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backup for waterBy Janet Conner-KnoxTimes Staff WriterThe town of Sims has asked for a public hearing at Monday’s Wilson County commissioners meeting. The town is applying for a community development block grant (.“Sims is trying to get a backup to their water system and there is a connection to our water system,” explained Denise Stinagle, interim county manager.There is a Wilson County water line at Rock Ridge School Road. The line would extend from that road up through Rock Ridge- Sims Road to the town of Sims.Sims’ water supply comes from wells and this would help the town have another source of water,Stinagle said.“The backup is just in case something happens to their well or if they have contaminants in their wells they will have another water supply to fall back on,” Stinagle said.Stinagle said she didn’t have the costs at this point. The public hearing is the initial stage.“If the numbers work and they can get thegrant, it is just an opportunity to have a backup for their water,” Stinagle said. ^There could be another public hearing in April. The grant application is also due in April.Also upcoming, commissioners will get back $1.2 million in Eastern Region money, which is also known as tag money.Stinagle said there were two sources of money for eastern N.C. economicdevelopment.“There was about $7.5 million that the state provided to Eastern Region and then there was also the tag money where the counties collected money from tags,” Stinagleexplained. “They wereput into a loan fund so counties could go in and borrow money at a lower interest rate and use it for economic development projects. Now the state is not going to fund Eastern Region in that capacity.So Eastern Region will not look the same goingforward.”Wilson County had an existing loan of about $363,000 where the county funded the businessThe county paid off that loan. Had the county not paid off the loan, it would have gotten back morethan $800,000.Instead. Wilson Countycommissioners will have$1.2 million to allocate during the budget process, Stinagle said. She said the state’s money, or the $7.5 million, that was part of Eastern Region, will go back to the General Assembly.“The money has to be spent on economic development,” Stinagle said. “They can’t put it in the general fund. They can’t use it for salaries for employees. It has to be earmarked specifically for economic developmentbecause that’s what the funds were raised for.”incubator, Stinagle said. janet@wilsontimes.com | 265-7847
Newspaper Details
Wilson Times
Wilson, North Carolina, US
Sat, Mar 01, 2014
Page 4
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Wilson C.
NC, USA 17 Oct 2022
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