Paramount buyback plan gets council ok
By Anessa Myers
Published in News on August 12, 2008 1:39 PM
The Goldsboro City Council approved an installment-purchase contract Monday for the city to buy the Paramount Theatre back from the Weil Foundation.
A public hearing on the subject was held beforehand. One person spoke, in opposition of the buyback.
Phyllis Merritt James said she felt that the buyback amount of $6,083,325 was not the amount that the public believed the theater would cost.
But, she said, more than the amount, she believed the money for the theater could have been better used for another venue.
When planning was beginning for the theater, she said, funds were put aside for it as well as a place for children to come downtown.
"The citizens of Goldsboro now have to pay for a higher cost of the Paramount for a higher rate, and we still do not have a center for our youth downtown," she said.
Kaye Scott, the city's acting finance director, recommended that the city finance the theater with RBC Bank at a 4.54-percent interest rate with a 15-year loan payback period. The amount will be higher than the first-thought amount of $4.5 million since interest paid to the bank must also be allotted for, she said.
Fifteen financial institutions were notified of the buyback information. Ms. Scott said RBC Bank's bid was the most attractive.
The council also approved the condemnation of two dwellings on North James Street -- at 307 and 412 -- as well as the formal approval of $5,000 to go to Kimley-Horn for the design of Stoney Creek Park. The council informally approved the item at a July meeting and a request for additional funds in the amount of $73,305 for more engineering services by Kimley-Horn relative to widening Berkeley Boulevard.
Council members set a public hearing for Sept. 15 regarding the closing of a portion of Pineview Avenue and approved a contiguous annexation petition for property located on the west side of North Oak Forest Road between U.S. 70 and East Ash Street.
Council members also approved the appointment of John Casey to the Stoney Creek Park Alliance, approved a conditional use permit for property on the west side of South George Street between Pine Street and Spruce Street and site and landscape plans for a variety store and Goldsboro Honda.
The council denied two other requests -- a site plan for a church at 223 W. Walnut St. that would have been too close to another existing church to fit the city's Unified Development Ordinance, and a site and landscape plan for apartments on South Williams Street.
Council members tabled a rezoning request to change property located on the north side of East Ash Street between Ridgewood Drive and Spence Avenue from shopping center to general business.