[Updated to include text of Hartsell amendment]
In a bit of fast action, State Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus, pulled the provision in House Bill 1973 (Section 8) establishing the Yadkin River Trust and replaced it with a Uwharrie Regional Resources Act that’s somewhat similar to the Mountain Resources Commission that became law last year … with a few notable exceptions. (PDF of amendment here.)
The big ones: Unlike the Mountain Resources Commission, the Uwharrie Commission could “exercise the powers of a body corporate, including the power to sue and be sued, own or lease property, and adopt and use a common seal and alter the same.” It also could “enter into contracts and execute all instruments necessary or appropriate to achies the purposes of the Commission.”
It also sets up a “Uwharrie Regional Resources Fund” that could accept appropriations from taxpayers, along with grants or donations.
The commission’s powers aren’t quite as expansive as those of the trust. As far as I can tell (I’m no lawyer), it would not have eminent domain authority. But it’s a close call. And a future session of the General Assembly could grant it even greater powers.
What Hartsell’s amendment does is set up a skeleton operation that could become a vehicle for an eventual takeover of the dams and adjacent property owned by Alcoa for the better part of a century.
The amendment passed the Senate 45-2, the wider economic incentives bill by a similar margin.
So the takeover is not quite dead. The question is, will the state House, which rejected the Yadkin River Trust by a 66-39 vote in last year’s long session, kill it this time for sure?
Finally, has UNC-TV squandered any editorial independence it may have claimed for nothing?
