Apr 14

Apr 14 Council discusses grants, Elvis and development items at meeting

On Monday, April 11th, the Lexington City Council held their only meeting of the month. Mayor Newell Clark presented the proclamation for Davidson County’s Bicentennial. For more information, and events that will be held, you can refer to the Davidson County website.

Red Donut Shop is having a big community event on April 18th from 7:30-8:30, for a video of commemoration when Elvis came to town.

Terra Greene, city manager, announced a notice was posted for Economic Development Incentive Grant for Project Garden. The public hearing was canceled, and will occur in May.

The next item on the list was the city's intent to apply for community development block grants. Tammy Absher, director for the office of business and community development, requested a public hearing for any community development block grants which are applied for in the upcoming year, and answered questions.

“The community development block grant program is a state program, and whether it is the city applying for these funds, or a business, the city is required to hold two public hearings before any grant application is submitted,” said Absher. At the time, there was no action taken so the public hearing was closed.

Absher returned to speak on adopting the Resolution of Intent to Close Portion of a Public Alley - Resolution No. 21-22. This was to call for a public hearing to close a portion of the unknown alley. It is unopened, and only exists on paper. There was a motion by Councilor Frank Callicut, and was seconded by Councilor Whitney Brooks to adopt this resolution, and to call and set the date for a public hearing to be held May 19 at 6pm.

John Overton, the finance director, spoke on the resolution to authorize an upset bid process for sale of real estate property at 119 E. Hampton St. A motion by Councilor Joe Watkins to approve Resolution 31-22 was seconded by Brooks. This requires the bidder to deposit 5% of the bid to the city clerk.

The next item was the consent agenda, motioned for approval by Councilor Linwood Bunce, and was seconded by Councilor Donald Holt. Afterwards, Greene presented a grant application for funds to hire an archaeological firm to do a survey of the city cemetery. They would use a ground penetrating radar that would document how many people are buried, the locations of people, and any buried markers. They would do a full report, and document everything. Currently, there's no price for this project.

Last week, a major economic development was announced. Nucor, a steel mill company, will be located on Highway 64 headed towards Asheboro. It is a $350 million investment. Nucor gave a quarter of a million dollars to each of the three local school systems, and another $100 thousand to Davidson County Schools for their food pantry.

Reminders: