ROCKINGHAM — The county is getting more than $8 million in grant funding for wastewater improvements at the Energy Way Industrial Park.
On Monday, the Richmond County Board of Commissioners approved two grants for the infrastructure project: $4.75 million from the American Rescue Plan; and $3.94 million earmarked from the state reserve.
Public Works Director Jerry Austin said both grants would go toward wastewater improvements related to the industrial park on Airport Road, south of Hamlet.
New Chairman Dr. Rick Watkins thanked Austin for seeing the grants.
“Anytime we can manage some of these things through grant funding, it means that the taxpayers in the county aren’t having to pick up those costs,” Watkins said.
As of July 2022, the county had secured $7.25 million in grant funding for the $9 million project. More than half of that ($4 million) came from an allocation in the state budget. Other grants include $1.5 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation and $1 million from the N.C. Commerce Industrial Development Fund.
The city of Rockingham entered into a 40-year interlocal agreement with the county government in 2023 to provide wastewater service for Energy Way.
The county will pay the city $1.25 million a one-time capacity charge for up to 200,000 gallons per day and future capacity charges will be determined in accordance with the state Public Water and Sewer System Development Fee Act.
Industrial park tenants will pay the “outside” rate — currently 175% of the in-city industrial sewer rate — for collecting and treating wastewater. The city will charge the tenants directly, according to the agreement.
County Manager Bryan Land told the RO on Friday that they are planning to bid out the project in the spring of 2025.
Last month, commissioners authorized Land to sell property in the industrial park at a negotiated price.
During his monthly report, Land highlighted the three major economic development announcements of the year:
- Graceland Portable Buildings, which is expected to bring around 50 jobs to its facility near Hoffman
- Duke Energy operations center in the Rockingham West Industrial Park
- Global Packaging expansion, adding around 30 new jobs
Land said the three would be resulting in nearly $45 million in investment, with 100 new jobs with an average annual salary of nearly $50,000.
“Economic Development activity is still strong,” Land said. “We’re working vigorously every day and we feel confident more economic development announcements are in the pipeline, continuing to add to our tax base in Richmond County.”
Construction of the county’s sixth shell building is progressing on time and within budget, Land continued, adding that the 40,000 square-foot building should be complete by Christmas.
“We’ve had multiple site visits over the last three months with some projects visiting several times,” Land said.
The board also reappointed Patricia Solomon and Thad Ussery to the Health and Human Services Advisory Board, and appointed Hunter Hancock to replace Judge Amy Wilson as chief district court judge designee on the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council.
Commissioners also listened to a presentation on the Soil and Water Conservation District from Jeff Joyner, chairman of that board.
The business of the meeting came after 30 minutes of stalemates trying to elect board leadership for the upcoming year. Click here to read that story.
