BY DONNIE JOHNSTON
The Culpeper County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to apply to change its Foreign Trade Zone designation from traditional to alternative.
The move will help expedite the process under which a business may be granted a site, according to Economic Development Director Carl Sachs.
Sachs told the board that the county staff began to consider the possible change a few months ago after a company inquiring about moving to Culpeper and using its Foreign Trade Zone designation appeared to lose interest because of the time involved to process the paperwork.
“When we told them it would take eight to 10 months, they never got back to us,” Sachs said. “That’s a real-world experience.”
Sachs admitted that there is no guarantee that Culpeper would have landed the new business, but he thinks the county would have had a better chance if Foreign Trade Zone status could have been established in 30–60 days, as it could have under the alternative-site method.
Foreign Trade Zones encourage businesses to participate in international trade by effectively eliminating or reducing customs duties and enhancing the trade capabilities of specific companies.
The alternative-site method would allow Culpeper, one of five Foreign Trade Zones in Virginia, one magnet (permanent) site, hopefully in the county, and five other peripheral sites with five-year default periods.
Supervisor Tom Underwood cast the only vote against the change. He said he feared that, in exchange for the shorter process period, the county might face more federal “hoops and hurdles” in other areas.
“I would vote for this only if later we are allowed to go back to the present traditional designation,” Underwood said.
Sachs said he did not think that was possible, adding that he could see no “hoops and hurdles” or other disadvantages to the proposed new arrangement.
“We can’t tie Carl’s hands,” Supervisor Sue Hansohn said. “We need to have our inventory [of business sites] ready to go.”
Supervisor Steve Walker agreed.
“We are trying to work with the government to make for a better situation,” he said.
Culpeper’s alternative-site Foreign Trade Zone would extend from Bath County to Stafford County (west to east) and from Nelson County to Warren County (south to north).
The board also voted 6–1 to contract with PointTrade Services at a cost of $3,500 to help in the alternative-site application process.
In other action, the board appropriated $1.068 million to pay the architectural firm Hord, Coplan, Macht to design renovations to Culpeper High School. The money will come from the county’s general fund, but will be returned when funds from a bond issue are available.
The supervisors also voted to send a letter to the town of Culpeper asking that, under terms of the recently finalized water–sewer agreement, sewer lines be extended to Green’s Corner to serve Eastern View High School. The school is now served by a nearby package-treatment facility near Mountain Run.
Tommy O’Halloran, representing the Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation Board, told the supervisors that the dam on Lake Catalpa had passed its inspection.
Donnie Johnston:
djohnston@freelancestar.com
