Jim AT RealCrozetVA.com

Submit A Story

17 December 2014 CCAC Meeting Recap

Written by

Jim

 

The 17 December 2014 CCAC meeting was a meeting where:

Click through, scroll to the bottom, and read all the tweets. Then comment, ask questions, come to the next meeting.

 

 

 

 

I’m convinced that, based on the engagement at the RealCrozetVA facebook page, we should have the next CCAC meeting at the new Mexican restaurant.

Mexican restaurant -v- CCAC

Subscribe to RealCrozetVA

Roads, schools, new businesses, and the housing questions — from someone who’s covered it since 2005.


    Crozet at a glance.

    Comments

    14 responses to “17 December 2014 CCAC Meeting Recap”

    1. Sorry to see it go Avatar
      Sorry to see it go

      You left out probably the most important issue to come before the CCAC, which was the loss of the manufacturing plant on the CSX property. It seems that Frank Stoner and Richard Pleasants couldn’t come to an agreement. According to Pleasants, he agreed on the price, but couldn’t agree on the additional terms Stoner wanted. This is a real blow to Crozet. The factory will now be built in Augusta County. Not only did we lose the original plant,which was to hire 25 workers at a salary of $45,000 plus benefits,with the potential to expand here in Crozet to between 150 and 200 workers by hopefully utilizing the old Acme Visible property. It will be interesting to see what Crozet gets in its place when Stoner presents his new plan when he gets around to it.

      Reply
      1. Jim Duncan Avatar
        Jim Duncan

        You’re right. I alluded to it, but didn’t say so explicitly.

        https://twitter.com/realcrozetva/status/545372336804077569

        If they couldn’t agree to terms, that’s between them; I am not privy to any of the negotiations, so I don’t know whether either side was reasonable or unreasonable. As I’m not an owner or a potential buyer of the CSX property, it’s really not my business. 🙂

        Reply
        1. Richard Pleasants Avatar
          Richard Pleasants

          Just to clear up any confusion and to provide clarity. 🙂

          We did agree on price. Frank Stoner presented our company, Pleasants Industries, Inc, with terms and conditions on a commercial land sale, that are just not normal by any stretch of the imagination. The company that Frank is representing, wanted to rights to control (have to approve, in addition to the normal county standards) ALL of our site, building and parking lot designs and road access location. All these conditions were from the seller of raw land to Pleasants Industries, Inc. He also wanted the rights to buy back the property at the selling price after 2 years, if we didn’t meet terms, presented by the company he represents. We were very reasonable in our offer, but the Ts and Cs presented by Mr. Stoner were not viable for any land buyer. My sense is they were never going to sell this CSX property to us (knew their Ts and Cs would not be accepted by us) , because they want to control both the CSX and Barnes Lumber parcels together for purely land speculation purposes. I was told that the party who is purchasing this land, may not even develop that land and then just sell it later, as they see fit.

          Fortunately, our Pleasants Industries, Inc. company leadership team has found a number of sites in the Waynesboro (Augusta County) area that will all work very well for our R&D and manufacturing line of business. We are now actively looking at a number of options in the Crozet area for the first location of our Renewable Energy Academy of VA (a division of Pleasants Industries, Inc.). We hope this clears up any questions. Feel free to send me an email with any questions. 🙂

          Regards,
          Rich Pleasants
          CEO
          Pleasants Industries, Inc.
          P.O. Box 250
          Crozet, VA 22932
          [email protected]

          Reply
          1. Sorry to see it go Avatar
            Sorry to see it go

            It is interesting to note that Mr.Stoner, speaking before the CCAC, made a point that the development of this property was to be a joint effort between his company and the community. In his words this was to be a “WE” project. Certainly, no one could have attended the CCAC meetings and not have seen the support from the community for Mr. Pleasants proposals. It would appear from Mr. Pleasants post outlining the conditions and terms that there was no real interest in making the deal. So much for “WE”.

            Reply
            1. Edward Strauss Avatar
              Edward Strauss

              What I fail to see if why a businessman and his investors would be willing to collaborate with a powerless board in a unincorporated
              community on any aspect of what is done with their property and money. Why people believe anything else I do not know. He already
              has the zoning in place for a nice Cat Litter factory… I expect that
              Pleasant Industries will continue to do now and in the future what is
              best for them and their investors. There is no “WE” in business unless
              you choose to invest.

