Rocky Mount

TELEGRAM
100th Anniversary
INDEX
Classifeds.... 1-6E
Community... 1-3B
Crossword.......2D
Dear Abby........ 3E
Life.................1-4D
Nation............... 4B
Obituaries........6A
Opinion............4A
Sports...........1-6C
World............... 4B
Todays Headlines
Art by Tripp Tisdale,
Red Oak Elementary School
SuNNy ToDay
High, 89; low, 63.
2A
NaTIoN CommuNITy SporTS
Racing the
debt clock,
Congress is
working on
dual tracks
while Obama
appeals to
the public in
hopes of infuencing a deal.
4B
The Nash Health Care
Foundations second
annual Golf Classic
exceeded its fundraising
goal of $110,000 to
secure $122,620 to
beneft a new Pediatric
Emergency Care Center
at Nash Health Care.
1B
Weather slowed progress
at the British Open, but
a few golfers came out
ahead.
1C
LIFE
Time to fgure out how
what you need to buy for
your childs dorm room.
1D
Covering The Twin Counties For 100 Years
WORLD CuP
U.S. battles Japan for the title
SPORTS 1C
www.rockymounttelegram.com
Volume 100, No. 278 $1.25
7 5 00776 00125
$1.25
Sanderson
Farms fght
costs $1.1m
By GEOFFREy COOPER
Staff Writer
Several court cases linked to a controversial
Sanderson Farms poultry processing plant site
have placed substantial dents in the wallets of Nash
County and the city of Wilson.
More than $1.1 million in taxpayers money has
been spent on litigation and environmental studies
between the two local government entities over two
lawsuits. Sanderson Farms, based in Laurel, Miss.,
wants to build a second North Carolina poultry
processing plant a 180,000-square-foot facility pro-
posed for a nearly 150-acre tract at the intersection
of Interstate 95 and N.C. 97.
Nash County offcials said the corridor was re-
zoned for industrial use to serve as an area for any
large industry that wants to relocate to the region,
pointing out that the land has prime access to utili-
ties and major highways. Wilson offcials along
with 34 landowners from Nash and Wilson counties
have vowed to keep the company away from the cor-
ridor, citing possible environmental damage to the
protected watershed.
A Pitt County judge recently dismissed two law-
suits designed to prevent Sanderson from building.
Landowners in the area and the city of Wilson have
not said whether they plan to appeal.
Wilson attorney Jim Cauley said city offcials have
turned to specialized legal counsel and technical ex-
perts to advise the Wilson City Council on potential
environmental impacts and to handle related court
proceedings. To date, Wilson has spent $587,668 on
this effort, he said.
That total includes approximately $314,095 to chal-
lenge the initial and the second rezonings. Those
costs also include court reporters charges in the
rezoning cases.
Cauley said Wilson offcials have not paid any of
the attorney fees incurred by the landowners. The
Legal costs continue to rise
See FIGHT, 3A
Landlord, renters spar over city water hookup fees
By JOhN hENDERSON
Staff Writer
The owner of Sunset Mobile Estates has
infamed tenants of the park by charging
them for new water meters and utility im-
pact fees.
They must be paid because park owner
Duane Williams has decided to install a
new water and sewer system in which the
utility bills will come to residents of the
park instead of him.
Williams contends that the city should
not be charging the fees.
In protest over the charges, several ten-
ants of the park on Sunset Avenue have
moved out in recent days.
Im leaving, said a red-faced woman
who was packing her belongings on Thurs-
day. (The landlord) started that (expletive),
Im out of here. He just upped the lot rent.
Now, were supposed to pay for the water.
Renters in the park said it is not fair for
them to have to pay for new water meters
that will be part of the property long after
they are gone.
Eric Kea talks
about the new
expenses the
tenants of
Sunset Mobile
Estates are
going to have
to cover due to
a change in the
water/sewer
service.
Telegram photo /
Emma Tannenbaum
See FEES, 2A
ill Hear My savior say, WelcoMe HoMe
Telegram photo / Alan Campbell
Elder Nelson James, of Greater St. Paul Holy Church in Maple Hill, gives praise to Bishop Faircloth
F.C. Barnes during his funeral service Saturday at Red Budd Holy Church.
Hundreds gather to honor Barnes life
By JOhN hENDERSON
Staff Writer
A
local minister
who was a legend-
ary national fg-
ure in the gospel
music scene was
laid to rest Saturday at a Rocky
Mount church he founded.
Hundreds of people poured
into the Red Budd Holy Church
to remember the Bishop Fair-
cloth F.C. Barnes. He found-
ed the church 52 years ago.
His niece, Lilly Lane, was
among those who waited in a
line that wrapped around the
church to get into the cer-
emony.
He would do anything to
help you, she said of Barnes.
