The Roanoke Rapids Police Department will get one new officer through a $119,925 grant which requires no matching funds from the city, police Chief Jeff Hinton told council tonight.
The grant is administered through the U.S. Department of Justice COPS Hiring Recovery Program and funds the officer for three years, with a requirement the officer be kept on at the city’s expense for a year after, Hinton told The Spin following the meeting.
Hinton also told The Spin the officer would be a regular patrolman on the force. Council unanimously approved the grant and the accompanying budget amendment. Hinton said the department applied for the grant about four months ago.
The city has three vacant officer positions so one of them will be funded through the grant.
Halifax Linen Service will have until the end of February to comply with job creation requirements it is supposed to meet after receiving One North Carolina grant funds in 2006.
Under the grant the company had three years to create 81 new jobs. Thus far, with the bad economy, it has only created 46 jobs, said Kathy Scott, Halifax County economic development director. “Once things turn around, the company thinks it can meet the commitment,” she told city council at its meeting tonight.
The state approved the extension, Scott said, and after her presentation, council did the same.
The grant funds were part of an expansion plan at the company’s Roanoke Rapids production plant and a plan for the construction of three new distribution centers around the state, a $1.6 million investment.
Since the grant, the company has invested $900,000 in its expansion, Scott told council.
The expansion was made possible in part by an $81,000 One North Carolina Fund grant. The money represents $1,000 per job, for each of the 81 positions the company's expansion was expected to create.
The Halifax County Board of Commissioners contributed $50,000 in matching funds and the city allocated $30,426 for the project when it was announced in 2006.
Council unanimously approved the extension.
In an unrelated matter tonight, council approved allowing Holland Consulting Planners to apply for a Community Development Block Grant to fund improvements in the Vine Street community.
The consulting company will apply for $850,000 for the project, said its representative, Danny McKewon.
Councilman Carl Ferebee said following the meeting if the grant is approved it would allow people who live in dilapidated housing in the community to relocate and allow the demolition of those homes along with other improvements.
Ferebee said it not known how many people it would affect but said the grant money, if approved, should cover the project.
Vine Street is right off U.S. 158, a road with heavy traffic running through the city and one of the locations the city would like to improve, Ferebee said.
The Halifax County Sheriff's Office is investigating the passing of counterfeit $20 and $10 bills at a local business.
Maj. Bruce Temple said in a press release the sheriff’s office is encouraging everyone to study any bills that may be passed and to call the office at 252-583-1991 if anything is suspicious.
Investigators have identified four series of serial numbers on the bills.
If anyone has information on the bills, they are encouraged to call Halifax County Crimestoppers 252-583-4444.
Three local business donated $500 each to the Roanoke Avenue Business Alliance for its efforts to bring the Main Street Program to Roanoke Rapids.
Donations were made by Wilkie Real Estate, First Carolina Agency and the Renaissance salon, alliance President Kim Simpson said this afternoon.
The alliance is currently waiting word on whether Gov. Bev Perdue will OK the city’s application into the program. A decision is expected by the middle of October.
Roanoke Rapids police are looking for a Roanoke Rapids boy who allegedly shot a security guard Saturday night.
Deputy Chief Adam Bondarek said Andrew Bell, 17, is considered armed and dangerous and anyone who sees him should not confront him but call 911, the police department at 252-533-2810 or Halifax County Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444.
Bell is wanted in the non-fatal shooting of Michael Proctor, a security guard at the former Rosemary mill, who was working when the boy allegedly approached him on an orange bicycle and demanded his money or wallet around 11:30 Saturday night.
Proctor told Bell he had neither and identified himself as a security guard. Bell allegedly shot him in the arm with a small caliber revolver. The shooting occurred in the 13th Street area of the former mill site, Bondarek said.
Police got a break in the case yesterday when officers from A Squad and the detective division spotted Bell around noon on an orange bike, a gun noticeable in his waistband.
The officers attempted to stop him and Bell fled, allegedly stealing another bike to make his getaway. While Bell got away, Bondarek said officers were able to identify him and obtain warrants for his arrest on charges of attempted robbery, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, flee to elude arrest and larceny of a bicycle.
