BC 2006 07 31 RECESSED - Laserfiche WebLink

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July 31, 2006 (Recessed Meeting) Page 24 The Board of Commissioners for the County of Cabarrus met in recessed session in the Commissioners' Meeting Room at the Cabarrus County Governmental Center in Concord, North Carolina on Monday, July 31, 2006, at 6:00 p.m. Present - Chairman: Robert W. Carruth Vice Chairman: Joni D. Juha Commissioners: Carolyn B. Carpenter Robert M. Freeman Coy C. Privette Also present were John Attorney i Frankie F. Bonds I Clerk to the Board. D. Day, County Manager; Richard M. Koch, County Clerk to the Board; and Kay Honeycutt, Deputy (A) CALL TO ORDER Chairman Carruth called the meeting to order at 6:06 p.m. Commissioner Privette gave the invocation. (B) APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chairman Carruth requested to add the following (D-4) Industrial Development Incentive Grant Request Real Estate USA - Scheduling a Public Hearing on August item to New for PreGel 21, 2006. Business: USA/Lares UPON MOTION of Vice Chairman Juha, seconded by Commissioner Privette and unanimously carried, the Board approved the Agenda with the requested addition. (C) PUBLIC HEARINGS (C-l) Industrial Development :Incentive Grant for Connextions Health, Inc. Public Hearing - 6.00 p.m. Ryan McDaniels, Director of Cabarrus Economic Development Corporation (EDe), presented a request by Connextions Health, Inc., for a Small Corporate Headquarters incentive grant pursuant to the Industrial Development Incentive Grant program guidelines effective January 1, 2004. He said the Florida based company plans to locate a contact (call) center at 4601 Corporate Drive in Concord and create 300 new jobs with an average starting wage of $10 - $15 per hour. He said a contact center works with telecommunication companies, cellular phone companies I Internet companies, etc., and provides customer service assistance to callers. The projected investment is $4.95 million ($2.7 million in real estate and $2.25 in equipment). Since the call center would actually be a satellite operation, Mr. McDaniels stated a waiver of the small headquarters provision is required. Based on the projected investment and the Small Headquarters grant at 50 percent, he said the company would pay an estimated $114,278.58 in County taxes and receive an incentive of approximately $51,972.50. Chairman Carruth briefly commented on the additional services and benefits of a call/contact center. Mr. McDaniels responded to a variety of questions concerning other locations of call centers, the waiver of the small headquarters provision, and the unemployment rate in Cabarrus County. He reported the EDC Board of Directors recommended approval of the incentive and the City of Concord has also approved the incentive for Connextions. At 6:16 p.m., Chairman Carruth opened the public hearing on the Industrial Development Incentive Grant for Connextions Health, Inc. The Public Hearing Notice was published on July 18, 2006 in THE INDEPENDENT TRIBUNE. Harold Smith of 108 Edinburg Drive in Kannapolis stated his opposition to tax incentives. He said he remembers when Charlotte was growing rapidly and the University area was undeveloped. He said growth has expanded to include the University area, Speedway Boulevard, Dale Earnhardt Boulevard, to Lane Street and now all of Kannapolis. He said growth is inevitable because the County is located within the 1-85 wedge. He stated the unemployment rate is low and in his opinion incentives are not needed. Mr. Smith said it is time to stop the tax giveaways and asked the Board to tell the EDC (Economic Development Corporation) to recruit companies that will pay their own way and