WEDNESDAY
LET IT FLOW: State OKs Randleman Dam water transmission. 2A
September 22, 2010 127th year No. 265
CHANGE OF HEART: Company withdraws incentives request. 1B
www.hpe.com High Point, N.C.
BLUNT TALK: Wake’s Grobe offers stark evaluation of Deacs. 1C
50 Cents Daily $1.25 Sundays
500 JOBS POSSIBLE
Officials plan hearings to consider incentives proposal BY DARRICK IGNASIAK ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
WALLBURG – Members of the Wallburg Town Council and Davidson County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday will consider approving an economic incentives package for a company that may bring 500 jobs to the town. Steve Googe, executive director of the Davidson
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Former Tyco plant in Wallburg now sits empty. County Economic Development Commission, said a new company, code-named
Project Plus, is considering expanding its operations to Wallburg. The company is
considering the site of the now-defunct Tyco Electronics at 5568 Gumtree Rd., according to county documents. Googe said 500 jobs would be the largest announcement in Davidson County in the last 20 years. He said he has been working with Project Plus for about 16 months. “We showed them a number of sites in Davidson County,” Googe said. “They found one that they thought would do a really nice job for them, so we’ve got a package that is competitive and a wise investment for the county.” Under the proposal, the
Wallburg Town Council and Davidson County Board of Commissioners would appropriate a combined $1.5 million for the purchase of the building at 5568 Gumtree Road. The company would lease the building back through Davidson County and Wallburg for $75,000 for 20 years. In return, Wallburg and Davidson County would combine for an economic development grant of $75,000 annually for 20 years, Googe said. If Wallburg joins in the effort to entice the company, it would be the first incentives
INCENTIVES, 2A
FUN AT THE FAIR
WHO’S NEWS
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Hayden Carron, assistant professor of Spanish at High Point University, was awarded the 2010 Title VI Summer Research Fellowship in support of his project, “Caribbean Studies Course Development.” Through Carron’s fellowship, he spent a month during the summer researching to create two courses about the Caribbean region, which he will teach at HPU.
INSIDE
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AIDS PREVENTION: Health officials offer HIV screenings. 1B OBITUARIES
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Eddie Regan is having as much fun as grandson Anden Williams as they ride the “Sizzler” at the Davidson County Fair Tuesday.
Trinity sets January goal for trash service BY DARRICK IGNASIAK ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
TRINITY – The Trinity City Council on Tuesday night agreed to take the next step toward implementing a mandatory trash and recycling service. Members of the city council voted unanimously to approve a resolution of intent to provide curbside service in January. The City Council would provide the service by con-
tracting with a corporation formed by three of the city’s haulers – Roadside Trash, Smith Disposal and Handy’s Garbage. The City Council approved the resolution after hearing from residents who expressed mixed views about the city implementing the mandatory service. Now, city staff will look to have a contract for the haulers for the City Council’s consideration in October. Officials say the city is considering
the service because City Hall currently gets about 20 calls a week from residents who don’t have a place to recycle since the N.C. General Assembly changed laws on recycling. If the city implements the service in January and contracts the new corporation, the city would have to pay displacement fees of $1,880 to the other haulers currently operating in Trinity, according to information reviewed by the City Council last month. If the city decided to
contract with anyone other than Roadside Trash, Smith Disposal and Handy’s Garbage, it would have to pay displacement fees of $180,000 to the three haulers. City officials have said they expect the fee for the service to be approximately $15 each month. Last year, the service was projected to cost $486,000 a year, with a monthly fee of $15. dignasiak@hpe.com | 888-3657
City, SHARE to renovate foreclosed homes BY PAM HAYNES ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – Eight foreclosed homes in the city will begin to receive makeovers in the next few days as a partnership between the city and SHARE of North Carolina Inc. gets under way. The city is using funds it received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a Neighborhood Stabilization Program to pay for the venture. Its purpose is to repair foreclosed homes that otherwise would remain vacant and sell them to low- to moderate-income families who earn less than 50 percent of the area median income, said Mike McNair, director of community development
and housing. “Any time you take a vacant property and put it back in service, especially repairing it and bringing it up to code, you’re bettering the community,” McNair said. “It changes the dynamic in the neighborhood.” The homes are scattered throughout the city, with some located on roads like Montlieu Avenue, Hampstead Drive and Westgate Drive, and were selected by Greensboro-based SHARE according to certain criteria, such as how many repairs were needed. “It turns into a great deal for the families who buy them,” said Bill Waller, SHARE president. “The homes are selling at 50 or 60 percent tax value because
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SHARE will renovate this house at 1009 Montlieu Ave. the banks want to get them off their books, and it isn’t costing us much to put them in like-new condition. The idea is that homebuyers are getting good deals by purchasing these properties.” Families that qualify can buy the homes or rent-tobuy. They also could receive
funds from the city’s down payment assistance program. “We’ll be using creative methods such as lease-toown to help these people transition,” McNair said. SHARE, or Self-Help and Rewarded Efforts, has renovated homes in other parts
of High Point. The Macedonia neighborhood is a prime example of the non-profit’s work, Waller said. It also assisted the city in revitalization efforts in the West End and East Central neighborhoods. “Since we began in 2000, our purpose has been to help low- to moderate-income people by helping them to clean up their credit, manage their money or own their home,” Waller said. “We like to say that we don’t just put people in houses – we build communities. Look at Macedonia now. It was a run-down neighborhood with high crime. Now it’s safe, healthy and a good place to raise children.”
Marie Legrand, 78 Gail McCauslin, 74 Robert Oakes, 79 Oleene Pierce, 85 Robert Trogdon Julius Washburn, 81 Obituaries, 2B
WEATHER
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Sunny, hot High 88, Low 67 8C
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