ROCKINGHAM — Following the public comment portion of the August Richmond County Board of Commissioners meeting, several commissioners addressed concerns raised by residents about data center development, transparency and the county’s role in future projects.
Chairman Jeff Smart began by acknowledging the concerns and opposition voiced by residents.
“The commissioners up here, we recognize your passion. We do— I respect it,” Smart said.
“I’ve lived here for 55 years as well. Born and raised in Hamlet, North Carolina. I’m very proud of Richmond County. I share some of all the passions that we saw here tonight,” Smart said.
Smart then addressed the recent purchase of property on County Home Road by Digital Realty, emphasizing that the transaction was between private parties and did not involve the county.
“That was a purchase between two private entities. Nothing whatsoever with that land on County Home Road has come across our desks,” Smart said.
“It may in the future and we’ve heard what you’ve said tonight, and I take it to heart, and I’m sure the other commissioners do as well,” Smart said.
Smart explained that the property is part of the Old Pine Hills industrial development, which includes other industries farther down the road, such as Impact Plastics, Trinity Manufacturing and Plastek.
“The county did not own that land and it was sold privately,” Smart said. “There was nothing any of us up here could do to stop the sale of that land.”
Later in the meeting, Commissioner Andy Grooms said he does not want additional data centers in the county and reiterated Smart’s explanation that the County Home Road property purchase was not initiated by the board.
Grooms also said the property is already zoned for heavy industry, which he believes limits the county’s ability to use zoning to prevent a data center from being developed there.
“I think there are a few things that we could do to make it or give them a difficult decision to make, but outright forbidding it is gonna cause the county nothing but a lawsuit,” Grooms said.
Regarding a third potential data center on Old Cheraw Highway, Grooms said residents would need to address their concerns with the city of Rockingham.
“We have nothing to do with that, so that would be their decision. If they choose to take that path, rezone it and go that route,” Grooms said.
While Grooms said he does not support a moratorium, he also said he does not believe development of the County Home Road property is imminent because the site currently lacks the infrastructure needed to support an industrial development.
Despite his opposition to additional data centers, Grooms said he remains supportive of the Amazon project already underway.
“I stand on that until I’m proved wrong. I hope that we can lower the taxes on y’all and bring some great things to Richmond County,” Grooms said.
Commissioner Jason Gainey thanked residents for voicing their concerns and addressed questions raised during public comment about the board’s integrity and decision-making.
“I am willing to say that every person on this board has done their very best to make the best decisions that we can, based on the information that we have available to us for the future of our citizens,” Gainey said. “Sometimes, that’s in favor of your opinion, and sometimes it’s not. And sometimes information comes out after the fact, and we go back and review and say, ‘you know what, I wish I would have made a different decision.’”
Gainey also expressed hope that Amazon’s investment could help replace some of the economic activity Richmond County lost with the decline of the textile industry.
“I’m hoping and praying that Amazon will help bring and restore what we lost in textiles, because we lost a lot,” Gainey said.
Commissioner Justin Dawkins discussed what he described as the limits of the board’s authority over zoning and economic development packages. He contrasted privately owned property with the county-owned property sold for the Amazon project, which he said was appropriately zoned and involved an economic incentive package.
Dawkins said he expects “little to no support” from the board for economic development packages associated with future data center projects.
“People are gonna pay their way when they come into Richmond County. I will speak for Amazon, the package we’ve seen, they are paying their way. We, as citizens, are not paying for their infrastructure, their services,” Dawkins said. “They are working on their own, working with the government, working with Duke Energy, to make sure that they are paying their way and there’s not going to be a strain on our infrastructure. Can I say that 100%? No. But like every bit of evidence we’ve seen shows that they are doing their part.”
Dawkins said other companies that had approached the county or its economic development officials did not present what he viewed as comparable proposals.
“Whereas, other folks that had approached us or had approached our economic development group, were not going to present the same type of offer, which is why our economic development group chose to go with Amazon,” Dawkins said.
Dawkins added that he would not support another economic development package for a data center.
Commissioner Jamie Gathings echoed other board members’ support for the Amazon project and said he would vote for it again if presented with the same decision.
“If we go back again, I’ll vote for them again. I felt like I was doing the right thing for the citizens. I want to see some money in this county. We can take this money and build it up. This money’s not gonna go, just sit in a bank and get a three-four percentage result. I want to see more infrastructure. I want to see more sheriff’s departments so we can combat the drugs in East Rockingham. I want to see us cleaning up East Rockingham.
“I want to see us trying to get infrastructure waterlines in Derby, the fire department. I’m a volunteer fireman for East Rockingham. I hear the chiefs of Derby saying, ‘we don’t have water up here.’”
Gathings said the Derby Fire Department has to travel about 5 miles to reach the closest hydrant to fill its tankers.
“There’s a lot of stuff I would like to see and I would like to see this board when this money starts really running in because you’re gonna start seeing a lot of stuff go on… We should take this money, and let’s have a committee of something to divide this money and throw it back out to the community… let’s bring the infrastructure, let’s bring what we want.”
Gathings also addressed calls for greater transparency from the county.
“I just want to see some transparency. I’m all about just laying everything out on the table. I don’t like hiding stuff. I’m just tired of that… let’s lay it out to the folks and put it out there and show you what we’re doing…,” Gathings said. “And anybody that knows me knows that if any one of these commissioners… or anybody on that side of the room [the administration] gets their pockets lined, Jamie will call it out, I promise you.”
Gathings closed his remarks by telling residents that commissioners had heard their concerns while also emphasizing what he sees as the county’s need for additional revenue.
“Your voice is not being unheard, I promise you. We’re gonna work on it and make sure quality of life is good,” Gathings said. “But on the same hand, we’re a poor county. We’re hurting— we need money. Where else are we gonna get it?… We got to do what we got to do. But we’ll make sure, I promise you, that something don’t go right, I’ll bring it out. I’ll say it, I promise you.”