By JIM BUTLER

Visions of dollar bills, hundreds of millions of them, danced through heads like sugar-plums on Christmas Eve at Thursday’s England Authority meeting.

And why not? What could be an historic, parish-changing story was about to move to the next chapter. No Scrooge was detected among those on hand representing various public entities.

After thorough discussion and review the Authority unanimously signed off on a Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement with Applied Digital for its data center targeted for the Boyce area. (Commissioner Charles Weems abstained because his law firm has done some work for Applied Digital.) The now-$7 billion project is not a fait accompli but the PILOT allows moving to a next stage.

Ultimately a voluminous Cooperative Endeavor Agreement in which the fine print is detailed will come before the Authority, assuming Applied Digital lands a tenant and terms are reached.

In other business, an update from UCore put its first rare earth processing unit in operation at the Airpark by year’s end with about 40 employees hired.

By 2028 the company plans 21 machines for the $75 million, 120 jobs project.

The Authority also raised Executive Director Ralph Hennessy’s pay to $240,000, effective May 1. 

Commissioner Joe McPherson voted no, saying he thought it too high considering comparable salaries for public employees or public officials in the parish.

Zeb Winstead asked where the recommended figure came from and was told the Finance Committee felt it a median figure based on information gathered by Myron Lawson Jr., which indicated Hennessy appeared to be overpaid on the aviation side and underpaid on the economic development front.