[0:00] for
[0:33] what we expect to be an amazing
[0:37] occasion this
[0:39] morning we've got some business to
[0:42] discuss related to incentive agreements
[0:44] related to the county and the town of
[0:46] Selma so with that I am going to uh turn
[0:50] it over to Chairman Lauder to see about
[0:53] an invocation thank you mayor mcau and
[0:55] thank you for hosting us today is always
[0:57] good to be in Selma and it seems like the more I'm in Selma the more
[1:02] special occasions we get to celebrate so
[1:03] I need to I need to come more um as is
[1:06] customary for the Commissioners we will
[1:08] open with the invocation and a pledge so
[1:11] if you would um and if you feel so LED
[1:13] please stand for the invocation I've
[1:15] called on commissioner Stevens to lead
[1:17] us in the in the
[1:21] invocation dear friends as We Gather
[1:23] today let us bow our heads in gratitude
[1:26] for the growth and opportunity that
[1:27] surrounds us may this event be blessed
[1:29] with with a spirit of progress unity and
[1:32] prosperity let our endeavors bear fruit
[1:34] and may our community continue to
[1:36] flourish in abundance under your grace
[1:38] amen amen and mayor per Tim Scarboro if
[1:43] you would lead us in the pledge of leg
[1:45] turn to the flag
[1:47] please I pledge alance to the flag of
[1:51] the United States of America and to the
[1:54] repu for which it stands one nation
[1:57] under God indivisible Li
[2:03] [Music]
[2:10] Justice all
[2:14] right and with that I'm going to call
[2:18] the town of Selma special meeting to
[2:22] order and I will call the meeting of the
[2:25] Johnson County Commissioners to order as
[2:27] well
[2:28] [Music]
[2:31] if there are any opening remarks from
[2:33] the public uh we'll take that now take
[2:36] that time to receive opening
[2:42] remarks all
[2:44] right and and I will now open the public
[2:47] hearing and call on Chris Johnson to
[2:49] come forward and present a general
[2:52] summary of the
[2:58] project good good morning County and
[3:01] town of Selma leadership um allow me to
[3:04] First recognize the passing of your
[3:06] colleague my mentor my boss my friend
[3:10] and friend of many uh commissioner Tony
[3:14] brazwell um this is the first meeting
[3:16] that I've been able to
[3:18] publicly um pass my condolences along to
[3:21] the uh the board and also to his family
[3:24] I'll be ever grateful uh for his support
[3:27] of me and my role as the economic
[3:29] developer of Johnston County a job that
[3:31] I've loved since day one and that I
[3:33] continue to love today I'm confident
[3:36] that he's looking down from heaven with
[3:37] big grin on his face because of today's
[3:39] project before you he may or may not
[3:42] have his Bape pin I don't know if that's
[3:44] allowed in heaven or not but it be uh it
[3:47] wouldn't be with it wouldn't be him
[3:49] without that so um now last night I was
[3:52] typing out this
[3:54] presentation and uh but when I read my
[3:56] morning devotion I was hit with the
[3:58] verse of Ecclesiastes
[4:00] 52 do not be quick with your mouth do
[4:03] not be Hasty with your heart to utter
[4:05] anything before God God is in heaven and
[4:07] you are on earth so let your Words Be
[4:10] Few now being few
[4:13] uh I've just received a text about five
[4:17] or 10 minutes ago stating that uh our
[4:20] project team um went to the county
[4:23] courthouse and so that they were seven
[4:25] minutes away as of two minutes ago so
[4:27] they may be walking in so
[4:30] um I'll try to remain few but I may have
[4:33] to drag this out so if they they walk in
[4:37] understand that uh they're
[4:40] coming so at this time allow me to begin
[4:43] with a quick walk down memory lane
[4:47] Burlington Mills Phil Crest Mills
[4:50] channelm eatting Corporation Jared
[4:54] spinning devil dog Flextronics B&M
[4:58] Machining KR Edwards
[5:01] tobacco these are just a few companies
[5:03] that during the mid90s closed and
[5:06] relocated outside of the United States
[5:10] within a matter of three years the
[5:12] Smithville summer region and communities
[5:14] along the I95 Corridor lost over 6,000
[5:18] jobs when you add in data General and
[5:21] champion in Clayton this figure exceeds
[5:25] a thou a staggering 885 00 jobs during
[5:31] this time period now not only did we
[5:33] lose uh meaningful employment
[5:35] opportunities for our citizens but we
[5:37] also lost the important Executives that
[5:39] were community and Civic leaders leaders
[5:42] who supported organizations such as the
[5:43] quanas the rotary JC Lions Club Boy
[5:47] Scouts and the list goes on and on and if you consider the population of
[5:53] johnst County at this time this was
[5:55] nearly 10% of our population not our
[5:59] Workforce our
[6:01] population with the labor shed here in
[6:03] Johnston County that exceeds
[6:05] 115,000 today nearly 70% of our
[6:09] residents sadly have to get into their
[6:11] Automobiles and leave our community
[6:13] daily to find Quality
[6:15] Employment our office has always lived
[6:18] by The Motto that nothing empowers a
[6:20] person more than a good paying job with
[6:22] a living wage and is because of the
[6:24] leadership the vision and the
[6:26] collaboration our citizens will have
[6:28] that personal empowerment right here in
[6:30] Johnston County today you have the
[6:33] ability to change to to to change and
[6:36] make this happen to make generational
[6:39] changes for the lives of the citizens
[6:41] here in Selma in Johnston County it is
