9-17-18 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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A. Proclamation Recognizing the Lee County Parks and Recreation 14 -and -under All Stars Youth Baseball Team — Postponed until October 151h meeting. B. Proclamation Recognizing the Lee County Parks and Recreation 8 -and -under All Stars Youth Baseball Team — Postponed until October 151h meeting. V. PUBLIC COMMENTS Pursuant to General Statute § 152A-52.1, Chair Dalrymple opened the floor for Public Comments. No one spoke during the public comments section of the meeting. Commissioner Reives moved to add an update regarding Hurricane Florence to the Agenda. Upon a vote the results were as follows: Aye: Dalrymple, Dodson, Knecht, Oldham, Reives, Sharpe, Sloan Nay: None The Chair ruled the motion had carried unanimously. County Manager John Crumpton provided a summary of staff operations. The EOC was active Wednesday morning and deactivated Sunday at noon. The County was under various flood, tornado, and storm warnings throughout the duration of the storm. Lee County has not yet been declared eligible to qualify for an application for disaster relief assistance. Emergency Services Director Shane Seagroves provided information on the storm's impact. No action was taken. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. Presentation of Project "Thin Slice" (Old tobacco warehouse at 513 Wicker Street) Planning and Community Development Director Marshall Downey provided an update regarding a report from Rehab Development regarding the property at 513 Wicker Street in Sanford, NC. In the spring of 2018, Downtown Sanford, Inc. (DSI) approached the City and County regarding a proposal as received from Rehab Development to renovate the former tobacco warehouse at 513 Wicker Street. The County, in partnership with the City of Sanford, agreed to spend $13,000 ($6,500 each) to hire DFI to review Rehab's pro forma and provide an analysis to local officials. DFI (Development Finance Initative, a program sponsored by the UNC School of Government) presented their findings to City, County and DSI officials in April. The evaluation included a plan for $9.3 million investment, 41 residential units 8,000 sf of space and about 50 parking spaces. The UNC School of Government Development Finance Initiative worked on developing a proposal in the spring of 2018. In April, UNC completed the analysis and presented findings to staff. The three asks included the City granting historical landmark status, the County providing a performance grant or forgivable loan of $650,000, and a 95% tax abatement on all City, County, and MSD taxes for a period of 10 years. Downtown Sanford Inc. has made a request for a loan from Golden Leaf to allow them to take control of the property. Rehab Development has an option on the property until tomorrow, September 18th. County Manager John Crumpton stated that in discussing this with DSI there was a need to take control of the building. No loans have been made out of the Golden Leaf fund except to SAGA. There is currently $850,000 left in the fund. To go through the loan process, there would need to be a loan and deed of trust along with a public hearing. Also, policy would need to be waived to permit moving forward. Parts of the building presently are already generating revenue through two tenants. While DSI would market the Page 417