Elon’s town council found itself in a giving mood this week when the town’s police chief approached its members with some suggestions for unloading two of her agency’s surplus vehicles.
Chief Kelly Blackwelder ultimately asked the council to authorize the donation of these 11-year-old cars – as opposed to having them auctioned online as is the rule for most of the town’s surplus vehicles and equipment.
Up to the task force
Blackwelder informed the council that she has tentatively promised a 2014 Chevy Tahoe with 102,000 miles on the odometer to the Alamance Narcotics Enforcement Team for use in traffic stops and other anti-drug operations. The town’s police chief added that this Burlington-based, countywide taskforce hopes to get some additional life out of this police issue SUV even though it’s no longer suitable for her own agency’s day-to-day use.
“Currently, the doors no longer lock, so we can no longer use it on patrol – even as a spare,” she went on to explain during a town council meeting on Tuesday. “ANET has consideration for taking this vehicle…They are well aware of the issues and are willing to have the issues fixed by their own mechanical shop.”
Free ‘ride’ to community college
Blackwelder added that she has provisionally offered a 2014 Dodge Charger to Alamance Community College, which is apparently keen to accept this decommissioned clunker, with its 55,000 miles and a blown engine to boot. Blackwelder added that ACC’s auto repair department intends to work on the vehicle’s engine before passing it on to the college’s program in Basic Law Enforcement Training.
Blackwelder insisted that the proposed donation of these vehicles would generate good will for the town even if it doesn’t add any funds to its coffers. She added that, if council would rather turn a quick buck, it can always post the two vehicles on Govdeals – an online auction site that Elon and other governments use to dispose of their surplus. The town’s police chief noted that the Tahoe might even fetch a relatively good price if offered up on this venue.
“It’s hard to know what kind of revenue it would generate,” she went on to admit. “But Tahoes are very sought after, and it’s a very nice color. So, I would say it would bring in $5,000 to $10,000.”
In the end, the council opted to load up on karma rather than cash and voted 5-to-0 to donate the two surplus vehicles as per Blackwelder’s recommendation.
Annex marks the spot
In addition to approving these vehicle donations, the council signed off on the proposed annexation of just over 50 acres along University Drive that Raleigh-based GreenHawk Development plans to transform into a new, mixed-use community.
GreenHawk has asked the town to absorb this now vacant tract as a prelude to the construction of Parc Village – a mélange of 600 apartments, office space, and retail development that obtained the council’s zoning approval in March.
Situated at the southeast corner of University Drive and North Williamson Avenue, Parc Village is one of three projects that GreenHawk has in the offing at this fast-growing road juncture. The company’s other endeavors include the 129-home subdivision dubbed Parc East as well as Parc Northwest, which combines 385 dwellings with a smattering of commercial development.
Although the earliest of the three to secure the appropriate zoning, Parc Northwest has more or less been stuck in idle since its contentious approval in 2023. On Tuesday, however, Elon’s planning director Lori Oakley announced that things may be about to get busier on this development’s site thanks to the town’s recent approval of the project’s first building permits, which will allow GreenHawk to break ground on two model homes.
