“Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.” This warning holds meaning for us in Henderson just as it did for the Trojans in ancient times.
The first gift we should have been wary of was the gift of the warehouse on Zene Street that was accepted by the Downtown Development Commission. This commission is not elected and for the most part is funded by the taxpayers in Henderson. Why the DCC would accept such a large property that harbored vagrants and piles of litter and possible environmental concerns remains to be answered, but in accepting the property, the problems passed to the city and at the same time property taxes evaporated. It did not appear that the DCC had a plan or purpose for the building and in fact apparently did not have the resources to maintain the building as they immediately asked the City Council for the money to insure the building.
The second gift we should be wary of is the gift of around $700,000 from the Golden Leaf Fund to incorporate this property into a Recreational, Educational and Family Center. While this property does not lie in City Council Ward 3, there was a meeting to discuss the “exciting opportunities for the Flint Hill Community and Beyond!”
The opportunity did not arise to say whether or not this facility is needed as taxpayers already pay for a recreation department, schools, community college, and libraries, and many support churches, but rather a list of possible uses was presented and the public was asked to prioritize the lists.
When asked who would own and maintain and insure the property down the road, no clear answers were available. Remember the taxpayers in Henderson are the main supporters of the DCC who are pushing this project. So after the $700,000 is used to renovate the old warehouse, who pays the bills after that? Where is the business plan?
We do not take care of the community owned properties that we now own so why should we suspect that this project will not fall into the same category. There is a real urgency to get a plan in place by March so we do not get left out of the Golden Leaf money. There has been ample time since 2006 to formulate a plan but here we are floundering at the last minute to meet deadlines. Could it be that a closer more deliberate look will prove the plans to be ill-advised? Or, did our community receive a grant of $25,000 to study this and now must show something for that money?
The proposed uses for the REEF center are grand and would contribute to the quality of life in Henderson, but these needs could be met using buildings downtown that are owned by the taxpayers for far longer than the Zene Street warehouse. The ABC store on William Street would make a great Laundromat location along with a playground at the side with an outdoor farmer’s market. The First National Bank Building would make a great train station with a deli. The old city hall that surrounds the historic fire station could become classrooms for art, dance, and music lessons and at night counseling centers. These are rehabilitation projects that may be more sustainable.
I am told that a year of Tuesday morning meetings were held upstairs at the Bank of America to seek a “New Direction” for Henderson. A new direction I would like to see is the best use of grant money that does not profit in any way anyone tied to elected office but is used to really address the needs of our neighborhoods. That would be new direction worth taking.
Mrs. Yount…..I wouldn’t be weary of the Greeks…I would be weary of the current elected officials that you have in your area. What ever happened to the LaKernick man that was one of the higher-ups on the Downtown Development Commission that the Stewardson man is now the face/voice of? Never did I read/hear an explanation as to why he was terminated.
You have city council members and county commissioners who for lack of a better word are “IGNORANT” and that’s putting it mildly. They have a habit of telling the constituents one thing and doing the exact opposite or whatever “you know who” tells them to do. Now who is the puppet master that is pulling the strings of the governing officials of your area.
I dare say that you and Mrs. Harper have forgotten more about city govt. than the current council currently knows(including the city manager). They were scared of an intelligent woman that was too smart to have the wool pulled over her eyes w/o asking questions. You weren’t a puppet and that is why you didn’t get voted back in.
The loss of Mr. Lakernick isn’t easy to understand. The ‘gift’ of the Zene St. property is easier to understand; it takes the property owners off the hook for the unpaid taxes and puts the burden on an already stressed tax base. I suppose Henderson is not very different from many other small towns across our nation. Our global economy has stripped our nation of its strength. Who really benefits from Samson getting his hair cut?
Our community college offers everything from college prep to the trades, which, ideally, should give Henderson/Oxford an edge IF there were jobs for most of the graduates. Updating ones skills is always a good idea but when there are no jobs, where’s the motivation? Most graduates have to leave the area to earn a living. There are only a limited number of food service jobs, with barely above minimum wages. Working for Wal-Mart is no guarantee of a living wage or health benefits.