            2. Sorry to see it go Avatar
              Sorry to see it go

              There is no “WE” unless you’re the owner of the property and state openly and in public that you want the project to be a “WE” project. That is unless you own the property and want the county to rezone the property at which time the community does have input into the process.
              As for Mr. Pleasants, had you attended the meeting, you would have heard that as a resident of Crozet he wanted to establish his business in Crozet, to the benefit of not only himself but to the community of Cozet by making available good paying jobs with benefits, something much needed in Crozet.

            3. Edward Strauss Avatar
              Edward Strauss

              Since I am replying to an anonymous post I’ll just say that in times like this it is not what people say as much as what they do. Business goes
              where it is wanted and has the best chance to succeed.As far as the facts neither you nor I have any money involved so we are not owed the facts.Both the BOS and the State Development Office want something done with this property.I think that Mr. Stoner is in a pretty
              good position…

            4. Jim Duncan Avatar
              Jim Duncan

              One of the few times I’ll agree with Edward Strauss.

            5. Richard Pleasants Avatar
              Richard Pleasants

              Mr. Strauss, I personally have always tried to collaborate with community organizations and county advisory boards for this business venture and many other community initiatives, over the course of my business career. As long as I am resident in Crozet and a local businessman, I will certainly continue to collaborate with our great community. Not sure of the intention of the “Cat Litter Factory” comment. I also do believe all businesses, that expect to thrive and grow, need to remain focused on community and that is a “We” discussion, from my perspective.

              I have serious doubts on the rough sketch plans provided to me from Milestone Partners, but hopefully that whole site will not sit vacant for many years… because it truly is just a land speculation deal…with a very thin vale of development interest…. from all the activities and plans that I have reviewed.

              The longer the Old Barnes Lumber Site sits vacant and is a dumping ground for the Streetscape construction waste (concrete, etc…), the cloudier the vision of any viable commercial and/or industrial development becomes. The key to success for that site is attracting and enabling commercial and industrial business ventures that create living wage professional and technical jobs for the long haul.

              On another business note, I did look at a few potential Crozet locations for the Renewable Energy Academy this past week. There are some decent options, on that front. 🙂

            6. Edward Strauss Avatar
              Edward Strauss

              Milestone Partners put their money down and bought an available property. You chose where to put yours as was your right. This is only half of the conversation. The other half seems to not want to discuss
              their business on the internet. You cannot cater to the crowd. You do
              owe your partners though. It is unreasonable to think that you can
              tell someone what they should do with their investment (property).
              As far as a Cat Litter Factory, if it pays taxes and provides decent
              paying jobs I’m all for it.

            7. Richard Pleasants Avatar
              Richard Pleasants

              I am not sure I know how to reply these kind of comments. However… Pleasants Industries Inc. did not tell anybody what to do with their investment property, Mr. Strauss. Milestone wanted to sell us property and still tell us what we could do with it (design of everything on land they would no longer own). I truly don’t understand why you feel the need to be so arbitrary, toward my comments here. It is not necessary. Enough said.

            8. Edward Strauss Avatar
              Edward Strauss

              I am not against what you say I just realize that there are two sides to every issue. Milestone does not feel the need to discuss their business on the internet. You chose to. Milestone wanted to tell you
              what to do with property they no longer owned, Just like an unelected
              board in an unincorporated area wants to do. You refused to tolerate
              this and moved your business elsewhere. Good for you. There are
              no good or bad guys in business. Why is this aspect so important to you?

            9. Richard Pleasants Avatar
              Richard Pleasants

              Because regardless of the outcome on that particular land business deal, I truly care about what is done in downtown Crozet. I will live here in Crozet for the rest of my life with my family. I have nothing to hide.

              What I am talking about on this internet site is common knowledge to those that attend these public community meetings (CCAC and CCA)… It is not privileged or private information.

              I am past the business decision on the location of our manufacturing site . However, I would like to see the CCAC function in a more agile and productive way for the benefit of all Crozet residents. Even without an incorporated town, this group can be much more productive and communicate better with all Crozet citizens.

            10. Edward Strauss Avatar
              Edward Strauss

              Hmm… Such language over a simple business deal. With most of the Country seeking jobs for their residents we have an unelected group
              that feels it has the power to dictate terms. This is not the way to attract business. The quicker they realize that they are the problem
              the better off the community will be. As far as the property in question,
              it is already zoned. A business, Cat Litter factory, etc, comes in and
              meets all the requirements, it will not have to deal with anyone. That is
              what it will take to get things started. Not that long ago Crozet had and supported Industry to the benefit of all. The current bedroom community model is hard to look at….

    Something to say?

    Also Read These