Trion officials are worried about the mounting utilities debt of Mt. Vernon Mills.
According to The Summerville News, tractor trailer loads of coal arrived at the mill Monday, fueling rumors that the operation might cease using the town’s natural gas utility.
Mt. Vernon owes the town of Trion over 756-thousand dollars in back utility bills and around $1.5million for wastewater treatment. The lack of payment has pushed the town into a “budgetary crisis”, according to Mayor Larry Stansell.
The parent company of Mt. Vernon closed a similar-sized operation in Northeast Georgia a few months ago but officials at the Trion plant say the financial situation is “looking better” and business has picked up.
Comments
Mount vernon mills is historic to this town you would think somebody would try to figure out how to help this company. Trion want be nothing with out that mill
Thats sweet and all Dawn but money matters. The town of trion shouldn’t continue to let the mill dig them into a deeper hole. They owe over 2 million dollars to the town of trion. Read Lanny’s comment below. They seem to be doing better on their own and set up a decent payment plan. Just because something is historic doesn’t mean it is acceptable for it to be a continued burden.
Please help me in getting recent rumors concerning Mt. Vernon and the Town of Trion squelched. These rumors are centered on the coal and gas usage as well as gas and sewer payments to the Town of Trion. The Mayor recently had a conversation with Bill Rogers on Jan. 14. He then received a letter from Bill Duncan, President and CEO of Mt. Vernon on that day. To sum up the conversation and the letter, Mt. Vernon is NOT going to replace the usage of gas with coal. They simply had a 5 day supply delivered in case they were interrupted on their supply of interruptible natural gas through the Town from MGAG. In recent days, they were interrupted with gas and had no coal on hand. This forced them to shut down production operations for a time. The coal they had delivered will help to prevent further shutdowns due to no gas available. They also must have coal on hand for upcoming air emissions testing required by their air permit with the EPD. They have no plans to stop purchasing gas from the Town of Trion.
The mill is on a payment plan with the Town of Trion and is currently on schedule with all payment plans. It is my understanding that Mt. Vernon is doing much better. Hopefully, the mill will soon be in full recovery from the blows that Covid-19 has dealt them and other businesses. Getting Mt. Vernon back to a healthy status is a BIG win for our town and community.