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January 7, 2008 (Recessed Meeting) Page 662 The Board of Commissioners for the County of Cabarrus met in recessed session in the Multipurpose Room at the Cabarrus County Governmental Center in Concord, North Carolina on Monday, January 7, 2008, at 3:30 p.m. Present - Chairman: H. Jay White, Sr. Vice Chairman: Joni D. Juba Commissioners: Robert W. Carruth Grace M. Mynatt Coy C. Privette Also present were Attorney; Mike Downs, Manager; Kay Honeycutt, the Board. Call to Order John Day, County Manager; Richard M. Koch, County Deputy County Manager; Pam Dubois, Deputy County Clerk to the Board and Lori Hinson, Deputy Clerk to Chairman White called the meeting to order at 3:31 p.m. Addition to the Agenda - Resolution Approving Refinancing Installment Contract Financing in an Aggregate Principal Amount up to $20,000,000.00 John Day, County Manager, asked to have the following item added to the agenda: Resolution Approving Refinancing Installment Contract Financing in an Aggregate Principal Amount up to $20,000,000.00. He explained the County's bond attorney would like the resolution adopted prior to tomorrow's meeting with the Local Government Commission (LGC) and that the refinancing will save the County approximately $69,000.00 a year. UPON MOTION of Commissioner Carruth, seconded by Commissioner Mynatt and unanimously carried, the Board added the following item to the agenda: Resolution Approving Refinancing Installment Contract Financing in an Aggregate Principal Amount up to $20,000,000.00. £or Industrial Incentive Grant - American Communications Network, Inc., a Subaioiary or LKN_ Communications NetworK, At 3:33 p.m., Chairman White opened the public hearing on the Industrial Development Incentive Grant for American Communications Network, (ACN) Inc., a subsidiary of LKN Communications Network, Inc. The Public Hearing Notice was published on December 29, 2007 in THE INDEPENDENT TRIBUNE. Clay Andrews, Cabarrus Economic Development Recruiter, presented the following information on the incentive grant request: ACN is interested in moving its headquarters operation and two call centers from Michigan to Cabarrus County with a total expected new investment of $5 million; the company is trying to purchase the former CTC headquarters building; ACN will bring approximately 300 headquarters-related jobs (at an estimated annual average salary of $80,000.00 each) to the County with the possibility of several hundred more call-center-related jobs coming later; the State of North Carolina will participate in the project by providing a One North Carolina Fund grant of $1,000.00 per job, up to 300 headquarters jobs (not to exceed $300,000.00); the State will not provide any incentive for the jobs related to the call centers; in order to qualify for the grant funding, the local government has to match the grant dollar-for-dollar; the EDC (Economic Development Corporation) requests an incentive of 99 percent of ad valorem taxes on approximately $5 million of net new investment for a five-year period; if ACN creates the jobs, makes an investment greater than $5 million in less time, the grant period will be reduced; any taxes currently paid on the CTC building will continue to be paid; and the incentive is based on the portion of new investment made by ACN. Mr. Andrews and Ryan McDaniels, also with the Cabarrus EDC, responded to several questions from the Board concerning the incentive grant request. Jerry Williamson, resident of 2206 Moose Road in Kannapolis, stated the County does not have the resources that the State has and therefore cannot match the State. He also said he heard ACN has an office in Mecklenburg County and asked the following questions: if the Mecklenburg jobs will be transferred to Cabarrus County; did ANC receive an incentive in Mecklenburg County; and if so, how long did they stay. He also stated the need to conduct further research before incentive grants are approved. There was no one else present to address the Board; therefore, Chairman White closed the public hearing.