Beckley council debates Fruits of Labor lease

Josephine Moore, The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.
Updated ·5 min read

Apr. 15—The future of Fruits of Labor in Beckley is up in the air following a Beckley Common Council workshop Monday evening, during which the council and Fruits of Labor owner appeared to reach an impasse on a lease amount.

Many of the Beckley council members said they felt the lease should serve as a way for the city to recoup the funds from the roughly $1 million purchase of the three-story building on Neville Street where Fruits of Labor now operates.

Council member Kevin Price offered an alternative view and asked why council members were more concerned about the cost of a building it had already paid off as opposed to the benefits of Fruits of Labor, which offers a culinary training program to people in recovery from substance abuse disorder.

"I think one thing that council needs to look at — how much are you willing to pay to get people off the drugs," Price said. "... Investment in the people. That is our community. Not a building."

Fruits of Labor President Tammy Jordan said she made it clear to Beckley's mayor and city council before they purchased the building that she could only afford a lease of up to $1,000.

Jordan said she made these figures known in a presentation to the full council prior to its vote to purchase the property. She said she also reiterated that point in an email sent on July 28, 2021, the day after council voted to approve the purchase of the Neville Street building.

In the email to Beckley Mayor Rob Rappold and city recorder/treasurer Billie Trump, Jordan said that she was concerned after reading a newspaper article that stated that the Fruits of Labor lease, which had yet to be established, would be under $5,000.

"Please understand and remember all the numbers I've shared of a lease in our budget business plan ... that the longer term lease can only be a maximum of $1,000 per month for this to be sustainable," said Jordan, reading from the June 2021 email. "We do not have more money to devote to this as you saw detailed out. I just want to make sure we are on the same page before the purchase goes through. And that this limitation still meets the city's vision prior to purchase. We do not want our limitations to bring any harm to the city's budget."

Jordan added that she did not seek out this arrangement; the city, along with the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, approached her with the idea of bringing Fruits of Labor to Beckley.

"When I presented to city council over the program for 2021, I did not present with expectation or demand," she said. "I clearly presented our program, our lease limitations and simply ended that we will be willing to consider coming to Beckley if the opportunity was officially offered."

Jordan then asked that council either honor the terms she presented prior to the purchase of the building, allow time for Fruits of Labor to find a buyer for the property or allow time for them to relocate.

"Our request is a maximum of $1,000 per month for the next 18 months to give us time to either relocate to another building or a different community or to actively seek a buyer that is willing to support the mission of Fruits of Labor with a $0 lease indefinitely," she said.

Council member Cody Reedy, one of the three council members who voted against the purchase of the Neville Street building, said council never agreed to the lease amount Jordan specified.

"Council never agreed on a $1,000 lease agreement," Reedy said. "It was brought up in the workshop, but I'm pretty sure a lot of us never agreed on that ... I don't remember anyone on council being in favor of $1,000."

Council member Tom Sopher, who also opposed the purchase, said it would be unfair to taxpayers and other businesses and organizations that have lease agreements with the city.

"We also have to understand that even though the city did pay for this building — that's public money," Sopher said. "The public, the taxpayer, they deserve for their money to get some type of return. Even if it's break even."

Pushing back on Sopher's statements, Jina Belcher, the executive director of the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, said she's seen and been part of many deals where a municipality provide incentives, much like what Beckley offered Fruits of Labor, to recruit businesses because of what those businesses can offer the community.

"We've done this in other communities, as well, with larger companies," Belcher said. "Many of the manufacturers that you see that we locate are operating rent-free in buildings that we own. They're employing hundreds of people and not paying a dollar in rent and that's because we want to recruit them."

With Jordan standing firm on what she's able to pay for a lease and several council members asking for lease amounts far greater than what she's offered, council members turned to Beckley City Attorney Bill File on how to proceed.

File said it's all in the hands of council.

While there has been an overwhelming desire from the public and council for the city to establish a lease with Fruits of Labor, File said it's difficult to draw up a lease when there is no agreed-upon amount.

"That's one of the main terms of the lease," he said.

Sopher then made the suggestion that council discuss the lease amount in an executive session at council's next meeting, scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.