Council also discusses infrastructure issues, UDO changes at agenda briefing

BY DEBBIE PAGE

Troutman Town Council members on Monday expressed their concerns about threats made against the council in person and on social media.

Council members also thanked staff members for their excellent work putting on several events in June and July while Town Manager Ron Wyatt continues to recover from medical issues — and worked through several items on Thursday’s regular meeting agenda.

THREATS AGAINST COUNCIL

During council members’ comment time, Councilman Nicholas Jaroszynski asked about steps to address verbal threats made to council members at the end of June’s regular meeting. Mayor Teross Young, who did not hear the threats, recommended that in the future they be brought immediately to the attention of the law enforcement officer present at the meetings.

Police Chief Josh Watson had not heard about these threats and said that North Carolina law currently considers threats to local councils and boards as misdemeanors, but a bill has been introduced in the legislature to raise threats directed at local bodies to the felony level, as it is currently for threats against state lawmakers or the judiciary.

Chief Watson asked council members to alert him to any threats, whether verbal or on social media, for investigation after member shared other threats that have appeared online.

Councilman Paul Henkel said that concerning social media comments have recently become more noticeable. “People seem to think that they can say or do anything and get away with it, including violent acts,” he said.

Henkel said there is no room for this kind of behavior and that those responsible should be held accountable. A few bad apples can create havoc and possibly influence other people to do something illegal, he added.

“Freedom of speech is not freedom to say all that you want to in any way that you choose,” Henkel said.

Freedom of speech must be balanced with the right to personal safety, he added.

Mayor Young noted that it was important not to take anything for granted and that the council needs to ensure that dialogue with the public is civil when conducting the town’s business.

2055 METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION PLAN

Planning Director Andrew Ventresca presented information about the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) that is currently in process for the Charlotte regional transportation planning area.

The MTP is in the middle of a three-phase planning process, the first of which is giving local jurisdictions a chance to submit a wish list of future transportation improvements, after which the projects are scored and ranked, with cost estimates given major consideration.

Projects selected for the MTP must score well and be within the limits of revenue estimates.

Troutman staff submitted six projects for consideration. Only two have been selected for funding in the MTP draft: the Flower House Loop/Houston Road realignment and improvements at the Old Mountain Road/Highway 21/ Murdock Road intersection.

Improvements at Exit 42, two Main Street/Highway 21 widening projects from Cedar Lane to Exit 42, and Old Mountain Road widening from Highway 21 to Buffalo Shoals Road are currently still unfunded.

The public comment period is open until July 19. Citizens can learn more and give feedback at MTP Public Comment /Info.

Henkel was disappointed that only smaller projects are under consideration in the MTP since the town is still trying to get the NCDOT to complete projects that were promised decades ago and should already be completed, including the widening to four lanes of Highway 21/Main Street from the northern town boundary to Exit 42.

Ventresca noted that the NCDOT funding formula is antiquated and that much-needed transportation improvements are in a tough situation statewide.

Henkel brought up the possibility of getting legislative and voter approval for a 1-cent sales tax, like the one in Mecklenburg County voters are considering, to give local districts the money for transportation projects since insufficient transportation funding for Troutman is continuing to occur.

PROPOSED SEWER AGREEMENT

The council also discussed a draft of a sewer agreement between Statesville and Troutman that was recently received. The contract says that Statesville will honor the current contract’s 200,000 gallons per day for five years with a stipulation that Troutman must find other sewer resources by the end of the five-year contract period.

Troutman has an agreement with Mooresville already in place to increase sewer capacity up to 2 million gallons per day, but Mooresville must complete upgrades to its wastewater treatment facilities, which will take one to two years.

Troutman must also upgrade its sewer lines between the town and the Mooresville connection, which will also take up to two years. Another sewer connection to Mooresville will also be needed at some point to handle increasing capacity.

Troutman has a plan to divert wastewater in some areas nearer to Mooresville from the Statesville line in order to free up capacity for the Wakefield development to proceed.

