Cumberland County commissioners disagree on lease agreements for center, parking lot
Two lease agreements with the county led to a lack of consensus among the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners on Monday.
One was for the county to renew the lease of its property on Cedar Creek Road with Vision Resource Center for $2,400 per year for three years.
Commissioner Jimmy Keefe said he wasn’t supportive of this lease since the current building is at “the front gate” of the industrial park. “This is not the best use of property,” he said. “We’re losing money on the rent.”
He added that the building was far from downtown and public transportation. He said he would be supportive of leasing a building to the vision center closer to the bus route.
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Commissioner Toni Stewart said she had an issue with moving the center that was already established. “They don’t have a problem with being out there, so I don’t know why we would have a problem,” she said.
Chairman Glenn Adams added that the vision center recently had a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new reading service program.
Commissioner Jeannette Council said that the center, which has a van for transportation, doesn’t consider its location too far. “I think that came from us,” she said. “But don’t put that on the organization.”
Commissioner Charles Evans said this was “a good time” to discuss county-wide transportation. He asked for it to be put on the agenda of a future meeting.
Stewart agreed. “If it’s a transportation issue, then deal with the transportation issue,” she said. “But to uproot them when you placed them there, I don’t understand that.”
Commissioners Adams, Michael Boose, Council, Evans, Larry Lancaster and Stewart supported, while Keefe opposed. The county will host a public hearing on the lease agreement in June.
Another contract was for the county to renew its lease of a parking lot from the First Presbyterian Church for $21,000 per year for five years. The parking lot provides additional parking spaces for courthouse overflow.
Keefe wasn’t supportive of this contract because he said he didn’t see the need. “The county has the only non-paid parking in downtown, and now we have two [lots],” he said.
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Adams noted that many cities require paid parking. “For us to pay for somebody to let us park didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me,” he said.
Commissioners Adams, Boose, Council, Lancaster and Stewart supported the lease agreement, while commissioners Evans and Keefe opposed. Evans did not explain his opposition.
Earlier in the meeting, the board unanimously approved with no discussion leasing property to Service Source Employment Services for $1 per year.
Few bidders
In addition, the board unanimously accepted a bid from a Fayetteville company to replace a boiler at the courthouse.
The only bid came at $284,000 from Haire Plumbing and Mechanical Company. Ivey Mechnical, Mechnical Maintenance and Smith’s Refrigeration did not respond to requests for bids, according to county documents.
Keefe was concerned. He said he was seeing a pattern of low responses on requests for bids.
“We really don’t know if we’re getting a fair price because it’s the only bid,” Keefe said.
Jermaine Walker, director of engineering and infrastructure, said he had noticed the same pattern. “Certain contractors don’t believe they’ll be able to get the materials in time,” he said.
Walker added that the county had budgeted more for the boiler than the bid’s projected cost from Haire. “If we don’t get this contract executed quickly, the price will go up $10,000,” he said.
The county commissioners unanimously accepted the bid and directed the county staff to draft a contract.
In other news from the meeting, the board:
Raised the sewer rate in Overhills Park for connected customers by $2 per month and for non-connected customers by $1 per month (effective July 1)
Raised the sewer rate in Norcess by $11.58 per month for flat rates, along with an increased $3.50 operation fee for residential and $5.50 operation fee for commercial
Added an industrial sewer and operation rate in Norcess for $14 per thousand gallons
Recognized six individuals and two organizations who received the governor’s volunteer service awards for 2022.
Reporter Ivey Schofield can be reached at ischofield@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Cumberland County commissioners disagree on lease agreements
