County options 104 acres on U.S. 117
By Matthew Whittle
Published in News on April 18, 2008 1:59 PM
The first results of the Wayne County Development Alliance's recent industrial site study are now being realized as the county commission approved an option Tuesday on 104-acre tract of land near Mount Olive.
The land, owned by the Luke Donnell Britt Trust -- trustee Suzanne G. Britt -- is along the east side of U.S. 117 South, near the Duplin County line, WCDA President Joanna Thompson said.
It has rail, water and sewer access.
"It's got all the infrastructure in place," Ms. Thompson said. "It was one of the properties identified in our industrial site study."
But, she noted, just because the county has optioned the land doesn't necessarily mean it will become an industrial park.
"That's the hope, but the fact that we purchased an option on the property simply means we want to investigate its potential further," she said. "What we'll be doing next is taking some soil samples and looking at the geo-technical studies to verify its potential."
The option is for five years -- $9,000 for each of the first two years, $9,500 for the second two years and $10,000 for the fifth.
The total cost of the land is $1.04 million -- $10,000 an acre.
Also on Tuesday, the commissioners held two public hearings.
The first was to close out the 2005 Community Development Block Grant, which consisted for $400,000 for scattered site housing, and helped three families in Pikeville, Mount Olive and Dudley find replacement housing.
The second was to introduce the 2008 CDBG application options, which include community revitalization, economic development, infrastructure and housing development.
Because the scattered site housing funding is on its own three-year cycle, the county also is eligible to draw down another $400,000, which have already been set aside.
The other four programs involve competitive application processes.
All of the programs are geared toward helping provide either housing for low-income and special needs families or water and sewer infrastructure.
The 2008 applications, which can be submitted at any time during the year, have not been made yet.