Hugh Fisher

In a surprise announcement, Kannapolis City Manager Mike Legg brought news a week ago that billionaire David Murdock, owner of the North Carolina Research Campus, has offered to donate land to the city, outright, as a site for a new city hall and police headquarters. “There are no conditions on this transfer,” Legg said. After discussion, the Kannapolis City Council voted to accept the donation, on a 6-to-0 vote. Councilman Randy Cauthen was absent.The unexpected news was announced at Monday’s regular council meeting. The council voted last year to begin the process of constructing a city hall on the...

Kannapolis City Manager Mike Legg announced Monday night that Kannapolis did not receive a good enough rating from Standard and Poor’s to make the potential tax increment financing bond issue affordable. (The bonds were envisioned as a means of furthering development at the being built by billionaire David Murdock in Kannapolis.) His statement at Monday’s Kannapolis City Council meeting puts to an end weeks of speculation about whether the bond rating agency would give the deal a favorable rating, allowing the city to pay less interest. “It’s not the best news, but we do have some alternatives that we’d...