BURTON CITY COUNCIL TABLES COST ESTIMATE STUDY FOR POSSIBLE RETURN OF BURTON SAUSAGE
The Burton City Council heard details but took no action Tuesday on the potential return of a former local sausage company back to Burton.
The council voted to table a proposal to perform a cost estimate study to determine the amount of city water and sewer services that would be needed by Burton Sausage, who is seeking to be annexed into the city.
Brenham | Washington County Economic Development Director Susan Cates said the company is moving forward with plans for a small amount of production at the facility, located on 18 acres outside of city limits on Highway 290, with the set-up it had when the company left Burton in 2020. However, Cates said the company wishes to expand on the capacity of the facility, so the question becomes whether the city can accommodate that.
Cates, along with Hollie Janecka of Strand Associates, presented the council with an option to have Strand perform a study for a maximum of $20,000 on an hourly rate basis to determine an opinion of probable cost for the services Burton Sausage is seeking. Cates said the study could also be used to determine whether grant funding would be available for the project.
In May 2008, Rodney Roth, whose family founded Blue Ribbon Sausage in the 1940s and purchased Holmes Smokehouse in 2000, acquired Burton Sausage, formerly owned by Jerry Schultz and Nicole Harmel. Burton Sausage closed its storefront in Burton last year and moved its operations to Lufkin, the site of Holmes Smokehouse’s main manufacturing facility.
Cates said the total valuation of the property that is paid to Washington County, since the property is not within the city, is $613,675. However, if Burton Sausage were to be annexed and reactivate its current footprint, Cates estimated the assessed value of the property would be $1.4 million coming into the city, while the value for the county would be an increase of $807,000. She also estimated the company would provide 20-25 jobs in the first phase, with a ripple effect of nearly 50 jobs because of the impact the company would have on the community. Taking the estimated employee wages into account, she said the local economy could see a benefit of $1.35 million, a “significant impact.”
Cates said if Burton Sausage could not be annexed because of current annexation laws that require the company to be contiguous to city limits, the company would be open to making payment in lieu of taxes in the equivalent of what their taxes would be. The company would also sign an annexation agreement so it can voluntarily annex into the city if annexation becomes possible, but would continue making the payment in lieu of taxes if annexation is not possible.
Also on Tuesday, the council voted for Leslie Boehnemann, Jr. for election to the Washington County Appraisal District Board of Directors and nominated Charles Gaskamp to fill a board vacancy.