Council gives Panda Biotech more time and money, accepts grant for body cams

Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News
·2 min read

Wichita Falls city councilors on Tuesday voted to accept a $150,000 state grant to go toward the purchase of body camera equipment for police officers.

Wichita Falls Police Chief Manuel Borrego said his department had applied for $900,000, but didn't get as much as they hoped for. He said the police department has also applied for a federal grant, but they not holding out much hope for it.

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WFPD wants to equip 150 patrol officers with the cameras.

The state grant requires a matching expenditure from the city, which will amount to about $50,000.

Councilors also gave more money to Panda Biotech, an industrial-hemp processing plant, and an additional three years to meet the company's commitment to hire at least 50 employees.

The company received incentives to locate its plant in a former automotive parts factory on I-44 north of Wichita Falls.

Chamber of Commerce President Ron Kitchens blamed Panda's delay on the COVID-19 pandemic and said Panda will soon pay off a $1 million loan it received from the city.

The extra $200,000 councilors agreed to pay is for a railroad spur to the plant. The original agreement was for $150,000, but Kitchens said a four-year delay, inflation and bad initial estimates have increased that cost to $500,000. He said Panda has agreed to allow use of the spur by other manufacturers who will locate here in the future.

Panda Biotech President Dixie Carter said construction at the site is complete and equipment has been installed. She said her company has implemented a new pay-to-grow program to incentivize farmers to grow hemp.

Councilor Steve Jackson asked how many acres of hemp are planted within a 250-mile radius of Wichita Falls. Carter said she didn't know, but admitted a lot of contracts with farmers are not from this area.

"That's something we're very disappointed in," she said.

She said she hopes the company's incentives program will prompt farmers to grow the crop.

In other action, councilors:

  • Accepted $300,000 from the state for sexually transmitted disease prevention.

  • Accepted $113,000 from the state for police training.

  • Spent $85,000 to repair a broken sewer line in north Wichita Falls.

  • Spent $310,000 to rehabilitate a belt filter press used for processing sewage.

  • Spent $242,000 for solid waste transfer trailers.

  • Agreed to $75,000 in incentives for Magic Aire, Inc. for improvements at the company's facility.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Council gives Panda Biotech more time, money, accepts grant for body cams