Some speakers at a Tuesday public hearing supported a plan by Mount Airy to spend up to $375,000 to aid a proposed housing development outside the city, while others equated the move to a bad real estate deal.

“As we know, water and sewer is the backbone of all economic-development projects,” Todd Tucker, president of the Surry County Economic Development Partnership, said during the hearing conducted before the Mount Airy of Commissioners.

The commissioners took no action after Tuesday afternoon’s session, but will vote on the proposal at an upcoming meeting.

In further voicing Partnership support for the joint city-county proposal to extend municipal water lines to the historic White Sulphur Springs project northeast of the city limits, Tucker acknowledged that housing developments normally aren’t a thrust of his group.

But he said the upscale development envisioned there would aid another of its missions: attracting talented people to the community who can make a difference. “When you look at all these things happening in our country, they revolve around smart people,” Tucker added.

“There will be a payback,” he said in echoing previous statements from city officials who view the utility extension as an economic-development effort that will produce jobs, increase the tax base and add water customers. The Partnership official said the water and sewer line extensions would be a good move in general.

Betty Ann Collins, an official of the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce, was another who spoke favorably of the plan at the hearing. Collins said she believes it would promote development along N.C. 104 from Mount Airy toward the Virginia line while also filling a housing void locally.

“We need to bring new investment and growth to the city of Mount Airy,” said Collins, praising the potential for the White Sulphur Springs site to allow “immediate occupancy by families” and “immediate” revenues for local government.

“White Sulphur Springs will be a neighborhood we will all be proud of and proud to show off,” the chamber official continued. Collins suggested that the presence of the development, where homes will be sold in the $350,000 range, could be what convinces a company CEO to build a plant here.

Deal Questioned

However, not everyone spoke of the project in glowing terms at Tuesday’s public hearing.

Former mayoral candidate Paul Eich questioned an agreement being considered by both Mount Airy and Surry County officials in which they would contribute a total of $750,000 for the line extensions. Meanwhile, WSSMA, an entity led by local businessman Burke Robertson which is heading the housing project, would supply no money toward the construction of the utilities, a fact that bothers Eich.

Under the pact proposed, the city and county would recoup the money they spend through the higher property tax revenues resulting from the addition of houses at the former resort — which is now empty.

“I have a hard time seeing how the city would advance this much money up front to a developer,” Eich said. In his view, the annexation of the White Sulphur Springs site should have occurred before any decision to extend utility lines there. “Here, you’ve got the cart before the horse.”

Eich, implying that the city’s involvement in the project is a “done deal” among good old boys in a small town, also wondered why he should help fund the project as an individual taxpayer. He said many financial questions about the deal are unanswered as well. “I want to see some math.”

In addition, Eich questioned how many “permanent” jobs actually would be created through the housing development.

John Pritchard, a city government watchdog and a former longtime banker, told city officials he had problems with the fact that Robertson’s group was willing to offer personal financial guarantees for the public investment when the project was first proposed in 2006.

But the agreement now being considered provides no such guarantees to secure the performance of the developers, other than the proposed execution of a deed of trust on about 50 acres at the site.

“It seems to me the city and county would be under considerable risk with the new agreement,” Pritchard said, adding that the latest pact subjects WSSMA to virtually no risk.

“WSSMA is a limited-liability company” which means its losses are designed to be limited in the venture, Pritchard said.

“I’m not sure what good that 50 acres would do the city or the county,” the speaker commented in reference to the offering of the deed of trust.

Pritchard also questioned the viability of the White Sulphur Springs project, which basically remains dormant after four years of marketing. “Most of the problem is real estate,” he said in reference to a nationwide issue with banks failing because of bad real estate deals.

The speaker added that no private financial institution would lend money for such a venture as White Sulphur Springs.

Along with the plan itself, Eich criticized conducting the hearing during a daytime meeting rather than at night when attendance might be higher. “By holding this hearing at two o’clock on a business day, it is a bad choice.”

When asked about that last month, Mayor Deborah Cochran said that citizens who couldn’t make the hearing are free to share their comments by email at dcochran@mountairy.org.

While a vote on the matter won’t come until later, several commissioners said Tuesday that they supported using city funds for the utility lines to White Sulphur Springs, including Todd Harris, Jon Cawley and Teresa Lewis.

“This is a possibility for a growth corridor,” Harris said of areas along N.C. 104. Even if the housing project fails, the water-sewer infrastructure will be in place, Harris said.

City Attorney Hugh Campbell said Tuesday that while public incentives normally are offered to prospective industries, state law also permits them for housing projects such as that represented by the White Sulphur Springs development.

Street Renamed

Also Tuesday, Mount Airy officials voted unanimously to rename a street in a local industrial park to avoid confusion and improve safety.

The commissioners decided to change the name of Mountain View Lane, located in Piedmont Triad West Corporate Park near the intersection of U.S. 601 and Interstate 74. In all, four streets in this area are similarly named, which causes confusion — especially among truckers who use onboard navigation systems to reach destinations in the industrial park.

The new name will be Piedmont Triad West Drive.

At times, trucks have wound up in residential areas where a street has a similar name as Mountain View Lane. Barbara Jones, acting city manager, said Tuesday that this has resulted in truckers facing difficulties in turning around on narrow residential streets. Mailboxes, lawns, landscaping and other property has been damaged by trucks attempting tight turns to “escape.”

This problem has been especially acute at the intersection of Mount View Drive and Wards Gap Road.

Officials identified the name change in the industrial park as the only solution, one that has been approved by the N.C. Board of Transportation. It will take 60 to 90 days to implement, according to discussion Tuesday,

“That should really help those industries there,” the mayor said of the move.

Also Tuesday, the city board:

n Voted to hold a public hearing on May 20 to receive citizen comments on a proposal to amend city zoning rules to increase the number of children in a family day-care home to eight. The move would reflect present state regulations and has been recommended by the Mount Airy Planning Board.

n Agreed to conduct another public hearing on May 20 regarding Mount Airy’s proposed designation as an “urban progress zone.” That classification would allow economically depressed sections of town to qualify for extra industrial and other incentives. Being designated an urban progress zone coincides with Mount Airy’s population now exceeding 10,000.

If the board of commissioners approves an application for urban progress zone certification in the aftermath of the public hearing, Mount Airy will join 17 other cities in the state which are eligible for enhanced economic-development incentives.

The area of Mount Airy that meets urban progress zone certification guidelines is bounded on the north by Pine Street, on the east by the Ararat River and on the west by Lovills Creek.

Urban progress zones are defined as areas with more than 20 percent of residents below the federal poverty level. Other conditions include a poverty level greater than that of North Carolina as a whole and a per capita income at least 10 percent below that of the state. A community also must have suffered major industrial layoffs in order to be classified as an urban progress zone.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.