ASHEBORO – The Asheboro City Council is continuing to move along with a water main expansion project.
The council approved a contract amendment to the professional services agreement with HDR Engineering in order to cover construction administration and owner advisor services for the Wolfspeed Water Main Extension Project at a cost of approximately $821,000.
The city has agreed to provide treated water to support the Wolfspeed Chatham Advanced Manufacturing site but to do that, a new, 12-mile water main located between Asheboro and Siler City is required.
Phase one of the project was recently completed and now the city and HDR Engineering are moving into Phase 2, which will oversee the start of construction.
“We’re moving into the construction side of things and this is an amendment to provide owner advisor services, which is construction administration,” said Michael Rhoney, water resources director. “The original professional services agreement was for around $355,000 and the second phase is going to cost around $466,000. There are some line items we didn’t use all the funds on so we’re carrying those over to Phase 2 for reductions in those costs.”
Rhoney said these expenses will be reimbursed by the Department of Commerce. The North Carolina Legislature has already set aside $55 million in total for the project, he said.
The council also held a public hearing for an application for a special use permit for 9.5 acres of property located at 727 Jaeco Caudill Drive in order to allow for a digital billboard to be constructed on the property.
The sign will be 30-foot tall, located on the northwest corner of the property and have a maximum brightness of 5,000 nits during the daytime and 500 nits from dusk to dawn.
“It’s in an industrial area and being marketed as such,” mayor pro tem Walker Moffitt said.
In addition, the city council was presented with the 2023 annual tourism report from the Heart of NCVisitors Bureau which showed that the county as a whole generated $189.5 million in visitor spending, a 6.1% increase from the prior year.
Asheboro, which is home to the North Carolina Zoo, Asheboro ZooKeepers baseball team, North Carolina Aviation Museum, played a big part in that for the county.
Per the report, overall tourism revenues for the county increased by 9.1% compared to the prior year and of the 30 attractions that were surveyed, an approximate total of 1.5 million visitors were counted in 2023, a 10% increase from the prior year.
And those tourism dollars are also helping to offset taxes for residents.
“The sales tax generated by travel throughout Randolph County is attributed to a tax savings of $89.75 per county resident in 2023,” said Melody Varner, tourism marketing coordinator.
The Asheboro City Council will next meet March 6.