We can blame welfare and section 8 for our economic woes but that is only the visible tip of our problem. Who looks at the big picture? You can bet large corporations do. At our local level, our entreprenures struggle to keep operating, our local preachers drive luxury vehicles; our city council accepts money pit gifts and wanna be politicians write grants for the purpose of being paid to direct never becoming reality programs. Wealth does not trickle down but poverty does trickle up. Let’s hear a big AMEN for our leadership, locally and nationally.
Mrs. Yount is absolutely right that we the taxpayers have been taken to the “cleaners” time after time. Maybe I should say we have been “gassed”. Sooner or later, we will discover that the Zene Street project will be tied to that wonderful Opry House that is still floating around in a few minds.
Who owned the Zene St. property? Was it given or sold to Downtown Development ? Who was Involved ? Is the Shadow the only one that knows ?
Speaking of the last part of what was to become the Embassy Square; whatever happened to the $$$ that was supposed to be paid back to the tax base(citizens)? I have heard different figures but I know it is at least 7 digits and for those on governing bodies that don’t understand that explanation that would make it up in the MILLIONS of $$$$!!!!!!! When will someone in Govt. give a reasonable explanation as to when the $$$$$ will be paid back? My guess is that it never will be paid.
P.S. When is the last time you heard someone mention the Joint Ventures and the unfair share that the city taxpayers are having to pay? It has been explained and explained but it seems that the elected officials on the current city council aren’t capable of comprehending it or flat out don’t give a ****!!!!! Either way……..is it fair for the city taxpayer? If the answer is NO then come next election do yourself a favor and get some NEW BLOOD sitting around the horseshoe and get rid of the YES MEN/WOMEN whose strings have been pulled so long that they are subject to break on any given pull!!
Elmwood, The Zene Street property was given to the DDC, but not sure who owned it
Deception, I have heard people discuss that the money would be repaid IF there was $$ beyond what was owed. There is nothing written anywhere on that. To date, that hasn’t been the case, but I have also heard that the library is about to be paid off.
Also know that there was some discussion of joint programs recently, but there isn’t a consensus, or majority that will move further on it.
The problem is that information on what the deal is has not been made available. The financial statements for the City make no reference to the library joint venture. My understanding is that is required by Generally Accepted Governmental Accounting Standards (appropriately called GAGAS). If somebody knows, please inform us. No ranting ignorance please. This means you Deception.
All, I was browsing the city council agenda for upcoming Monday night, and there is this writeup of the listening post meeting that took place last week:
Council Member Brenda Peace-Jenkins opened the meeting at 7:03 p.m. She said the citizens should be applauded for coming out on such a cold evening and thanked Rev. Ratcliff for allowing the meeting to take place at Shiloh Baptist Church. She expressed regrets from the City Manager who is unable to attend and then asked Mayor O’Geary to say a few words. Mayor O’Geary recognized County Commissioner Terry Garrison, Council Members Kearney and Coffey, Downtown Development Commission Chairman Jason Stewardson and City staff (Planning and Community Development Director Erris Dunston, Main Street Manager Pam Hester and City Clerk Esther McCrackin). He also gave a special thanks to Pastor Ratcliff. Ms. Peace-Jenkins then explained the purpose of the meeting is to discuss issues and future plans for the Flint Hill area and a possible Plan B for what was known as the REEF project. She said she sees Flint Hill as more than the area on the map and said she looks forward to hearing from those in attendance. She then asked Mr. Jason Stewardson to say a few words. Mr. Stewardson introduced himself as the Downtown Development Commission Chairman, and said the former REEF project involved the old tobacco warehouse on Zene Street. He summarized the REEF project which failed and said the project would need to start from “square one.” He said he was encouraged that the project could move forward with the assistance of consultant Dr. Sparrow from RED, Inc. (Religious, Educational and Charitable Development Projects, Inc.).
Then Dr. Sparrow came forward and said RED is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church and she and her team were present this evening to hear from the Flint Hill citizens regarding their needs and desires for the area. She distributed a questionnaire that listed possible uses for the building that have been expressed in prior years and asked attendees to check what they saw as the top three needs in each area along with writing in any other suggestions.
