The Port of Beaumont Board of Commissioners today voted unanimously to approve a tax abatement for Lucite International, Inc. for a development in the Beaumont/Jefferson County Reinvestment Zone. Listen:

“Lucite expects to complete about $84.5 million in capital expansion,” reported Port Director Chris Fisher.  “The actual abatement schedules run for seven years."

“Who is responsible for the enforcement of the abatement, for the policies?” asked Chair Pete Shelton.  “Using local labor and various other parts of this abatement?”

“One thing that I had them put into this contract, is they are going to reimburse the port $4,000 annually for us to go out there and kind of have a watchdog – looking at them, making sure they are using local labor… how much money is being spent and how it is affecting basically our area.”  

“We’re following basically what the county has already done,” Fisher added. 

The commission voted to cast its 68 votes for the current incumbent members of the Jefferson County Central Appraisal District, all of whom have been nominated for reappointment. Miriam Johnson, Eugene Landry, Charles Langford, Dr. Louis Reed and C.L. Sherman.

In his Executive Director’s Report, Fisher updated the commission on the work at the port's front entrance that has required the re-routing of truck traffic; and he reported that the Orange County development is progressing.  Listen: MP3   RealPlayer

Commissioner Henry Nix said that the progress on the Orange County project is “unbelievable”.

Chair Shelton agreed.

“It’s probably going to double the size of our port,” Shelton said in his comments at the end of the meeting.  “You can really see that a lot has been done in a short period of time. 
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