Hell, at this rate we won't even be the town that supplies those powerhouses. But what does anyone care, right?