Originally, the approved estimated project budget was roughly $60,525,000. While presenting to commissioners, Cape Fear Development (CFD) noted that teams working on Project Grace were able to find a total cost savings of $4,582,181 by “engineering efficiencies, utilizing existing assets, and implementing a comprehensive and competitive bid process.”
Mike Brown, a partner with Cape Fear Development, spoke to commissioners on Monday night. He said CFD was lucky to have been the “second eyes” on the project, as they got to review the previous plans from the original developer. CFD sat down with the downtown library and Cape Fear Museum staff to go through a list of areas where money would be focused and were able to whittle down the list.
CFD said 121 contractors bid on the project in late June, and plans listed in some of those bids created more ways to save money for the overall project.
Chief Financial Officer for the county, Eric Credle, gave a subsequent presentation explaining that the second part of Monday night’s approval was to let the county submit an application to allow debt issuance to the Local Government Commission (LGC) — that’s a division of the State Treasurer’s office that signs off on major financial moves by towns, cities, and counties
The county would be applying for $57 million to finance the project, Credle said, which was well within the county’s debt capacity. Overall debt payments would decrease year after year, even taking possible borrowing into account.
County Manager Chris Coudriet chimed in before the official vote and addressed some of the LGC’s past concerns. In the past, the LGC —specifically State Treasurer Dale Folwell, who chairs the LGC board — has been critical of several New Hanover County projects, including earlier versions of Project Grace.
Coudriet also enumerated the possible alternatives that were considered and said that, ultimately, the current plan was best for the county.
He said that no tax rate increase would ever happen for any debt the county takes out, unless it was voter-approved. Credle noted that with the county’s tax base increasing roughly 3.5% every year, they would be able to recoup those funds.
Motions to approve the plan and approve the submission of an application to the LGC were unanimously approved.
A mandatory public hearing will be held at the next commissioner’s meeting on August 21.
