Gering wants town to watch growth closely

Correction: Due to a reporting error this article incorrectly states that Hillsborough Town Board incumbent Mike Gering wants a replacement for the Colonial Inn. Gering actually wants the property to be renovated or re-established.

Mike Gering isn't just a Harvard-educated computer guy. He's a Harvard-educated computer guy who cares about town politics.

Gering, who moved to Hillsborough 10 years ago and works for IBM, was driven to participate in politics by the development of the Hampton Point shopping center.

"I - realized that Hillsborough needed to pay a great deal more attention to its future, and the only way to be sure of that was to get directly involved in town politics," he said.

But Gering said that since he was first elected to Hillsborough's Town Board in 2001, development there has moved in a better direction, citing the Waterstone Development project - a 340-acre project slated for development during the next 10 years between interstates 40 and 85.

He said that the Waterstone project and others he has helped implement while in office will increase the county's tax base in years to come.

"I think we've done a great deal to attract better projects, and we have raised the standards that we expect from developers."

Gering said development could do more than bolster the municipality's tax base though.

"We suffer from perhaps the highest water and sewer rates in the region, and it is also the most limited resource that we have in Hillsborough," he said.

He said more customers for the system would spread the burden more widely, stabilizing or reducing water rates.

"We can see the limit of our water capacity for additional development, and when we reach that limit, there will be no more development in Hillsborough," Gering said.

"So we have to be extremely mindful of how we allocate the remaining capacity because what we get will be what we have to live with for a very long time."

Gering said preserving the Eno River is essential for a number of reasons.

He noted that the river flows past many of the town's most treasured resources and said Hillsborough should try to capitalize by attracting retail and tourism business to the downtown.

He said that the downtown's potential for growth would be greatly improved if a replacement for the Colonial Inn, which closed in 2001, could be found.

"The downtown merchants have been suffering grievously," he said.

He said the situation also could be improved if downtown retailers banded together to combine resources and the town collaborated with Orange County government to change the balance of government and commercial establishments.

Gering added that good development is the key to a better Hillsborough, and he said such development will only be possible if the town can manage its resources and small-town feel.

"Investment in those things today will reap rewards in the future, and if we lose those things, they will be difficult or impossible to replace or reclaim."

 

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