City Council approves funding for center, country club project
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on June 16, 2015 1:46 PM
The Goldsboro City Council voted Monday night to approve the financing of the construction of a new W.A. Foster Center and renovations to the Goldsboro Country Club.
The two projects together will cost more than $7 million, with the city borrowing $6 million for the construction of W.A. Foster Center and $1.2 million for renovations to the country club.
Money for the projects will be borrowed from Sterling National Bank.
But the council did not vote unanimously to approve the financing of the W.A. Foster Center.
Council members Gene Aycock and William Goodman voted "no" to the $6 million for the new center, making the vote 5-2 in favor of the project.
"I want to make it known that I'm not opposed to (a new) W.A. Foster recreation center. I'm very much a supporter of it," Aycock said. "I'm just ... I believe the scope has gone beyond what I expected, so that's the reason I voted against it."
Goodman said he voted against the project for two reasons. First, he said, the cost had exceeded what he expected and, second, the new location.
"It's basically the cost (of the project)," Goodman said. "I'm very concerned it's moving out of this neighborhood. Once they move it, there won't be any recreation center in this neighborhood for the kids, and it's heavily used by the kids."
But there was no split vote when it came to borrowing money for the country club.
The city received only one bid to conduct renovations on the club, from SP8 Enterprises of Angier.
SP8 Enterprises submitted a bid for renovations in the amount of $492,542, but the city will still borrow more than $1 million for the cost of renovations.
The city purchased the property on Feb. 26, 2015, for $400,000.
There was no discussion among the council members prior to the unanimous approval vote being taken, and the loan from Sterling National Bank is expected to be closed on June 24.
There were also two public hearings during Monday night's council meeting. The first was regarding the construction of a solar farm by Highwater Solar on the north side of Belfast Road between Salem Church Road and Interstate 795. The second was regarding the city's updated Neuse River Basin regional hazard mitigation plan.
David Neill, an attorney with Smith, Moore, Leatherwood in Raleigh, spoke during the solar farm public hearing to clarify several details regarding the project after Mayor Pro-Tem Chuck Allen raised concerns about whether the existing tree line provided a sufficient buffer.
Neill's law firm is representing Highwater Solar in an effort to secure the land for the project. The land is currently owned by William Lane of Lane Farms.
Allen said he was worried you would be able to see the solar farm if you were to stand near a church located close to the property.
"With the buffer, as I understood it, it's only on Belfast Road and I couldn't open up the plans on my computer to see," Allen said. "It's not behind the church. Personally what I would like to see is somehow the church be buffered so they don't see the solar farm from the church. If they're out at the church or out in the yard doing something, I'd like them to not see it and I don't think there's enough existing vegetation to do that."
Assistant Planning Director Jennifer Collins confirmed that someone would be able to see the solar farm if he or she were standing at the church, but that the city is requiring a 20- foot buffer be built to mitigate the eyesore.
"The staff report says there will be buffering along Belfast Road, which is sort of true," Neill said. "But if I can point to the spot, the buffering -- here's Belfast (Road on the map) -- the buffering essentially connects trees to trees and wraps the site."
The proposed location for the solar farm is partially wooded and a portion has been cleared for farming in the past, and current zonings are residential to the north and west and general business to the south and east.
During the second public hearing nobody stepped forward to speak, and the council unanimously adopted a revision to its Neuse River Basin regional hazard mitigation plan.