Creedmoor To Request Loan

4A
THE BUTNER-CREEMOOR NEWS
EDITORIAL PAGE
THURSDAY
August 2, 2012
The Town of Butner is
urrently working on a
orthwhile project to
ncourage the state of
orth Carolina to turn
ver the site for the
ormer Umstead
orrectional Center to the
own of Butner.
The site which is
ocated in the middle of a
esidential community in
utner was never an ideal
lace for a low security
orrectional institution.
It had previously
erved as the North
arolina Center for the
lind.
The NC Department
f Corrections has
ndicated that because of
he expansion required to
pgrade the facility for
heir use they have little
nterest in taking on the
emodeling of the site for
correctional facility and
hey have little current
nterest in pursuing
eeping the location.
What the site does
eature is a gym and
ining space and parking
ot which could be a real
sset for the Butner
ommunity.
Such things as
dditional gym space for
he South Granville
thletic Association and
ossibly a separate site
for a senior center for
Butner are worthwhile
goals that the space could
be used for.
Unfortunately time is
of the essence because
since representative Jim
Crawford was not reelected
his influence with
the NC House of
representatives as
Appropriations Co-Chair
and his knowledge of the
legislative process will end
at the end of his term of
office.
Crawford is aware of
the proposal of the
location and has indicated
a willingness to help make
it a reality.
Recently Representative
Crawford
scheduled a meeting with
the NC Rural Center to
visit the Town of Butner
and tour the Umstead
Correctional Gymnasium
to see if the renovation of
this facility would fit into
any of their grant
categories. If eligible, the
Rural Center may provide
funding to install a new
HVAC system, roof repairs,
etc.
The wheels of state
government move slowly.
So if this opportunity is
not to be lost everyone will
have to move quickly.
Harry Coleman
Last week, the two
major party candidates
for governor made
Satements indicating
that they would have no
interest pursuing the
construction of a new,
deepwater port in
Brunswick County.
Lt. Gov. Walter
Dalton, the Democratic
nominee for governor,
noted that the project has
neither the support of the
state's congressional
delegation nor the North
Carolina General
Assembly.
He pointed out that
building a new port
would cost $5 billion to $6
billion, and that state
resources would be better
spent improving and
expanding the existing
ports at Morehead City
and Wilmington
The campaign of
Republican Pat McCrory,
the former mayor of
Charlotte, said that
McCrory had long
believed that the market
wouldn't support a new
deepwater port.
The McCrory camp
went on to point out that
Dalton had supported
feasibility studies of the
MCCRORY, DALTON
DISMISS DEEPWATER PORT
project
a n d
t h a t
the feasibility
of the
project
should
have
been
c o n -
sidered
before
Democratic
administrations
bought $30 million in land
along the Cape Fear
River.
McCrory is right on a
couple counts: The land
purchase, which occurred
during the administration
of Gov. Mike Easley, never
should have been
undertaken without more
careful consideration; a
deepwater port in North
Carolina always would
have struggled to catch up
with ports in Norfolk and
Charleston.
It's no coincidence
that both gubernatorial
candidates weighed in on
the issue when they did.
Their comments came
as the Obama administration
announced
that it would speed up
A V IEW
F ROM
R ALEIGH
By Scott
Mooneyham
permitting
reviews so
that a
project to
deepen
the port at
Charleston
c o u l d
move a-
head more
quickly.
( J u s t
t h i n k
what the administration
might have done if the
president didn't love overregulating
commerce.
Maybe call in David
Copperfield and have him
magically make the river
bottom five feet deeper?)
What the announcement
makes clear is that
it was even more unlikely
that a deepwater port in
Brunswick County would
ever be able to Compete
with that of our southern
neighbor.
As I've pointed out
before, to make a
Brunswick County deepwater
port competitive
wouldn't have only
required money to build
the port. It also would
have required that
billions of tax dollars to be
invested In interstate-
inducements or investments
to bring more than
one railroad to the port
might also need to be part
And it is hardly as if
we live in some time of
collections come in well
ahead of projections and
public schools and other
state-funded endeavors
have so much money that
they can't conceive of how
McCrory says that, as
together market-based
strategies for the existing
Dalton says that he
would he would expand
exports by focusing on
niche markets, agribusiness
and the military.
What both should also
recognize is that just
in North Carolina doesn't
mean that this state can't
position itself to take
advantage of increased
commerce that could flow
there and then onto
highways that run into
That is the nature of
quality roads. Tax
of the equation.
plenty, where tax
to spend it.
governor, he would put
ports.
because Charleston isn't
this state.
commerce. It moves.
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60 days.
❑ The Butner-Creedmoor News reserves the right to edit letters for grammar and
length and to edit or reject letters that are libelous or, in management’s opinion, of
questionable taste.
THE RALEIGH REPORT
T he governor
continues to gradually
sign new bills into law as
her Aug. 2 deadline for
action approaches. This
week she signed three
more bills into law and
only a handful remain for
her consideration.
The governor must
sign the remaining bills,
allow them to become law
without her signature or
veto them. If she vetoes
any bills, the General
Assembly could come
back to Raleigh to
consider whether to
override them.
Thank you for your
interest in the legislature
and state government,
and please let me know
if I can be of assistance
in some way.
New Laws
_ Gov. Perdue has
signed into law a
measure to allow
members of the military
and their spouses to
receive occupational
licenses in North
Carolina if they have
been permitted by the
military or in another
jurisdiction. The applicants
would have to meet
requirements that are
substantially equivalent
to or exceed North
Carolina’s
requirements
for licensure.
Each
occupational
licensing
board is
required to
implement
the new
statute
within one
year. (House Bill 799)
_ High school students
must complete a
cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR)
training course to
graduate beginning with
the graduating class of
2015. CPR training has
technically been required
for high school graduation
since 1997, but the
requirement has never
been enforced. North
Carolina is now one of five
states with such a
requirement. (House Bill
837)
_ The state will now
place defibrillators in all
buildings and facilities
that house state services
or agencies. The
American Heart
Association reports that
23 percent of all deaths in
North Carolina are
attributed to heart
disease and that as many
T HE
R ALEIGH
R EPORT
By Jim
Crawford
as 40,000
d e a t h s
nationwide
can be
prevented
through the
use of defibrillators.
The new law
(House Bill
914) also
calls for the
formation of a task force
to identify, pursue, and
win public and private
funding to pay for the
defibrillators and
employee training.
Tax-free weekend
The state’s annual sales
tax holiday will run from
Aug. 3-5. In an effort to
better help consumers
afford back-to-school
items for their children,
shoppers on this weekend
will not have to pay the
sales tax on clothing,
school supplies and
computers. The sales tax
holiday was created by
the General Assembly in
2001 and went into effect
on January 1, 2002.
During the sales tax
holiday, consumers will
not pay sales tax on
clothing, footwear, and
school supplies of $100 or
less per item; school
instructional materials of
$300 or less per item;
sports and recreation
equipment of $50 or less
per item, computers of
$3,500 or less per item;
and computer supplies of
$250 or less per item. For
more information on the
sales tax holiday,
including a list of exempt
items and answers to
frequently asked questions,
go to www..dor.
state.nc.us/taxes/sales/
salestax_holiday.html.
Resignation
Stephen LaRoque, the cochairman
of the House
Rules committee, has
resigned after being
indicted on eight federal
charges involving the
alleged misuse and
possible theft of money
from a federally funded
nonprofit agency he
operates. Rep. LaRoque, a
Republican, was serving
his third term in the
House of Representatives
representing Greene,
Lenoir and Wayne
counties. He was appointed
Rules chairman
by the Speaker of the
House in early 2011.