County briefed on incentive offers, grant closeouts and park lease; staff to return with agreements

Forsyth County staff used the April 21 briefing to outline several economic development and finance items ahead of formal action at the April 24 meeting.

Economic incentives (Project Beaver and Project Renaissance) - Project Renaissance: Proposed $15 million capital investment over five years, 42 new jobs with an average annual wage of $63,000. Staff proposed a five‑year incentive not to exceed $143,165; over ten years the project is estimated to generate $508,000 in new county tax revenue, of which the county would retain an estimated 72%. - Project Beaver: Proposed $31 million capital investment over five years, 28 new jobs with an average annual wage of $47,000. Staff proposed a five‑year incentive not to exceed $291,183; over ten years the project is estimated to generate $1.392 million in new taxes, of which the county would retain about 79%. - Staff noted both projects are seeking city incentive packages and state grant funds and face out‑of‑state competition. Each annual payment to a company would not exceed 50% of the new county property taxes generated by the capital investment and payments are conditioned on capital investment and job creation requirements.

Grant closeout and adjustments - Grass America Inc.: Staff explained a state building reuse grant required partial refund because the company did not meet jobs targets. The county must return funds to the North Carolina Department of Commerce and make a partial refund to Grass America; the April 24 agenda included an amendment to the FY25 budget to appropriate the reimbursement and pass it through to Commerce. - Frank L. Bloom Construction Company: A previous state building reuse grant had an outstanding balance; staff proposed an amendment to finalize appropriation and issue the final payment (the earlier grant was approximately $250,000) so the county can settle with the state.

Airport capital transfer - Smith Reynolds Airport: Staff proposed transferring $165,700 from a landfill redevelopment project to the tower rehabilitation project to cover the design contract with Avcon; the airport intends to seek reimbursement and a subsequent $2 million construction grant for the tower rebuild.

Historic manuscript publication - Staff requested approval of an agreement with BWNA Books Inc. to manage publication of the Forsyth County architectural history manuscript (contract not to exceed $65,000). Staff said the manuscript will be complete in May and the publisher was the same firm used for a prior city publication; the county and participating small municipalities will split production costs.

Tanglewood Park lease (Soft Golf) - Parks staff recommended a lease with GasETs LLC d/b/a Soft Golf for about 6.6 acres in Tanglewood Park (adjacent to the dog park). Key lease terms: $750 monthly base rent and 15% of gross sales above $60,000 per year; an initial three‑year term with county option(s) to renew up to two additional years; CPI adjustments permitted. Staff said the operator has used the space since 2021 and no injuries were reported; alcohol service would require a separate license and liquor‑liability coverage.

Administrative items - The agenda also included two vehicle tax refunds, approval of minutes, JCPC third revision items reallocating reverted funds to other juvenile programs, and April financial reporting items.

Next steps - Staff will present formal agreements, budget amendments and resolution language on the April 24 agenda for commissioner action. Several items (incentives and grant adjustments) will require future performance monitoring and follow‑up if conditions are met.

Ending Community economic development director Kirby Robinson and budget staff said proposed incentives are conditional on meeting capital and job‑creation benchmarks and that staff will return with finalized agreements and associated budget amendments.