Valdese officials approve tax incentives for Project Arlington and street repair schedule

Valdese Town Council members unanimously approved the framework for tax incentives for Project Arlington at their September meeting on Monday.

The tax incentives would provide the unidentified manufacturing company with Ad Valorem tax reimbursements up to 50% should the company set up a new facility in Burke County. County commissioners passed a similar package of tax incentives last month.

The actual tax incentive will be finalized when the property officially belongs to the manufacturer. A final version will then go before the Town Council for approval.

Burke Development, Inc. President and CEO Brandon Ruppe said the company’s first choice is a former textile manufacturing plant in Valdese, but one obstacle remains. The property owner is still reluctant to sell the property, though it is on the market.

“That’s really where the project is hanging at this point, is them being able to get in there and ensuring that the floor plan, ceiling heights, and all those sorts of things are going to meet their operational (needs),” Ruppe said.

The company also has its eyes on a similarly-sized county in Virginia, Ruppe said.

Little is known about the project at this point, but Ruppe has said it will bring 64 new jobs and a $7 million net investment over the next four years. The average wage will be $58,984 per year, which is more than the county’s median of $49,020.

STREET REPAIRS

A handful of streets in Valdese are slated for repair using money from the town’s budget, but an extra 1.75 miles of residential streets could also be fixed if an application for a federal grant is approved.

Repairs coming out of the town’s coffers will cost $298,591 and span six streets: Harris Avenue Northwest, Griffin Avenue Northwest, Nellie Street Northwest, Bounous Street Northwest, Morganton Street Northwest, and Lincoln Avenue Northwest.

Work on those streets will start in the fall.

If Valdese’s application for a Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant is approved, another eight streets will be repaired, totaling about $1.2 million. This is a grant that requires no local match, meaning the full amount would come from federal funding.

The streets to be covered by the grant are Anthony Street, Carter Street Northeast, Club Circle Northeast, Eldred Street Northeast (from Main Street to Laurel Street), Jaubert Avenue Southeast, Laurel Street Northeast to Gardiol Avenue Northeast, Tarvia Avenue Northeast, and White Street Northeast.

HOW ARE STREETS CHOSEN?

Councilwoman Heather Ward ensured Valdese residents understood how these streets were chosen by asking for explanations on the record.

The first round of streets covered by the town’s budget were chosen based on a paving study and field observations completed several years ago.

The study resulted in a list of streets that needed repairs or resurfacing.

“The council doesn’t have anything to do with it, (and) I don’t really have anything to do with it,” said Town Manager Todd Herms of the selection process. “(Town staff) just got a list and we go on there and see where we can get the most done for the amount of money that we’ve allocated.”

Selecting streets for the CDBG-DR grant is more rigid. This process is based on census tracts, said Western Piedmont Council of Governments (WPCOG) Community Economic Development Manager Kyle Case.

The eight streets to be covered by the grant fall within one census tract containing about 57 households. Case said about 62.3% of them are low- to moderate-income households.

“Anything over 50% is what qualifies it for these funds,” Case said.

Burke is also designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a most impacted and distressed (MID) county in relation to damage from Hurricane Helene, Case said.

Plus, Burke is currently a Tier 1 county, meaning it is among the most economically distressed in the state.

Both of those things make for a strong application for federal funding, Case said.