THROUGHI a SALUDA,N.C. 9 00  City of Saluda and Public Hearing Minutes Board of Commissioners  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting  HEGNI  Date Time Location  2/12/2024 07:00PM  Saludal Library Chambers Room  1-0 Call to Order  Mayor Morgan called the meeting to order on February 12th, 2024at7:01 pm.  2-Invocation  Ar moment ofs silence was observed. 3-P Pledge of Allegiance The pledge of allegiance was recited.  4-1 Roll Call  Attendance was taken, and those present werel Mayor Tangie Morgan, Commissioner Walker, Commissioner Talbot, Commissioner Marion, Commissioner Oxtoby, City Attorney. Janal Berg, City Manager Steven Orr, Assistant City  Manager & Finance Officer Julie Osteen, Chief Price, City Clerk Pam Waters  5-A Agenda Additions and Deletions  Addition - Historic Saluda Committee - Martin Anderson put in under New Business Motion made by Commissioner Marion to add Martin Anderson with the Saluda Historic Committee to under New Business maybe number 20 or 21to provide a summary of concerns expressed during their past meeting oft the Saluda Historic Committee Commissioner Talbot Seconded all were in favor.  maybe 20 or 21  6-Approval or Correction of Minutes  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Public Hearing 2/12/2024    Commissioner Talbotr made a motion to accept the minutes as written for, January gth 2024 Commissioner  Walker seconded and all were in favor.  7-0 Consent Agenda None  8-F Public Comment  Erica Shanks 130 Henderson St. Saluda, NC  She spoke ont thel Burning of Crystal Springs with some of the concerns.. As a concerned citizen and a person of an organization that does protection ofe environmental stewardship, just to talk about the property thati is considering tol be burned on Henderson Street (Crystal Springs) just have some questions regarding that. The Fire Department with their proposal to! burn down thel house. at Crystal Springs they have to bep permitted to doi ite as part oft training. Who are they permittedt through would ith bet the department of Insurance, wouldi it be under supervision or partnership ofa college training or wouldi ith be burnt underi the Core services ifr not have they reached outt tol Department of environmental quality to get a permit to do an open burn on al house on that properly? Ifs so there hast to be an Asbestos inspection done ati thatt time ifit! has ith has to be safely removed from thel house. Other parts oft the citizen concerns were that DEQ would hold a public comment to address those concerns with what is! being purposed within 5001 feet oft the! house do ar radius to see how many houses are int that radius and within a 10001 feet they would look at what municipality ift there is any Health Centers, Churches in that area as wellt that they would consider that before they burni it doesn't look like anyone is here from thet fire department sot those we can address there. just want to City Attorney Berg as the city attorney Ican address some oft the questions. We don't have answers toy your questions thisi isl because Burning permits come under the purview oft the Fire Marshall and the Fire Marshall is at function oft the county government not the city. Soi ify you have concerns in respect to that they shouldn't be directed to us because we can't do anything about that. You can address them to the county andt thel Fire Marshall as well to the Saluda Fire Commissioner Walker Let! her have a copy oft the! Live Burn Plan that the Fire Department has tot follow to do a live  know what their process is moving forward.  Department. burn.  Elena Robson 1661 Henderson Street Saluda, NC  As fori the burning the county has passed offt to thes state DEQ there was a precedence on this last. July in Durham NC thet fire department burnt al historic house and in al large radius there was lead paint chips and the City of Durham had top pay to cleani it up. Wel know there is lead paint inside and outside that house. There is a stream right nextt to itt that would be contaminated. Ihaven't seen this burn plan. You must mediate lead ifyous are remolding buti ify you are leveling or burning it'sr not a concern except toi the people that live aroundit. Idon't know who would be liable the guy Ispoke with at the county todays saidi it would be the Fire Department or the! home owner. The Fire Department doesn't have any money and the Home owner well. just want you to know of the liabilities. Peter Eisenbrown 1281 Homewood Drive Saludal lhave lived here 15 years. Last Monday found out about crystal springs being tom down then heard Burnt down. Sol started to gather information. 