Mega misses on the megasite

Burke County Manager Brian Epley has likened the development of the industrial megasite at the western edge of the county to a nine-inning baseball game.

Right now, he says, we’re only in the second inning.

If that analogy holds true, we’ve seen a lot more errors in this game so far than we’ve seen hits or runs.

Last October, North Carolina presented Burke Development Inc. with a check for $35.8 million to be used for land acquisition and infrastructure development for the 1,353-acre tract which was dubbed the Great Meadows Megasite.

At that on-site, highly publicised,  presentation, local leaders were falling all over each other to crow about what a coup it was for BDI to receive the funding.

Epley called it “a massive step forward as an economic catalyst for the region.”

Commissioner Scott Mulwee said development of the site was “a huge step forward for all of Western North Carolina. We’ve never seen an opportunity like this and probably won’t see another opportunity like this in our lifetime.”

And virtually everyone who spoke on that bright October morning referred to the megasite’s development as “a game changer.”

A Dramatic Shift

Six months later, the landscape has shifted dramatically.

“Nobody is dead-set on this being the right or wrong decision,” Epley said last week. “I don’t think anybody has said this is an absolute must-do. … There are so many reasons to believe economic development is needed. This may be the way to do it and it may not be. No one should jump to the conclusion that this is going to happen.”

What happened to the game-changing, once-in-a-lifetime enthusiasm?

An inadequate strategy for communicating with the residents and taxpayers of Burke County is the answer.

Neither the county nor BDI got ahead of the curve on proactively providing satisfying information as to what type of tenant might be recruited to the site. Or not recruited.  What developmental guidelines would be taken to protect the nearby environment, including the treasure that is Lake James? Or not taken. 

Into that information vacuum  flowed a torrent of misinformation, powerfully propagated by social media, with opponents proclaiming the site would be occupied by an environmentally abusive industry that would spew poisons into the air and dump them into the water.

In the November elections, Mulwee and Commissioner Johnnie Carswell, both ardent supporters of the megasite, were voted out of office. They were defeated by two candidates — Brian Barrier and Mike Stroud — who made opposition to the megasite development a key pillar of their campaign platforms.

Opportunities Lost

In early December, it was announced that the Burke County Planning Board would consider a request from BDI to rezone part of the megasite property to industrial and that before the vote BDI would make a public presentation justifying the action.

Rezoning the megasite to industrial is a requirement to accept the $35.8 million grant. 

On the evening of Dec. 7, the meeting room was packed with residents, nearly all of them eager to learn more about the megasite and to voice their opinions.

Planning Board Chairman Joyce Counihan surprised the crowd with the announcement that BDI had asked for an extension until late March and that no comments on the issue would be accepted. The surprise quickly switched to sustained anger that still lingers in certain corners.

An opportunity to present a balanced and factual report to a large and influential audience hungry for facts was lost. We’ve never known BDI CEO Alan Woods, a seasoned economic developer, to not be prepared for public presentations.

There is another opportunity has not been seized.

More than three months ago, The Paper offered County Manager Brian Epley the entire front page of our Opinion section to make the case, tell the facts, and to assuage the fears of property owners and outdoor enthusiasts.

That offer has yet to be accepted.

And finally, just last week, the Planning Board met again. Those expecting BDI to make its promised presentation about the megasite and for the board to vote "yes" or "no" were disappointed.

A few days before the meeting a previously published agenda was revised with the "Special Note: There will not be a review of the Great Meadows Rezoning application for this meeting. When the application has been amended, it will return to the Planning Board for consideration."

A proposal to restore conditional zoning throughout the county was defeated in a 4-2 vote.

Depending upon whose story you believe, conditional zoning, a common tool in the economic development toolbox, is either vital to the megasite development or has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Again, delay and disorganization seem to be the rule.

Time To Step Up

As we have noted on this page before, we think an environmentally clean industry that could significantly bolster the coffers of local governments through property tax revenues, utility dollars, water and sewer services, and hundreds of high-paying jobs, would be a tremendous boon for our county.

If Epley’s baseball analogy is indeed correct, that we are in the second inning of a nine-inning process, it’s time for the Burke Team to get it together, start filling that informational vacuum and making the candid, transparent and fulfilling case for why development of the megasite is a good thing for this county.

Otherwise, we fear this game will end up being forfeited long before the ninth inning arrives.