Anson County commissioners discussed coal ash and the county landfill, zoning, teacher supplements and more during their annual retreat on Saturday.
Chairwoman Anna Baucom said the board needs to strongly consider increasing county zoning rules.
“I think we need zoning in this county,” Baucom said. “There are a lot of people who disagree with that. They don’t want us telling them how to use their property. My concern is that when the bypass is complete, we’re going to see an uptick in population, unless we completely mess everything up, and zoning would become more necessary.”
Commissioners Jim Sims and Jarvis Woodburn said the county needs to receive feedback from the community.
Baucom said residents should be able to see how their land would be zoned, and suggested putting the information in the Hampton B. Allen Library, every town hall and online, and to provide dates for public feedback to the commissioners.
Sims said that while he supports zoning, he wouldn’t push it on his voters, but he would make sure they had the information they needed.
County Manager Megan Garner, who moved to Anson County a few months ago, said zoning would help people like her who are interested in purchasing property in the county.
“I don’t want to put a lot of money into a house where I could have something go up next door and lower my property value,” she said. “That’s been interesting for me in looking at homes here.”
The board agreed to develop a zoning plan that will be presented to the public.
LANDFILL
The commissioners discussed and largely disagreed with a presentation on county landfill deficiencies made by members of Pee Dee Water, Air, Land and Lives and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League earlier this month.
During the meeting, the environmentalists presented photos they said showed leaks in the landfill a few years ago and said that the landfill is not equipped to take on coal ash. Duke Energy listed the landfill in Polkton as a backup location to send coal ash if its first two locations are unusable.
Commissioner Ross Streater said he has not noticed an odor at the landfill, as the environmental groups complained about. Sims also said that he has noticed an odor.
Commissioner Vancine Sturdivant said that she toured the landfill and that county representatives met with individuals from the environmental groups.
Sturdivant pointed out that Cary Rodgers, a member of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, receives a stipend and travel reimbursements for his work with the league.
“This is what I found out through doing some investigating of my own,” Sturdivant said. “Cary Rodgers gets paid. He’s on a salary there with Blue Ridge. He first said he didn’t, and then he finally owned up to it. He’s getting paid through them,” Sturdivant said. “So they get paid to do that kind of stuff.”
Sturdivant said she also felt their complaints about an odor at the landfill were unjustified.
“If you keep trash in your house, it’s going to stink,” she said. “And this is a landfill.”
Sturdivant said she was concerned about the affect the complaints will have on economic growth for the county.
“I don’t want negativity to keep people from Anson County when it’s not true,” she said. “It’s not true. People will grab hold of that negative crap and run everywhere. That night when (Denise Lee with Pee Dee WALL) stood up with those pictures, and on the back of there 2007, come on, now. How many people would’ve walked out of there thinking she’d taken them just that week?”
Streater said he went to the landfill when the pictures were first brought to the commissioners several years ago, but that the issues were resolved.
Since those photos were made, the landfill has changed ownership, Baucom said.
Sims said the photos could’ve been taken over a period of time, though he also said that he is “extremely opposed” to coal ash, and that he guessed that the whole board was.
“I don’t want to think about it,” Baucom said. “I don’t want to. All I can go on is what Duke Energy said, has in writing, that this is an alternate site and they already have two sites that should accommodate.”
HOUSING CODE
Baucom said the county needs to look into developing a minimum housing code for rental properties.
Sturdivant said while she agreed that a minimum standard would be good, she didn’t know how the code would be enforced.
She said many houses in the Salisbury Street neighborhood are unlivable.
Garner said that some counties have a hotline that concerned citizens can call to report poor living conditions, but she pointed out that the county would need to have the staff to respond to those complaints.
Woodburn said that while standards for rentals do need to improve, he was concerned that the rent for those houses would go up if the owners were forced to adhere to new standards. He suggested that the county do periodic inspections instead of Baucom’s suggestion of requiring an inspection between every rental to help alleviate the obligations of county staff.
Sturdivant said she will be able to help jump-start the process by making a list of some problem addresses for him to look into.
Baucom said she wanted the county to look into what other counties do and whether they require landlords to have a license or permit in order to rent out property.
TEACHER SUPPLEMENTS
Baucom brought up the use of the one-quarter-cent sales tax refund and the county’s obligation to make sure the money was used for its intended purpose of providing teacher supplements and purchasing classroom supplies.
Garner said the total amount so far is $256,000 and that none of it has yet been used.
Baucom said those funds need to be split between the supplements and classroom supplies.
“Our intention was for our school system to be competitive,” Baucom said. “There was kind of a big recruiting effort from Texas to recruit our teachers three or four years ago. We know that we’ve got to be competitive to get people here. That’s what we’re trying to do, and that was part of the intent. Why give the teachers a raise when they’re going to turn around and spend it to buy their own classroom equipment and supplies? That was the thinking behind it, and I have heard somewhere that we can’t restrict what (the school board) does with that money, but we need to.”
Sims said the county does need to raise its teacher supplements.
“I thought they’d already put that into action,” Sims said. “I had no idea they hadn’t done anything. Good grief. No wonder we’re short 12 teachers or more.”
County Clerk Bonnie Huntley said the county cannot control what the school board does with the funds, but it can ask it to use it for the board’s intended purpose.
Streater said commissioners need to speak with school Superintendent Michael Freeman to make sure the commissioners’ intent for the funds is clear, and several commissioners said they felt confident Freeman would work with them.
JAIL, SCHOOL DEFICIENCIES
The board discussed the sheriff’s office’s concern about deficiencies at the county jail that will require an expensive bill to fix.
Among the issues, the jail’s exit signs are not continuously illuminated, sewer is leaking, a sink isn’t working, a staff toilet is not working, confinement areas are insufficiently illuminated and more, Baucom read from a jail inspection report from February.
Garner said the jail will require more than $50,000 just to fix the plumbing issues, and that it will need anywhere from $7,000 to more than $20,000 to meet the painting needs. She said the county will be able to make $10,000 in repairs for the plumbing this fiscal year.
Garner said she is waiting for a prioritized repair list with cost estimates from jail administrator Capt. Freddie Paxton to see which other needs are urgent.
Paxton did ask Garner to request that the commissioners begin thinking about building a new jail. According to the jail’s website, the current jail opened in 1984 when it was built to replace an earlier jail built in 1912.
Sims said the school system has also considered the need for a new middle school building, as Anson Middle School is in poor shape. Streater said the social services building also needs attention.
Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough.