New plant spent $340 million locally

Chevron-Phillips has spent so far nearly $340 million locally in conjunction with the construction of the Golden Triangle Polymers plant off Highway 87 South.

Heather Betancourth with Golden Triangle Polymers gave the information to Orange County Commissioners Court on Tuesday. The report covered the second quarter of 2024, or the months of April, May, and June.

The reports and requirements to spend money with local companies and hire local people was part of the conditions Commissioners Court put in the tax abatement agreement to build the new $8.5 billion petrochemical plant here.

The GT Polymers and its main contractor companies during the second quarter this year spend $1.14 million on small credit card purchases to a wide variety of local businesses in the county. Many of the expenditures went to a number of locally-owned restaurants and donut stores, and bakeries.

Small expenditures also went to several local industrial vendors, rental companies, photographers, pest control, printers, offfice suppliers, grocery stores, car washes, auto supply shops, and even Lamar State College Orange.

Betancourth said 36 Orange County contractors have work at the planht and 132 local companies are registered to do business with Golden Triangle Polymers.

Local employment hires since the stats began in 2023 show 1,422 people have been hired, with 119 of those getting jobs directly with Golden Triangle Polymers. The other local hires have been made by contractors.

The county is continuing the Local First program it set up to assure that the international corporation building the plant would spend money locally.

"This program has worked the way I hoped it would work," said Precinct 1 Commissioner Johnny Trahan.

In other business during the Commissioners Court meeting, Dr. Gwendolyn Lavalais, medical director of the Julie Rogers Gift of Life program, talked about October being Breast and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. The Gift of Life provides free mammograms and other screenings to women with no private or government insurance to cover the costs. Commissioners Court gave the group permission to display a banner in front of the courthouse during October.

The court voted to set a schedule for regular meetings in 2025. Even though the Orange County Republican Party presented a resolution asking the court to hold night meetings, the court agreed that a 10 a.m. meeting is convenient. All five members of the court are Republicans.

After Republican Chair Cheryl Warren asked about why not have night meetings, County Judge John Gothia explained the reasoning. He said if meetings are held in the evening, county department heads and employees who need to attend would be working overtime and it would cost the county money.

However, he told Warren he had already scheduled a 6 p.m. public hearing for the tax rate and budget.

The Republican resolution was made after the tax and budget public hearings were held at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday morning this summer, a time that did not allow working taxpayers to attend and make comments.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Robert Viator updated the court on the right-of-way land the county will need to buy to allow the Texas Department of Transportation to build a new replacement bridge on North Tram Road.

Judge Gothia said TxDOT is building the bridge through the federal infrastructure plan. Four bridges, including two in Precinct 2, are set to be replaced.

Viator said the county will need to buy 0.1 acre, or 0.2 acre. He said buying the extra right-of-way land will be easier for county workers to maintain the bridge. "We're responsible for maintaining it down the line," he said.

If the county decides not to buy the right-of-way for the new bridge, TxDOT will close the old bridge to traffic.

Commissioners are hoping the costs of the right-of-way stay around $7,000.

The court also approved a contract for Vested Network to install a new county phone system with new telephones in the offices. Gothia said the new system will save a lot of money with a cost at $9,625 a month. With the current system, the county is paying nearly $46,000 a month.

Bills approved to be paid inclded $83,400 from the general fund for insurance for retirees age 65 and older, $2,300 from the general fund to Memorial Funeral Home for indigent funeral expenses, $1,150 from the general fund to Claybar Funeral Home for indigent funeral expense, and $60,000 from the general fund to Spindlemedia or tax collection software.

Also, the court approved paying Triangle Concrete Services $35,965 from the federal American Rescue Plan grants to covered the costs of site preparation at the new county Health Service Building being constructed by the Expo Center on FM 1442. ,