Property sought for economic development

City officials discuss in closed session

Mount Airy officials want to buy some property — apparently so much that they opted to hold a special called meeting on Tuesday night to discuss the matter.

The five city commissioners gathered in a small conference room at the Municipal Building along with Interim City Manager Darren Lewis, City Clerk Nicki Brame and Hugh Campbell, city attorney.

Mayor Jon Cawley was not physically present for the rare Tuesday night meeting of the council, but presided over the proceedings via speaker phone.

The group had been assembled for only a short time until Cawley announced that a closed session was needed to discuss “land acquisition for the purpose of economic development.”

Under the N.C. Open Meetings Law, property acquisition is one of the allowable reasons for an elected body going behind closed doors outside public view.

No action was taken as a result of Tuesday night’s meeting, which lasted about 45 minutes.

And an official announcement has not been made regarding the economic development aspect involved.

However, a previous property acquisition by the municipality has occurred within the past year near the location of the municipality’s largest economic-development project over the past decade.

That is the redevelopment of the former Spencer’s textile mill property in downtown Mount Airy which the city government bought in 2014.

In November of last year, the commissioners voted to spend $300,000 for property at 314 Franklin St., located in the vicinity of the Spencer’s complex.

Officials said then that acquiring this property — owned by Robert Kent Slate and Myra Garrett Slate — would aid further development of the former industrial site.

There has been no official word on whether the possible property acquisition discussed Tuesday night also is in close proximity to the Spencer’s property.

The purchase of the Slate parcel was financed through a $2 million grant that had been awarded to Mount Airy in July 2022 by the state government to support various improvements in the Spencer’s area.

Under the terms of the 2022 sale, some or all of the premises involved — including a house on the site — were to be leased back to the present owners at a fair market rental rate for a term of up to nine months.

That period expired this month.

Tom Joyce may be reached at 336-415-4693.