The council voted 8-0 with At-large Councilman Latimer Alexander excused because he holds stock in the company. Citicorp has asked the governments of High Point, Greensboro and Guilford County to ...contribute more than $2 million in incentives to recruit a $30 million financial service center in the county. Citicorp officials say the expansion will add 1,000 jobs over five years with an average annual salary of $32,000 to $35,000. The salary is in keeping with existing customer service positions at the company's call center in Greensboro. "It's going to take some period of time to get to the full level of employment," said Joe Lacy, Citicorp's consultant with Stadtmauer, Bailkin and Biggins LLC, a consulting company from New York City that specializes in incentives.
High Point, Guilford County and Greensboro have been asked to contribute incentives for the project that could add 1,000 jobs over five years. Citicorp operates a Greensboro service center. A public ...hearing notice filed by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners named the company and announced a Feb. 18 public hearing on the request. High Point's public hearing likely will be scheduled for Thursday, but economic development officials have declined to confirm the company's name until then. A public hearing notice refers to about 22 acres located on the east side of Premier Drive and roughly 750 feet north of W. Wendover Avenue, about 1.5 miles south of Citicorp's current location on Albert Pick Road.
The association is seeking contributions from municipalities that have a stake in either interstate. Plans for the I-73 and I-74 corridors have been on the books for more than a decade. In High ...Point, I-74 will follow the route of U.S. 311, of which portions are still under construction. The highway will converge with I-73 near Asheboro. Several groups formed in the early 1990s in response to initial legislation creating high-priority corridors. In 1991, Congress passed the National Highway System Designation Act, which led to a new Interstate 73 and the extension of already existing Interstate 74 between Cincinnati and south of Myrtle Beach. I-73 will stretch from Sault St. Marie, Mich., to near Myrtle Beach.
Dec. 30--The stretch of the U.S. 311 Bypass from Eastchester Drive to Business Loop Interstate 85 could open to traffic by July or August, state road officials say. Brian Smith said the soggy summer ...kept the ground wet and prohibited the contractor, APAC Carolina Inc. of Greensboro, from doing grading work. The remaining portions of the bypass from Business Loop I-85 to U.S. 220 is scheduled for completion by 2008. The bypass also will be designated Interstate 73/74.
High Point Planning and Development Director Lee Burnette said he expects development proposals in northeast Davidson to become more sparse or level off in 2004. The developer also is limited to how ...many houses can be built. Burnette said land value in northeast Davidson County is higher than other areas, resulting in a higher-end product. "It's very difficult to put together a single 200-acre plan in North Carolina because property owners have different interests," Burnette said, noting that Piedmont Centre comprised several different properties.
"Last year, North Carolina did not reflect that survey at all," said Linda Gragg, executive director of the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association in Boone, which represents more than 1,600 ...growers. "When the nation went down, North Carolina held its market share without dropping, and the same is true this year." Gragg said the success stems entirely from North Carolina's very own signature Fraser fir tree. The Fraser fir comes in a uniform pyramid shape and holds its needles longer than most other trees. Of the 4.5 million trees harvested in the state, about 95 percent are Fraser fir. That amounts to an estimated 50 million Fraser firs grown in the far western counties, including Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga and Yancey. Gragg acknowledges that consumers may have some misconceptions about Christmas tree production. She noted that natural stands of the Fraser fir grow along the western Appalachian Mountains, and seeds come from those stands.
Dec. 19--A competing bus manufacturer urged city leaders Thursday to reconsider a contract with DaimlerChrysler Commercial Buses North Carolina to produce a new fleet for Hi tran. "The city will pay ...$375,000 more than what DaimlerChrysler bid," said Hill, an ElDorado dealer for Triad Transportation in Greensboro. City Manager Strib Boynton said DaimlerChrysler is the only company that submitted a bid for the 96-inch, heavy-duty bus the city required. He said other companies produce either a larger bus or a light- or medium-duty model.
Known as Federal Aviation Regulation Part 150, the study is a voluntary process conducted by the airport authority to find ways to minimize noise effects of airport expansion on surrounding ...communities. FedEx is projected to have 126 daily flight operations between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. when the hub is at full operation. The lease between the airport and FedEx calls for the hub to open no later than mid-2009. Barbour recently went on a fact-finding mission to the newest FedEx hub at Fort Worth Alliance Airport, about 18 miles from the massive Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. It's the hub FedEx wants to duplicate at PTIA. Carter opposes the hub project; he disagrees with the economic benefits touted by supporters. However, Carter is one of several local pilots who recommended that the council and former Mayor Arnold Koonce pursue alternate flight tracks to divert most of the noise over highways. Early in the summer, the council issued a letter to the airport authority backing alternate flight tracks.
"It's an unfortunate compromise, but it's better than going to the landfill," Stout said. "We don't try to get people to move their houses. It can be challenging, but it can be done without damage." ...The corner house overlooking the railroad tracks was built in 1899 by the prominent John Riley Brown family. It saw many changes throughout the 20th century before finally being restored in 1985. "We would like to have additional showroom space for our company," Bill McKinney said. "It's still in the preliminary planning stages." Relocations of historic properties are becoming more common these days, said Michael Stout, director of the northwest office of Preservation North Carolina in Winston-Salem.
"This is not in the best interest of High Point, especially when there are alternatives," Benjamin Briggs said. "Additional space can be sought in new ways. There are so many showrooms and so few ...historic homes." Briggs said the Historic Preservation Commission is willing to act as consultants, and tax credits are available through the state and federal governments. "It's an incredible Victorian house for High Point," said Briggs, who serves as chairman of the Guilford County Historic Preservation Commission. "High Point has such a good record in the past 15 years of preserving historic buildings. This is the first historic building that's been faced with demolition since the Biltmore Hotel in the 1980s." Briggs also is trying to gain support from the community to avoid demolition and offer alternatives.
