TYLERTOWN — Town and county officials have decided to sue Brigade Manufacturing for back rent and to cancel the company’s lease and have it vacate the premises.
Tylertown, as the entity in charge of managing the facility and collecting rent payments, is taking the lead on the legal action.
“There has been no further response from (Brigade), and there have been no more payments,” town board attorney Joseph Stinson told aldermen Tuesday night. “The discussion we did have (months ago) was not productive.”
There are two buildings on the site occupied by Brigade, one owned by the town and one owned by Walthall County. Tylertown manages the site under an agreement with the board of supervisors.
Stinson and Mayor Ed Hughes met with supervisors in executive session Tuesday morning to discuss the plan of action.
Alderman Denson Case asked about an offer from the company to buy the property in one of the last communications received from Brigade.
Stinson said the supervisors were not under the impression that was what the company sought.
“I heard they were communicating with the (economic development) board, but that’s just hearsay,” Hughes added.
“The board (of supervisors) was emphatic that they will follow the lead of the city,” he said. “It’s time for the board to take action and not just complain.”
Case agreed.
“I believe the idea of a purchase was just a ploy to delay paying another seven or eight months,” he said. “I believe it’s time we do something.”
Case made the motion to file suit, and the board unanimously approved.
Brigade, in the industrial park on Ostrover Drive west of Tylertown High School, mostly makes uniform pieces for the military.
The company has received multiple contracts of hundreds of thousands of dollars for uniform shirts, including several totaling more than $400,000 in February or later this year, according to InsideGov.com, a website that tracks government contracts.
The company has not made a rent payment since March, and paid intermittently before then. The rent is approaching $200,000 in arrears.
