Duke Energy study of Choco Industrial Park--many positives, some crucial negatives and much unknown | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    Duke Energy, along with its consultants, unveiled their analysis of the Chocowinity Industrial Park to about three dozen community citizens Wednesday (7-9-14). It was an eye opener. But unfortunately, the eyes that needed to be opened were not present. Not only member of the Chocowinity Town Board attended.

    We'll have more on the presentation after we have had a chance to study it in more detail, but suffice it to say that what we heard was the proverbial "good news, bad news" scenario. We have uploaded the video clips of the entire event and you can review them below. We would suggest you not do so until you have three hours to devote to it. We think the real value of this report will be in bookmarking it for later reference. We intend to do just that and bring specific highlights to your attention over time.

    Here is the raw video:



    Clip one is the Welcome, introductions and an overview of the process Duke uses for these site studies. If you're short on time we would respectfully suggest you can skip this clip. It deals with the process Duke uses and little with Beaufort County.

    The second clip likewise deals very little with Beaufort County. It is, in our perception, a rather grandiose pitch for economic development as consultant who make their living selling this wish it to be perceived.



    The third clip is simply a continuation of the second clip which ran too long for You Tube. What you will hear is a classic economic developer's pitch in support of crony capitalism, a.k.a as incentive grants.



    Now, in clip 4 we get to the meet of the program—an analysis of the positives and negative of the Chocowinity Industrial Park. This one is worth watching:



    Finally, clip 5 wraps it up and there are some interesting questions raised. You will not want to miss this. Among other things what you will hear is that sewer capacity is one of the identified weaknesses of the site and you get an indication that a lot of somebody's money is going to be needed to address this issue. But unfortunately, the study does not present a solid analysis of the existing capacity nor what would be needed if the park develops as they envision except to say that the current capacity is not adequate for how they envision the park developing. But they admit they are relying on the WAG (Wild A.. Guess) method of determining this.



    Again, we'll have more analysis over the next few days.

poll#49
Considering that Beaufort County may build a new jail /sheriff's office: What should be the best course?
7.51%   Build a modern jail/S.O. in the southwest corner of the county
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49.2%   Do not build a jail/S.O. anywhere
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Governor McCrory Celebrates Groundbreaking for International Medical Manufacturer in Durham Beaufort County Economic Development, Business, Regional Business Energy-Related Reforms Boost N.C. Economic Prospects


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