Public offcials, Barnes
friends and church offcials de-
livered speeches of praise for
Barnes. It was an emotional
ceremony in which the choir
belted out songs that roused
the crowd into cheering and
waving their hands.
U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfeld de-
livered Barnes family a letter
from President Barack Obama
honoring the ministers life.
Letters lauding Barnes life
from the U.S. Congress, the
N.C. General Assembly, Gov.
Bev Perdue and the Rocky
Mount City Council also were
read at the ceremony.
The event was labeled a
homegoing celebration to
praise Barnes life.
The lobby was packed with
people who could not get a seat
in the church. The service was
also streamed to a worldwide
audience via the Internet.
Many others watched it on
television screens at Ebenezer
Missionary Baptist Church.
The churchs pastor, the Rev.
See BARNES, 2A
ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA
O
SUNdAY, JULY 17, 2011
Community
rest of the citys costs,
$273,573, have been spent
in connection with the
environmental issues,
rather than the zoning
issues, Cauley said.
Since November
2010, the city of Wilson
has been working to de-
fend its priceless water
supply from adverse im-
pacts anticipated from
chicken operations,
Cauley said in a pre-
pared statement.
Regarding the money
spent on litigation, Wil-
son City Manager Grant
Goings said in a pre-
pared statement, Some
things are always worth
fghting for, regardless
of the cost. (Wilson) City
Council has clearly stat-
ed that our water supply
is one of them.
The Wilson City
Council last fall voted to
spend as much as $1 mil-
lion to pay for litigation
against the proposed
plant. Wilsons litiga-
tion costs do not include
amounts paid by the 34
landowners who also
brought claims against
Nash County.
Wilson would like to
see this issue resolved
and initiated compro-
mise discussions back
in February of this year.
We remain open to com-
promise that protects
our environment, Go-
ings said in a prepared
statement.
Nash County has spent
approximately $459,406
on legal fees, trying to
ward off opposition
from Wilson over allega-
tions of contract zoning.
Nash fnancial offcials
said $475,000 originally
was budgeted to cover
the costs for litigation.
There are additional
costs $23,597 for engi-
neering fees associated
with the projects devel-
opment costs; $88,180 for
collaboration with the
Raleigh-based engineer-
ing frm Wooten Compa-
ny on the projects draft
environmental impact
statement; and $33,121
for grant application
and other administra-
tive costs. The grand to-
tal is $144,900.
In a recent interview,
Nash County Manager
Bob Murphy said it is a
shame that Wilson and
Nash County taxpay-
ers have to spend those
amounts of money for
attorneys.
The way we look at
it was, we really didnt
have a choice in the mat-
ter, Murphy said. We
were sued by the city of
Wilson and other plain-
tiffs. What they chal-
lenged was our right to
zone property.
What we do know is
that we have 150 acres on
Highway 97 a highway
with signifcant capac-
ity, located within a mile
of an interchange on a
major interstate that is
prime industrial prop-
erty. We think we are
entirely in our rights to
rezone that property for
industry. Were not go-
ing to allow the city of
Wilson to control our
destiny in a large area
of Nash County. We have
to vigorously defend our
right to develop in Nash
County.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Depositions from the
ongoing legal battles in-
dicate that Nash County
offcials have worked
since last summer to try
and bring the company to
the industrial corridor.
Members of the Nash
County Board of Com-
missioners, the countys
staff, offcials from the
city of Rocky Mount and
the Carolinas Gateway
Partnership all have
vigorously pursued the
poultry producer since
last June, citing the des-
perate need for 1,100 jobs
the plant would create
for the economically dis-
tressed region.
The company would
offer employees start-
ing wages of $8.50 an
hour. Workers usually
are eligible to move up
to an average of $11.50
an hour after six months
to a year, and the com-
pany also would pay for
75 percent of health care
insurance costs for its
employees, Sanderson
Farms offcials said.
Company offcials
have said the proposed
Nash County site is
a prime location for
reaching customers in
the northeastern parts
of the United States. A
deboning plant would
accommodate casual
dining and food service
industries in conjunc-
tion with a similar Sand-
erson Farms plant com-
plex in Kinston, which
opened in January.
Wilson City Council
and area landowners
sued Nash County in
November over allega-
tions that improper zon-
ing tactics were applied.
A second lawsuit was
fled by the city of Wil-
son and landowners in
April over claims of ille-
gal contract zoning.
Nash County Commis-
sioner Robbie Davis was
one of the key players in
trying to bring Sander-
son Farms to the region,
according to depositions
taken by the plaintiffs
attorneys. During a Feb.
15 deposition with Jim
Rogerson, a Wilson attor-
ney who represents the
Nash and Wilson coun-
ties landowners; and
Bob Hornick, a Chapel
Hill attorney who repre-
sents the city of Wilson;
Davis acknowledged his
involvement in recruit-
ing Sanderson Farms,
adding that the industry
is exactly whats needed
for this economically
stressed region.
