By Virginia Bridges

The plan to remove dry cleaning solvents from a Trinity Park site includes removing about 3,560 tons of contaminated soil and injecting 11,500 pounds of remediating agent into the underlying ground water, representatives of the N.C. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources said Monday night.

Before the excavation begins a fence will be installed around the former BB&T property on West Club Boulevard across from Northgate Mall, according to the plan.  Dry-cleaning operations were conducted at the former BB&T property and related solvent contamination has been identified in soil and ground water at and near the property. 

Residents surrounding the property and other interested parties would be notified at least two weeks before the excavation began, according to the plan.  The excavation process is expected to take four to five weeks.  During the excavation, the project’s contractor will monitor wind speed and direction and screen air at the property’s boundaries every 15 minutes.

If the monitored readings reach a certain level, neighbors will be notified and asked to limit their time outside, according to the plan.

A public meeting on the proposed remedial plan to remove dry cleaning solvents from the former BB&T site will be held at 7 p.m. tonight at Brogden Middle’s auditorium, 1001 Leon St.

The meeting will give interested residents an opportunity to ask questions on the continued clean up on the Trinity Park site on West Club Boulevard across the street from the Northgate Mall.  Dry-cleaning operations were conducted at the former BB&T property and related solvent contamination has been identified in soil and ground water at and near the property. 

The site, which has been identified as one of the most highly contaminated sites in North Carolina, is one among more than a dozen in the county and 258 across the state identified by the Dry Cleaning Solvent & Cleanup Act Program.

Last year, the N.C. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources representatives razed the building on the property.  

The proposed continued cleanup plan, which is intended to eliminate risks the contamination poses to surrounding properties, calls for “excavating contaminated soil and injecting a remediating agent into the contaminated aquifer,” according to a public notice for tonight’s meeting.  “Land use restrictions for the subject property will continue to be enforced to control current and future site risks.”

RecZone, the Raleigh ice rink that closed in June after being foreclosed upon, will reopen this Saturday.

The facility has been renovated and renamed Raleigh Center Ice.

Chip Shelton, president of Liberty Solutions, confirmed the Saturday opening. He said Raleigh Center Ice would also hold a grand opening event in the coming weeks.

Liberty Solutions of Charlotte was hired to manage the facility for BB&T Bank until it is sold. The firm contracted with Patrick Cavanagh, owner of the Chilled Ponds Ice and Turf Sports Complex in Chesapeake, Va., to renovate the facility.

The improvements included adding a new ice plant to make the facility more energy-efficient and a new dasher board and glass system. The lobby was also renovated.

The RecZone's closing displaced hundreds of skaters and hockey players. On average, more than 1,200 people used the facility each week.

The Carolina Hurricanes practiced at the rink, and it was also the home ice for N.C. State University's club hockey team.

The Hurricanes are scheduled to hold their pre-season conditioning camp at Raleigh Center Ice beginning Aug. 22.

BB&T Bank has purchased nearly 50 acres along N. Arendell Avenue in Zebulon.

The Winston-Salem-based bank paid $4.8 million for the land, according to Wake County property records.

The seller was Arendell North, an entity whose address is that of Whichard Real Estate, a Raleigh company that owns a number of malls across the U.S.

Whichard's group bought the property in May 2007 for $6.5 million.

It's unclear what BB&T plans to do with the land.

“This was a good opportunity for BB&T and we are evaluating the property for future use,” said David White, a bank spokesman.

RecZone, the Raleigh ice rink that closed earlier this month after being foreclosed upon, will be renovated and reopen under a new name in mid-August.

Liberty Solutions, which has been hired to manage the facility for BB&T Bank until it is sold, has contracted with CCS and Patrick Cavanagh, who owns the Chilled Ponds Ice and Turf Sports Complex in Chesapeake, Va., on the renovations.

The facility's new name will be Raleigh Center Ice.

"We are fully committed to bringing Raleigh Center Ice up to a world class facility and are thrilled to have secured a working agreement with Patrick on this project, he has a proven track record for excellence in this industry and we want the finest product for the Raleigh community," said Chip Shelton, Liberty Solutions president, in a release.

The renovations will include a new ice plant to make the facility more energy efficient and a new dasher board and glass system. The lobby is also being renovated.

The RecZone's closing displaced hundreds of skaters and hockey players. On average, more than 1,200 people used the facility each week.

