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Earlier in the month, Gov. Haley Barbour pushed forward with a $75.25 million incentive package to bring Calisolar, a solar silicon company, to the old section of the Industrial Park

The project, expected to begin this fall or early next year, promises to bring 951 jobs to the a

the work Lowndes County officials have put into the Industrial Park made it an attractive choice, namely the ready ability to provide the 170 MW of power the company will require each day.

John T. Correnti, former CEO of SeverCorr (now Severstal) of Columbus, has served as chairman of the company''s board of directors since 2010 and reportedly has maintained close ties with Mississippi. The company has been in negotiations with Ohio officials since April, but the deal fell through in July when company representatives told the Mansfield News Journal in Mansfield, Ohio, that they were unable to meet a September construction deadline to qualify for a $275 million federal loan guarantee. Higgins said Lowndes County''s ability to meet Calisolar''s high power needs (nearly 170 MW of power, or roughly 40 MW more than the entire city of Columbus), along with Mississippi''s status as a right-to-work (non-union) state and the willingness of legislators to pass an attractive incentive package, may have tipped the balance in the Magnolia State''s favor.

"The reason we''re coming here, and I''m going to be frank, is the Mississippi farm boys and the farm girls," Correnti said, according to The AP. "I wouldn''t trade a Mississippi farm boy or farm girl for any Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, South American.

AP reports that details of Mississippi''s incentive package include a $59.5 million loan for the building and equipment, with Lowndes County retaining ownership of the building and leasing it to them. The state is also providing $15.75 million for infrastructure and workforce training.

A new 30-year agreement will mean that Alcoa must maintain at least 900 jobs and pour $600 million into what is known as the Massena East smelter.

If the body of water is man-made, a canal or reservoir for example, the customary riparian rights may not apply, and the uses by littoral owners can be limited. For instance, an owner of property on a lake formed by a hydro-electric dam or on a man-made canal may have no riparian right to withdraw water or build a dock. On the other hand, landowners who build ponds on their own property would continue to have riparian rights in that water.

Such lands cannot be privately owned, with the exception of certain limited grants and sales of these lands that the State has made in the past.

So much misinformation. FERC statement about not being an option is boiler plate language referring to there be no other applicant at time license filed. Alcoa gave up rights when they accepted monopoly use of public waters as free fuel and argued for 30 year license in vs. 50 license because they wanted extra years to recover building Tucker Town and new pot lines. They acknowledged they had no assurances of keeping the project property at end of license period. Water worth billions and tens of thousands of jobs should not be traded for pennies and a promise. The water is what will guaratee jobs and prosperity ...not Alcoa. Hydro is self financing...will not cost the tax payers a dime. Forward contracts on power sales or revenue bonds like financed Santee will get the job done. Comment by Waterperson - December 9, 2011 2:20 PM

02/15/2008 09:59 AM

he last six employees at the Alcoa aluminum production plant in Stanly County worked their last day Friday.

Alcoa started the process of curtailing production at the Badin site in August 2002. Since then, it's been a gradual process to halt work there.