As the questionnaires were distributed Ms. Peace-Jenkins came forward and opened the floor for discussion. Many of the citizens spoke out regarding jobs and job placement needs. Others expressed the lack of critical care, laundry facility, and play areas for children. Several expressed interest in recreation facilities and some said they would even do labor if needed to upgrade playgrounds. There was talk about creating space where children/young adults could learn crafts/painting/music and even learn cooking. Infrastructure was also mentioned along with some type of re-entry program for felons. Citizens asked if there was any way the City could help the community if the citizens agreed to maintain projects. During the discussion there seemed to be some confusion regarding the grant status. Planning and Community Development Director Erris Dunston addressed this confusion by explaining that neither the $50,000 catalyst grant nor the $500,000 capacity grant have been awarded at this time.
After the discussion time, Council Member Peace-Jenkins asked Council Member Daeke to say a few words. Mr. Daeke thanked everyone for their comments and told the group that if the City receives approval for the CDBG Catalyst grant, there will be a need to create both a city-wide committee and a steering committee to work in conjunction with the grant. He asked for those who would like to be involved to leave their name and number and said he would contact them to discuss their interest in serving.
With no further discussion, Council Member Peace-Jenkins closed the meeting at 8:15 p.m.
Is that Jason Stewardson fella any kin to the Stewardson man who has had numerous properties FORECLOSED on in the Henderson/Vance area? I heard that Jason S. was in the rental business and it got my attention when I was told that another person with the same last name was constantly in your local paper(Daily Dispatch) with numerous Foreclosures so I was wondering were/are they business partners. I think the Stewardson fella whose name was listed under the Foreclosed properties name was Ashley Stewardson. I may have been given the wrong info. but anything coming out of Vance County isn’t too far-fetched to believe.
Also……….why was Phil LaKernick let go and why the cover-up? Don’t cite any Confidentiality Laws regarding employment b/c last time I checked the taxpayers were paying his salary and thus they should have the right to know why he was terminated……or told to resign or be fired!!!!!! Too often you see this type of stuff in your area where things get ‘swept under the rug’ and nobody asks questions. You need elected officials like the one guy over in Oxford. His name is Frank Strickland and he isn’t afraid to ask for and demand answers when he thinks corruption exists. He has been accusing the Police Chief of Oxford for mismanaging $$$ for years and recently when confronted at a meeting the Chief of Police displayed behavior that would have made anyone who supports him grimace. He let his emotions get the best of him and like my granny always told us: IF IT WALKS LIKE A DUCK……TALKS LIKE A DUCK……well buddy……’aflac’ ain’t everywhere regardless of what the commercials say!!!!! Henderson/Vance need more people like Mr. Frank Strickland who don’t take any answer that they are given w/o researching the facts/figures. Now that’s what you call a good REPRESENTATIVE!!!! Maybe the politicians in Henderson/Vance could give Mr. Strickland a call and he can share some of his backbone with them. It’s not hard to do the right thing but it sometimes may not get you votes in the upcoming election and that seems to be the driving force behind some of the politicians in the Vance Co. area.
I ditto Deception’s first comment at #1…
Thank-you Mrs. Yount….
I hear that Caterpillar has some equipment to clear Flint Hill? Does anyone know if this is true?
I promised Mrs. Yount a response to her article, and have yet to had the time to get my thoughts together to do so, but I’m taking the time now. I’ll preface by saying for those that do not know, I am a member of the downtown development commission, but that I am writing in my own words here. I am not speaking for the ddc at all, these are my personal thoughts and what I’m saying is all to the best of my knowledge. I don’t know all the details, but I’ll tell you what I can.
First, some background. The Henderson – Vance Downtown Development Commission is a non profit organization, with the goal of improving downtown Henderson. Since it’s a non profit organization, despite it’s name, it’s a separate entity from the city or county government. Hence, members are not elected. I’m not certain about how much seed money was given to it to get it started from the city and county, but yes, some tax payer money has been spent to the group. The ddc is a group of about 15 or so people who all volunteer time and effort to various downtown things. The advantage is for a small funding money there are 15 people working on ways to improve downtown. For example, by the way of organizing and sponsoring events like the Christmas parade, music events, stuff like that. Also providing low interest loans to downtown businesses. No one receives any pay, it’s all volunteer. The Main Street Coordinator, Pam Hester, is the only paid person, she is paid by the city, and is on the executive board of the ddc. I’m not exactly sure of the connection there but Mrs. Hester as part of her job with the city also manages the ddc. Members are invited, or you can request to join I suppose, and are approved by the existing members. I was invited to be on and thought it sounded a noble position.