Davis also confrmed
in his deposition which
lasted from 10:03 a.m. to
5:13 p.m. that he was
involved in early nego-
tiations with landown-
ers to acquire land that
would situate a process-
ing plant, hatchery and
spray feld for Sanderson
Farms. All of that leg-
work was done while Da-
vis still was the boards
chairman. He lost that
position to Commis-
sioner Billy Morgan in
a partisan board vote on
Dec. 1.
I think one of the
largest things that a com-
missioner is charged
with is industrial re-
cruitment, Davis said
during his deposition.
And of course, the cur-
rent economic situation,
the need is just so great.
Weve got an extremely
high unemployment
rate. We, in my opinion,
are going to have a hard
time holding our values
on our existing proper-
ties, so we need to re-
cruit for additional tax
base.
The states Employ-
ment Security Com-
mission indicates that
Edgecombe Countys
unemployment rate for
May was 14.4 percent.
Nash Countys unem-
ployment rate was 11.9
percent. Wilson Countys
rate was 12.8 percent.
This is an opportu-
nity to get a very large
group of jobs, as well
as increase in tax base
in one fell swoop, Da-
vis said. There will be
some minor inconve-
niences to the people liv-
ing real close to the site.
But when you weigh a
minor inconvenience
against the need for jobs
and the building of a tax
base, its a no-brainer to
me.
Nash County offcials
said that the rezoning
was for future industrial
purposes. Wilson off-
cials and landowners ar-
gue the move was done
to accommodate Sand-
erson Farms and allege
that the company would
cause environmental
harm to local water, land
and air resources.
Attorneys repre-
senting the plaintiffs
said the fact that Nash
County offcials already
have drafted induce-
ment agreements for
the company and have
corresponded through
emails about where
the plant and hatchery
should go, are grounds
that contract zoning was
applied.
Murphy said there
were talks of induce-
ments shortly before
and after the frst re-
zoning between Nash
County, the Carolinas
Gateway Partnership
and Rocky Mount. Those
negotiations have been
at a standstill for several
months mainly because
Sanderson Farms has
not verbally commit-
ted to the area, Murphy
said.
Sanderson Farms off-
cials announced in Feb-
ruary they would delay
building a second plant
due to the escalating
prices of feed grains and
a tight supply of corn.
If the company at
some point says, Were
committed to Nash
County, well renew
those discussions, Mur-
phy said.
SANDERSON FARMS
COMES TO TOWN
June 21, 2010, was the
frst time community
leaders learned about
Sanderson Farms want-
ing to bring a plant to
the area. In an e-mail
that day, Carolinas Gate-
way Partnership Vice
President Krista Ikirt
notifed the following
people that there would
be a scheduled meet-
ing with a Sanderson
Farms offcial about the
project: Davis, Murphy,
Rocky Mount Mayor
David Combs, then-
Rocky Mount City Man-
ager Steve Raper, Rocky
Mount Water Resources
director Wayne Hollow-
ell, Nash County Plan-
ning Director Rosemary
Dorsey, Carolinas Gate-
way Partnership Chair-
man Frank Harrison,
Partnership CEO John
Gessaman and Bobby
Joyner of Appian Con-
sulting Engineers.
Bob Billingsley, Sand-
erson Farms director of
development, met with
the group on June 22 at
the partnerships offce,
and gave a presentation
about the companys
current locations, annu-
al revenue, sales and the
$100 million dollar com-
mitment the company
would make in property,
equipment and building
the facility if it came to
Nash County.
Murphy said Nash
County would be the di-
rect provider of water,
which Rocky Mount pro-
Fight
From Page 1A
See FIGHT, 5A
Telegram photo / Emma Tannenbaum
A selection of the hundreds of pages of depositions
regarding Sanderson Farms that are stored at Nash
County Courthouse on Thursday.
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Rocky Mount Telegram n Sunday, July 17, 2011 A www.rockymounttelegram.com
Community
vides, and sewer, which
Rocky Mount treats.
Natural gas would be
located at the plant site
and Rocky Mount would
be the direct provider.
Murphy said the
plants water usage
would come from a mix-
ture of ground wells and
Rocky Mount water, but
there has been no set ar-
rangement on the fnal
mixture or an industrial
rate for water usage.
We just didnt have
anything in our rates
to charge someone us-
ing the amount of water
that we projected Sand-
erson to use. So, we were
attempting to set up a
rate structure that met
their volume of use,
Murphy said. It looks
like the company will
rely on wells for some
amount of their water.
Just depends on how
much well water they
use and how much they
buy from us as to what
the rates going to be.
They might just ft into
our rate structure.