[6:44] Crystal Window and Door desire to
[6:47] invest and build and create a facility
[6:50] located in the town of Selma as with any
[6:53] economic development project it is
[6:55] always extremely competitive with
[6:57] potential sites and facilities and other
[6:59] counties and states in addition to the
[7:02] $96 million investment and I'll let you
[7:06] soak that in for a second a
[7:08] state-of-the-art facility that uh will
[7:11] be under the construction of Arco design
[7:13] build and Matt horses has Thomas chin
[7:17] with them in the call right now um the
[7:20] $96 million investment will be the
[7:23] largest in Selma's history to date
[7:25] crystals windows and doors will also
[7:27] create approximately 5 00 new jobs with
[7:30] an average salary of
[7:33] $56,000 this is in addition to
[7:35] incredible health coverage for their
[7:37] employees as I've mentioned before to
[7:40] the citizens that have contacted the
[7:42] office and asked about incentives I
[7:44] would like to reiterate to everyone here
[7:46] in attendance and turning and tuning in
[7:48] on the web that any Economic Development
[7:51] incentive offer comes with no Financial
[7:53] Risk to the taxpayers these incentives
[7:56] only come from the company's investment
[7:59] this this grant equates to a percentage
[8:01] of the tax taxes Crystal windows will
[8:03] pay on the personal property portion of
[8:07] the 96 million investment if the
[8:10] required benchmarks set forth in the
[8:12] agreement are not met no incentive again this comes at no Financial Risk to
[8:18] the taxpayers and citizens of Selma or
[8:21] Johnston County the return on investment
[8:24] isn't unbelievable when you put the
[8:26] agreement in perspective during the
[8:28] grant period the town of s is projected
[8:30] to receive and add to their tax base
[8:32] over
[8:34] $729,000 for the town during the grant
[8:36] period after the grant period is
[8:38] complete the facility become will become
[8:40] the largest taxpayer for the town for
[8:43] Johnston County it will receive an add
[8:45] over 838 th000 during this time as well
[8:48] again new investment no risk as all in
[8:52] uh economic develop incentive grants
[8:54] project clear has been vetted and
[8:56] approved by the Johnston County Economic
[8:58] Development board many of them in here
[9:00] today A board that consists of 14
[9:03] business Civic and Community leaders
[9:05] that represents every municipality in
[9:07] Johnston County as customary the project
[9:10] and investment projections have also
[9:12] been evaluated by the by Dr Mike Walden
[9:15] retired professor and Economist for
[9:17] North Carolina State University his
[9:20] reports show that the monetary
[9:21] investment as well as the jobs and
[9:24] ancillary job growth is projected to be
[9:26] in the millions annually for the county
[9:28] and our communities
[9:30] as Jennifer Slusher our County attorney
[9:32] will cover the project checks all the
[9:34] four legal statutory box with regards to
[9:37] offering an economic development
[9:38] incentive one does it meet the job
[9:41] creation requirement 500 jobs with an
[9:44] average salary of 56,000 is well above
[9:47] the county average this is more than
[9:50] double for the town of
[9:53] Selma does it meet the investment
[9:56] threshold yes $96 million exceeds the
[10:00] County's policy of 5 million does it
[10:02] meet the competition with other
[10:04] locations crystals windows and doors
[10:07] footprint stretches across the US and
[10:09] was considering investing in other areas
[10:11] of the US and in North Carolina and does
[10:15] the project meet the diversification
[10:17] requirement again with a loss of over
[10:19] 6,000 textiles manufacturing jobs in the
[10:22] early 90s the Smithfield Selma region
[10:25] has long been lacking in
[10:27] manufacturing we resp so the answer to
[10:30] all these questions is an undeniable yes
[10:34] and we respectfully ask that the County
[10:35] Commissioners in the town of Selma
[10:37] consider the economic development Grant
[10:39] presented before you and be awarded to
[10:41] Crystal windows and doors again crystal
[10:44] is only eligible after the project is
[10:46] completed and the requirements set forth
[10:49] in the agreement are met economic
[10:51] development is a team sport and I'd like
[10:53] to be and I'd be remissed if I didn't
[10:56] recognize several individuals and
[10:58] companies that assisted the county and
[11:01] the town for this opportunity now I know
[11:03] I can get in trouble when you start
[11:05] naming names because I am confident that
[11:07] I will miss someone and if I do please
[11:10] accept my apology but the staff would
[11:13] first of all like to thank the edpnc
[11:16] staff I saw Austin uh Rouse earlier uh
[11:19] Miss Ellen Tai who's no longer with EDM
[11:21] PNC kind of started this project a year
[11:23] and a half ago I saw Mr Andrew Tate in
[11:27] attendance but also like to thank Mr
[11:29] Phillips a dear friend of mine from the
[11:31] northeastern part of North Carolina who
[11:32] assisted us with the Carolina investment
[11:35] uh Grant fund we'd also like to thank
[11:37] the North Carolina railroad for their
[11:39] site ready grant that was offered uh a
[11:42] year or so ago for this also NC doot
[11:46] rail for the rail spur and finally would
[11:49] like to thank Senator bonari and
[11:51] representative Strickland as well as our
[11:53] general assembly delegation for their
[11:55] Appropriations to the town of Selma that
[11:58] will assist in the rail SP rail spur
