VW/Audi starting new plant?

[Mustangfan2003]

Found this in the local paper.  If it's true that would be awesome, but I would expect them to expand their current plant first

By Holly Hollman
For TimesDaily

Published: Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 8:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 8:28 a.m.

Speculation this week that an automaker such as Audi might be interested in locating in North Alabama has officials touting the advantages of Limestone County.

Limestone County has two properties large enough to accommodate an automaker, and both received interest from Volkswagen before it chose Chattanooga. Audi is part of the Volkswagen Group of auto companies.

This week, the city of Huntsville unveiled plans for one of those properties ? the Sewell property on Powell Road. Huntsville has a $300,000 purchase option on the property, which is valued at $30 million.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle told The Huntsville Times he wants a plan to show prospective industries where infrastructure, such as new roads, as well as schools, parks and neighborhoods, would be located on about 9,000 acres in Limestone County. That master plan shows the 1,500-acre Sewell property as a research park area. Huntsville is considering two road projects to accommodate that plan, including a connector road between Interstate 565 and Huntsville-Browns Ferry Road.

Earlier this year, Huntsville paid $10.1 million to buy a sewer trunk line from the Limestone County Water and Sewer Authority. That line runs beside the Sewell property.

Limestone County Commission Chairman Stanley Menefee said Wednesday that Huntsville shared its long-range plans with him Tuesday.

?They did not mention any specific industry but talked about their plans to prepare for one locating there,? Menefee said. ?They are keeping us informed, and we would work with them on tax abatements as an incentive if an industry chooses to locate there.?

Menefee said Limestone County and the entire area would benefit from a major industry locating on the Sewell property.

?Jobs, jobs, jobs. That?s what people want, and that?s what a major industry would provide, good jobs,? Menefee said. ?The county would benefit from taxes once the abatement ends, and Athens Utilities would get revenue off electric sales.?

A major employer in Limestone County would create significant benefits for Morgan County, Morgan County Economic Development Association President Jeremy Nails said.

?A project (in Limestone County) that employed people at a good wage creates opportunities for Morgan County citizens to work at that facility, to take a better-paying job than they have now,? Nails said. ?They would bring those dollars back home to Morgan County to spend.?

School-related taxes cannot be abated, so the school systems in the area also would benefit. Limestone and Athens split property taxes based on enrollment.

Once Madison opens its high school in Limestone County, and once Huntsville locates a school in the county, they will be included in the split.

The Sewell property and another large Limestone County tract, the 2,010-acre Tennessee Valley Authority Megasite in the Tanner area, are located near the Tennessee River, railroads, interstates and Huntsville International Airport and Pryor Field.

The megasite is on U.S. 31 and I-65 near the Tanner interchange. The megasite certification means the property is accessible to all utilities and is ready to develop.

The most feasible way for local governments in Morgan County to assist in a major Limestone County project would involve a multi-county bond issue, Nails said.

?If there had to be a large bond issue for infrastructure or land purchase or cash incentives, Alabama law allows for a certain number of counties to come together and do that collectively,? he said.

?They can create their own development district. Of course you would have to have the county and municipalities buy into that. You?d also have to have some sort of funding stream.?

Speculation that North Alabama might have a chance to attract Audi began Monday when an industry publication, Automotive News, reported the German company is considering a U.S. assembly plant.

?It is totally clear that we need new production capacity in the U.S.,? Audi CEO Rupert Stadler was quoted as saying. ?The question only is when.?

Staff writer Eric Fleischauer contributed to this story.