ROGERSVILLE — Fertile river bottom land in the Phipps Bend Industrial Park may soon begin producing fruits and vegetables, as well as much needed revenue for the Hawkins County Industrial Development Board.
Thursday afternoon the IDB voted unanimously in favor of opening negotiations with a Southwest Virginia farming group that has expressed interest in leasing 90-100 acres at Phipps Bend.
The acreage is within the Holston river’s 100 year flood plain and can’t be developed.
IDB member Gary Darnell, who owns similar property upriver in Church Hill, told the IDB Thursday the Phipps Bend bottom land could fetch a minimum of $200 as much as $400 per acre per year.
“They pay good because they offered me a real good price up there on my bottom land,” Darnell told the IBD Thursday. “It wasn’t the same group, but they were offering four times what you’d get for tobacco or something like that. They like a lake or river for pumping water, and a staging area for irrigation. We’ve got a perfect place for them.”
Hawkins County Industrial Developer Lynn Lawson said there’s about 90 good acres ready to till, and another 14 acres obstructed by drainage infrastructure and brush.
Lawson said a lease contract would have to include a good lease price for the IDB, liability insurance, portable restroom facilities for their workers, and a bond to ensure the land will be seeded for grass when the farming group leaves.
Darnell was authorized to lead negotiations and report back to the IDB at the April meeting.
Lawson said any revenue generated from farming leases would be used for property maintenance at the industrial park, and the purchase and maintenance of equipment.
“We could use the money,” said IDB chairman Larry Elkins. “If you’re talking simple math, 90 acres at $200 per acre — that $18,000. That would go a long way toward upkeep of the park. It’s something that could save the (Phipps Bend) Joint Venture some money, and it’s something we don’t have any real source of income for.”