125 year old property. There has to bel lead in there. It looks likel lead isn'ta a disqualifier tol bumi in North Carolina from whatl could research.! know myself and a good number off folks here tonight especial close tot the properlyllook out my office window l'm about a 150 feet as the crowi flies of the! house. Wel hate the ideal of losing Crysyal Springs. So the contractor or contractors told the! buyers thati it's not affordable repair al lot of us may disagree I don't have any expertise on that. The concept ofj just burning itt tears me up fora a lot ofr reasons especially environmental hazards. Flames 1001 feet up ini the airi it's going to be a mess. II love thet fire department the chief of Tryon is at friend! did ask him some information and he dids say that has had specific training on this and thought thatt the Saluda Fire Chief did also.I I understand the desire to have practice Oppurtunites! butt tot take down a 125) year old historic property with allt the! big stuff coming into Saluda with the Railst to Trails it's like the oldest coolest property lefti in Saluda. There has to be another way around. I'm opposed to! burning itl will fighti ite andl Ithink al lot of people inl here will as well. Sot this really  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and! Public Hearing Z 2/12/2024  2    needs to be researched the town wants tol hand off to thet fire department the Fire Marshall. Let's get togetherlwould lovet to see ift there's something with the new home owner: another opportunity to do something with this property it's an amazing place. Ihave lived there 15y years l'm sure al lot oft the people here have swam int there as kids. I'm  expressing my opinion. lhope something better can be done besides burning it down.  9-Public Hearing for a' Text Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance Sec 8.05-1 Tents and Temporary  Uses  Mayor Morgan Opened up thel Public Hearing  No Public comments.  City Manager Orr spoke oni the text amendment tot the: zoning ordinance sec 8.05 Tents and temporary use. The only thing that has changed or added is the! last sentence which states. In no event shall any such temporarys structure  or tent be used for overnight occupançy. Mayor Morgan closed the public hearing.  10-P Public Hearing for a Zoning Map Amendment Mayor Morgan Opened upi the Public Hearing.  City Manager Orr went over what this was pertaining tot the planning boardi is suggesting that from Irving St and West Main to the areal known as dormitory on Seminary and Boarded by Cullipher St and Coates St. As the commercial Historic District the planning board has been looking at this over time this is becausei thel Rails to Trails project that willl have al lot ofi interest ont these properties that are outside ofi the C-H district where people have asked about putting ini business putting in mixed use and are limited with the current zoning there is the belief thaty you! have a better wayt to create al better connectivity of your business district when you! have disconnected C1-C2 which allowsi it to be nots sO dense as well as not having the architectural restrictions that create al better entryway and corridor on  boths sides of town.  John Morgan 166 Henderson Street Saluda  We own 2 properties ini that proposed. zoning district modification. My concern is that C-H doesn't address some of thei issues youre going to find outside the current Historic district. Zero! lot lines especially on thei front. Youg get on Seminary Street you! have az zero out line and at two story building weret talking about a pretty imposing structure right on the edge ofi the street. Wei talk about plate glass windows int the! Historic District and your supposed tol have plate glass windows that's not appropriate for some oft the out laying ones Ryder Hall doesn't have plate glass windows if they were to develop the windows next tot them and run them right outt tot the street Ryder Hall would look strange sitting there. What! would purpose is that we look ats some oft ther ramification that C-H will do to us. And maybe consider: an overlay thati ties in but doesn't exactly specify what we have currently in C-H district. Thati is really alll  had tos say.  Elena Robson 1661 Henderson Street Saluda, NC  He covered most of it, oft the purposed parts C1,C2 and R1 are all current districts that willl be redesignated. as C-H thati is just an awfull loto of changing. love zoning! I'm 100%1 for zoning. Wer need protections. We need to know what we are setting zero lot linest to is absurd. Having people build right up toy your house as he mentioned on Seminary Someone from the audience we have concerns what is purposed moving it to C-H what about future building structures if they are approvedi isi it strictly only to have historic style homes and then some commercial buildings Mayor Morgan I'm going to let Glenn Franklin she is oni the planning boards shel knows this from top to bottom. l'm  Street. That's alll have att the moment wej just need to think.  what kind there is al lot of ramification wheni it comes to building andi that type oft thing.  going to let her speak to your questions.  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Public Hearing. 2/12/2024  3    Glenn Franklin, John has concerns about architectural code plus you mentioned the windows and stuff like that and you seem to be concerned also. Ifyoul look at whati is being purposed ordinance is an entirely different architectural control package fort the areat thati is extended andt those are similar to the architectural controls as put on Ozone and put on Greenville street and what they are is architectural control to keep the buildings like they are residential in size. Like we put al limit on how big a footprint can bes sO you don't get some monstrous bam like buildings that not keeping itl like Saluda. So we did as little limiting as possible butt tol keep things looking like a residential community to keepi it as as small rural town andt the architectural controls that youv were talking about. John those are only for the olds section oft town ifs someone took al building ini the old part oft town itr needs to go back conforming to what the olds style is. But  the new stuffi is ify you will readi it. John Morgan where isi it?  