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Arlington & Lakeland’s Community Newspaper
theview
theview
Municipal Schools: Putting the Pieces
Together to Build Successful Students
By Terry Louderback
Wright Medical Receives PILOT to
Expand Arlington Facility, Add 51 Jobs
By Terry Louderback
On January 21, the
Town of Arlington’s
Industrial Development
Board (IDB) approved a
Payment in Lieu of Taxes
(PILOT) with Wright
Medical
for
the
construction of a 52,000
square foot expansion to
c o n n e c t
t h e
manufact uring and
distribution divisions at
its existing MemphisArlington Road property.
I n i t s P IL O T
application, Wright stated
that it will create 51 new
jobs in Arlington with a
Photo by Lee Mills
Local School Boards
and Superintendents
hard at work to meet
August opening date
With the amount of
work accomplished so
far, it’s hard to believe
that the Arlington and
Lakeland School Boards
have been in office for
less than two months.
This past week, the
two boards received wellearned words of thanks
during School Board
Appreciation Week.
On
Thursday,
January 23, Lakeland
Mayor Wyatt Bunker
declared “School Board
February 2014
Appreciation Week” in
Lakeland. A few days
later, Arlington Mayor
Mike Wissman named
January 2014 as “School
Continued on page 3
Staff Photo
Top: Students honor Arlington School Board Members; Bottom: Lakeland Mayor Wyatt Bunker proclaims
“School Board Appreciation Week” in Lakeland..
median wage of $60,000.
The
Wright
representatives at the
meeting confirmed that
the company plans to
build a “world class
manufacturing operation”
with new jobs in field of
high-end processing, tool
& die, and biomedical
manufacturing.
The total capital
investment in Arlington
by Wright for the project
tops $10 million.
In his remarks to the
board, IDB Treasurer
Gene Hinders stated that
the estimated economic
impact to Arlington of
these new jobs offsets the
loss of property tax
revenues.
Hinders used past
studies to demonstrate
that the 51 jobs at Wright
would create 83 more
jobs in Arlington. Of
those 134 workers,
approximately one-third
would most likely reside
in Arlington and 35% of
their consumption would
benefi t the local
economy.
Continued on page 5
Arlington Proposes Sports Fields for
Forrest Street Property
By Terry Louderback
Soon, local lacrosse
and soccer players may
have more
playing
options to choose from as
the Town of Arlington
finalized a proposal last
week to develop 13 acres
along Forrest Street for
recreation.
Town
Planner
Heather
Sparkes
emphasized that the
decision is in keeping
with the Depot Square
Master Plan approved in
2012. That document left
three options for the 26
acre parcel, including a
mix of municipal and
recreation use.
“This would meet
our immediate need,
which is for more
recreation spaces, and it
allows the flexibility to do
something different with
the property in the
future,” Sparkes stated.
“All other options are still
on the table.”
The town’s plans
include the construction
of a single full-sized
field, two 100 x 45 yard
fields, two half-sized
fields, five “kiddie”
fields, and 80 parking
Continued on page 5