Pat Kintner and her husband Steve moved into what was supposed to be her dream home on Cole Avenue, off Hickswood Road, in 1995. At the time, only a handful of houses were built. Mostly middle-class ...couples and families settled, and the neighborhood grew to 11 houses ending in a cul-de-sac. Kintner calls it the "poor side" in comparison to the neighboring Austin Downs subdivision, so most of the homeowners are reluctant to shell out $25 in monthly dues to sustain a fledgling homeowners association. Homeowners associations struggle when they don't set their dues high enough to keep up with the cost of doing business, Lee Burnette said. The monthly dues pay for maintenance and repair of all the common elements of a community, which includes building facades, grounds, parking lots and drives, open space and ponds.
In the last year, the city's electric system has lost several large retail customers, including the McDonald's restaurants on N. Main Street and Westchester Drive and Beeson Hardware. The city hasn't ...been able to compete with Duke Power because it has absorbed wholesale rate increases in the last few years. The contract covers the consultant's fee, estimated at $224,355. CTA has quoted the actual upgrade, including equipment, construction and installation, to cost at least $7.5 million. The project will be bid separately. With only one radio tower, the existing system reaches as far as Skeet Club Road. CTA conducted a study of the city's coverage needs and recommended acquiring two more towers.
"Thanksgiving is typically a soft period in High Point, so this is critical for tourism," said Ron Stephens, vice president and director of sales and marketing for the CVB. "We want to help them ...grow." Hotels booked include the Atrium Inn, Ashford Suites, Biltmore Suites, Courtyard by Marriott (scheduled to open in September), Crestwood Suites, Days Inn and Radisson. Later this week, the bureau will announce more than $175,000 in arts and tourism grants awarded to local organizations. Twenty-six groups applied for the grants. The CVB allocates up to 15 percent of its revenue to fund them.
The attorney representing High Point, Steve Earp of Smith Moore LLP in Greensboro, presented six possible cleanup strategies and a projected schedule of when future tests and actual work may begin. ...When the city entered the Seaboard Group, its 25 percent share was simply a negotiated figure, Earp said. Rather than treating the landfill separately from the chemical plant, officials determined it would be more efficient to combine the property, totaling 163 acres, into one site. A feasibility study has identified six possible cleanup strategies. The approach getting the most attention is a fairly novel idea which has been used and tested at other cleanup sites in the country, Earp said.
City officials and the North Carolina Railroad Co. are working together on a projection of an overhead park and redevelopment area that would stretch across the tracks from Centennial to Lindsay ...streets. The railroad company owns air rights over the tracks. Jim Kessler said the main thrust of the study is to determine whether the railroad can safely maintain existing operations while planning for future expansion. High Point lies in a major north-south route for Amtrak, with a half a dozen lines daily. "We're not designing the tracks, but we're showing it because High Point is part of the southeastern high-speed rail corridor," Kessler said.
Aug. 7--When the floor employees of Chambers Fabrics found out Rep. Mel Watt, D-12th, would tour their plant Wednesday, it didn't take long for them pen their concerns on paper. On the weaving floor, ...Watt struggled to hear employees above the loud, lightning-fast looms spinning yarn into patterned fabrics. They were eager to greet him and describe their job function. "It's not just our industry, it's the country as a whole," Ray Chambers told Watt.
Aug. 6--A large portion of residential areas south of Skeet Club Road has been removed from a map intended to guide land-use in areas that may be affected by noise from the proposed FedEx hub. Just ...as in Zone 3, Zone 4 requires the city to provide a disclosure statement on aircraft flights, as well as a separate "waiver of claim." The waiver is a legal document that building companies must sign before they subdivide property. It basically waives a homeowner's right to file claims against the city for any damages from airport flights. Lee Burnette said the Wyle team could redraw the noise contours based on alternate flight paths, but they aren't likely to deviate much from the current boundaries.
Robert Team, president of the development company, said Wednesday that details of the previously announced plans have remained the same. The park will include up to 15 upscale office buildings ...mirroring the character of Piedmont Centre or South Oaks at Mendenhall Business Park. "There are still several parcels on Eastchester that haven't been developed yet," said Loren Hill, president of the High Point Economic Development Corp. "We fully expect to see a significant increase in development on the west side of N.C. 68 over the next few years." The Eastchester corridor as far north as the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market has been identified as one of High Point's "future growth areas."
Earl Barbour said the city's position on flight paths shouldn't single out FedEx aircraft. Regardless of what action the airport authority takes, the proposed FedEx flight paths will automatically be ...reviewed in the airport's planned Part 150 noise study. The airport has committed to conduct the federally regulated study, which will examine noise issues and is updated on a five-year interval. "We won't start until we receive our remaining permits," Ted Johnson said. "Without the permits, we don't have a hub." The Part 150 study typically starts two years before a hub opens. The lease agreement between FedEx and the airport authority calls for the hub to be ready no later than the middle of 2009.