Gleen Franklin youy will! have to ask Steve. lwas very careful when was pulling this together. The planning board was very careful alsol because we don't want to stifle development we. just needi to stay on a smaller scale. So thati is basically what iti is. The setbacks Iwrote to somebody and the reason was we don't have anys setbacks that doesn't mean that you don't want setbacks itj just means there not mandatory andi ify you willl look at! Main Street you have one building right after the other right on the street and gives yout the since of continuity, Ifs someone wanted to do that as yous go down we wanted them to be ablet to. The only thing we really said is no parking in thet front. But other thant that the only restriction we have asi far as lot lines you can have as big ofal lot line as your need. Basically we put the choice int the developers hands instead of the city mandate. lhope when you all get to readi ity you see it's not al bear. John Morgan! I didn't know you had anything published. Because Thave asked for it. requested it specifically. Glenn! Franklin maybe it wasn't timet for it. We dot things waya ahead and give al huge amount oft thought to these things. One of thet things wei tryt to doi is before anything gets finished wei tryt to think of as many questions as) you're going to ask so we will! be able to say wet thought about that and the reason we did or didn't dot that was because of this andt that at least you will understand our thinking even ify you don't agree. We don't expect everybody to agree. But we tryt to look at all the demographics area. People have been here al long time,20 years, people who own  property, tourist that's why itt takes so long to come up with something. Glenn Franklin If Steve will let me send it out I'li sendy you a copy.  John Morgan all got was the current C-H  John Morgan parking is going to be an issue we have a parking lot already int the new: zoning area. haven't seen Glenn Franklin well Ican't telly you! how were going to handle it either as we goi into the new: zoning and parking lots not allowed right now that would be grandfathered in. Thatp piece ofp property therei is ar much higher use fort that Someone from audience soi ifal building were tol bet torn down and reconstructed does thes stipulation state thati itl has Gleen Franklin you build within the guidelines. Right int town are strict. The guidelines int the extension area nots strict. James It think itv would be good to describe ita as an overlay that does tie int the rest of thet town toi it. Glenn Franklin what we did with Ozone has worked very well. ItH has worked SO well that we could use parts ofiti in  how were going tol handle that.  property int the long run. We alll know that.  to go back exactly like: the original building? Or can you! build iti int the guide lines.  They are. just to try tol keep buildings to a small town scale.  Greenville Street. Based around. the premise to small town America. Commissioner Oxtoby can you announce when the planning board meets. Glenn Franklin we have a meeting on Thursday at 8:30 int the morning.  Someone from the audience can everyone get a copy of thep paperwork that you were talking about if Steve lets ito out  can we all have access to that?  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Public Hearing -2/12/2024  4    Glenn Franklin that is what thep public hearing is for. It's just that some oft the questions that. John and some were asking know people get apprehensive when they don't know what is going on. And this ordinance has been so much a part of my life. motioned Tangie and said I can answer some of your questions. We have a planning board meeting' Thursday, 830 am andi iti is open tot the public. Idon't think we are going to discuss this because it's Mayor Morgan itv will be advertised on the website andi in the Tryon daily bulletin and thel bulletin board. Sharon Hipp lown property on Cullipher and Seminary Street next to. John Morgan. Iwant to give opinion caution. Shes said footprint was important. think to us owners like. John that own a decent size property my footprint and is important to us too. IfJohn and Elena was going to sell our property I think limiting our footprint it could devalue our home l'm not sure! buti it's something to look into. She spoke on continuity for our town. don't know thatl want my property nott thati itst that big or Ryder Hall or a contractor putting in 13 condo's. Ithink continuity is relative to Saluda. Butl think independence is also important to Saluda. Shes said it's nots strict at all my opinion of strict maybe different than yours or yours. John I have the paper work of thez zoning and everything they are talking abouti ify borrow its since you or nobody else seems to have. My caution toy youi is read careful and look ati itb before you it's want just to all  settled.  already  City Manager Orr what he is referring toi is the public hearing.  