[12:00] design and construction I'm sure there
[12:03] are others but I want to be mindful of
[12:05] my devotional message this morning to
[12:08] Let My Words Be Few so at this time I'd
[12:11] like to call on Miss Jennifer Slusher to
[12:12] present you with the legal language as
[12:15] well as attorney town uh Town attorney
[12:17] chip hwit to discuss the project summary
[12:20] and answer any questions I'll then step
[12:22] back to introd introduce Mr Thomas chin
[12:26] with Crystal windows and doors invite
[12:27] him to make a few comments and I hope
[12:29] he's he's here there there is okay stay
[12:32] I'll call on you in a minute Mr Chan
[12:33] thank you very
[12:43] much good morning Mr chairman Mr Mayor
[12:47] and members of the board I appreciate
[12:49] the opportunity to be able to present to
[12:52] you uh the resolution for Johnston
[12:54] County for a proposed Economic
[12:56] Development incentive Grant agreement uh
[12:58] for the project proposed by Crystal
[13:01] Window and Door Systems as described by
[13:04] Mr Johnson uh prior to get getting into
[13:07] all the details of the documents I want
[13:10] to take you uh through and refresh your
[13:13] recollection about what you're required
[13:15] to review and consider um when making
[13:18] your determination as Chris mentioned
[13:20] there are some things that you need to
[13:22] think about number one job creation
[13:25] number two capital investment number
[13:28] three competition ition and number four
[13:30] diversification of the economy so
[13:33] keeping all of those factors in mind I'd
[13:35] like to review the framework of the
[13:37] proposed um incentive agreement with
[13:40] Crystal Window and Door Systems uh this
[13:43] incentive Grant as proposed is based
[13:45] solely on investments for business
[13:47] personal property um it does not include
[13:50] real estate Investments and while the
[13:52] total uh proposed investment is
[13:55] estimated to be in excess of $96 million
[13:58] the the incentive Grant agreement
[14:00] requires performance commitments based
[14:02] on business personal property
[14:03] Investments only which is estimated to
[14:05] be$ 57
[14:07] million in order to receive the proposed
[14:10] incentives the company is required to
[14:11] locate the facility in the Eastfield
[14:14] development make Capital Investments of
[14:17] business personal property in an amount
[14:19] not less than 57 uh million do and
[14:22] manufacture and distribute the aluminum
[14:25] and vinyl window and doors uh that that
[14:27] we've talked about and while it's
[14:30] anticipated that the employment for this
[14:33] project will create 500 jobs the minimum
[14:36] required employment is 206 permanent
[14:39] full-time jobs and the the reason for
[14:42] that number is because we want that job
[14:44] creation early and that commitment is
[14:47] within uh is by December
[14:49] 2025 um they will continue to scale
[14:53] throughout the project and and build
[14:54] jobs uh throughout the project um these
[14:58] positions are well well paid positions
[15:00] and the average salary is not less than
[15:03] $56,000 um like I like I just mentioned
[15:07] um like all Industrial Development
[15:10] projects that we deal with the capital
[15:12] Investments and the additions to the
[15:14] employment are going to be made over a
[15:15] period of time the capital investment
[15:18] estimated date of completion is December
[15:21] 2027 and the minimum job creation as I
[15:24] mentioned is December
[15:26] 2025 uh the incentive proposal is a cash
[15:29] grant that is made in seven annual
[15:32] payments and those payments are
[15:33] anticipated to uh begin in 20128 and
[15:38] they will continue until
[15:40] 2023 and they're Quantified and measured
[15:42] based upon the ADV valorum taxes uh that
[15:45] are actually paid and in this case it's
[15:48] around uh it's 70% and we have estimated
[15:51] that for the county um that that uh that
[15:55] annual payment will be around $279,000
[15:59] per year um if incentives are granted to
[16:02] Crystal Window and Door Center um
[16:04] systems they must provide a
[16:06] certification of those Investments uh to
[16:08] confirm that uh that everything that was
[16:11] committed to be done was done and as
[16:14] Chris mentioned the company does not
[16:15] receive any incentives until the
[16:17] investment and employment commitments
[16:19] are met uh Grant payments are
[16:21] conditioned upon performance of the
[16:23] company and there are additional
[16:26] conditions that are contained uh in the
[16:28] proposed agreement which is uh one that
[16:30] all ADV valorum tax payments must be
[16:33] made in full uh they must be current on
[16:36] all payments owed to the county uh they
[16:38] must be current on filing all of their
[16:41] uh tax listings have no current appeals
[16:44] with the property tax commission uh
[16:46] regarding the valuation of the project
[16:48] site and its equipment and have no
[16:51] violation other uh or other obligations
[16:54] um to the county um there's also
[16:57] recapture provisions within the
[16:59] agreement if Crystal Window and Door
[17:01] Systems does not carry out and maintain
[17:03] uh the terms of the
[17:05] agreement and finally considering the
[17:08] proposals for the incentives that have
[17:09] been PR presented uh let's talk about
[17:12] the framework of the uh proposed
[17:14] agreement with what you're required to
[17:16] consider uh prior to deciding how you'd
