By Gary Lloyd
The Trussville City Council on Tuesday approved of going out to bid on 3,000 feet of six-feet-tall security fence to install around the former Gold Kist Inc. chicken processing plant on Will Pond Road.
The fence would also include three strands of barbed wire.
Trussville Fire Chief Russell Ledbetter said the site has been vandalized in the past and that the presence of volunteer firefighters has allowed them to have “a pretty good handle on it.”
The city council last month approved monthly contributions to the Trussville Volunteer Fire Department for scrap metal removal from the property. The council approved a $67,000 first-month contribution and $17,000 per month for the next 11 months for the department to remove the scrap metal and haul it to a recycling facility
. The total cost for the 12-month scrap removal, sorting, loading and hauling is $254,000.
The Trussville Volunteer Fire Department is removing scrap metal from the former Gold Kist facility in Trussville.
file photo by Gary Lloyd
Mayor Gene Melton said the plan is that when the volunteer firefighters are ready to haul the scrap metal, the city will call a list of vendors to get their current metal prices.
“We’re going to make sure on the day that it’s delivered that we take it to the vendor that’s got the best price, and make sure we get the best bang for the buck,” he said.
The money made from selling the scrap will come back to the city. The council last month also approved $2,143 for Tusco, Inc. to install a drive-through gate at the facility.
The city council in December authorized the city’s purchase of the 53.27-acre site for $1.7 million. The property, which was owned by Scottsman Trades, a company owned by McPherson Oil, was valued at $4.5 million. The property includes 10,000 square feet of office space and 120,000 square feet of warehouse space, which could allow the city to have an operations center. The facility could also securely house Trussville City Schools school buses.
The Gold Kist plant closed in 2003, and the Trussville Industrial Board bought the property in 2005 to expand the Trussville Industrial Park. Part of the property was then sold to McPherson Oil.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