okay.  11-Budget and Financial Report EV Charging Station Usage graph GovDeals- ending February 28th PROPERTY list with thel Resolution February 12, 2024 Report for:. January 31, 2024 General Fund: Property Taxes received of $866,056 Salès tax distribution of $99,854 Franchise Taxes received $20,162 we were originally notified for. Total Revenues are $1,199,152. Expenditures: Administration: Police: $26,454 spent on repairs: 2011 Tahoe $5,151 2015 Dodge $2,501 2018 Dodge 9,482 2019 Dodge $3,133 2010 Explorer $2,710  Assistant City Manager & Finance Officer Julie Osteen went over the. January Budget Report.  RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SALUDAI BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DECLARING SURPLUS PERSONAL  Final Disbursement of Powell Bill funds was higher than originally expected from NCDOT $32,388 $2,988 more than  Historic Committee has used funds received in prior years. Budget amendment willl be presented. 54% of budgeted expense - 4% below budget. Nothing unusual fort ther month.  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Public Hearing-2/122024  5    7 distributions have been paid toi the Saluda Fire Department fort this year's" Tax Levy. 64% of budgeted expenditures. 6% over budget due to vehicle maintenance.  Transportation: Repairs of $73,261 as follows: Storm Damage $3,075 Stump Removal $750 Culvert repairs $1,266 Mowing/Maintenance $22,250 Streets Laurel Mtn $482 Irving St1,754 Henderson $1,620 Salisbury $2,777 Cemetery St $1,800. W Columbia culvert $6,664 Other supplies/repairs $7,900 49% of budget Sanitation  7months payment to GFL for Garbage collection has been incurred. Cultural and Recreation: painting at Library of $10,346 plus monthly cleaning. Pace Park bathroom items: $3,547 No other major expenses for Cultural and Recreation. 7p payments has been made to First Citizens Bank on City Hall.  Library repairs/maintenance, $20,015 whichi includes elevator inspection of $4,600. Repairs to window sills and  Tennis Court renovations $33,477 /$30,000 covered by Polk County Community Foundation  Debt Service: Surplus at. January 31 $130,232. Water. Fund:  Total revenues received are $375,501. Water purchases thru, January total $133,339 whichi is 25 % over budget. Due to significant leaks on! Howard Gap, Hipp Rd, Bell Court, Orchard Hill, and on Ozone at thel Marathon.  Anticipated deficit $4,523 Sewer Fund: Total revenues $174,671 Anticipated profit is $40,507  Capital Outlay fora a new' WWTP chart recorder of $2,428  New Schedules for McCreery Park Phase 1a and MRF expenses to date  Commissioner Oxtoby made a motion to accept the Amendments for 400.00 to increase the budget for the Historic Committee income. received and 5.000.00 to increase the budget for maintenance required on the  vehicle as presented Commissioner Walker seconded ally were in favor. Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Public Hearing -2/12/2024  6    Commissioner Oxtobyr made a motion to accept THE RESOLUTIONfor) DECLARING SURPLUS PERSONAL  PROPERTY listed below Commissioner Walker seconded all were in favor.  Description purchase date 1-HDI Body Camera March 15, 2018 1-HDI Body Camera March 15, 2018 1-HDI Body. Camera March 15, 2018 171 Intel Computer May" 14, 2019 Laptop Surface Pro) XI March 25, 2020 Dell Laptop Core 17 May 26, 2020 Utility Billing Computer i5. June: 3, 2020 51 Police Radios VHF (135-174 MHz) Kimball September 15, 2020 City Clerk Windows 10 Desktop October 21, 2020 donated to the Saluda Elementary School.  Ther majority oft the computers are going to the Saluda Elementary School. Ithink one can be sold. The others will be  The! bid on the Laurel Drive property will Close February 28th.  12-Public Safety Report Participated: Clay Price  Chief Price went over his. January report. Total Miles 5784, Total Events 796  State citations: 57 City Citations: 1, Warning Tickets: 7, Written Warning 0, Verbal: 7,Expired Registration 9,No Operators License 6,Drug paraphernalia, Possession of Narcotic/ Alcoholic Beverage, Registration Violation, Careless and Reckless Driving: 1, Speeding 27,Faulty Equipmento, Driving' While Impaired 0, Driving while license revoked 6,Inspection Violation 5, Concealed Weapon1, Stop sign violation 0, No Insurance 0, Open Container0, Arrest 3, Warrants Served 2, Order for arrest served 1,Business Checks: 338, Church Checks: 50, House Checks: 27, Total Monthly Checks: 415, Written Reports/ Calls answered, Vehicle Accident 3, Larceny:0, Breaking and Entering, Welfare Check 2, Alarm calls 3, Open Door, Suspicious PersonWehicle calis 4, Assault 1, Vandalism 1 Fraud 0, Communicating' Threats, Hit & Run, Calls Thru Police Department Phone: 57, Information only 8, Walk In Calls at the Saluda Police Department: 6, Total Monthly Written Reports:7,Total Patrol Calls 81  13-Outside Resources and Funds  City Manager Orr had a meeting with Foothills Regional commission whichi is a council of government they are going to work with us on looking at some ideals a different structure and somethings related tol NCDOT as far as sidewalks ands some road work. We are goingt to reapply for parks andr recreations grant for McCreery Park and see what  happens. We will apply for 100,000.00 this year ands see.  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Public Hearing 2/12/2024  7    14-Zoning and Planning Department Report Nothing to report were going through them on the agenda items. 