[17:19] like to proceed uh with regards to the
[17:22] job creation piece uh the project
[17:24] provides a creation of substantial
[17:26] number of permanent jobs uh in this case there are uh direct job creation of
[17:32] not less than 206 with an estimated of
[17:35] 500 jobs with the average salary of
[17:38] $556,000
[17:39] 61 uh we had an economic impact study
[17:42] done by Dr uh Mike Walden and that study
[17:46] said that the private sector direct and
[17:48] indirect impact um as a result of this
[17:51] investment is 920 jobs um and that's
[17:55] significant the capital investment you
[17:58] know you're supposed to look at how does
[18:00] it increase the tax base um and the
[18:03] required capital investment for this
[18:04] project is 57 million but when you add
[18:08] in those real estate Investments you're
[18:10] at $96 million and according to the
[18:13] Walden report uh the private sector
[18:16] annual operating impact taking into
[18:19] account all of the direct and indirect
[18:21] induced impacts from the development is
[18:23] estimated to be um in excess of 169
[18:29] million uh finally we look at the
[18:31] initial but for necess uh necessity
[18:34] determination and but for uh the
[18:37] incentives that are being offered by the
[18:39] county and the town today Crystal Window
[18:42] and Door Systems would not have chosen
[18:43] to locate in Johnston County we were
[18:46] competing with several locations for
[18:48] this project um there will be a written
[18:52] agreement that governs this
[18:54] implementation a draft of that agreement
[18:56] is attached to your resolution and and
[18:59] certainly this project meets the
[19:01] requirements of diversification of the
[19:03] economy because of the job creation and
[19:06] the increased tax base um there is a net
[19:09] public benefit that arises from these
[19:12] incentives um all of this is addressed
[19:14] in the Walden economic um impact
[19:17] analysis and simply put Crystal Window
[19:21] and Door Systems will be bring jobs and
[19:24] additional private sector impacts to the
[19:26] county to meet all of the requirements
[19:28] that are requ required under the statute
[19:30] uh the project and proposed incentives
[19:33] uh do meet all of the standards that
[19:35] you're required should you choose to
[19:37] approve it um and and you know we
[19:39] lawyers are not always great at keeping
[19:42] our words short and and small so I I
[19:45] know that that was a lot and Mr huitt
[19:48] sends his regrets today his his
[19:50] colleague Megan Clinton is here today on
[19:53] behalf the town of Selma
[20:11] good morning um I'm Megan on behalf of
[20:14] hu Law Group and as attorney slusser has
[20:17] put with the incentive agreement um the
[20:20] town of Selma's incentive agreement is
[20:22] in unison with the counties um so to not
[20:25] belabor the points that were already
[20:27] mentioned um is a tier three incentive
[20:30] for the town of Selma um but all of the
[20:33] main points Miss ler has already covered
[20:35] so if you have any questions just let us
[20:45] know at this time it's a great honor to
[20:48] introduce Mr Thomas chin uh the founder
[20:52] and chairman of uh Crystal ws and Mr
[20:55] Chin if you could step up to the podium
[21:06] good morning everyone and Mr Mayor and
[21:10] chairman and
[21:12] quiz uh I'm Thomas Chen from Crystal
[21:15] windows I come to America I'm from
[21:18] Taiwan come to America
[21:20] 1982 I st in Crystal into 1990 now we
[21:24] have uh fight location across the
[21:27] country and to come to North Carolina we
[21:30] did select many area at the end with F
[21:33] Json County and also segman City it's a
[21:36] best for us so we make decision right
[21:39] away we we have start to do that and
[21:43] thank you for everybody's help help
[21:47] and sorry I I have language bar only
[21:50] there bit inage but next time I know
[21:53] when I come to North Carolina I will
[21:55] Improvement my English so special is
[21:58] going to be my first teacher teacher me
[22:00] more English so Mr CH Mr CH so Mr CH Mr
[22:06] CH most of us are challenged with
[22:08] English as well so you're right at home
[22:10] oh okay thank
[22:12] you I do I know I have many teacher here
[22:14] too not not only only qu qu that number
[22:17] one all right
[22:21] okay and also
[22:23] s also thank you for give us many
[22:26] financial support and you investment
[22:29] will be pay back soon or we will work
[22:32] hard we will try hard to do as as more
[22:35] as we could all right so uh you know
[22:40] putting the package together we're
[22:43] looking forward to being in the part of
[22:45] s business
[22:47] community so thank you thank you for
[22:49] helping us thank you for let us have
[22:51] opportunity to do business with be
[22:54] C all right thank you
[23:07] all right uh I will ask the county
[23:09] commissioner any questions of Chris
[23:12] Jennifer Megan Mr
[23:16] Chin all right no questions from the the
[23:19] Commissioners and I will ask the S of
[23:21] Town Council any questions for those
[23:23] that have just spoken to us about this
[23:27] project all right thank you very
[23:30] much are there any citizens present that
[23:33] would like to comment as part of this
[23:36] incentive agreement
[23:40] meeting and I would do the same for the
[23:42] county commissioner's public hearing if
[23:43] there any uh public comments please step
[23:46] forward to the microphone and uh
[23:48] introduce yourself introduce name and
[23:49] address for the record please yes sir
