Oak Ridge North approves $15K economic development grant for Intec gas line improvements

Oak Ridge North City Council members approved a resolution Dec. 16 to spend $15,000 from the city's Economic Development Corporation to pay for gas line improvements for one of the city's local businesses.

What you need to know

Following a request from the Oak Ridge North EDC, City Council members reviewed a grant request from Intec, a local business which specializes in radiation shielding materials. Under the grant, Intec sought $15,000 to fund gas line improvements which would allow the company to install a new generator on the property located at 27646 Commerce Oaks Drive, Conroe.

The improvements would also extend the gas line to allow other businesses in Oak Ridge North Commerce Park to potentially fund improvements such as natural gas generators. Council members cited support for the program because Intec would be installing a natural gas generator as opposed to a diesel-fueled generator, which they said could cause air and noise pollution.

In their words

"It benefits this business. It makes that piece of property more desirable, because it'll already have a generator for the event of power outage," Council Member Alex Jones said. "It makes it more desirable [because] if it goes empty, it's quicker for them to lease it out to someone else, because it has that benefit that a lot of buildings don't have."

"[Intec] is looking into building a second building and this piece also allows it to expand farther into Commerce Park, but other businesses can continue expanding on the gas line," Director of Economic Development Sarah McClure said.