Easley pushes though a faster schedule to sell $742million in bonds to start construction projects.
RALEIGH The N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences grows larger. UNC Charlotte gets a center for training engineers to run energy plants. Prisoners get more cells, and the N.C. Zoo’s polar bears get a new home.
And it will all happen sooner than initially planned.
In one of his last acts as chief executive, Gov. Mike Easley on Monday pushed through approval of an accelerated schedule to sell $742 million in bonds for university buildings, prisons, museums, and smaller projects around the state, such as an oyster hatchery.
The legislature previously approved the projects, and Easley proposed the expedited schedule in November. The Council of State, made up of the governor and other elected executive branch officials, voted Monday to speed up the bond sales in hopes that the construction will generate thousands of new jobs and help ease the pain of a sagging economy.
The projects include $57.2 million for the planned Energy Production Infrastructure Center at UNC Charlotte. It will train engineers to build and run energy plants, particularly nuclear reactors.
Source: Charlotte Observer