[23:51] thank you uh Jeff Holt mayor of Pine
[23:54] Level address 507 West Pine Street and
[23:59] it's uh it's fortunate that I get to
[24:01] address both boards uh today because I
[24:04] have I have comments that I would like
[24:06] to direct to to both groups relative to
[24:09] uh to today's announcement um and I do
[24:11] wear both hats today I not only am I
[24:13] here representing the citizens of Pine
[24:15] Level and in my hometown uh I'm also a
[24:18] business owner here in Selma and also in
[24:20] the uh the etj area of Smithfield so um
[24:23] I'll I'll direct my uh my town related
[24:26] questions or not questions I'm not I'm
[24:28] not here to ask questions and expect
[24:30] answers but I will direct my comments
[24:32] first as it relates to the town of Pine
[24:34] Level and then I'll uh I'll segue into
[24:36] my uh my business my business points um
[24:41] I guess I'd say first of all that um
[24:43] having served as a town councilman and
[24:45] mayor in Pine Level for 30 years I don't
[24:49] know how many of you in here can raise
[24:50] your hand and say you served as an
[24:51] elective office for 30 years but I've
[24:53] lived in Pine Level for 60 years and and
[24:56] served as a as a servant there in Pine
[24:58] Level for 30 years and during all this
[25:01] time the area that we're talking about
[25:03] that is being uh proposed for
[25:04] development or will be developed being
[25:07] uh discussed today about these these
[25:08] economic incentive grants uh was in
[25:11] essence part of Pine
[25:13] Level when the uh General statutes the
[25:17] general assembly established zoning in
[25:18] North Carolina years ago and we towns
[25:20] and Johnson County participated and we
[25:22] identified our etj areas as one mile
[25:25] outside our town limits uh if there were
[25:28] areas or towns that budded like
[25:30] Smithfield and smma did like Pine Level
[25:33] and Salma did and you couldn't have an
[25:35] one mile to uh to to govern for lack of
[25:38] a better word we split the difference
[25:40] halfway um and the general assembly and
[25:44] their Infinite Wisdom chose not to
[25:47] establish that etj line as a a line in
[25:51] the sand for lack of a better
[25:53] description to protect one town from uh
[25:57] the development of other towns uh I
[25:59] don't want to use the word encroachment
[26:01] that sounds like an ugly word but uh but
[26:04] the etj as we all whether it be towns or
[26:07] counties establish our long range
[26:09] comprehensive land use plans we include
[26:12] the etj as part of our long range growth
[26:15] plans and we establish zoning
[26:17] jurisdictions and we target certain
[26:19] areas whether it be for agriculture or
[26:21] business or residential or industrial
[26:23] whatever the case may
[26:26] be in the last couple of years through
[26:29] the development of the Eastfield project
[26:32] and through the acquisition of of
[26:34] various
[26:35] properties the town of Selma City Limits
[26:39] has has grown
[26:41] contiguously contiguous being the key
[26:44] the general assembly General statutes
[26:46] 160d does not allow a town to Annex
[26:49] within anyone else's etj unless it is
[26:52] condous they they they can't satellite
[26:55] Annex a piece of property inside one
[26:57] Town's etj so so through various
[26:59] purchases and growths and whatever we
[27:02] now have a puzzle so to speak with dots
[27:05] connected now this piece of property
[27:08] we're talking about today uh there's one
[27:11] tract of land between it and our city
[27:14] limits one track and uh probably
[27:17] negotiations with those Property Owners
[27:19] to buy that so in in in the near future
[27:23] possibly the town of Selma and the town
[27:25] of pine will be separated by a city
[27:28] limit sign and not any type of extr
[27:31] territorial jurisdiction to give us any
[27:34] control um or management of development
[27:37] within that area which we've always had
[27:42] and
[27:43] that in my opinion is why I'm here to
[27:46] express the concerns of the 2600 folks
[27:50] that live in Pine Level thank goodness a
[27:51] bunch of us 2600 folks because now what
[27:55] used to be Pine Level is now
[27:57] sellman and that's okay because our
[28:00] legislature said as it is um but in an
[28:04] area that has been traditionally
[28:05] agriculture or traditionally single
[28:08] family
[28:09] homes um there are now counted this
[28:13] morning on my way to work almost 30
[28:16] residences in that area that are either
[28:20] adjoin some of this property at some
[28:22] point or a new road that is going to
[28:24] service this project is going to dump
[28:27] right into 7
[28:29] right in the middle of all these
[28:32] houses that possibly was not a concern
[28:36] of the town of Selma when they were
[28:38] considering approving its annexation
[28:42] request we were not our town was not
[28:45] involved in these negotiations when when
[28:48] annexation was applied for and
[28:50] considered um there are property owners
[28:53] that own property adjoining these
[28:55] recently annexed areas who tell me they
[28:58] never received any kind of notification
[29:01] that there was going to be uh a public
[29:02] hearing held just like today to discuss
[29:05] this um I had no idea this meeting was
[29:08] going on today until last Friday when
[29:11] thanks to uh the clerk to your board
[29:13] County Commissioners sent an invitation
[29:15] to to me as I'm assuming chairman Lauder
[29:17] she sent probably to all 11 Mayors
