THOMASVILLE — Votes by the Thomasville City Council and the Thomas County Commission this week made it official: Hurst Boiler will close its Moultrie plant.

Hurst Boiler and Welding Co., which employs 88 people here, had sought $5 million in revenue bonds from the Thomasville Payroll Development Authority to finance a renovation and expansion at its Coolidge facility. The Thomasville City Council and the county commission had to approve the issuance. The city did so Monday, the county on Tuesday.

This is the TPDA’s first project outside Thomasville, according to the authority’s attorney, Hill Smith.

The 30,000-square-foot expansion will produce larger boilers than the Colquitt County plant. The 88 jobs here will be moved to Coolidge.

No tax money is involved in the TPDA/Hurst arrangement.

Smith explained that TPDA will withhold title to the new Hurst facility and land, which will be leased to the company during the time the business is paying off the bank loan.

When the loan is paid off, TPDA will deed the property to Hurst for a small fee, such as $100.

Smith said the TPDA-Hurst project involves no indebtedness to Thomasville or Thomas County governments.