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.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1105531
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM APRIL 17-23, 2019 UCW 11 Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin doesn't like the way city administra- tion decided to include $8 million of projects in a proposed limited obliga- tion bond issue. Council members D.J. Haire and Larry Wright also op- posed asking North Carolina's Local Government Commission to approve the $8 million in bonds. City administration proposes that the funds be used to cover $1.5 mil- lion for PCH Holdings' additional construction costs for the new Hay Street parking garage, plus $2.5 mil- lion in cost overruns associated with the baseball stadium. e proposal also includes $2.8 million for the new Lake Rim aquatic center. City Council informally agreed to the project April 8. e official vote on the bond is scheduled following a public hearing on May 13. Approval by the local government commission would not require the city to fund the projects. It would authorize officials to do so if approved at a later date. e $1.5 million that PCH Holdings has asked the city for would be in addition to $14.8 million the city has already borrowed for construction of the five-story parking deck on Hay Street. e parking deck will not be for general public use but will serve the private firm's seven-story office building and separate hotel building, which will be built atop the garage. General contractor Barton Malow submitted $2.58 million in cost over- runs resulting from rising costs of construction materials for the new Segra Stadium. Colvin said it was premature to be approving bonds when the city has not begun negotiating with the parking deck developer about its $1.5 million request. "I don't think it's responsible to prepare to bor- row money that you have no plans to (borrow)," he said. "I'm a little squeamish to go that route," Colvin said in a dinner meeting before the regular council session. Colvin added that approving the resolution to ask the local govern- ment commission to approve the bond spending "makes it tougher to explore other options or negotiate." Councilmen Jim Arp and Bill Crisp said during the dinner meeting that they would prefer the city find a different way to pay for the aquatic center without financing it. Crisp pointed out that the city included funds for the Westover pool in its regular budget a few years ago. Other city fathers noted the city has $1.9 million in funds that weren't spent on other projects that could be used for the Lake Rim pools. e city's senior management team came up with the idea of the limited obligation bond project without the knowledge of council members who less than a week earlier agreed to negotiate the increased cost of the parking deck. Parking garage spending part of bond issue by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS A limited obligation bond issue proposed by city administration includes allocat- ing $1.5 million to cover additional costs for the new Hay Street parking garage. TOURISM MEANS BUSINESS AT ALL LEVELS National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW), which takes place next week from May 5-11, is an annual tradition for the United States travel community. NTTW was established by a congressional resolu- tion in 1983 and first observed in 1984. Its when travel and tourism professionals across the country unite to celebrate the value of travel for our economy, businesses and personal well-being. UNITED STATES Nationwide, direct economic output generated by domestic and in- ternational visitors is $2.5 trillion annually and the industry supports 15.7 million jobs. Travel is the 7th largest US employer in the private sector. NORTH CAROLINA In North Carolina, the value of travel and tourism to the state's economy continues to grow. In 2017, visitors to North Carolina generated an economic output of $23.9 billion. More than 225,170 North Carolinians are employed in the travel and tourism industry. CUMBERLAND COUNTY In 2017, domestic travel to Cumberland County produced $542.31 million in direct expenditures which generated $40.83 million in state and local tax revenues. This represents a tax savings of $123.87 for each resident. Taxes collected from travel to Cumberland County represents a $123.87 tax savings to each resident ! The Fayetteville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (FACVB) works to maximize the economic impact from travel to Cumberland County. The FACVB is funded through occupancy tax collections, collected from overnight visitors at Cumberland County hotels and adminis- tered by the Tourism Development Authority. National Travel & Tourism Week, is organized by the United States Travel Association. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Melody Foote Director of Communications Fayetteville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau B U L L E T I N Download a mobile app for exploring Cumberland County.