Members are only on for a 3 year term at a time. You can renew for a 2nd consecutive term if you wish. If members resign before their term then new members may be sought. We (Pam Hester and myself) are working on a new website for the ddc so right now I can’t link you to anything useful. And for those wondering, to be disclosurereful, myself working on the website started before I was ever invited to join the board. Also ex-officio members include the (in the order that I remember them in) Mayor, City Manger, County Commissioner Chairman, EDC Director, Chamber of Commerce President, and City Planning Director. I can tell you I think about every meeting I’ve ever been in the Mayor, City Planning Director, and the EDC Director, have attended. Also, all the other positions have joined on occasion as time permits as well. All give very valuable input to the group.
I only joined the ddc late 2012 so I have no idea how this reef project came about when it started nearly 5 years ago. When I joined, it was a pretty sure thing the school was going to be going in this reef project as the anchor tenant, and there were some other smaller tenants that were willing to go in as well. Then it turned out the school had other options available they were considering, stalling the process, and it was not possible to sign the contracts in time to get the first grant. So that money had to be ‘given back’ although to my knowledge the money was never transferred, it was just a line item. That first grant required a minimum number of jobs to be hired by a certain date, which wasn’t possible with the school taking other options.
So, then the ddc had to start another search for a new tenant. The board worked hard to contact possible anchor tenants, questions were raised as to the exact possible tenants that would meet the remaining grant requirements. Talks were had with numerous places, but could not get an anchor tenant to commit. This went on for months, trying to come up with ways to use this space while meeting the grant requirements. The option to rent the building as is, forcing a tenant to renovate themselves, or tear down the building and wait for a new interest to put there, which would waste the funds to tear down the building. The scrap value of the building is negative. It would cost more to tear it down than could be recovered from scrap selling of materials. The grant won’t cover tearing down the building for no reason.
Yes, the community had input on what should be put there through a community meeting a few years ago, the ddc board looked at all sorts of types of businesses to put in for all sorts of demographics and all that was taken into consideration, but there were no businesses willing to sign a lease.
Right now the ddc is wasting money by paying monthly utilities and insurance costs on this old warehouse. It’s in the best interest of the ddc to do something with it, but we can’t just make something happen. It needs businesses to commit to a lease, which means spending a good deal of money. The grant can help, but it can’t cover everything.
Then Dr Sparrow comes in with a proposal. She is working with a separate group that would like to see something good happen to that area. She organized the community meeting referenced in this article so *her* organization could get input from citizens on what they wanted. The ddc board members were there as well, but this was really Dr. Sparrow’s meeting. Dr. Sparrow’s group took that input and are working on a plan to present to the ddc. Then we can take that to the grant people and see if it meets the grant requirements and what’s the next steps.
That’s where we are right now, to the best of my knowledge. If the project Dr. Sparrow’s group, or any other group, proposes is rejected by the grant people, then they have the right to withdraw those funds from our project. Mrs. Yount mentioned those funds could go to other things in downtown, but that’s not true. The money is returned back to the grant writers, and they would decide what to do with it. Those funds do not stay in Vance County.
I’m not sure what the ddc would do with the warehouse then. We really don’t want it to get to having to make that decision. The ddc has no business plan for it. Because that’s up to the individual businessse that go in the space. The business may buy the whole spot, may buy pieces of it, the ddc may own it and lease it back. No one knows right now until somebody commits and is approved.
If I were to see something oddball going on in this project, I’d have the same concerns as Mrs. Yount. But I seriously have not. I see a huge old warehouse that no one wants to invest in. I think It’s not the right time economy wise to do something with this spot, much less any other spot in the country. There’s plenty of vacant warehouses around, and no business is knocking on their door to take it over. But this grant money does help. I personally hope Dr. Sparrow’s project plans work out, right now it’s the best shot that I know of of completing this project.
If anyone has any questions I might can answer please feel free to do so. If I don’t know, i can forward them to someone who should.