The Rowan County Fiscal Court conducted its monthly public meeting Tuesday, September 19. Judge Executive Harry Clark led the discussion, giving updates on multiple initiatives by the RCFC.
Clark shared the results of a longtime effort to procure land for a county recreational park. As part of AppHarvest's bankruptcy settlement, RCFC negotiated ownership of a 260-acre portion of property located near exit 801. Clark said with the oversight of the county’s recreational board, the acquisition is the first step toward a large economic development.
“This recreation board will certainly guide us through that. What it looks like, when we get it, and how it evolves, I don’t know. But, we’ve got the biggest part of this, is we’ve got the piece of property that now we can actually do some studies on and figure out exactly how to go forward with it,” said Clark.
Officials explained the purchase was made with temporary use of the board’s rainy-day funds, which will later be reimbursed by Rowan County’s Industrial Development Authority. Clark said the 260 acres will likely be divided between the recreational board and other local businesses.
“This is an opportunity for Rowan County to have something not only to attract businesses to come in for quality of life, but it’s for our residents to be able to have an actual county park- or a park, I’ll call it a county park- but a park that we can have, and it’ll be used by everybody in Rowan County,” said Clark.
The Fiscal Court has also applied for county-wide broadband access grants, aiming to bring network access to about 700 underserved households in the county. A feasibility study issued in 2019 concluded the process would cost $47 million.
The RCFC hasn’t received any state funding for widespread broadband yet, but Clark said it’s only a matter of time before Rowan County receives its share of the grant.
“There’s other counties in this Commonwealth that are in worse shape than Rowan County. And I know that’s hard to believe, and if you’re in the head of the holler like I live, it’s hard for you to believe there is other places that are in worse shape than we are as far as broadband. So we missed that one, but there’s a billion dollars coming,” said Clark. “That billion dollars will be here sometime later this year. With a billion dollars, we’re gonna be able to get the broadband that everyone deserves and everybody wants. It’s just a matter of where we fall in that sequence of when.”
An archive of RCFC meetings and other county-wide announcements are available online at the Rowan County Fiscal Court Facebook page.