RFP Staff
♦ The highlight of yesterday’s Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education meeting was the final authorization of a land swap deal permitting the school system’s Central Office to be built at 500 N. Main St. in Salisbury. The vote for the authorization was 5 to 2 with Richard Miller, Kay Wright Norman, Jean Kennedy, L.A. Overcash, and Susan Cox voting in support. Josh Wagner and Chuck Hughes voted against the swap.
“I’ve got no real problem with the Central Office being built on the 500 N. Main,” said Hughes. “I’m uncomfortable with the way it got there. It’s not what I know–but it’s what I don’t know. My gut reaction is I just can’t support that…I’d rather not elaborate on the basis of my reservations.”
Architect Bill Burgin presented an update on the progress of the Central Office, comparing 500 N. Main to being the same or better than 329 S. Main. He rattled off items such as the Historic Preservation Committee issuing a certificate of appropriateness and a successful environmental phase I study. Duke Power agreed to temporarily remove some power lines gratis during construction. A local surveying company would allow the construction to cross their property while the Central Office was under construction. Burgin also hoped the City of Salisbury would offer the same services as they did for 329 S. Main such as sidewalks, water and sewer taps, and an extended storm sewer line.
Burgin hoped the civil and structural drawings would be completed by Thursday.
Due to the Central Office’s guaranteed final maximum price by mid-October, Assistant Superintendent Anthony Vann believes the Central Office project may well go before the Local Government Commission (LGC) in November. The LGC must provide funding approval before the Central Office construction can get underway.