Up & Coming Weekly

July 31, 2018

Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.

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4 UCW AUGUST 1-7, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER'S PEN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ EDITOR Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Leslie Pyo leslie@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. EarlUCWSports@gmail.com REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Long art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Jason Brady, Lauren Vanderveen, Matthew Skipper, Shane Wilson SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly wel- comes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. ©2018 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. e commissioners of the town of Hope Mills had a meltdown at their regularly scheduled meeting July 23. Had you been in attendance, you would likely agree that the Hope Mills community has outgrown its elected officials, with only Mayor Jackie Warner and Commissioner Pat Edwards remaining the sole sources of sensibility, common courtesy, integrity and leadership. Together, these two women make serving the residents Hope Mills and looking out for the long-term future of the town their high- est priority. For this, we are grateful. After that July 23 meeting and the con- troversy swirling around the Lone Survi- vor Foundation situation, the remaining commissioners – Jesse Bellflowers, Meg Larson, Mike Mitchell and Jerry Legge – are engulfed in a nonproductive quag- mire of trite and tacky accusations, petty jealousies, child-like grudges and chronic miscommunications and misinformation. What makes this situ- ation such an atrocity is that, except for the ongoing deceit, misdirection and rampant pettiness of these elected officials, there is no downside to the LSF proj- ect. It's ALL good. However, that is contrary to what Lisa Carter Waring, Meg Larson and others are disseminat- ing on the private Hope Mills Chatter Facebook page. In the spirit of being fair and balanced, here are some facts about the LSF project and the political meltdown as it exists today. I welcome all challenges or debate concerning the information below. FACT: e LSF expressed interest and remains interested in the construc- tion of an approximately 10,000-square-foot facility in Cumberland County, preferably in Hope Mills, for conducting therapeutic and wellness retreats for active-duty mili- tary service members, veterans, and their families dealing with post-traumatic stress, mild traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, chronic pain and related invisible wounds of war. Cumberland County was selected because of the demographics of previous LSF retreat attendees and for its proximity to Fort Bragg. Twenty-nine per- cent of the 2018 LSF attendees were from North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. FACT: e LSF did its initial due dili- gence on the Cumberland County location and found that residents, businesses and organizations were wholeheartedly behind the foundation locating the retreat facility here. Despite this growing support, finding the right location for the retreat proved challenging. e initial site in Linden had soil percolation issues and was deeded back to the original owners. FACT: e Fayetteville-Cumberland County Economic Development Corpora- tion suggested the property in Hope Mills lo- cated at 4562 Calico Dr. is is the site of an old textile mill and dam referred to as Lake Bed #2. e property needed and requested was 19 acres out of about 67 acres of land – all owned by the town of Hope Mills. FACT: While only about 4 of the 19 acres are suitable for building – the rest being in a flood plain – the property meets all the needs and is perfect for the LSF retreat. FACT: e LSF followed proper protocol, working with the FCCEDC and its associ- ates, Andrew Pennink, Teddy Warner and Robert Van Geons, as well as the town of Hope Mills, including Town Man- ager Melissa Adams, Town Attorney Dan Hartzog Jr., Mayor Jackie Warner and the Hope Mills commissioners. Initially, when the FCCEDC brought the project to the Hope Mills commissioners in a closed session June 4, the commissioners were enthusiastically support- ive of the project. FACT: Unfortunately, within hours of the closed session, the information discussed in that session was leaked to Commis- sioner Meg Larson's former campaign man- ager, Lisa Carter Waring – who also manages the private Facebook page called Hope Mills Chat- ter. Waring also owns property that is adjacent to the land requested by the LSF. She immediately launched a campaign of misinformation that questioned the feasibility of the project. FACT: At the next closed session meeting, the commissioners unanimously rejected the entire LSF proposal and flatly turn down the project. Even the self-proclaimed grand- est veteran advocate, Commissioner Jesse Bellflowers, who professes an undying pa- triotic loyalty and dedication to all military veterans, couldn't muster up the intestinal fortitude for a logical defense for the LSF or his military veteran brethren. FACT: e commissioners did not notify the LSF of their decision until weeks later. At the July 23 town meeting, which the LSF attended, when asked why the project was rejected, the commissioners scrambled to find logical explanations. All their reasoning was baseless. at said, Bellflowers said the process was done "back ass wards." It was not. FACT: All the proper policies and procedures were followed. Commis- sioner Mitchell surprisingly suggested that because Teddy Warner, Mayor Warner's son, works for the FCCEDC, there may be a conflict of interest and further insinuated that he and the mayor may have some side deal going on from which they would both personally benefit. Larson's comments and objections were all over the place. She obviously resents the mayor and doesn't want to see her ac- complish or get credit for anything. As for Legge's conduct, he was pretty passive. He seemed distant from the controversy, as if he didn't know what was going on. And who can blame him? ere has been so much bad information, misdi- rection and misrepresentation put forth by the commissioners and Hope Mills Chatter Facebook page that the average Hope Mills citizen has no way of understanding or finding out the facts about important Hope Mills issues like this – issues that affect their future way of life and quality of life. FACT: e commissioners all concurred that the town meeting of July 23 "spiraled out of control." ey may have, but the citizens in attendance did not. I was there. What I saw was a room packed with their constituents – more than 75 enthusiastic and passionate Hope Mills citizens made up of active duty military, veterans, support organizations as well as friends and family – all in support of Hope Mills, our war vet- erans and the mission of the LSF. Yes, they were passionate. Yes, they were sometimes loud. Yes, they cheered and applauded fre- quently whenever something positive was stated about the LSF project. ey came en masse because they wanted to be heard. FACT: Teddy Warner did not solicit or invite the LSF to Hope Mills. He works for the FCCEDC, which was assisting the LSF in finding a suitable site for their center. WHY? Because the FCCEDC knows it would be a good fit for Cumberland Coun- ty to have the LSF locate here. It would enhance the overall profile of the county. Teddy works specifically for FCCEDC President Robert Van Geons. Pennink, also an advocate of the project, is the chairman of the board of FCCEDC. All were involved in bringing the LSF project to Hope Mills. For anyone to even think there was some sort of "inside conspiracy" going on only acknowledges and confirms their lack of knowledge and understanding of how economic development occurs. FACT: All standard operating proce- dures were properly followed by everyone involved. e first closed session was initi- ated by the FCCEDC and was information- al, with a presentation from LSF Executive Director Terry Jung. No proposal (continued on page 15) Hope Mills commissioners reject veterans retreat center by BILL BOWMAN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomingweekly.com. 910- 484-6200. FACT: The Lone Survivor Foundation expressed interest and remains interested in the construction of a facility in Cumberland County, preferably in Hope Mills, for conducting therapeutic and wellness retreats for active-duty military service members, military veterans and their families.

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