ELIZABETHTOWN – Some of the recent updates from the feud that is currently going on in Elizabethtown and the siege that the town is under have not changed much from prior weeks.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) document printed in the April 1 issue of the Bladen Journal, the Southeastern Economic Development Commission sent a scathing letter to Dane Rideout, Sylvia Campbell and Elizabethtown Town Council members.

Along with other rebukes, the letter stated, “Contrary to Mr. Rideout’s statements to the Town Council and to the County, SEDC did NOT “cut out” the engineering services to design and manage the project. There was never $275,000.00 in engineering services to design and manage the project included in the PER Project Costs Estimate & Budget for either scope of work.”

This past week, April 14, in another FOIA document was obtained which was a response from Rideout to Pam Bostic, Executive Director of the Southeast Economic Development Commission, members of the SEDC board of directors, and members of the Bladen County Board of commissioners.

It expressed a formal apology. There has been no other recent public information available from the Town of Elizabethtown concerning the lawsuits.

The Bladen County Board of Commissioners along with Bladen’s Bloomin’ Agri-Industrial group has told the Bladen Journal that they are planning to go ahead with a town meeting to bring information to the public concerning the events of the current feud, the litigation and where the current projects in the Elizabethtown Industrial Park stand.

As per items the Journal has shared, there have been outside media sources that have played a part in reporting this series of events.

The feud that began almost two years ago was reported on by a staff member at Bladen Online (Now owned by the Bladen Journal) as being a press release from Bladen County.

“In 2002, a group of community business leaders created Bladen’s Bloomin’ Agri-Industrial, Inc. (BBAI), a private non-profit corporation to help create and expand industry and commerce. Its mission is “to stimulate Bladen County’s economy by creating new jobs, tax base, agri-business opportunities, and entrepreneurial opportunities.”

Since BBAI’s creation, twenty-nine (29) multi-million-dollar projects have been completed. Two (2) more projects, a daycare facility and the Westwood facility, are currently under construction. The Cape Fear Valley Medical facility just received its Certificate of Occupancy last week and its formal opening is still waiting on the Town of Elizabethtown to exercise the EDA grants to install the needed roads and infrastructure. These new facilities will be in addition to the nine (9) projects already completed and located in the Elizabethtown Industrial Park, an Industrial Park that sat vacant until the County of Bladen and BBAI got involved. These projects would provide desperately needed jobs, daycare, and healthcare services for Elizabethtown and County residents.

In addition, dozens of local businesses located in every corner of Bladen County have been given start-up and/or expansion loans from BBAI. Over a thousand jobs have been created through BBAI partnering with Bladen County. Bladen County and BBAI’s partnership is a huge success for Bladen County and for the Town of Elizabethtown.

The Elizabethtown Industrial Park has been the epicenter of this success and is where Bladen County and BBAI have invested most of their time and attention into businesses and industries calling Bladen County “home”. When industries are interested in locating in Bladen County, this partnership between Bladen County and BBAI aggressively marketed and invested into the Elizabethtown Industrial Park. The County of Bladen and BBAI have always worked closely together with the Town of Elizabethtown in this endeavor until now.

The Town of Elizabethtown and Bladen County’s partnership has always extended beyond the Industrial Park. The County of Bladen has consistently supported the Town of Elizabethtown with monies they needed and has never denied their requests. Bladen County has given Elizabethtown $100,000.00 towards lighting for the Cape Fear River Bridge; agreed to pay Elizabethtown half of the light bill each month at the Highway 87 underpass; paid Elizabethtown $550,000.00 towards repaving the Elizabethtown Airport runway and aprons; paid Elizabethtown $68,000.00 so they could match and obtain a Safe Streets grant and paid Elizabethtown $100,000.00 for the startup design for “Live, Work, and Play” community. Bladen County has contributed $818,000.00 to the Town of Elizabethtown in the last two (2) years. Until recently, this has always been the case.

In preparation for the County’s 2022-2032 Strategic Planning, the County started putting forth the idea to develop 33 acres of the Elizabethtown Industrial Park for a “Live, Work, and Play” community. After all, one of Bladen County’s goals is to “utilize innovative techniques along with collaborative partnerships to boost the infrastructure required to sustain Industrial, Commercial, and Residential growth.” The “Live, Work, Play” community was going to be a project that would be a collaborative endeavor between the Town of Elizabethtown, Bladen County, and BBAI, and it was also going to be the largest project to date.

Phase one of the “Live, Work, Play” community was originally designed to have at least seven (7) commercial facilities in addition to a 5000-person amphitheater. The County has always wanted the “Live” portion of the community to be designed so that approximately one hundred quality homes could be constructed and sold to Bladen County residents. This design concept was at first receptive to the Town of Elizabethtown. However, this all changed when the Town decided to partner with an out-of-town developer and architect and essentially give that developer control of the “Live, Work, Play” community for what appears to be the next 99 years.

Now, the Town of Elizabethtown has informed the County that its newest version of the “Live, Work, Play” community consists of 300 to 500 rental houses, a much smaller commercial area, and ties up half of the land available for industrial growth. No longer will these homes be available for Bladen County residents to purchase and own a part of the American Dream. Instead, they will be for rent, ultimately filling the coffers of a landlord. This was never the objective for the “Live, Work, Play” community. The Town of Elizabethtown’s model is flawed for everyone except for the Town’s private partners. Bladen County refuses to release any funding to the Town of Elizabethtown because we believe this arrangement is not in the best interests of the citizens of our County and is seriously flawed.

The County of Bladen has made numerous requests to the Town Board and Mayor to sit down with us and work through our issues. Bladen County’s attempts have been completely ignored by the Town of Elizabethtown, and now are referring all future communication through their Town Attorney.

Instead of sitting down and working with Bladen County and BBAI to come up with a more reasonable alternative, the Town of Elizabethtown has barred the County from any further investment into the Elizabethtown Industrial Park. We were notified of their decision in September that the Elizabethtown Industrial Park was no longer available for investment by the County of Bladen and BBAI.

The Elizabethtown Industrial Park is the only industrial park in Bladen County that has water and sewer infrastructure. Not having Bladen County’s financial backing and BBAI’s expertise will no doubt result in a huge loss to the current and future citizens of Bladen County and Elizabethtown.

The Bladen County Commissioners are saddened that it has come to a Press Release between these organizations. However, it is important that our citizens understand the state of these affairs and take action to encourage all parties to do what is best for the citizens of the Elizabethtown and Bladen County.”

This release was issued and published October 17, 2024 and in over five months the problems remain as well as a standstill for the Elizabethtown Industrial Park projects.

For a full read of that article and the documents that came from the county, please visit: https://bladenonline.com/open-letter-town-of-elizabethtown-shuts-down-bladen-county-and-bbai-growth/