A local business has purchased a 3.23 acre lot in the Palmerston Industrial Park to expand its manufacturing operation.
Tucker Industries, currently located on King St. plans to build a 10,000 to 12,000 square foot metalworking and fabrication shop on the property, located north of MSW Plastics, for $15,000 per acre. Business and economic manager Belinda Wick-Graham reported at the Sept. 15 council meeting that terms of the agreement also include a right of first refusal on the purchase of an adjoining three-acre lot.
Wick-Graham explained the company originally approached the town about the lot back in May. After working through concerns over sanitary sewer access with Triton Engineering, the parties agreed the purchaser would install water and sanitary sewer laterals at their cost with a pump inside the building to direct sewage from the site to the town’s main.
The agreement also waives the standard requirement for a building with lot coverage of 15 per cent. The proposed facility would only cover about 7% of the lot.
“The reason I’m okay with that is they don’t need a huge building to do what they do, but they do need room for trucking and staging,” Wick-Graham noted.
She also pointed out the town has accommodated other purchasers in similar fashion in the past, particularly in cases where future expansion is anticipated.
“It’s not like we’d be bending a rule here, doing something that we’ve never done before. It’s part of doing business,” agreed councillor Dave Turton.
Wick-Graham said the company plans to start building within 30 days. She also pointed out the sale will keep an existing business in Minto and allow them to expand square footage and workforce.
Founded in 2010 by owner Jason Montgomery, Tucker Industries provides automated systems, special-purpose tooling and mechanical and electrical design. The company currently has three full-time and three part-time employees.