Police hope the public will provide assistance on the boy’s whereabouts.
Proctor, who was treated and released from the hospital, walked to the intersection of Roanoke Avenue and 13th Street to use a cell phone and call for help.
A 3-year-old girl who was shot in the abdomen with a handgun Sunday night remains in critical condition at Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville and was expected to undergo surgery today.
Lt. Bobby Martin of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office said the case remains under investigation and the shooting remains listed as accidental.
It occurred in the Myrick Estates subdivision in the Littleton area. The child was struck once.
The man who bought the Peoples Theater in 2006 says he has not given up on renovating the venue.
Eric Bowman, a New Jersey attorney, said in a telephone interview with The Spin yesterday he plans to seek grant funding next year to fund restoration. He also plans to fix two other buildings he bought on Roanoke Avenue and use them as shell buildings, buildings designed to lure potential businesses into them.
Bowman, a real estate attorney who bought the theater when he was in Arizona, said problems with the Roanoke Rapids Theatre and the slow growth of Carolina Crossroads deterred immediate plans to restore the theater. “I sat back a little bit because of the recession and the economy,” he said. “I love this little old town.”
The building is in poor condition. At the time Bowman bought the the theater, there was a crew working to weatherproof the building. Repairs at the time were also done to fix holes in the roof that left the stage exposed. Water had to be pumped out of the flooded orchestra pit.
On a recent visit to Myrtle Beach he stopped to look at his property. He said he noticed how business in the shops off Premier Boulevard was brisk. Chick-fil-A was packed. He wants to see the same thing happen for the Avenue.
Bowman considered applying for a grant soon after he bought the building but learned another project was seeking funds so he backed off. That project, however, never received funds. With hopes the economy will turn in 2010, he plans to apply for Rural Center funds and other available grants which could help him renovate the theater.
He also owns the salon/radio station building and plans to put in what he calls a nice glass front for that to draw potential businesses to that area of the Avenue.
He still plans to restore the theater to bring in musical acts and show films. “I want to renovate that old building,” he said.
Now comes the waiting.
Today officials from the Roanoke Avenue Business Alliance gave Liz Parham and Teresa Watts a tour of Roanoke Avenue and then had lunch with them.
Parham is director of Urban Development for the North Carolina Department of Commerce and Watts is the director of the North Carolina Main Street Program,
Together, they will make recommendations to Gov. Beverly Perdue which could ultimately land Roanoke Rapids in the Main Street program. Inclusion in the North Carolina Main Street Program could help improve the business district through local and business participation, volunteer efforts, grant and state funding.
The bus tour of the Avenue, led by businessman Phil Hux, took the state representatives and other officials sightseeing on the avenue. Hux showed them several historic buildings, including the train depot at the intersection of Julian R. Allsbrook Highway and the Avenue.
Hux told the state officials there is a movement to buy the depot where passenger trains once stopped “and work something out with the (Halifax County) arts council.”
He talked about the Rosemary mill, part of it being demolished. There is interest in finding someone who can do something with the plant, he said.
The tour also included peeks at some of the kit homes in the city along with a stop at the Roanoke Canal Trail and Museum.
The banquet room at david’s restaurant on the Avenue was nearly packed for lunch and a brief talk from Parham and Watts.
Parham explained the Main Street program deals with economic development with a historical perspective, focusing on culture, environment and heritage. “The human resources you bring to the table is exciting,” she said.
Kim Simpson, president of the alliance, said officials now know the city is competing with Garner, Kings Mountain, Davidson. and another city. “We’re the only one in the east,” she said. At least two of the cities will be selected.
Simpson said she didn’t know how being the only city in the east would bode for Roanoke Rapids. “When you look at the map, there’s a big hole in the east. They were impressed with the town and the involvement of a number of people.”
A final decision will be made by the middle of October.
A 3-year-old child is in critical condition after she was shot last night, according to the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office.
Few details are available right now. Maj. Bruce Temple called it a tragic event. He said it was reported as an accident. It occurred in the Myrick Estate subdivision in the Littleton area.
