The final piece of local incentives to keep Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac got the City Council’s approval last night. In a 6 to nothing vote the Council approved $3 million in incentives, which the city will use to buy some land from the company and the rest would be awarded in the form of grants or loans.
County Executive Al Buechel was on hand for the meeting and says it took a lot of cooperation between city, county, and state leaders to retain the company. The deal could also benefit the city. The land it will purchase along Hickory Street will be used to set up a commercial district.
City Council President Tim Lakin says approving the incentives removes some uncertainty about the future of the company in Fond du Lac and how that would have impacted the city.
It’s estimated it will take a couple of months for paperwork on the incentive packages to be finalized, but city and county leaders say the hard work has been done.
Contributed by Bob Nelson-KFIZ