By Emily ford
eford@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY – City Council will hold six public hearings Tuesday on subjects ranging from an economic incentive grant to regulating downtown nuisances.
Council members will hear from the public on topics including:
• An economic incentive grant for Freshouse II LLC
The company is considering investing $6.3 million to expand an existing Salisbury facility, including $4.5 million in new equipment and property improvements. The company currently employs 116 and would have the potential to add another 90 workers.
Based on the projected tax revenue generation, the company is eligible to receive a city grant of $21,500 annually for five years.
Freshouse has operated a packaging and distribution operation in Salisbury for nearly 15 years. Since 1997, the company has been located at 216 Julian Road.
Freshouse leases the Julian Road facility and needs to relocate due to the nature of its current space, Robert Van Geons, executive director for RowanWorks, told City Council in a memo.
The company wants to expand and is considering sites in Georgia, Florida, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia.
If Salisbury is chosen, the company would buy and renovate one of the former WA Brown & Son buildings located at 311 Long Meadow Drive, Van Geons said.
• CDBG and HOME programs
Council will consider an evaluation and report on the 2011-2012 Consolidated Annual Planning and Evaluation Report for Community Development Block Grant and HOME program budget, which was $403,422, along with funds carried over from previous years.
• A downtown maintenance code
Downtown property owners would have a certain amount of time to clean up nuisances like torn awnings, graffiti, overgrown lots, broken windows and hazardous conditions.
• The city’s new Housing Advocacy Commission
Commission members want to meet more often and have two vice chairmen.
• Pinnacle Office Park Phase IV
Council will consider petitioner John Leatherman’s request to extend the period of vested rights for a previously approved development plan for Pinnacle Office Park Phase IV, located on Jake Alexander Boulevard, to a total of five years from 2012 to 2017.
• Wallace Commons expansion
A developer in Tennessee wants to buy the vacant Home Depot lot at Julian Road and Interstate 85 and build a 113,000-square-foot addition to the Kohl’s-anchored shopping center.
The expansion would include a department store and three additional retailers, but prospective tenants have not been identified.
City Council also will have a general public comment item on the agenda.
Also on Tuesday, City Council will:
• Appropriate a $24,221 Justice Assistance Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.
• Consider setting a public hearing for Oct. 2 regarding changing the solid waste ordinance to better describe where residents should place recycling carts.
• Consider appointing a steering committee to study whether the city should offer plan review and building inspection.
• Consider applying for a Salisbury Community Foundation Grant on behalf of the Dixonville Cemetery Task Force.
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.