By Andie Foley
andie.foley@salisburypost.com

County commissioners on Monday approved a public hearing to consider incentives for a potential 700,000-square-foot development along Interstate 85.

The hearing will be held during their Oct. 1 meeting at 3 p.m. in the County Administration Building.

The development, a warehouse and distribution center located at the southeast corner of the interstate and Long Ferry Road intersection, could happen through partnership with NorthPoint Development.

NorthPoint is seeking to recruit a large e-commerce company to the site, which could create 600 jobs by the end of 2022 and $55 million in investment in new construction and equipment.

According to NorthPoint general counsel Ian McDonald, the developer is pursuing a particular user as it builds the proposed warehouse facility.

“It’s a user that’s been well received in multiple communities,” he said during a commissioners’ meeting in late August. “We’ve worked with this particular user before. We’re excited to hopefully have them come to this community.”

NorthPoint has worked with industrial clients including Amazon, BNSF Railway, General Motors, UPS and Tradebot.

In other business from Monday’s meeting:

• The board heard a report from emergency services Chris Soliz regarding the weekend’s storm.

Soliz said the Emergency Operation Center had been an effective source of collaboration throughout Tropical Storm Florence, including key players from several different departments across the county.

Emergency Management is now developing a template for county municipalities and towns as they go through recovery steps and request state assistance.

Remaining risks from the storm come from the Yadkin River. The water level was supposed to crest Monday night into early morning Tuesday, with potential effects felt downstream.

Soliz said right now he categorizes this as a low risk for the county, but officials are monitoring the situation.

“People keep asking me what they can do to stay safe,” he said. “Right now, I say just stay away from the waterways. The banks are too unstable right now. … Don’t take any chances.”