The Salem City Council has tentatively approved the sale of the former Save-a-Lot building to Air Apply.
The company, owned by Chad Egan of Iuka, offered $80,000 and received a commitment from the city to pay $40,000 from downtown tax increment district funds for eligible expenses.
“We’re going to make this a retail location for spray drones. In the aerial application business, we see there’s a need for the unmanned part of things,” Egan said. “We welcome the technology and would love to implement it, so we’re going to set this location up as a full-service retail facility, sales and service, and insurance and financing. It’s going to be a one-stop shop for the individual applicator or the individual grower.”
Egan plans extensive work on the Save-a-Lot building.
“We have already received a quote to replace the roof and remove the tile floor, which we believe contains asbestos, as well as a quote to upgrade the HVAC system,” Egan said. “We will build offices in the south half of the building and use the north half for storage.”
Egan said if the city council gives its final approval at the next meeting, he is confident the facility will be operational by fall.
A typical aerial spraying drone package costs about $27,000.
Egan points out that the drones can currently carry about 10 gallons of spray, which would cover about five acres before they would have to be brought down for a battery change and recharge. Egan estimates that a single drone could spray about 500 acres a day. He points out that this is well below the power of a helicopter, but unmanned drones have advantages. Air Apply has already begun using drones for some projects. The company’s air base for its helicopters remains in Flora.
Sterling Avenue, currently located in the Westgate Shopping Center, has submitted a new bid for $70,000, with TIF support of $20,000.
Before the vote, City Manager Annette Sola said she saw no way the city could sell the building for the price it paid because it simply paid too much. Mayor Nick Farley agreed.
“I don’t think we’re getting what we paid for it. So we’re looking at a couple of things,” Farley said. “What do we have that we want to add to Salem? Second, job creation, and third, what are the sales tax and property tax benefits for the companies that locate here?”
Councilman Craig Morton voted no because the city had not put out a new bid after three bids submitted at the last meeting were rejected as too low. He wanted to accept bids at least until the next city council meeting. Farley insisted that the bid process was still open from the last bid and he saw no reason to delay a decision.
