SAN LUIS, Ariz. – An unidentified car battery manufacturer could set up shop and create jobs here if the city council approves a proposal to bring more than 1,000 acres into the municipal limits.

The main target of the annexation is the former Meadowcraft factory at Highway 95 and County 21-1/2 Street.

"The process started about four months ago when the Yuma Economic Development Corporation notified us there was a company interested in renting the building, but the owners wanted it to be within the city limits," said Sharon Williams, city planning and zoning director.

While declining to give details about the firm, she said it is in the field of car battery manufacturing and would generate dozens of jobs for the region.

On Wednesday, the council heard the first reading of an ordinance that would annex 1,092.82 acres of agricultural and light industrial land extending from Avenue F west to Highway 95 and from County 22nd Street north and a little past County 21-1/2 Street.

The council is scheduled to hear the second reading Aug. 13. If the ordinance is approved on second reading, the annexation would take effect Sept. 12, Williams said.

Williams said the council decided to speed up the annexation process after the company expressed a desire to set up operation and landowners in the area expressed no objection to annexation.

The Meadowcraft factory, which manufactured outdoor iron furniture, closed in 2001.

---
Cesar Neyoy is a staff writer for Bajo El Sol, The Sun's Spanish-language sister publication from which this story is reprinted.