The Carolina Hurricanes practiced at the rink, and it was also the home ice for N.C. State University's club hockey team.

The rink hosted youth and adult leagues, figure skating, pickup game sessions, recreational skating, summer camps and instructional skating sessions.

Its outdoor facilities were used by lacrosse and street hockey teams.

All those activities are expected to resume under the new management.

RecZone, the Raleigh ice rink that was foreclosed upon last month, has closed.

John Biedermann, whose family has owned the facility since 2000, said he found out Monday that BB&T Bank wanted the rink closed down earlier than he had expected. Biedermann had hoped to keep the facility open through June 15.

BB&T has appointed Liberty Solutions of Charlotte to manage the property. A bank spokesman said last month that BB&T would make a decision about the property's future soon.

Biedermann said he hopes that someone will buy the facility from the bank and quickly reopen it.

“There is absolutely a lot of need here in this town,” he said. “If it isn’t opened again, it’s really going to hurt.”

The RecZone's closing will displace hundreds of skaters and hockey players, and will also make it harder to schedule ice time at other rinks.

On average, more than 1,200 people used the facility each week.

The legislature's new Republican majority has made its first move to put an imprint on the UNC system. On Thursday, the Senate appointed eight new members to the UNC system's Board of Governors.

The eight new appointees don't signal a dramatic shift, in that four are either re-appointed current or former board members. But taken collectively, they are seven white men and one white woman; meanwhile, the board stands to lose four African-Americans and at least five women once all appointments are made.

The House appoints eight additional new members next week.

Here's today's story.

Reappointed to the UNC Board of Governors were long-time education advocate Ann Goodnight, wife of SAS Institute CEO Jim Goodnight, and Peter Hans, a senior policy adviser with the Nelson Mullins law firm in Raleigh.

Former board members H. Frank Grainger of Cary and John Fennebresque of Charlotte also were appointed. Grainger is part-owner of Fair Products Inc. and Tritest Environmental Lab, and Fennebresque is an attorney.

The four newcomers were Fred Eshelman of Wilmington, executive chairman and founder of Pharmaceutical Product Development Corp.; W. Louis Bissette Jr., an attorney from Asheville; Thomas Harrelson of Southport, vice president of AECOM, a former state legislator and DOT secretary appointed by Republican Gov. Jim Martin; and Phillip Walker, senior vice president with BB&T in Hickory.

Branch Banking and Trust has leased an additional 30,600 square feet of space in Highwoods Properties Tower One.

The bank now leases a total of 99,400 square feet in Tower One, located just off the Beltline near Atlantic Avenue.

Last month Highwoods announced that INC Research, a company that assists drug makers with clinical trials around the globe, had left a competitor's building and signed a long-term lease for 60,000 square feet in Tower Two.

BB&T plans to step up sales of real estate seized from borrowers because bids from buyers are rising, Bloomberg News reports.

Investors will accept returns of 16 percent to 18 percent on their real estate investments, instead of 40 percent they were demanding two years ago, CEO Kelly King said today at a financial services conference in New York.

“The buyers are back and we have a lot of good product,” said King, Bloomberg reported. “You will see us be more aggressive.”

BB&T hung on to property including land and small office buildings rather than selling at distressed prices during the worst of the recession. BB&T held $1.57 billion of real estate assets forfeited by borrowers who couldn’t keep up with payments as of March 31.

The company, which is based in Winston-Salem but has large operations in Raleigh and Wilson, has more than 1,800 branches in 12 states and Washington, D.C. King, who took over as CEO in January 2009, leads a bank that's now the ninth largest by assets among U.S. commercial banks.

BB&T shares rose 72 cents to $35.54 in afternoon trading. The stock is up about 60 percent in the past year.

Remember David Abels, the Mommy Hook entrepreneur in Carrboro who became enraged when his bank told him it was no longer lending to existing customers?

Well, Abels reports that his bank, Wachovia/Wells Fargo, has increased his credit line from $25,000 to $50,000.

Abels had been seeking a small-business credit line of $100,000 but he reports that he is happy with what he received.

And since the story ran about Abels ordeal with Wachovia, he's been contacted by five or six other banks offering him their services.

"I don't know if I would switch entirely because I have a history with Wachovia," Abels said. "But BB&T is definitely courting me."