Preparations for the North Carolina Research Campus will color every issue that Kannapolis, once a thriving textile town, will face in the coming years.
Water resources, infrastructure and becoming an inviting community to newcomers are three issues that will have immediate impact.
Jim Harkins, who is running for City Council, moved to Kannapolis in the 1980s from Oklahoma. He said when he first moved here, he noticed the rivalry between Kannapolis and Concord could be fierce. He said that rivalry could hurt the perception of Kannapolis to outsiders.
“I believe in a healthy rivalry, but I don’t believe rivalry should be in government,” Harkins said. “I think we need to quit trying to compete with Concord.”
With the research campus coming, new people will be coming to Kannapolis to work and the city has to be welcoming.
Harkins said he thinks the churches in town will have to take a big role as the welcoming committee.
City Council candidate David Baucom said setting aside land for spin-off companies from the research campus is important.
“We need to have adequate land to support the businesses that will come here,” Baucom said, “ so they can provide new jobs in Kannapolis.”
Baucom, who is on the Kannapolis Planning and Zoning Commission, also said it should be up to the business community to welcome and cater to new people who have moved to the area.
“If you are willing to work with new faces and do business with them, then your business will grow,” he said.
Incumbent Roger Haas said at a candidate forum on Oct. 5 that he would like to see a program involving business and community groups that would welcome newcomers to Kannapolis - those who will work at the research campus.
“We have more in common than we think,” Haas said.
Baucom said he is comfortable with how city leaders handled the interbasin water transfer issue.
“I think they addressed it in a timely manner,” Baucom said.
Longtime resident and council member Richard Anderson said at a candidate forum that the water transfer was critical to Kannapolis’ future.
“It is extremely expensive to purchase treated water,” Anderson said. “We should only purchase water as a last resort.”
Candidates John K. Williams said, if elected, he would push for more water towers to be built in the city to collect and hold water to help shore up the city’s water supply.
He also said Kannapolis needs to focus more on fighting illegal immigration.
“There is more activity on this issue in Salisbury and Charlotte and Gaston County, but I don’t hear too much coming from Kannapolis,” Williams said. “This is a big concern for the community and I think it is being ignored.”
Roads are also a challenge for Kannapolis to overcome in the next five years. Mooresville Road needs to be widened and the city will be putting up part of the construction cost. The big intersection in the city - Dale Earnhardt and Cannon boulevards - is in need of widening and renovation.
Incumbent Ken Geathers said at the forum that Interstate 85 is the greatest transportation challenge facing the city. He said widening the interstate would be critical to the success of the campus.
-Ben McNeely
