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 MARCH 14-20, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. 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 REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. 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. Cover art/Various ads with art graphics designed with various elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. The Fayetteville City Council voted 9-1 to approve $300,000 of city funds for the baseball stadium construction with the only holdout being District 2 Councilman Tyrone Williams. W hat is that all about? The Fayetteville Observer reported that Williams' rejec- tion was because of his concern over the costs. Few people are buying that explanation, and many are hoping he will provide a more detailed and justi- fied explanation in the ver y near future. After all, his District 2 includes the heart of downtown Fayetteville and is in the best position to benefit from the baseball stadium development project. A not her reason for disappointment in and skepticism of his vote is t hat t he baseball stadium is t he biggest econom- ic development opportunit y Fayettev ille has seen in decades. A nd, even t hough being f iscally responsible w it h ta xpay- ers' money is t he highest priorit y of ev- er y council member, t he people expect t he cit y council, including Williams, to k now and understand all t he short-term and long-term economic benef its and positive qualit y-of-life implications a project of t his magnitude w ill have on t he communit y. Here are my thoughts about this major undertaking and why nine out of 10 coun- cil members did support the additional $300,000 of city funding. The baseball stadium and the new de- velopment that will come to Fayetteville as a result will no doubt be a catalyst for future economic grow th. We already have indicators predicting that. This means Fayetteville and Cumberland Count y will be able to recruit new busi- nesses and industr y to the communit y. This means new job creation and the abilit y to expand our tax base beyond residential propert y owners. W hat's not to like about that? In addition, the new baseball sta- dium will be the home of the World Series Champions – the Houston Astros. Fayetteville will receive national expo- sure as the country focuses on the Astros' Minor League training and development of the superstars of tomorrow. All of this will be great for attracting new businesses and industry to Cumberland County. Fayetteville negotiated a $9 million, 30- year lease with the Astros. This is a long- term investment. Another unique and encouraging fea- ture of the baseball stadium project is that it comes with an immediate private com- mitment and investment of $65 million of new economic development, including renovation of the Prince Charles Hotel (again), a much-needed f lagship hotel that will be named very soon, a parking deck, residential condominiums and corporate office spaces. It's all part of the master plan with a projected $7.2 million in annual eco- nomic output. The annual labor income is projected $1.7 million with 1,086 full- time construction jobs just to build the stadium. In addition, we can expect new propert y tax revenue and increased sales tax revenues for both the cit y and count y. More hotel beds, more restaurants, more shopping and more visitors. If t hat's not enough, consider t his: No ta x rate adjustments are anticipated for t he stadium funding model. Lease pay ments prov ide 17 percent of t he fund- ing; park ing revenues are expected to prov ide 8 percent of t he funding; new development at t he Hay Street site estimates cit y and count y ta xes to prov ide 15 percent of funding; and t he sav- ings from a variet y of areas w it hin t he Gen- eral Fund are expected to prov ide 60 percent of t he required funding. I am not well-versed in all t he details of t he baseball stadium project. However, ever y t hing I men- tioned above prov ides national exposure and makes Fayettev ille and Cumberland Count y attractive to newcomers and new busi- ness and industr y. A ll of t his works in conjunction w it h t he prescribed cit y and count y mandates to help retain current business, increase Fayettev ille's civ ic and communit y pride and improve qualit y of life for our residents. I'm sure Councilman Williams of District 2 has a better understanding of t he stadium project t han I do. In t he big scheme of t hings, $300,000 sounds like a prett y good investment to me. I hope he comes around. We need leaders w it h v ision. This is no time to be on t he sidelines play ing it safe or being coy. This is t he future of our communit y. We need to move aggressively for ward w it h t he baseball stadium master plan and do it in a way t hat fosters inclusion, en- t husiasm, excitement and cooperation. In ot her words, it's time for us to "play ball," and we desperately need to w in t his game. For the Fayetteville/Cumberland Coun- ty community, this is our World Series. It's the last inning of the final game, the score is tied, the bases are loaded, and (your name here) is coming up to bat. Thank you for playing, I mean, thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Baseball stadium: Our community's grand slam by BILL BOWMAN The baseball stadium is the biggest economic development opportunity Fayetteville has seen in decades. We need to move aggressively forward and do it in a way that fosters inclusion, enthusiasm, excitement and cooperation.