The Wadesboro Town Council had a long agenda for its meeting on Monday, discussing uptown parking issues and the town’s tree limb pickup dilemma, as well as approving a new fee for water customers who turn their water supply on without town permission.
The consent agenda included the approval of a $100 fee for citizens who turn their water back on without town approval. Town manager Alex Sewell said that after a bill goes unpaid, the town disconnects the customer’s water, only for some customers to turn their water back on themselves. Those who do so will now incur the steep fee.
The council unanimously approved the consent agenda, which also included closing part of Rutherford Street on Aug. 22 from 2-8 p.m. for a Corvette club event at the winery.
Since multiple citizens have complained that their piles of tree limbs are not picked up in a timely manner, Sewell provided data on the town’s sanitation department to the board. The department only has six full-time employees, of which four solely focus on trash pickup from Monday through Thursday. During that time, one employee operates the limb truck and another performs a variety of tasks.
On Friday, four employees pick up furniture, one does limb pickup, and the other continues to perform several tasks such as emptying the recycling container, picking up leaf piles, and assisting the other employees with their tasks, Sewell explained. The limb truck is also overused and outdated, meaning it is frequently down for repairs.
On top of that, Sewell said that they are sometimes short-staffed during the times one or more employees are sick or on vacation. Even with all employees present, they still have to empty the limb truck some days. “A lot of the time, when someone calls saying, ‘Hey, you picked up my neighbor’s limbs, why not mine?’ it’s often because the truck was full and they had to take it to Polkton to the landfill.” Then, the employees sometimes have to wait in line behind others.
Sewell said the limb truck follows the garbage route, but often gets deterred to fill work orders that customers phone in, so it can take more than four weeks for the employees to pick up limbs. Some customers also overuse work orders, he said.
To continue to offer limb pickup, Sewell said the council will need to purchase a new limb truck to replace the outdated one the town currently operates. He also recommended that the council approve new policies on limb pickup and then pass the new information on to customers so they know when to expect limb removal.
The council also discussed the parking situation in the uptown area, saying that parking is limited and that many people park in the spaces longer than the two-hour limit.
Mayor Bill Thacker suggested that the council remove the handicap parking space near the library to create two parking spaces. He also suggested that the town eliminate spaces on Greene Street on the west side close to the post office and old Leavitt Funeral Home to widen the lane more. Sewell suggested the town consult with the state Department of Transportation before making any decisions.
Councilman John Ballard said that he has heard several complaints about the parking situation in the uptown area and asked that the council review its parking ordinance, saying that the town needs to have “more impact” when enforcing it.
Fellow Councilman Bobby Usrey said that the $25 fee for staying over the time limit is a small claims civil matter that takes too long to enforce to act as a satisfactory deterrent. He suggested the town place a boot on vehicle’s wheels if the car has more than two unpaid tickets until all tickets are paid off. The council tabled the matter until Sewell could discuss the matter with the police chief before the next meeting.
After the meeting, WPD Chief Thedis Spencer estimated that there are as many as 10 repeat offenders, many of them uptown business owners parking in front of their business. Some have six or seven unpaid tickets, he said. The biggest issue is on court days, when parking spaces are harder to find.
Spencer said that some people move their cars before the two-hour limit, but only a few spaces away or on a separate street on the same block. To avoid violating the parking regulations, people need to move their cars to a different block before the two-hour limit, he said. He encouraged anyone with parking questions to contact him at the police department.
Representatives from a planned solar farm on Stanback Ferry Ice Plant Road asked the council to rezone the property from Single-Family Residential to Conditional Use Light Industrial to allow the farm to be constructed. At public services director Hugh James’ suggestion, the council approved the request with the addition of decommissioning clause. The clause stipulates that should the solar farm be closed, all equipment on the property would be decommissioned and removed.
Brett Hanna, a representative for the farm, said that the addition of the clause would cause no issues and that it would work in the company’s favor to remove the expensive equipment should the farm close, anyway. The council unanimously approved the amended proposal.
The council also approved a request from South Piedmont Community College to use the Tollison building for prison staff training. SPCC representative Jason Miller said the college will help the prison train staff in the building. Ballard agreed to support the training if there was a release of liability, which town attorney Jeff Carpenter agreed to provide. The voting members of the council approved the request unanimously, although councilman Bobby Usrey abstained from voting to avoid a conflict of interest since he is both a town and an SPCC employee.
Fire Chief Marc Sessions was recognized for receiving the top fire and life safety instruction award in the state earlier this year.
No citizens addressed the board during the time for general public comment or the public hearing for the Lewis Street and Cobb Vantress water and sewer projects. Hearing no comment, the board voted to close out both projects.
The council’s next regular meeting will be on Aug. 3 at 5 p.m. at the town hall.