[29:20] because I think at your request we now
[29:22] receive um invitations or notifications
[29:26] of any County board meeting and also the
[29:28] agenda so that there is anything on on
[29:30] that agenda that we have an issue with
[29:32] uh we're we're invited to come and
[29:34] attend so anyway so in the 11th Hour you
[29:36] know I'm I'm I'm learning about this
[29:38] project
[29:39] so pulling my my my mayor's had off a
[29:42] little bit I I I have issues with that we weren't involved in this we
[29:47] weren't we weren't the good neighbors or
[29:49] weren't considered the good neighbors
[29:51] that I thought we were so that that's
[29:54] the issue that I present before your
[29:56] board for consideration um and
[29:59] again having sat where you're sitting
[30:02] for 30
[30:03] years I understand that the that the the
[30:06] ships left to Port okay it's sailing
[30:09] we're going forward this is a this is a
[30:11] tremendous investment by this company
[30:13] and and I appreciate their investment I
[30:15] appreciate the uh the choice that
[30:17] they've made to locate here in Johnston
[30:19] County thank you for that um but I think
[30:22] there should have been some
[30:23] collaboration there was certainly
[30:25] collaboration between the county and the
[30:27] town of Selma in these discussions and
[30:29] the
[30:30] developer and here we are you know in
[30:33] the dark but that's okay I understand
[30:35] that so now I'll put my my business hat
[30:39] on and I don't think I'm going to say
[30:41] anything that Mr Johnson has not heard
[30:43] before I don't think I'm going to say
[30:45] anything that Mr lauder's not heard
[30:46] before or or uh Mr mallis has not heard
[30:49] before or many of you other County
[30:51] Commissioners have ever been in a
[30:52] meeting with me when we talked about
[30:54] economic development in the county I'm not a big fan of this type of of
[30:59] incentive um I'm I'm I'm not a big fan
[31:02] of us calling it uh Economic Development
[31:05] incentive Grant the word Grant has been
[31:07] used half a dozen times this
[31:10] morning you've reduced the tax payment
[31:14] that this company has to pay to our
[31:16] County for seven years I understand you
[31:20] wouldn't get any of that if that company
[31:23] did not locate that I understand that
[31:26] but I also understand that today is a is
[31:28] a big day in the life of
[31:33] 462 air filter manufactures in Johnston
[31:36] County because Thursdays in my business
[31:38] is
[31:39] payday so my signature is going to be on
[31:42] 462 checks is handed out today at noon
[31:45] time and those 462 folks live here in
[31:48] this County and they'll deposit their
[31:50] checks they'll cash their checks they'll
[31:52] spend their money right here in Selma or
[31:55] Smithfield or Pine Level or throughout
[31:57] Johnston County County as will I'm sure
[32:00] the 206 that uh that this company has to
[32:04] uh has to meet new hires so I'm sure
[32:06] they'll spend their money here as
[32:09] well but the $57 million
[32:14] investment and the reduction in the
[32:17] taxes that they will pay our County for
[32:19] that investment over seven years is
[32:21] almost $2
[32:22] million and I can't help but wonder how
[32:25] many Deputy sheriffs that could pay for
[32:28] $2
[32:29] million how many uh teachers salaries
[32:32] could be affected if the county had that
[32:33] $2
[32:34] million Mr Hester I don't know how many
[32:37] employees you have that work for the
[32:38] county but I would think that the county
[32:39] is probably the largest employer in the
[32:41] county maybe how many employees you got
[32:45] 1,500 take $2 million and spread that
[32:48] out amongst 1500 people you know you're
[32:50] going through your budget process right
[32:52] now and all of our employees expect
[32:54] increases and raises and in different
[32:56] benefits and and and here's a company
[32:59] who is um basically is is exempt from paying the same 69 cents to the
[33:05] county per $100 valuation that I do and I have I have an issue with that and I felt that it was my obligation to
[33:12] come come and uh and express my concerns
[33:16] um the term Grant to me means hey here
[33:21] it is take it use it any way you want to
[33:25] but what this is it is a reduction in
[33:28] their taxes that they will pay to this
[33:30] County by
[33:32] 70% so here I am with three
[33:36] plants 460 employees in this
[33:39] County all of it invested out of my
[33:42] pocket and every one of those folks that
[33:44] gets a check today that money comes out
[33:47] of my back pocket for work that they've
[33:49] done and I appreciate them and I I let
[33:50] them know all the time I appreciate them
[33:52] but they may suffer as well because
[33:54] without that $2 million that this
[33:56] company's going to pump into your
[33:58] coffers then who picks up that
[34:01] slack the next
[34:04] company we get excited when we hear
[34:06] about new jobs and I and I apologize to
[34:08] whichever one of the ladies it was that
[34:10] came up and wanted to put a a job
[34:11] sticker on my on my jacket because I
[34:14] felt that might be kind of uh
[34:16] hypocritical I guess a little bit for me
[34:18] to come here and talk about that and
[34:19] stand up here waving my but jobs are
[34:21] very important to me cuz like any other
[34:25] employer in this County during the covid
[34:26] years I struggled with keeping my lines
[34:29] going and um and I think about this this
[34:33] incentive offering to this company and
