City Council backs Corning,
considers shutting down strip club
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
The Winston-Salem
City Council approved
incentives for Coming's
local expansion and dis
cussed a possible way to
close a downtown strip
club in its Monday, Oct. 3,
meeting.
Coming Optical
Communications LLC will
receive up to $435300 in
economic development
assistance in exchange for
creating 100 new full-time
jobs locally with a average
annual wage of $58,000
plus benefits within four
years, and invest $30 mil
lion in additional machin
ery and equipment.
Mayor Allen Joines
said the project will more
than pay for itself, as its
expected to bring in
$670,000 in tax revenue in
the next five years.
Forsyth County has
also agreed to an incentive
of up to $384,872 for
Corning. The state's
Economic Investment
Committee approved a
grant for up to $1.93 mil
lion over 12 years for
Coming's planned expan
sion in the state, which will
also include 105 new jobs
at its Hickory plant, where
it will invest $53.5 million.
The incentives encouraged
Corning to expand in North
Carolina instead of
expanding a facility in
Mexico.
"For businesses to
grow and for the city to be
competitive, we must have
incentives," said Mayor
Pro Tempore Vivian Burke.
The plant's workforce
McManus
is largely local, with 64
percent living in Forsyth
and 47 percent living in
Winston-Salem. Charles
McManus, Corning human
resource manager, said that
47 percent of the work
force is minority and 38
percent is African
American.
Burke
"We want to make sure
we're representing our
local community," said
McManus.
City Council Member
Denise "D.D." Adams,
who used to work at
Corning, said the company
didn't mind hiring people
like her who don't have a
science degree and training
them. She praised the com
pany for giving people
opportunities. The measure
passed the council unani
mously.
The City Council also
discussed a measure that
would eliminate the long
time downtown strip club
on Cherry Street. In 2003,
changes were made to
Central Business zoning
requirements to prohibit
adult establishments, but
the already existing club
was grandfathered in and
became legal nonconform
ing. The club, which has
previously been called
Harper's, Winkers and
Lollipops, is now known as
Xpressions. The city filed a
nuisance abatement lawsuit
trying to shut the club
down because of what the
city says is illegal activity
happening in and around
the club.
A settlement in the case
is currently being negotiat
ed, but the measure heard
on Monday would let the
council shut the club down
because the city says it's no
longer compatible with
Central Business zoning
because of "noise, illegal
activity and other breaches
of the peace," and the
change in character of
downtown, with retail busi
nesses and residential units
now nearby. The club
would be allowed to oper
ate during an amortization
period until Dec. 31, 2019
to give its owner time to
recoup his investment. The
City Council decided to
hold the measure until its
next meeting on Oct. 17.
County may end its curbside recycling ~
3Y TODD LUCK
rHE CHRONICLE
County commissioners
-nay soon vote on an ordi
nance that will end the
;ounty-run curbside recy
;ling program.
Since 2012, the county
las provided a voluntary
recycling service for resi
dents in the unincorporated
narts of Forsyth for a fee.
rhe current recycling col
lector, Waste Industries, is
lot renewing its contract,
which runs out at the end of
die year, and is the second
;ontractor to not renew.
Low participation and a
downturn in commodities
has made it hard for these
companies to make money.
The ordinance, present
ed to commissioners dur
ing a briefing on Thursday,
Sept. 29, would end coun
ty-awarded recycling fran
chises and deregulate the
service. This would allow
recycling collection com
panies to negotiate fees
with subdivisions that
they'd provide service to.
"What I think that will
result in is some of the
densely populated areas,
like subdivisions where
most of our subscribers
already are in the
current collection
system, to be able
to talk to service
providers to contin
ue enjoying that
service," said
Minor Barnette,
director of'
Forsyth's
Environmental
Assistance and Protection
Office.
Barnette said the coun
ty would help connect
recycling collectors with
homeowner associations to
negotiate service. The
county would require the
Marshall
service providers
to have a permit to make
sure the recyclables were
being collected and deliv
ered properly. Barnette
said that the county could
issue permits before years
end to make sure service
resumes as quickly as pos
t
sible for residents.
Those that don't fall in
areas that have negotiated
service would have to
bring their recyclables to
one of the county's three
drop off recycling centers
themselves.
County Commissioner
Walter Marshall said that
he didn't support deregula
tion, because he felt less
access to curbside recy
cling could lead to more
residents dumping their
garbage.
"The environmental
impact down the road
could be a real problem for
the county," he said.
Both Marshall and
Commissioner Everette
Witherspoon support
mandatory recycling, simi
lar to what the city has, and
don't support deregulation.
County Commissioner
Chair Dave Plyler also
expressed interest in
mandatory recycling, but
said he would support
deregulation.
County Commissioners
are expected to vote on the
measure in their next regu
lar meeting at 2 p.m. on
Monday, Oct. 10.