West Consultants engineer Benji Thomas told the council that there are a lot of moving parts in the current sewer/wastewater treatment situation.

Council gave several several suggestions to add to the agreement, which will be voted on Thursday night. The revised agreement is expected to be discussed by the Statesville City Council as early as August.

CONSIDERATION OF TEMPORARY USE/PRODUCE STAND UDO CHANGES DELAYED

Consideration of possible changes to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) regarding temporary uses and requirements for produce stands is being delayed to August by council members after extensive discussion at the agenda briefing.

The proposed ordinance would define size limitations, parking regulations, types of goods sold in produce stands, and require a site plan review by the staff. The ordinance changes would also make the time period for temporary uses shorter and less frequent and require renewal of permits for additional time periods.

The current UDO allows temporary uses for 45 days up to three times per year.

Produce stands are currently permitted for six months with no limitations on how many times a permittee can reapply. The cost is $50 for each six-month period.

The current UDO also has no requirements for site plan review or noise pollution from generators.

The proposed ordinance changes would reduce the 45-day temporary use permit to 30 days and allow permit renewal only two times per year.

Produce stand permits would be reduced to three months, with one renewal allowed per calendar year, not to exceed a total of six months per year. The permit fee would be required for the renewal.

Any structure that a produce stand uses would also need approval from Iredell County Building Standards prior to sales beginning. A site plan showing the location of the structure, how traffic will circulate around the area, and how parking will be organized would also be required with the application.

For temporary uses that use generators, the generator must be rated at or below 65 dB at 25 feet from the source. Sound dampening enclosures can be used to meet this threshold once approved by the planning department. The Troutman Police Department would be responsible for monitoring decibel levels.

Drawing heavily from the North Carolina General Statute definition of agricultural products, a produce stand would be defined as “a temporary non-permanent structure or space use for the retail sale of agricultural products, specifically fruits, vegetables, horticultural crops, flowers, ornamental plants, and sod, that are grown or produced by the operator.”

The stand must comply with all setbacks, with size limits of 300 square feet or less, seasonal or daily removal, and site plan review requirements as necessary, including all street parking rules as directed in the UDO.

After receiving extensive public feedback on these changes after the Planning and Zoning Board recommended them at its June meeting, council members decided they needed more time to reconsider the 300-square-foot size limitation for both temporary uses and produce stands, among other aspects of the proposed ordinance changes.

Because the public hearing has already been announced for the July council meeting, the council will hear the proposed changes and open the public hearing, but then suspend it until the August meeting in order to allow Ventresca time to consider the council’s suggestion to use a percentage of the lot size in setting temporary structure size limits and connecting parking requirements to that size.

OTHER BUSINESS

During its Thursday night meeting at 7 p.m., the council will consider:

♦ Proposed changes to the town’s Schedule of Fees to raise water and sewer rates (to reflect the 2025-2026 budget) and the cost of temporary use permits ($100 for private use, $50 for nonprofits).

Water rates for in town residents will rise from $9.26 to $10.19 per 1,000 gallons and from $18.53 to $20.38 for non-resident customers. Sewer rates for town residents will rise from $13.13 to $14.44 per 1,000 gallons and from $26.26 to $28.88 for non-resident customers).

♦ Consider selection of an engineering firm for the following projects: 1. Water Capacity Improvement – Phase 1; 2. Water Capacity Improvements – Phase 2; 3. Water System Rehabilitation – Phase 1; and 4. Murdock Road Water Main Extension

♦ Setting an August 14 hearing date to hear a non-contiguous annexation request for 3.68 acres located on Goodman Road by Makarios Holdings, LLC.

♦ Setting an August 14 hearing date to hear a non-contiguous annexation request for 0.34 acres located at 126 Meadowfall Lane by Dixieland, Inc.

♦ Approval of a draft of an interlocal sewer agreement between the City of Statesville and Town of Troutman.