[34:35] others that have come before it Amazon
[34:37] how excited we are that Amazon is here
[34:39] and just a few weeks ago we had a big
[34:41] ribbon cutting over in Smithfield about
[34:43] Amazon and that is an exciting time they
[34:45] may hire a thousand
[34:47] folks but I think Mr Johnson shared with
[34:51] us there's 10 what did you say Chris
[34:54] 130,000 or so you know employees uh in
[34:58] Johnston County and our unemployment
[35:00] rate is like
[35:02] 3.4% so most of them are working but
[35:05] unfortunately he says they're driving to
[35:07] Wake County every day half of them are I
[35:09] think 50 to 60% of them are going to to
[35:11] Wake County every day and I just have a
[35:14] hard time believing
[35:17] that all those folks that are driving to
[35:19] Wake County to work every day are going
[35:21] to stay and work in a Amazon warehouse
[35:24] in Smithville for 16 or 17 or 18 an hour
[35:29] they're not going to do it but you know
[35:32] who
[35:33] is the ones that are working in my
[35:35] warehouse for $15 or $16 an hour they'll
[35:39] drive across town for 50 cents or a
[35:43] dollar they're not going to drive to
[35:45] Raleigh for $18 an hour so that worries
[35:48] me and it should worry any other you
[35:49] know um business owner here in Johnson
[35:52] County that we are going to be competing
[35:54] for already as I said 3.4% is the only
[35:58] um unemployed folks in Johnson County
[36:00] right now where are we going to get our
[36:02] employees I think about this this East
[36:04] field the whole development in the
[36:06] retail part I understand that there's there aren't incentives that go
[36:10] along with that Chris your group is is
[36:12] for Industrial and Commercial and that
[36:14] kind of stuff you don't you don't really
[36:15] have um grants or incentives or plans
[36:18] for for retail um and there's going to
[36:20] be a tremendous investment and I thank
[36:22] this group for your investment in
[36:23] Johnston County as well you know for for
[36:25] that
[36:28] but I wonder how many of those 50 or 60
[36:30] or 70,000 folks that are driving to
[36:31] Raleigh every day to work are going to
[36:34] go over there and go to work at Target
[36:36] or Old Navy or whatever those other ones
[36:40] are that that are coming here that we're
[36:42] all so excited about you know you know
[36:44] where those folks are going to come from
[36:46] they're going to come from Walmart
[36:48] they're going to come from from uh from
[36:51] the Carina outlet center and those
[36:53] retailers over there they're going to
[36:54] come from the other re Belks they're
[36:56] going to come from the Dollar Tree now
[36:59] they may not drive Daley every day for
[37:01] those kind of wages but they'll
[37:03] certainly cross I95 for a different job
[37:06] so who are those people going to hire
[37:08] when their employees move across 95 to
[37:12] the east side to take a job there so
[37:15] anyway I'm rambling I appreciate your
[37:17] time and um
[37:19] hey God bless
[37:22] you thank you mayor
[37:25] H anyone else
[37:31] all right then I will ask Madam cler do
[37:32] we have
[37:33] any like me getting signals from the
[37:36] guys in the back uh any emails okay no
[37:40] emails on to the
[37:44] Commissioners did we have any emails
[37:46] that came in as part of this public
[37:49] hearing
[37:51] thank all
[37:54] right I'm going to ask one more time
[37:57] anybody like to make comment as part of
[37:59] this public
[38:03] hearing I do have a comment to add to
[38:06] the record uh as part of this public
[38:09] hearing yesterday we celebrated Selma's
[38:13] birthday May 1st
[38:16] 1867 and we heard from two gentlemen Mr
[38:19] Alro gasal and Mr Nayak
[38:23] about a history here in Selma where we
[38:26] had grocery stores two
[38:30] theaters and textile mills all over the
[38:34] place and we had a population that was
[38:38] booming at the time compared to other
[38:40] communities and we had lots of
[38:44] opportunity I think getting back to our
[38:46] basic roots of what
[38:48] works is what we need to do and I think
[38:52] we've forgotten that every time I think
[38:54] it's obvious that we've forgotten that
[38:56] every time
[38:59] with jobs comes Prosperity with
[39:02] prosperity comes good times and with
[39:05] good times will come a booming Selma a
[39:08] booming Johnson County a booming North
[39:11] Carolina and a booming United States of
[39:17] America with that I'll entertain a
[39:19] motion to go ahead and close out any
[39:22] comments as public hearing to make sure
[39:24] that we're good with
[39:25] that so
[39:28] all those in favor from the Town Council
[39:30] I our public hearing is
[39:33] done all right and I now will close the
[39:36] uh County's Public
[39:44] hearing are there any final comments
[39:47] questions that the Selma Town Council
[39:49] would like to make outside of public
[39:53] hearing all right now we'll turn it over
[39:55] to the Commissioners any any
[40:04] comments well I uh from the Selma Town
[40:07] Council am going to ask for a motion to
[40:10] adopt this resolution that we have
[40:12] before us authorizing the economic
[40:15] development incentive for project
[40:17] clear
[40:19] soov
[40:20] second any
[40:23] discussion all those in favor I we have
[40:26] ourselves a resolution and Adoption of
[40:28] thank you very much all right I I'll ask
[40:31] the Commissioners the same thing any any
[40:33] final discussion or a motion to approve
[40:35] the resolution authorizing economic
[40:37] development for project clear Mr
