"This story grows more fascinating and complicated every day. The Liberty site is miles and miles from water or sewer service. As part of the pitch to the state for state tax dollars to fund the development of the project, the City of Greensboro was enlisted to provide new water and sewer service to Randolph County, to a point miles and miles from existing city service, which will never be a part of the City of Greensboro. The City has informally agreed (without counsel approval) to do so at a cost of tens of millions of dollars.
This is particularly interesting today, September 8, 2013, because of the headline story in the News & Record: "Beneath Our Feet", in which the upcoming problem and expense of bringing the existing municipal water and sewer piping and treatment into the 21st Century, and maintaining service through ancient plumbing is explored. Why are the people of Greensboro not better served by looking looking closer to home to highlight areas attractive to new industry? Aren't the areas already served the places that would provide the most bang for the buck for city taxpayers?
Of course, the biggest question of all is why would anyone in authority contemplate elaborate and imaginative expansions of service, given the the costly repairs which are now required to keep the existing system functioning. Isn't the system supposed to be financially self-sustaining? If so, any expansion is really little more than a back-door subsidy to areas NOT responsible for paying for this upkeep."
Also:
"This is all the more reason that in-fill type development is looking more and more attractive. The physical facilities are already there. Water and sewer, police and fire protection, as well as schools, are already established. The marginal cost to the city for a project located in the city is less than that of a project for which water and sewer service may have to be extended for miles. The citizens of Greensboro pick up the difference for projects in "virgin" lands."
Attorney Alan Ferguson practices in Greensboro, lives in Liberty and is leading the fight against the Randolph County megasite. It is estimated it will cost the City of Greensboro $22 Million Dollars to run water and sewer lines to the site before cost overruns are figured in and the site is 20 miles outside of the Greensboro City Limits and cannot be annexed.
Didn't the Greensboro City Council pass an ordinance prohibiting Council from providing incentives to developers whose projects cannot be annexed? In this instance, wouldn't the City of Greensboro be considered one of the developers?
Put the jobs where the people are.
