Two major announcements were made at the special called meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Tuesday, including a unanimous decision by board members to submit a formal offer to Andrea Schruijer for the position of executive director.

Absent from the meeting was board member Roy Copeland.

According to Steve Gupton, authority attorney, the three-year contract will include a salary of $100,000 per year. As with all its employees, the authority will pay seven percent into a retirement fund and 75 percent of health care insurance.

Schruijer, pending acceptance of the offer, will officially start employment on July 8.

“There were actually 11 people involved with the interview process, with representatives from both the city and the county governments,” said Jerry Jennett, authority chairman. “Out of five candidates, two were not from Georgia, which was probably somewhat of a handicap. It works out that the way development is done in Georgia is different than in other states; it’s just different.”

Schruijer currently serves as senior vice president of economic development at the Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission.

The other major announcement at the meeting was the possibility of Wiregrass LLC exercising the option to purchase the 22.2-acre tract of land that was originally planned to be used for the biomass facility.

“We gave them the option to purchase the land based on certain terms and conditions,” said Gupton. “They basically sent us a certified letter prior to June 1 stating they wished to exercise their option to purchase the 22.2-acre tract of land within 60 days.”

“We are currently looking at the letter to understand if we agree if they have that option and will continue our due diligence,” said Allan Ricketts, project manager, via conference call. “We don’t know anything other than they have sent us a certified letter indicating that they would like to pursue that option.”

Board members also unanimously approved the following items on Tuesday:

• A three-year contract renewal for their current facility at a cost of $4,270 a month. Starting July 1, the landlord will have 30 days to make improvements to the facility.

• A contract with Ganas Landscape Designs Inc. for the Miller Business Park landscape and irrigation plans. Plans meet and exceed landscape requirements of the City of Valdosta Tree and Landscape Ordinance. Landscape installation will total $298,449.45. Irrigation installation will total $145,200. “We certainly met all city requirements and we upgraded it to make a statement, to say that this is the business park of the future, not the industrial park of the ‘50s and ‘60s,” said Mary Gooding, board member. “I think we’ve done a great job of maximizing the money for the appearance without going overboard.”

• Construction contract for the Miller Business Park was awarded to Reames and Son Construction at a cost of $4,452,227 with a 10 percent contingency for unforeseen expenses.

Board members changed the date of their next meeting to June 14 at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.