LOXLEY, Alabama --- At a special meeting Monday night, the Loxley Town Council approved a contract to bring a major furniture company’s distribution center to the town’s Industrial Park.

At its monthly meeting April 9, the Loxley Town Council was approached by officials with Turner Furniture Co. Inc., a subsidiary of the national furniture chain Ashley Furniture Industries Inc., proposing to use a Constitutional amendment which would allow them to split tax revenues with the town.

The council had originally rescheduled its monthly work session to April 23, but because of restrictions which required the agreement to be advertised for at least seven days, the meeting was moved back to its regular time of the last Monday of the month.

According to the agreement, which was approved at Monday’s meeting, the town would enter into a five-year contract with the company, splitting tax revenues 50-50, then an additional five-year contract with a 60-40 split.

At the April 9 meeting officials said the company plans to consolidate two distribution centers, one in Mississippi and one in Pensacola, Fla., using the former Key Port Building, located in the Loxley Industrial Park off County Road 49 and U.S. Highway 90.

Turner officials said leases on local facilities run out at the end of this month and plans are to move beginning in May. Facilities are available in Mobile and Pensacola, but the central location, in addition to the Constitutional amendment, which applies only to Baldwin County, makes Loxley an ideal spot for the distribution center.

The move would initially bring 26 jobs to the Loxley facility, which could grow to as many as 30 over the next five years, officials said.

Founded in Chicago in 1945, Ashley Furniture HomeStore is now based out of Wisconsin and boasts 400 stores across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and Japan with distribution centers in Wisconsin, Mississippi, California, Pennsylvania, Florida, China and Vietnam.

Turner officials said while Home centers feature display models, when furniture is purchased from a Home center, the furniture is typically shipped from a distribution center. By law, furniture shipped from a distribution center is subject to the taxes of state and local governments where the distribution center is located.

Turner officials also presented figures to the Loxley Town Council, projecting payroll of $440,000, which could grow to $740,000 over the next five years; sales projected at $9 million the first year, growing to an estimated $14 million, which would bring tax revenues of $181,000, five-year growth projections to $277,000, for the town.

The move would cost an estimated $700,000 to $800,000 for the company, officials said.

Shawn Alves, with Stone, Grenade and Crosby, who serves as the legal consultant for the town, said he had looked over the law and the proposed contract with Turner Furniture and could see no problems with it.

“I see this as a win-win for the town,” Alves said. “There doesn’t seem to be a down side to this.”

When asked by Mayor Billy Middleton, officials with the furniture company said similar agreements in other areas had proved successful.

In other business Monday night, the council approved an insurance agreement with Blackmon Insurance at a cost of $99,015.

The contract, which is renewed annually, covers buildings and vehicles owned by the town, and also includes limited liability insurance for town employees.