[40:39] chairman I think uh I think the mayor
[40:42] final level's comments were well thought
[40:44] out and I understand where he's coming
[40:46] from I guess though if if I were a for
[40:49] dealership in this count
[40:52] Town everybody if if everybody would
[40:55] welcome a new Chevrolet dealership
[40:56] coming town except me so I understand
[40:59] the competitive nature of that and and
[41:02] sometimes there's no perfect answer but
[41:04] I live in Selma etj and uh Selma is
[41:08] close to my heart and I think this
[41:09] project in the long run all things
[41:12] considered will be very good for the
[41:13] county and very good for the town so I
[41:15] moved to adopt the resolution
[41:16] authorizing economic development project
[41:20] clear I have a second second all right
[41:24] we have a motion in a second all those
[41:26] in favor please say I I I any opposed
[41:30] the resolution is
[41:32] adopted all
[41:34] right you have any closing so I I I do
[41:36] have some closing comments uh typically
[41:39] uh I like I always like to talk about uh
[41:43] culture and opportunity and today I want
[41:45] to talk about Vision as well and I want
[41:48] to thank the folks at Adventure
[41:50] development for their vision for what
[41:52] was a a patch of space over there for
[41:54] developing Eastfield and all that is
[41:57] entailed I want to thank the town of
[41:59] Selma for their Vision uh that they have
[42:01] and where they're headed uh this board
[42:04] Chris Johnson and our economic
[42:06] development team uh thank you for your
[42:08] vision and and hard work there and for
[42:12] Mr Chin and Crystal uh windows and door
[42:15] systems thank you for looking at
[42:18] Johnston County which brings me to the
[42:19] opportunity uh we talked about job
[42:21] opportunities and you know for Selma the
[42:24] average income uh is about there less
[42:27] than half of what these these jobs will
[42:29] be paying so it's an opportunity I think
[42:31] Chris mentioned generational change so
[42:34] it's an opportunity for generational
[42:36] change for Johnston County Selma uh and
[42:41] even the surrounding areas so um I'm
[42:43] thankful for that the other piece I want
[42:46] to talk about is the culture and I I I
[42:49] know what we have in economic grants are
[42:53] uh enticing but if it was not for the
[42:56] people our Workforce that we have I I
[42:59] don't think that Mr Chin would be here
[43:01] if he didn't think the workforce was
[43:03] here so I want to say thank you to the
[43:06] people who are always the most important
[43:08] thing of what we all do up here is is
[43:11] take care of our residents in Selma and
[43:14] in Johnston County uh I do want to thank
[43:16] some people who are here um
[43:18] representative Larry Strickland I know
[43:20] you'd mention him but he's he's here so
[43:22] Larry thank you for coming and doing all
[43:23] you do and we do have a representative
[43:25] from Senator tillis's office office Trey
[43:27] Lewis who is here so Trey thank you uh
[43:30] for coming and represent I don't and I
[43:32] think mayor hold is left I don't know if
[43:33] I hate to say missed other folks but I
[43:36] do want to say we have the past chair
[43:38] and current chair of the economic
[43:40] development Advisory board so thank you
[43:42] guys uh and if you would thank the
[43:44] others on the board there for for all
[43:46] that you guys do but I think I think
[43:49] with that I one more I as I talk
[43:51] Workforce I can't talk Workforce without
[43:54] uh talking about Johnson Community
[43:55] College and I think uh I don't see Dr
[43:57] linquist he must have had to to leave
[43:59] but I do want to thank Dr linquist and
[44:01] for what they do uh at Johnson Community
[44:03] College For Preparing our Workforce so
[44:06] that is uh all I have to say Mr Mayor
[44:09] I'll turn it back over to you I
[44:10] appreciate it um all those folks that
[44:13] chairman Lauder just thank exact same
[44:15] here I got to particularly give a shout
[44:17] out to Adventure development Kevin docky
[44:20] Mark McDonald Mark you can call me at
[44:22] 5:30 a.m. anytime you know it thank you
[44:25] and particularly Chris Johnson a rock
[44:28] star in this County so if uh Chris calls
[44:31] me and says I need you to be somewhere
[44:32] the response is what time and what color
[44:34] do you want my tie to be thank you um
[44:38] and again all the folks that have come
[44:41] together to make what is happening in
[44:44] Selma and Johnson County happen let's
[44:47] keep rocking um Crystal selection
[44:51] demonstrates that sound economic
[44:54] fundamentals are Selma's secret sauce
[44:57] when it comes to job creation and
[45:00] prosperity the council welcomes this
[45:03] growing company and salutes the success
[45:05] that has led to this exciting expansion
[45:10] into our community thank
[45:13] you all right do you want to I'll look for guidance on this so we have a
[45:19] couple of things to present you want to
[45:20] do that now you want to do it right
[45:21] after we
[45:22] adjourn okay we'll do that so I I will
[45:24] look to this side of the table and ask
[45:26] for a motion uh to adjourn we adjourn
[45:29] all right we have a motion I'll take
[45:30] commissioner Smith as the second layer
[45:33] um all those in favor please say I I we
[45:36] are I'm going to look this way and look
[45:38] for a motion to
[45:40] adjourn second all those in favor we're
[45:43] good to
[45:45] go all
[45:47] [Applause]
[45:55] right e