Hope Mills Commissioners are set to finalize a partnership contract with a Fayetteville baseball team, have public hearings on two rezoning cases and review grants and budget amendments at the board’s meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday at Town Hall.
New baseball team
The Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Department has completed negotiating the terms of a lease agreement with Ballred LLC, the company that owns the Fayetteville Chutes and wants to move the baseball team to Hope Mills.
The revised agreement includes amicable language related to revenues generated from concession sales, advertising and admission tickets.
Alex Allred, CEO of the Fayetteville Chutes, is proposing to spend $100,000 in upgrades to the Municipal Park baseball field in exchange for exclusive rights for home games and practices on the field. The contract would be for 10 years.
In the newly revised contract with Ballred LLC, the town of Hope Mills would receive 3% of all revenues once the company has recouped its initial $100,000 investment. The company would have the right to sell and display advertising on the property during the months of the season in May, June and July, but the Town of Hope Mills will retain the right to the name of the field and stadium.
During the Old North State League spring training, regular season and playoffs, the company shall have the right to all gate receipts, concessions, alcohol sales, and other revenue generated as a result of any activity.
The board will be asked to finalize the contract.
Public hearings
There will be two public hearings on Monday on separate rezoning cases.
Petromarts LLC would like to have property at 7163 Rockfish Rd. zoned as a planned service and retail district. The property is located between the shopping center in front of Food Lion on Rockfish Road and 50 acres of undeveloped property.
The Cumberland County Joint Planning Board and the Town of Hope Mills Planning staff approved of the plan, even though the request is not consistent with the Southwest
Cumberland Land Use Plan designation.
In the agenda, the staff states that “the economic and regional impact of the proposed development fits within the vision and long-term outlook of the area developed to the immediate west.”
The other zoning case is in regard to 32.44 acres slated to be the next phase of the Sheffield Farms subdivision.
The Cumberland County Joint Planning Board has recommended the Hope Mills board approve the area’s zoning as residential.
Grants and budget amendments
The town was awarded two separate grants. The first is a Fayetteville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization Grant for $499,000, which is for the Multi-Purpose Path at the Lake.
“The Town is responsible for 20% of this grant, which amounts to $99,800,” reads the Budget Amendment for FAMPO Grant agenda form. “The FAMPO amount is $399,200. The Town’s portion for this grant is already included in the Powell Bill’s annual budget. The FAMPO portion is not currently shown in the budget.” The FAMPO portion is what the budget amendment will fix.
Hope Mills also received a $4,000 grant from the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Arts Council for its July 4 celebration.
The purchase of a bucket truck, ordered in the 2022-2023 year, will be approved for $181,375. The truck was ordered but was not available until the current budget year, so this budget amendment allocates the funds from the year it was ordered to the current year to cover the costs.
Contact Hannah Lee at hannahleenews@gmail.com.
