Lease changed for Advanced Manufacturing Center
By Steve Herring
Published in News on February 21, 2016 1:45 AM
Wayne County commissioners Friday morning agreed to a change in the lease for the Wayne Community College Advanced Manufacturing Center to ensure its eligibility to receive state bond funding.
The lease is actually between the Wayne County Development Alliance and Wayne Community College, but commissioners were asked to sign off on the change from a short-term to long-term lease.
"Basically in order for the community college to be able to get some of the bond proceeds, and if you recall, I believe they are eligible for $5.8 million of the upcoming bond issue that will be on the ballot March 15," County Manger George Wood said. "Part of that, I believe about $1.6 million, is earmarked internally by (WCC President) Dr. (Kay) Albertson to go to the Advanced Manufacturing Center.
"The issue that has come up is that the lease the WCDA entered into with the community college is a year-by-year lease. What we need to do to be qualified for those bonds is to get them into a longer-term lease."
The Friday morning session was a continuation of the board's Tuesday, Feb. 16, meeting.
The center will house manufacturing training equipment now located at WCC that will create a simulated work environment. It will be used to train new and existing work forces while attracting business and industry to the area.
Wood said the county is fortunate because County Attorney Borden Parker is also the WCDA attorney. Also, Parker's law partner, Phil Baddour, is the attorney for Wayne Community College.
"They were able to get together and work though this," Wood said. "It (lease) will be subject to both the college and WCDA also adopting it. But essentially it makes it a long-term lease."
Under the agreement the lease would be for 20 years and not year by year, Parker said.
The lease is not the commissioners' lease, but rather is between the WCDA and college, Parker said.
"The chairman of the WCDA wanted the county to sign off that you understood what was going on," Parker said.
Parker recommended the board approve the new lease contingent on it being approved by both the WCDA and community college.
The WCDA purchased the former Bussman plant building in January 2015 for $685,000. The plant, which had operated in Goldsboro since 1983, closed in 2014.
The 78,715-square-foot former manufacturing facility is located at 210 Dixie Trail near its intersection with South John Street.
The county used a low-interest loan through the former Eastern Region to borrow $400,000 for the project, while Impact Wayne, the private development funding arm of the Development Alliance, provided the remainder of the funds.
The county will repay the Eastern Region loan over a five-year period.
Last month, commissioners approved an eight-phase renovation plan to convert the former building into the Wayne Community College Advanced Manufacturing Center.
They agreed, as well, to use the county's facilities department for phases one and three that basically covers the entry area of the building and will cost an estimated $470,761 with the county providing $53,437 over the next three years.
The county's portion includes $25,937 this budget year for cleaning above the lights, all the walls and floors and $1,794 to fence in access to electrical panels; $8,500 in 2017-18 to purchase a floor scrubber and $19,000 to paint the building's exterior.
Phase one is the front office area of the building, and phase three includes common space for students, a lounge area, open computer lab, and the student entrance, updating lighting fixtures, parking lot repairs, exterior lighting and the main restrooms.
The cost for all eight phases is estimated at $841,934.
A portion of the funding hinges on voters approving the proposed $2 billion statewide bond issue that will be on the March 15 primary ballot.
The equipment will cost about $2.1 million and will be paid mostly through WCC funds, Wood said.