The Guilford County Board of Commissioners is holding a public hearing at the board’s Thursday, July 16 meeting to get input on whether the county should approve $75 million in tax-exempt bonds to be issued by a public finance authority for the benefit of the Masonic and Eastern Star Home of North Carolina, Inc. – a nonprofit corporation that runs a retirement community in Greensboro.

Well, it’s sort of a public hearing at least. In the pandemic, public hearings are a lot different than they used to be. As of Monday, July 6, county officials hadn’t decided whether or not to allow in-person speakers at the meeting. So those who want to give input may have to call in or write in to be heard for the mid-July meeting that will take place on the second floor of the Old Guilford County Court House at 301 W. Market Street in downtown Greensboro.

The proceeds from the issuance of the “Retirement Facilities First Mortgage Revenue Bonds (WhiteStone) Series 2020” would go, according to the county’s public notice of the hearing, toward “the acquisition, construction, equipping and furnishing of an expansion to and renovation” of the Eastern Star Home of North Carolina’s continuing care retirement community at 700 S. Holden Road in Greensboro.

The project includes an estimated 67 new independent living units, 36 new assisted living units and12 new memory care beds as well as improvements to the facility’s health care center.

The bonds are special limited obligations payable by the Eastern Star Home of North Carolina.

Here is the most important line in the documentation for the item that will be decided by the commissioners: “The principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the Bonds will not constitute an indebtedness or liability of the County of Guilford, the State of North Carolina, or any political subdivision of the State of North Carolina, or a charge against their general credit or any taxing powers.”

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners almost always approves these types of financing moves since the county’s taxpayers aren’t on the hook for any of the money.

People may watch and listen to the entire Thursday night meeting by visiting GoToWebinar via computer, tablet or smartphone at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7650285765775012364.

Those who want to comment on the bonds can do so in writing by sending their comments to mailto:publiccomments@guilfordcountync.gov. They can also mail their written comments to “Board of Commissioners for the County of Guilford, North Carolina, Post Office Box 3427, Greensboro, North Carolina, 27402. Attention: Clerk to the Board of Commissioners.”