In the future, people in Orange won’t have to go out of town to get a fried chicken sandwich and crispy fried waffle potatoes.
A Chick-fil-A restaurant will be coming to the vacant land on 16th Street at Interstate 10 where the old Cody’s was once. A timeline for construction has not been set.
Houston developer Jeff Mallett told the City of Orange Economic Development Corporation board about the restaurant Tuesday morning. He also said a deal is being made with “an unnamed beverage company,” which is believed to be Starbucks.
The city will be giving Mallett an economic development grant of up to $350,000 for infrastructure improvements at the 6.5 acre site.
City Economic Development Director Jay Trahan said the Mallett site includes the former Quick Stop gas station and store. He said environmental work will need to be done before the store is demolished. The work will include abatement of hazardous materials, demolition, and removal of the gasoline tanks.
He also said 15th Street, which has been removed at the north end, will be rebuilt to run parallel with 16th Street and the railroad tracks. Before it was removed, 15th Street at the site curved west to run into 16th Street.
The Orange City Council met after the EDC board and voted on a resolution supporting International Paper as a Texas Enterprise Project. The company is planning $50 million worth of improvements and upgrades for the paper mill, which has 430 employees.
The designation as a Texas Enterprise Project qualifies International Paper to receive refunds on state sales and use taxes.
In other business, the council voted to hire Strategic Government Resources (SGR) as the consulting firm to help find a new city manager. The maximum prices will be $26,500 plus costs of additional related expenses.
SGR and another consulting firm gave presentations on how they would handle the search to replace longtime city manager Shawn Oubre, who resigned for similar job in another town.
Kristin Navarro with SGR gave a Power Point presentation on what the company will provide. She said the SGR has an office in Keller and will do a national search for candidates, including all kinds of social media like Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
Orange will have a recruiter assigned for the search. A typical search process takes 12 weeks, she said. The call for candidate applications will last about 30 days. “We have a very large data base of candidates,” she said.
The consultant will keep in touch with the council throughout the process until 8 or 9 finalists are chosen. The council will make the final decision on the hire.
In other business, the council agreed to work with the West Orange-Cove school district, which is instituting its own school police department. It will be the third of the five Orange County public school districts with its own police department.
The district’s administration offices are in the city, along with North Early Learning Center and West Orange-Stark Intermediate School.
Orange Police Chief Lane Martin said the district will use certified peace officers with overlapping jurisdiction with the city department. He said the school district’s department will not be on duty 24 hours a day and the city will provide police services after school hours.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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