(Above) The city has contributed more money to finish the rehabilitation of this
former 7-Up Bottling Company building on Patterson Avenue.
City of W-S photos
(Right) This shot shows how badly damaged the interior of the Patterson Avenue
building was before it was renovated with the help of city funds.
City OKs New Hope aid,
hears sanctuary city request
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
An appeal for Winston
Salem to become a sanctu
ary city and approving help
for New Hope Manor and a
multi-use center on
Patterson Avenue came
before the City Council' on
Mon, Dec. 19.
Several college stu
dents spoke during the pub
lic comment session in sup
port of Winston-Salem
becoming a sanctuary city.
They said the designation
has no legal meaning and is
a "principled position" to
serve everyone withput
discrimination.
Sanctuary cities pledge
to leave immigration
enforcement to the federal
government and not devote
local resources to it. This
encourages residents to do
things like report crime,
seek out healthcare and
enroll in schools without
fear of being deported.
Valeria Cobos, who
was brought to the United
States by her parents at an
early age, told the council
she spent most of the last
23 years living "in the
shadows" as an undocu
mented immigrant. She
dropped out of college
when she didn't qualify for
federal loans because she
was undocumented. It was
only recently she was able
to continue her education
after she was granted per
manent residency as a vic
tim of domestic violence.
Cobos said her family
remains undocumented
with no path to citizenship
and worries they may be
deported, especially after
President-elect Donald
Trump promised to deport
all undocumented immi
grants. While it remains to
be seen if deporting 11 mil
lion people is even possi
ble, she said if it happened
to her loved ones, it would
be devastating.
"Nobody wants to lose
a member of their family
just because somebody
decides you're not a valid
human being and that you
shouldn't deserve any kind
of right to stay in this coun
try," she said.
Danny Timpona told
the council that federal
funds can't be withheld
"Nobody wants to lose a mem
ber of their family just because
somebody decides you're not a
valid human being and that you
shouldn't deserve any kind of
right to stay in this country."
Valeria Cobos
from sanctuary cities,
which includes dozens of
cities like New York and
Phoenix, Arizona, and
most recently, Washington,
D.C. He said they're work
ing on a petition that'll be
presented to the council in
January.
Also during the meet
ing, the City Council
approved a $1.6 million
loan for the Housing
Authority of Winston
Salem to purchase and ren
ovate New Hope Manor.
Buildings there not fit for
habitation will be demol
ished and the remaining
units will undergo rehabili
tation. The item was held in
a previous meeting because
of concern over whether
the loan was big enough to
make a difference at the
complex. After city staff
confirmed the planned
rehabilitation would bring
all the units into code com
pliance, the council
approved it unanimously.
The council also unani
mously approved $53,600
in Revitalizing Urban
Commercial Areas
(RUCA) funds to Azzat
Amer to finish transform
ing a former 7-Up bottling
company building at 1800
N. Patterson Ave. into a
multi-use building. It's
planned to house a commu
nity center and businesses
like a garage, salon and
convenience store. The
measure was controversial
among council members
since the city has already
given $716,000 to the proj
ect, which city staff esti
mates is 90 percent com
plete.
However, some, like
Jeff Macintosh, said given
the scope of the project, it's
not surprising for it to over
shoot original cost esti
mates. The building was
badly damaged, including
having a collapsed ceiling,
before construction began.
Council Members Derwin
Montgomery and Vivian
Burke said they were
impressed by the rehabili
tation of the building.
This isn't the first time
that a RUCA project has
had to come back for addi
tional funds and council
members said they'd like to
see changes to the program
to prevent that in the future,
like possibly limiting how
many times one project can
get RUCA funds and get
ting a better upfront esti
mate on how much a proj
ect could possibly cost.
Minorities
from page AI
tractors were included. The library construction is part of
a bond referendum approved by voters in 2014.
This year's bond referendums were $350 million for
public schools, $65 million for Forsyth Technical
Community College and $15 million for county parks.
Also during the Monday, Dec. 19, meeting:
?The county agreed to a one-year lease for the top
floor of the Forsyth County Public Safety Center, where
the Sheriff's Office is located, to Wake Forest Baptist
Medical Center. The vacant floor has 45,407 square feet
of office space that is being rented for $136,221. The hos
pital will use the space to test renovations on its adult
emergency department by creating cardboard mock ups of
the department.
?The county also agreed to a three-year lease of 1,320
square feet and six parking spaces in the Forsyth County
Public Safety Center for $20,790 to the N.C. Department
of Public Safety for probation and parole offices for the
21st judicial district.
?The county agreed to a two-year lease of 2,813
square feet at the Forsyth County Agricultural Building
for $23,232 to the U.S. Division of Farm Service Agency.
?The county executed the documents to receive $1
million from the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural
Resources for the new location of the merged Children's
Museum of Winston-Salem and SciWorks. Half the funds
will go to construction and the other half will go to
exhibits at the new museum, which will be built on the
location of the old Sheriff's Office. The county has
already approved more $17 million for the project.
Portrait of Mayor Allen Joines unveiled
SPECIAL TO
THE CHRONICLE
A portrait of Mayor
Allen Joines was unveiled
Dec. 15 as the latest addi
tion to the Hall of Mayors
on the first floor of City
Hall.
The unveiling ceremo
ny was held in the City
Hall Council Chamber,
101 N. Main St. Joines,
who was first elected
mayor in 2001 and was re
elected for a fifth term in
November, is Winston
Salem's longest serving
mayor.
?
I'
I
City of Winston-Salem
ffetM
Here is the
portrait of
Mayor Allen
Joines that is
shown in City
Hall.
Changes for Christmas and New Year's holidays
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Many government offices, including the Post Office
and Winston-Salem city offices will be closed Monday,
Dec. 26, for the Christmas holiday and Monday, Jan. 2,
for the New Year's Day holiday.
CityLink 311, the city's citizen service call center for
Winston-Salem, will be closed but non-911 emergency
calls will be forwarded to on-call staff with the appropri
ate department.
Requests for routine information or services may be
submitted by email, the city website and the CityLink 311
mobile application for processing the next day.
During both Christmas and New Year's weeks,
garbage and recycling collections will follow the normal
schedule. Yard-waste collections will be postponed a day:
Monday on Tuesday, Tuesday on Wednesday, etc.
For more information call CityLink 311.