NORTHAMPTON — At Thursday’s City Council meeting, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra revealed more details behind the recent announcement that the Coca-Cola bottling plant would be extending its stay in the city until March.
Last April, the City Council passed a measure that increased base water rates by 210% for both property owners and businesses, in anticipation of loss of water revenue the plant provides to the city. The new rates took effect in July.
Despite the extension of the Atlanta beverage company’s operations in the city, Sciarra defended the water rate increases, saying the plant had already begun winding down production, leading to lower revenue for the city. According to Sciarra, water rates from the bottling plant were down 38% last month compared to September of 2022, and the amount the city billed the plant for sewer services last month had been nearly halved from what it charged last December.
“The reality is that we are nearing the end of the line with Coke,” Sciarra said. “Minor variations in the schedule for Coke’s imminent closure measured in weeks are insignificant to the larger challenge we face.”
Sciarra said the city was working alongside the state, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, state Sen. Jo Comerford and state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa and with Coca-Cola’s real estate team to market the property, located at 45 Industrial Drive. According to the city Assessor’s Office, the total appraised value for both the building and land is estimated at more than $17 million.
“We have seen their marketing materials, ” Sciarra said. “[Department of Public Works] Director [Donna] LaScalia has answered detailed questions from their realtors about technical specifications at the plant, and we are working to insert language about the many advantages of doing business in Northampton into this pitch.”
The closure of the plant will also mean the loss of approximately 300 jobs in the city. Sciarra told the council that the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, along with the MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board, were working with Coca-Cola to help find new jobs for the soon-to-be displaced workers. A job fair is also scheduled to be held by Coca-Cola on Wednesday for production employees at the plant.
According to the city, the plant makes up a quarter of all water and sewer revenue, making it by far the biggest water customer for Northampton. LaScaleia previously told the Gazette that the plant brought in $2.8 million in water and sewer fees for the city last year, but that such revenues were expected to decline as the plant prepares to close.
Coca-Cola bought the former Mid-Atlantic Canners Association facility in Northampton in 1995. The plant underwent a 13,000-square-foot expansion, completed in 2011, that cost $50 million and added 100 jobs. Today, the plant bottles non-carbonated products including Minute Maid, Vitaminwater, Powerade and Honest Tea.
Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.
