Editor and Publisher
John H. Walker
TARBORO —
Edgecombe County now has an additional 316.71 acres of land to pitch for industrial development following a $2.5 million transaction that was completed March 27 and recorded three days later.
The acreage is part of a larger tract of land owned by Confederate Gen. William Redden Cox. Known as Penelo Plantation — for Cox’ wife Penelope — or the Cox Farm, it was more recently part of the estate of Henry C. Bourne, Sr. It is bounded on the north by U.S. 64 Alt., on the south by U.S. 64 and on the west by Kingsboro Road. The price was slightly less than $7,894 per acre.
Bourne’s daughter and son-in-law, June and Willie Long, Jr. of Roanoke Rapids (referred to as Wiley in minutes from the Aug. 1, 2011 meeting of the Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners), sold the property through Long Gone, LLC. Willie Long is listed as the agent for Long Gone, LLC.
At the time of the August meeting, authorization to continue in negotiations “for 372 acres at the Kingsboro Industrial Site” was authorized by a unanimous vote and, at the Sept. 6, 2011 meeting, a unanimous vote approved an option agreement with Carolinas Gateway Partnership.
The Sept. 6 meeting is the last board meeting from which minutes have been posted.
Last Thursday, County Manager Lorenzo Carmon said the county, “Exercised an option with Carolinas Gateway Partnership a month ago to own the land. Kingsboro is one of the premier sites we’re promoting for economic development. It is the best industrial site east of Raleigh.”
Carolinas Gateway Partnership is not mentioned in the three-page deed
Carmon also told The Daily Southerner, “I don’t remember” when asked about the size and cost of the tract.
Carolinas Gateway Partnership is a public-private industrial recruitment agency dedicated to the economic development of Edgecombe and Nash counties, according to the organization’s website.
Carmon said, “We’re not close to cutting a deal” in regards to developing the site for a particular client or clients.
