The Richmond County Board of Commissioners meeting will consider incentive packages for Richmond Specialty Yarns and Knit Ritec in a meeting Monday. Both announced last month they are adding jobs to their facilities in Richmond County.

Both companies received grants from the One NC Fund to expand their operations in the county and now the county commissioners must approve the matching of those sums, $150,000 for Richmond Specialty Yarns and $24,000 for Knit Rite.

Also on the agenda is discussion of the Safie Mill site. Planner James Armstrong will ask the commissioners to declare the site a nuisance and issue an order of abatement.

“The Nordstrom tract is a danger to the community and individuals who might happen into the area,” Armstrong wrote in the agenda abstract. “There were efforts by the owner to convey the property to a third party, but these efforts proved unsuccessful. As requested the staff is prepared to move forward with the cleanup of the property ...”

The declaration of a nuisance means the property contains partially dilapidated and destroyed structures, some of which contain friable asbestos. There is rubble and large debris throughout the property, unsecured access to property and structures where dangerous conditions exist, trash, broken glass, debris and excessive vegetative growth.

Abatement means that the owner of the property, in this case Nordstrom Limited LLC will have 15 days from this declaration to clean up the property and if that is not done, the county takes over the property. All costs will be attached as a lien against the subject property.

And as a way to prevent this sort of problem from happening again, Armstrong has drafted an amendment to the ordinance regarding permit applications, for the board to vote on, that says “In addition to any required and applicable permit fee, applications for non-residential demolition permits shall also contain a Letter of Credit, drawn on a financial institution doing business in North Carolina, in the amount of 125 percent of the estimated project cost as approved by the Richmond County Building Inspector. Such Letter of Credit shall be in effect for the period of the permit and made payable to Richmond County Government.”

The board will also vote on an amendment to the tower ordinance which the Planning and Zoning Board of Adjustment has been working on for several months. Some of the amendments include defining a tower’s fall area, separating tower structures into different classes, exemptions for Ham Radio operating permits and AM/FM towers, and keeps the maximum tower height at 200 feet, unless a higher elevation is approved by the planning and zoning board of adjustment.

The board will also hear a request from the City of Hamlet regarding a piece of property “to enhance recreation in the city.”

The property requested was handed over to the county in 1958 following a foreclosure. County Manager Rick Sago is recommending the property be transferred to Hamlet with the stipulation that the city of Hamlet be responsible for all of the costs associated with the transaction.

The commissioners meet Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the county administration building located at 125 S. Hancock Street, Rockingham.

Staff writer Eren Tataragasi can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 19 or at etataragasi@yourdailyjournal.com.