It sounds like a local business will get some help with an expansion after county leaders approved application for a grant.
The Burke County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to take on administration of a $200,000 building reuse grant for Project Piano, the codename officials are using to refer to the business until a formal announcement is made at a later date.
Administration of the grant, if it’s awarded, would comprise the 5% local match required by the grant program.
Details about the business are limited, but Alan Wood, president and CEO of Burke Development Inc., said the business is only in the county’s jurisdiction. He said it’s a company that’s looking to grow its operation, and it’s been working toward this for about two years.
“This is truly a building that I really thought we’d never get reoccupied,” Wood said. “It is the perfect reuse project, and it will help our tax base immensely when they finish their repair work on this site.”
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The expansion is expected to create 25 new jobs with an average annual salary of $54,000, Wood said. He expected most of the grant money to go toward replacing the roof on the building where they will be expanding.
“I think it’s a good project, and it just gives us another opportunity to help business continue to grow in Burke County,” Wood said.
In other business, for residents in the eastern end of the county, a new convenience site will be on its way soon after commissioners awarded a contract for the site’s construction at the Tuesday night meeting.
Hickory-based Moss-Marlow Building Co. had the lowest responsive, responsible bid for the project, coming in with a bid of $1,221,000 to build the site. They added on a contingency of $296,000, appropriating a total of about $1.5 million for the project.
Once completed, the site will feature three compactors, two of which are intended for household waste and one meant for recyclables, said General Services Director Mark Delehant. Residents would no longer need to sort out their recyclables.
There’s also space available on the property to build a water and sewer office in the future, if the county so wishes, Delehant said.
Commissioner Johnnie Carswell said he believed the new convenience site would be one of the most modern convenience sites in western North Carolina. He also suspected there could be funding opportunities to help close the existing convenience site for that area on Rhodhiss Road.
Like Carswell, Commissioner Randy Burns said he felt the new convenience site was long overdue.
County commissioners also voted to accept a grant for the regional residential treatment facility they’re looking to create.
Dogwood Health Trust awarded a $275,000 opioid planning grant to the Burke County Health Department for staff, travel, meeting space rental, advertising, technology-related expenses and paper and copy supplies.
Also approved Tuesday night was the rezoning of about 2.92 acres of land on Hawksbill Drive off N.C. 126 near Lake James.
The property was part of a little more than 30 acres of land that was originally zoned general business and had been zoned that way for years, said Alan Glines, community development director for the county.
The property owner believed there was a potential for the newly rezoned portion of land to become residential, while the rest would remain general business. The property currently is undeveloped, and the planning board unanimously supported the rezoning.
Chrissy Murphy is a staff writer and can be reached at cmurphy@morganton.com or at 828-432-8941. Follow @cmurphyMNH on Twitter.