All members of Cumberland County’s General Assembly delegation were present at city hall to hear the state legislative requests of Fayetteville City Council members Thursday evening.
Also in attendance were several members of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners, including former State Sen. Kirk deViere, now chair of the board. Newly elected state Rep. Mike Colvin and Mayor Mitch Colvin, brothers, looked at each from across the table. State Sen. Val Applewhite had been on the other side of the table as a former Fayetteville City Council member. State Rep. Frances Jackson recalled her time as a city employee. The full house was reminiscent of the overarching theme of the meeting: fresh collaboration between city, county and state officials.
“At the end of the day, almost all of us in this room are friends and neighbors and want to see this community thrive and take our place in the state of North Carolina,” State Rep. Diane Wheatley said.
The discussions focused on the city’s legislative asks and priorities for this year in the areas of infrastructure and transportation, housing and community development, public safety, quality of life and economic development. According to city documents, city council is specifically seeking $12 million in state funding:
- $2 million for homeless support initiatives to include shelter and emergency shelter operations
- $2 million for Cape Fear River Park Trail Extension Phase II
- $2 million for solid waste and transit facility modernization and improvements
- $1 million for workforce development initiatives including STEM and NextGen workforce
- $3 million for regional public safety training center
- $1 million for mental health co-response
- $1 million for community-based violence interruption programs
Many of the legislative requests centered around solidifying Fayetteville as a regional hub outside the Triangle, grappling with growth, striving for economic development and addressing challenges familiar to many mid-sized American cities.
Airport
The elected officials spent a good deal discussing the Fayetteville Regional Airport (FAY), which offers commercial flights to the hub airports of Charlotte and Atlanta. Mayor Colvin emphasized the need to make FAY a regional asset. He noted the city had recently approved a $400,000 incentive to bring two new airline carriers with flights out of FAY.
“We had a carrier that for roughly $200,000 said that they would be very interested — they’ve made several site visits here — to add two additional direct connections if they come,” Colvin said. “We added another 200,000 to take the same approach to add another carrier with [flight] concentrations up and down the east coast.”
State Sen. Tom McInnis suggested the city spend marketing money to make Moore County residents aware of its commercial flight offerings, as the Moore County airport does not offer commercial flights. Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Jensen said raising money from the private sector could help further incentivize more airlines to come to FAY, especially with assistance from private donors in Moore County
“We are at the table with the airlines,” Jensen said. “We are eating lunch with them now.”
City officials also expressed a desire to have legislators address existing regulatory policies that limit the use of federal funds for revenue-generating projects, like a runway extension, which has complicated the city’s efforts to attract and support new airlines. Mayor Colvin reiterated that the city needs to continue prioritizing investment in the airport, following nearly $60 million in federal and state funding officials worked to get for renovations in recent years.
“I don’t think we can ask the state or the federal government for anything if we’re not putting our own skin in the game,” Colvin said. “And that’s what we wanted to show with the initial investment.”
Housing and development
In discussions about the affordable housing crisis that exists in Fayetteville as across the country, Council Member Lynne Greene and McInnis said development regulations had led to a shortage of affordable housing. They hope easing restrictions will allow for more houses to be built more quickly, which will ease construction costs that are passed on to buyers.
McInnis suggested the city work with the county, as well as local developers, to find ways to increase the housing supply and ease unnecessary or cumbersome restrictions.
“Too many regulations, too many restrictions, too many rules, and too many anti development policies,” McInnis said. “Now I’m not throwing rocks at anybody. This is a generalized statement that goes from sea to shining sea, but they have estimated that the cost of rules, restrictions, regulations on the construction of new construction is between 20 and 30% of the total price. And so we’ve got to address that in this room, in this county and in this state.”
Wheatley said finding solutions to affordable housing is a “discussion that we are getting ready to have” at the state level.
Greene said she appreciated the county commissioners being at the meeting, and looked forward to working with them on affordable housing.
“I’m also encouraged by the fact that the county is really [engaging the city] with the change of guard if you will,” Greene said. “Sometimes you just need new faces, new eyes, new ears and I’m encouraged by that and I appreciate their presence tonight because sometimes we invite and they don’t come.”
Public safety
Cumberland County delegation members also expressed interest in supporting Fayetteville’s new Office of Community Safety, which pairs mental health professionals with law enforcement to respond to mental health 911 calls. The office also will work on addressing the root causes of criminal behavior, such as homelessness, lack of youth opportunities and addiction.
“As y’all develop it and your vision becomes clear, just let us know,” Rep. Charles Smith said. “It’s like eating an elephant one bite at a time. This is going to be a process. So if there’s things as you hire personnel, areas we can prioritize, as we define this office and help it to fulfill this broad reach, just let us know and keep us informed as to the development.”
State and local lawmakers are aware their requests will not always come first, or be considered as seriously as in previous years, in the wake of the unprecedented devastation in Western North Carolina. But they remained determined to advocate for the needs of Fayetteville, the sixth-largest city in North Carolina.
“We talked about Western North Carolina, and already the billions of dollars that we’ve been discussing, that’s going to be needed not only from the legislature side, but from the governor’s office, as well as federally,” Wheatley said. “That is the big need in this state right now, and I think that’s going to continue to use up most of the oxygen that we’re looking at. And we’re going to be advocating for as much funding that we can get to bring home to meet the needs here in Cumberland County.”
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608. This story was made possible by donations from readers like you to CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.
