After a six-and-a-half-hour meeting, the city council in Mason City early Wednesday morning split its vote on the development agreement with Prestage Foods. It dooms the North Carolina company’s plans to build a 240-million dollar pork processing plant in the northern Iowa city, along with up to two-thousand jobs. Councilman John Lee was among the “no” votes.
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Lee says one of his concerns is the potential for extra spending by the schools to deal with English language learners.
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Among the “yes” votes, Councilman Travis Hickey says Prestage was an opportunity that was too good to pass up.
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Some 63 people spoke during a public hearing on the development agreement, with 48 of those being against the project. Officials with Prestage Foods refused to comment after the vote was taken.