Company offcials
project the plant will use
about 1.5 million gal-
lons of water a day, an
amount that is manage-
able, Murphy said.
If we cant supply 1.5
million of water a day to
some business coming
in, and still have some
safe capacity beyond
that, then we should
shut down our entire
economic development
program, Murphy said.
PUTTING TOGETHER
THE PIECES
By July 2010, Nash
County offcials identi-
fed seven sites for the
plant and were discuss-
ing what type of water
rates could be offered by
the city of Rocky Mount.
via the N.C. Department
of Commerce, Billing-
sley said he viewed six
to seven sites in Nash
County considered for
the second proposed
plant, as well as areas
in Pitt and Wayne coun-
ties.
Murphy sent an e-
mail on July 9 to Derek
Hawkes, Nash County
public utilities direc-
tor and engineer, stat-
ing the proposed site
for the plant was nar-
rowed to land east of
Interstate 95 belonging
to Cecil and Bertine Wil-
liams. Along with water
and sewer lines for the
Sanderson Farms site,
Davis said he was work-
ing to identify and sell
property to the company.
Davis worked along-
side local real estate
agent Judy Winstead,
who was hired by the
Carolinas Gateway Part-
nership, and Sam John-
son of Coastal Plain
Land LLC, also hired
by the partnership, to
fnd suitable land for the
Sanderson Farms site.
Davis said he accom-
panied Winstead once to
meet with property own-
ers, the Newton sisters,
about infrastructure
and the proposed use of
a site at N.C. 97 and N.C.
58 for a 65,000-square-
foot Sanderson Farms
hatchery. On Oct. 19, Da-
vis sent a letter to Irene
Newton and her sisters
further informing them
that Nash County was
interested in purchas-
ing their property.
Johnson frst acquired
options on land Aug. 26
from property owners
Lane F. Schroeder and
Frederick J. Schroeder
for the proposed spray
feld. Other option agree-
ments were acquired
from Ann R. Hobbs on
Sept. 10 and from the
Schroeders again on
Oct. 12 and Nov. 30.
Davis said by Sept. 15,
2010, the countys plan-
ning staff was gearing
up to prepare for rezon-
ing on the plant and
hatchery sites. On Sept.
17, Coastal Plain Land
entered into an option
agreement with the Wil-
liams for their land for
plant site. Nash County
purchased the nearly
150-acre site last Decem-
ber for $1.2 million.
Billingsley said he
had no contact with
Costal Plain Land to
fnd suitable land for
the proposed project. He
said he was aware that
the Williams property
was being purchased by
the county, but thought
it was potentially risky
not knowing whether his
company would come to
the area.
That site has good po-
tential, potential for a lot
of uses. And if anybody
thought that site was be-
ing bought based off of
an agreement that we
had to come there you
know, thats not right;
thats inaccurate, Bill-
ingsley said. Now the
fact they bought (the
land) and it being a good
site, long term, that site
could be used for a lot of
different things because
of its infrastructure
there. Its a good area,
its a rural area, its in
the southern part of the
county, and its access
to two good labor mar-
kets, so it would be very
good.
He said Nash and
Wayne counties still are
being considered for the
processing plant.
Ikirt said the rezon-
ing of the Williams
property from rural and
residential to industrial
needed to happen re-
gardless if Sanderson
Farms made a commit-
ment. She said the corri-
dor was ideal because of
the location to I-95 and
existing infrastructure,
which could be extended
there with job-driven
grate source funds.
Its location, location,
location, Ikirt said.
With county property, I
cant market effectively
land that is not zoned
properly for industrial
recruitment.
WE STILL HAVE A CASE
N.C. Superior Court
Judge Russell Rusty
Duke Jr. recently ruled
that the rezoning done
by Nash County was
lawful and that both
lawsuits should be con-
sidered moot. Attorneys
in both lawsuits have re-
ceived signed orders by
Duke, and the plaintiffs
attorneys have said its
very likely an appeal
will happen.
The proof is all there
(in the depositions),
said Cauley in an earlier
interview. Its been un-
derstood for quite some
time that Nash County
offcials arent interest-
ed in any other indus-
try except Sanderson
Farms.
Sanderson Farms had
a timeline to begin con-
struction in March or
April of this year and
be in production some-
time between August
through October 2012.
Billingsley said in his
deposition that utilities
to sites, property acqui-
sition and tax refunds
tied to investments were
considered in a draft
incentive agreement of-
fered by Nash County
and the partnership on
Nov. 3, 2010, two days af-
ter the rezoning of the
Williams property.
To some extent, the
nature of the proposed
inducements and the
timing of when the offer
was made and all that
may be important to the
courts determination
on at least one of our
claims, Hornick said.
Fight
From Page 3A
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Rocky Mount Telegram n Sunday, July 17, 2011 A www.rockymounttelegram.com