RFP Staff
♦This morning Board of Education member Chuck Hughes reported that the Board of Education voted 5 to 2 to place the Central Office down at 329 S. Main. Chuck Hughes and Josh Wagner voted against it. Both Chuck and Josh are vocal in their dislike of the 329 S. Main site. Susan Cox, Richard Miller, Kay Wright Norman, and L.A. Overcash, voted for it. The vote ended any hopes for a Central Office being constructed anywhere until after the November elections of 2014 when both the school board and county commissioner seats are up for election.
County Commissioners Mike Caskey and Jon Barber attended today’s meeting.
Already County Commissioners Jim Sides, Craig Pierce, and Mike Caskey are on record as saying they will vote no on 329 S. Main. Today’s school board vote was meaningless.
Josh Wagner, School Board Member emailed us these comments today: “As a Rowan-Salisbury School Board member, I am both disappointed and disheartened by today’s decision. Even though we as a board were recently given five alternative sites for our proposed central office, five of our members chose to remain tied to the downtown site. As I stated in the meeting, the board all knew that the county would not approve this site selection. With that being said, we have yet again ignored a solution that could have resulted in brick and mortar early next year.
Although the downtown site appears less costly than the alternate sites, the board cannot ignore that the difference in cost is funded in some way. Some members argued that we would be wasting tax dollars by paying more at a different site. Although we have been offered multiple perks by the city at no cost to the board, there is certainly a cost. The city, county, and school system have no revenue of their own. Any money, aside from a private grant, comes out of taxpayers’ pockets. Therefore, any perk “given” by the city is being paid for by tax dollars. The idea that government offers anything for free is laughable.
As a school board member, I apologize for this decision. I truly hoped that this board would have chosen a solution over spite. At this point, I am uncertain of the exact outcome; however, we can rest assured that a consolidated central office is no closer today than it was when this discussion began.”
In October the school board considered a list of sites included in the generous proposal by Commissioner Craig Pierce. The former DSS building on West Innes was added by board member Chuck Hughes and the Summit Corporate Park on Julian Road was retained from the original Pierce proposal. 329 S. Main joined the 3 finalists. At that point the county commissioners began to doubt the school board’s sincerity about wanting to move forward. Today the school board proved those doubts correct.
Among the common and very reasonable arguments put forward by the majority of the commissioners opposing 329 are that the property is too small, lacks expandability, contains 38 feet of mushy infill with the water table running though it, making it unstable to build upon without expensive Geo-piers and injecting crushed rock into the infill.
Where will the parking lot be built? Some commissioners even question the “No Further Action” letter in the knowledge that toxic petroleum plumes can drift away from the immediate site and create vapor intrusion challenges. The commissioners are miffed that the Post, Doug Paris, and the school board continues to fallaciously put forward that groundwater contamination was the commissioners’ main reason for stepping back from 329. It was one of the least of their reasons if anyone was listening downtown. The antics of city manager Doug Paris and his recent meddling in the county’s Mall initiative were further antagonizing. Know too that commissioners Pierce and Caskey were elected on the campaign promise that they would oppose 329 S. Main. They have kept their promise.
County commission Chairman Jim Sides has repeatedly said: “I’ll never vote for 329 S. Main.”
Chuck Hughes weighed in later today in an email, writing: “Today’s 9:00 a.m. Board of Education called meeting began with Bill Burgin giving a well prepared presentation showing three potential locations for the COB: 329 S. Main, Summit and DSS. His figures, based upon the original architecture design, showed that building a 62,000 square foot office building at 329 S. Main was less expensive than building a smaller 56,000 square foot option. This 62K option came out to be $115.33 per square foot opposed to $126.86 per square foot for the smaller structure. The two higher sites ranged from $517,000 at Summit Park to $852,000 at the DSS site. In addition, the cost comparisons were for Mr. Burgin’s initial three story design, not for the more affordable and functional single story structure.
And there are those who criticize the Rowan Board of Commissioners for paying $4.88 per square foot for a structure that would house ALL of the county offices, including a Central Office building, for the school system. I’m not a math major, but which is the better bargain here?
After the presentation and discussion, the Board of Education voted 5-2 to send its decision to place the Central Office Building on 329 South Main Street to the County Commissioners. When I expressed my ongoing concern for the availability of the 160 plus parking spaces needed for the 329 S. Main site, City representatives assured me they were looking for parking and believed it would not be a problem. I wonder if this was the same promise they made to Integro. If so, good luck, Board of Education.
Another proposed option was a parking deck. Although I would not want to leave my car unattended for hours in a dark parking deck on S. Main, I would be more concerned about my own safety coming to and going from the Central Office Building.
As unwelcomed and unproductive as I knew it would be, I read portions of a February 8, 2013 article titled N.C. Attorneys beware (or be aware): Vapor Intrusion is Changing the Rules, written by Richard L. Sieg, an attorney with the Winston-Salem office of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LL. His firm specializes in environmental and natural resources litigation and regulatory compliance concerns.
Although I barely comprehend the laws of gravity, I believe I understood some of his arguments, such as:
• An owner who takes property knowing of the past contamination has a heightened liability, even with a No Further Action letter in hand.
• Adequate proof of prior knowledge of abatement on the site IS the awareness of potential vapor intrusion issues.
• Even buildings requiring a 6 mil polyethylene vapor barrier for moisture control over buildings with a concrete slab were in jeopardy of suit.
• Many owners with these minimal building problems, not needed or designed for the prevention of Volatile Organic Compound vapor intrusion of the kind the NC Bar Association is warning about, were successfully sued.
• Many workers are sensitive to volatile organic compound (VOC) vapors and pregnant women who work in such buildings appear to have a higher risk.
• Board of Education’s and their funding source are likely to be the parties at most risk of liability in this type of lawsuit.
• North Carolina developers or lenders should be concerned that closed sites can be reopened with expensive mitigation to follow.
• Mr. Sieg openly advises those involved with selling and buying a once contaminated site to, be aware; it will only be a matter of time before a particular set of facts in North Carolina will lead to a citizen suit.
In summary, the article gave a clear warning to those who accept the risk of building on a once contaminated site, especially if there is prior knowledge of abatement. It seems that the past can quickly come back to haunt you even with a “No Further Action” letter in hand.
After twenty plus unproductive years and despite these potential adversities, votes were cast and the can of worms has been returned to the County Commissioners once again. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.”
Perhaps after 2014 the Central Office will find its way to the Salisbury Mall as many in the county and even in the outer city strongly prefer. Already a battle cry is sounding in county and its gaining a growing voice: “To the Mall, Y’all!”
This article will be updated throughout the day.
