BY DAN HILDEBRAN
General manager
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS—Clay County commissioners said no to a request by IKO to limit the Canadian company’s indemnity liability.
IKO, a Toronto-based roofing, waterproofing, and insulation manufacturer, said that it plans to construct a new manufacturing campus in Clay County, about five miles north of the Bradford County line.
“The 300,000 square foot facilities will initially employ about 100 people locally,” IKO said in a news release. “The company intends to begin work on the site near (U.S.) 301 and County Road 218 later this year. It marks the eighth modern shingle production line in IKO’s North American manufacturing operations and the first facility it
County Attorney Courtney Grimm told county commissioners during their December 12 meeting that in its contract to waive mobility fees for the manufacturer of roofing materials and in its economic development grant, the county stipulated that IKO indemnify the county against potential losses.
IKO requested that its liability be limited to $250,000.
Grimm pointed out to commissioners that the indemnity clause has been in the county’s economic agreements for some time and that other parties to the agreements, including HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital and Niagara Bottling in Middleburg, have signed off on the clause.
“I think it’s fair to go back and tell them that we’re not interested in putting a cap in there,” said Commissioner Mike Cella. “Not that we don’t want them in our community and don’t want their project, but I think that’s been a standard term of this agreement for a number of other corporations.”
Cella added that putting a $250,000 liability cap on a $250 million project seemed unreasonable to him.
