Local officials in Harrison County, Miss., are exploring rescinding tax breaks granted to Edison Chouest Offshore affiliate TopShip LLC for a lease agreement signed earlier this year, the SunHerald in Gulfport, Miss., reported.
In February, TopShip signed a 40-year lease to occupy the former Huntington Ingalls composite facility, acquired by the Port of Gulfport, Miss., promising to bring 1,000 full-time jobs and invest $68 million in the project. In return, the company was to receive $36 million worth of tax breaks associated with the project along with a 10-year property tax exemption estimated to be worth $450,000, and a county tax break in perpetuity on personal property shipped out of state, according to the SunHerald.
Now, the Harrison County Board of Supervisors has asked the county attorney if they can rescind the tax breaks citing incomplete information at the time they signed the memorandum of understanding approving the deal. The SunHerald reported that when the supervisors voted to approve the memorandum at a meeting in February, they didn’t have a copy of the completed document in front of them.
“If I had seen this (the MOU) I would not have voted for it,” County Supervisor Marlin Ladner said in public comments published by the newspaper. “I guarantee you it will never happen again. I don’t care who is coming in … This is bull. I’ve got a problem with this.”
The SunHerald reported that Ladner and other county officials felt that secrecy from the state and from TopShip had obscured important details of the deal, and expressed concerns about promised job creation that had not fully materialized on a similar project in Harrison County, also affiliated with Edison Chouest.
Gary Chouest is the Donald Trump of the maritime industry!
[QUOTE=c.captain;182834]don Vito Chouest…can the inside of a septic tank be any filthier?
Gary Chouest is the Donald Trump of the maritime industry![/QUOTE]
Id say Mississippi politicians may be filthier…a politician who wouldn’t have signed on to the MOU once he saw it, but had no problem signing something he didn’t see or read. Gets up in arms over a month later? Must want more money.
[QUOTE=Jamesbrown;182835]Id say Mississippi politicians may be filthier…a politician who wouldn’t have signed on to the MOU once he saw it, but had no problem signing something he didn’t see or read. Gets up in arms over a month later? Must want more money.[/QUOTE]
Perhaps he trained under Nancy Pelosi who told the world they had to approve Obamacare so they could find out what was inside. How has that one worked out?
[QUOTE=The Commodore;182836]Perhaps he trained under Nancy Pelosi who told the world they had to approve Obamacare so they could find out what was inside. How has that one worked out?[/QUOTE]
Could be. A career politician, and the Board sure has some interesting history…hard to imagine this group signing things without looking…
Typical politicians - Using incompetence as an excuse. Fact of the matter is they signed an agreement, then a crafty female reporter made a investigative story out of it several weeks ago. Now, the politician are in the “but, I did not know” mode of self-preservation. If you sign off an tens of millions you better know something…if it’s a bad investment in the long run, that is still no good, but not knowing what you are signing for at all, it’s just plain BS. I do not buy that at all.
[QUOTE=anchorman;182838]Typical politicians - Using incompetence as an excuse. Fact of the matter is they signed an agreement, then a crafty female reporter made a investigative story out of it several weeks ago. Now, the politician are in the “but, I did not know” mode of self-preservation. If you sign off an tens of millions you better know something…if it’s a bad investment in the long run, that is still no good, but not knowing what you are signing for at all, it’s just plain BS. I do not buy that at all.[/QUOTE]
They link the memo in one of the stories. There’s years to perform on jobs and other stuff so clearly no non performance. I guess saying they didn’t read it is the only way they see to seek an out. Handy excuse, but why would anyone do business there if that’s how they roll? “We’ll sign it but that’s only binding on you!”
Sounds to me like ole Gary didn’t put enough lube on the Board of Supervisors before trying to slip it to the County. Tsk Tsk, it’s a shame when a politician won’t stay bought.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
But I thought ECO was such an honest and upstanding company?? Hahaha
My buddy told me the other day that their internet/wifi on the boat is now off limits for the crew and for boat business only, they password blocked it and everything.
I’m so glad I switched companies years ago when I got my 500T
[QUOTE=Colston1285;182915]But I thought ECO was such an honest and upstanding company?? Hahaha
My buddy told me the other day that their internet/wifi on the boat is now off limits for the crew and for boat business only, they password blocked it and everything.
I’m so glad I switched companies years ago when I got my 500T[/QUOTE]
Which boat had open Internet/Wi-Fi? None of the ones I ever knew anyone on.
[QUOTE=Colston1285;182917]He’s one one of the 300’s built in 2013, they are on a drillship contract with Maersk in the GoM
And when I saw password protected I mean that the office had the captain change the wifi password and told him not to give it to the crew to use[/QUOTE]
The only boats I was aware of that had Wi-Fi at all were the boats with ROV crews or the Unlimited boats. The mud boats with ROV installations only had Wi-Fi for the clients to use, the crews weren’t supposed to have the password.
If they had wifi on the boat, the office probably didn’t know about it. Chouest boats have never had wifi provided by eco or clients unless there is an rov or it’s an unlimited boat and the client pays for it.
5 bridge guys just got fired from one of the new 312 feet Chouest boats, the Master and 4 mates, they had a wireless router hidden in the bridge, the office found out about it and they got terminated, funny how things work and that’s the same guys that kept telling the deckhands (that what one of the deckies said) " do not use the phone too long, it is for company use only" and they were using the Internet in their phones with the wireless router.
[QUOTE=PSVrigger;183004]5 bridge guys just got fired from one of the new 312 feet Chouest boats, the Master and 4 mates, they had a wireless router hidden in the bridge, the office found out about it and they got terminated, funny how things work and that’s the same guys that kept telling the deckhands (that what one of the deckies said) " do not use the phone too long, it is for company use only" and they were using the Internet in their phones with the wireless router.[/QUOTE]
Hey everyone, tell your friends, there is a hiring boom in the gom. 5 people needed quick!
[QUOTE=PSVrigger;183004]5 bridge guys just got fired from one of the new 312 feet Chouest boats, the Master and 4 mates, they had a wireless router hidden in the bridge, the office found out about it and they got terminated, funny how things work and that’s the same guys that kept telling the deckhands (that what one of the deckies said) " do not use the phone too long, it is for company use only" and they were using the Internet in their phones with the wireless router.[/QUOTE]
HAHA! don Vito Chouest strikes again! If those mariners had a collective bargaining agreement which specified the owner installing wifi on the bridge they could flip the bird at Joe Boss. Instead they are frogmarched off the vessel at the dock,
[QUOTE=c.captain;183008]HAHA! don Vito Chouest strikes again! If those mariners had a collective bargaining agreement which specified the owner installing wifi on the bridge they could flip the bird at Joe Boss. Instead they are frogmarched off the vessel at the dock,[/QUOTE]
But if the contract didn’t specify that and they rigged a secret router (like they did) then they would be fired and the union couldn’t do jack.
[QUOTE=Capt. Phoenix;183011]But if the contract didn’t specify that and they rigged a secret router (like they did) then they would be fired and the union couldn’t do jack.[/QUOTE]
well then they need to make sure that is in the contract…now doesn’t it?
Being a bayou company, I wonder if they would fire people so readily for making racial slurs or for harassment??? LMAO who am I kidding??? A bayou company wouldn’t do that. It’s all about the bottom line ( as long as its not one of their lower end of the bell curve golden boys- then the bottom line isnt so important).