By By Lisa Tindell
news editor
Even though Mobile County voters agreed to allow officials there to use road and bridge funds as incentive payments to ThyssenKrupp, Escambia County officials are still waiting to see if the steel mill will be a benefit to the area.
Escambia County commissioners signed a letter of intent in May 2007 to join a consortium of other counties to help with incentives costs for the Mobile County-based industry.
Although Escambia County has agreed to be a part of the consortium and invest in the project financially, the consortium suggested by Mobile County has not moved past the initial requesting phase.
Stokes said the consortium idea is a good one, but has been disorganized from its inception.
Mobile County Commission Chairman Steve Nodine could not be reached for comment. Last week, voters there approved a referendum to use local road and bridge funds for the incentive package.
Stokes said after the plans had been laid by Mobile County to lure ThyssenKrupp to the area, the scope of the project was turning out to be larger than first imagined by officials there.
Stokes said he is still excited about TK coming into the region, but involvement from Escambia County isn’t high on a long list of priorities.