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Regular Council Meeting July 25, 2016 Page 4 well as put them in a position for possible future expansion should that be necessary. He outlined the five areas of expansion of the plant. Council Member Trenado inquired how many additional employees would be hired. Mr. Kressig reported they would add four additional employees, so there will be forty-four. Council Member Clifford referenced the contract language to reflect they were going to decrease the number of employees from forty-one to forty. Mr. Kressig explained one employee from the Brownwood facility was transferred to the Paris Plant and that employee would be transferred back to the Brownwood facility. He said they planned to hire four additional people. Council Member Clifford wanted to know if the four new employees were going to be temporary and Mr. Kressig said that was not their plan. Council Member Clifford said the contract reflected they could be contract employees and they did not have to pay benefits to the employees. Council Member Clifford also said the City would be giving the maximum allowed by State Law and after ten years, it looked like the City would only be getting about $400,000 on the tax roll. He expressed concern about the level of investment and percentage of abatement according to the policy passed by City Council. Council Member Frierson said the Council made a differentiation about investments made by local companies and that he had been part of that discussion. Council Member Clifford said after reading the contract, and realizing that the City of Paris was only going to get about $500,000 taxes, he had a difference of opinion. He said he was in favor of an abatement but wondered if the maximum allowed by State Law was appropriate. Council Member Frierson it goes way back and was really about looking at sustainability of a facility, the work force and if the company had been here a long time. He said he looked at it from a different point of view. Council Member Clifford questioned the point of a declining percentage if they were not going to stick to it. Council Member Frierson said that was the topic of large discussion in previous meetings and the thought process that a company new to the area would need further constraints. Michael Paris added there had been votes in past waiving existing tax abatement guidelines. He said there was an assumption made that the only benefit to the community was the actual taxes off of the assets. He also said the local school districts and PJC were still getting their taxes and there was a positive economic impact after one year on an investment. Mr. Paris said most employers hire temporary people to find out if they were going to be good employees prior to hiring a full-time permanent employee. Council Member Clifford said there were very few cities that gave 100 percent ten-year tax abatement on machinery alone. He said it could be done according to State Law, but questioned if they wanted to do that or go by the criteria they had in place. Mr. Paris said he agreed and that is why he came to them April 25, in order for Potters' local plant to be able to compete to attract the capital investment. Council Member Clifford said there was nothing in the contract that reflected the jobs would be well paying jobs. He also said he was very glad Potters wanted to expand, but was questioning the level they were granting and Council going against their own criteria. Mayor Pro -Tem Lancaster opened the public hearing and asked for anyone wishing to speak in support or opposition of the item, to please come forward. Michael Glatfelter wanted to know how much an employee would be making when they started working at Potters. Mr. Kressig said approximately $18.00 to $19.00 an hour. Mr. Glatfelter said he was curious because of how things went with the bakery. Chad Lindsey spoke in favor of this abatement and said the company had been a part of the community for a long time and it would was very