HUNTSVILLE The construction of a new Super Kroger grocery store kicked off a heavy back-and-forth discussion between Huntsville City Council members Tuesday.

Council members voted 5-3 to authorize the city manager to enter into an agreement with Kroger that waives all permit and inspection fees an in-kind cost to the city of at most $75,000.

The biggest point of contention was the citys missed revenue. Three councilmembers Andy Brauninger, Ronald Allen and Joe Rodriguez said Kroger would not be hurt by paying the costs and that the city could put the money to good use.

Four councilmembers Keith Olson, Don Johnson, Tish Humphrey and Lydia Montgomery said the costs would be outweighed over time and that denying the waiver might scare off Kroger.

Councilmember Joe Emmett voted for the authorization, but never spoke as to what his reasons were. Mayor Mac Woodward was not present Tuesday evening.

According to Johnson, Kroger will build a store similar to the Super Kroger in Willis, which has 120,000 square feet of building space. The store in Huntsville will be located in the Ravenwood Shopping Center in the Tax Investment Reinvestment Zone.

The agreement says the Huntsville store would be approximately 90,000 square feet with 30,000 extra in case the store wants to expand. Johnson said this is because the initial Kroger store would not have a furniture section similar to the Willis location.

Kroger would be required to create 50 new full- and part-time jobs by Dec. 31, 2015 adding approximately $1 million in local wages, according to city documents.

While the $75,000 waiver would not cost the city any out-of-pocket money, it would prevent the city from collecting fees they otherwise would have.

I like the fact that Kroger is expanding and I like that, Rodriguez said. But they say the estimate of the cost to build this new project is approximately $1.3 million over what they expected. ... ($75,000) wouldnt stop the tears. I dont think its going to hurt Kroger. Its a big corporation. I dont see this as a necessary expense for the city.

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HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL: Super Kroger construction stirs Council debate