15-Administration Department Report  Nothing to report. 16-SDF Report  Commissioner Oxtoby There was ar meeting between the SDF, TDA andt the! SBAI lwasn't ati the meeting. Commissioner Marion they willt taket the suggestions back to eachi individual boards.  17-F Friends of McCreery Park Participated: Melanie Talbot Commissioner Talbot we meet tomorrow 18-Discussion of Coon Dog Day Festival  Commissioner Marion let me be clear officially say we are having coon dog dayi iti is July 6iti is named coon dog day. We have had one official meeting two weeks ago and wel have one Thursday at 530pm it open to the public Ify you wanti to come. We are: starting to geti into thel logistic ofits so the meeting is very boring we willl be talking about! how many golf carts we need and: stuff like that. We are: starting to get things worked out. We are looking for volunteers. Wer really need help I need about 20 volunteers one two or 3 hour shifts at the most. Icould use some volunteers the night before. We need volunteers top put this one every year. The community needs to understand AI hand full of people come out ande expected to doi ite every year so ify you do want to see coon dog day continue then donate 21 hours of your time that dayi ifp possible. The committee works extremely. hard sO any help would be. appreciated. Ineed 3 people the night! before to set up with the vendors and signsl I need 101 to 12 people to work the parking lot throughout the day. I need at few golfcart drivers. Ineed at few volunteers for the parade organization Ineed at fewt tol help clean up. Steve and! cleaned up last year andi itt took two hours. Ithink since wel hire out the garbage throughoutt the day thatt takes care of al lot ofi issues. The parking lot volunteers need to know what time tot tell people thatt they needt to be back. because oft the gate closing. The dog competition will be moved down tot the school. Ify you wantt to volunteer you 19-Resolution for the Text Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance Sec 8.05- Tents and Temporary  can get my email off the city website andl Iwill addt toi the volunteer list.  Uses  City Manager Orri read the resolution  Commissioner Marion made ar motion to accept the Resolution for aText Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance as Read with the Correction of taking out schedule of fee's Commissioner Walker seconded and  all were in favor.  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Public Hearing 2/12/2024  8    20-Schedule al Public Hearing for a Zoning Map Amendment for the C-H Zoning District Regular  Schedule Board of Commissioners Meeting March 11th, 2024  City Manager Orr read thel Resolution.  Commissioner. Oxtoby made ar motion to accept the Resolution to Schedule a Public Hearing March 11th 2024 at7:00pm for aZoning Map Amendment as Read Commissioner Walker seconded and all were in favor.  21 - Historic Saluda Committee Martin Anderson  Martin Anderson l'm a member of the Historic Saluda Committee we had our monthly meeting on Friday evening. I would liket to share the minutes withy you. One thing that was discussed briefly was thel Historic Saludal Home Tour June 8th. The plans are coming together quite well 6,000.00 has been committed so far. Thanks to the sponsors that have signed up already. The liveliest oft the discussing on the Agenda was the faith of 291 Henderson Street known since 1900's as Crystal Springs. It belonged to the late Martha Ashley and! heri family. The realtor representing the new owner the McNamara's they livei in California she was present att ther meeting she stated that the buyers have hadt two contractors inspect it and they have beeni informed that the house has! basically condemned and uninsurable andt they plan tol have the Saludal Fire Department burn it down in March or April. would like to share with yous some of our concerns from our meeting that haven't been officially approved by the committee but these are the minutes Commissioner Marion asked the realtor isi itt thes same realtor that represented them when they purchased it? Mr. Anderson the major concerns were releasing Lead and asbestos in the air and ground wateri ifiti is burned especially tot ther neighbor's which include the Robinson Garden plots that are two lots down. Al lot of concern ont the McNamara's decision ont to burn it down as come tol hastily considering the non-profit preservation NC whit whom the Historic committee has worked with overt the years extensively toured the house not tool long ago and they stated they! have seen Historic homes in considerably worse condition that have been ablet to be preserved. Thei firm. JMT was hired through the state of North Carolina to survey the house last year It think through the family members they identified ita as al Historic Property recordation no mention int theirs survey of need forp possible demolition. There was also concem for possible conflict ofi interest among one oft the contractors whoi is ay volunteer with the fire department. Among our suggestions to the committee, ifal building permit is required thati the City clarify whoi is responsible for approving that sounds liket that's been done today that would be the County. We ask thatt the City request that the burn permit be denied. Wer request thatt the city ask thet fire department for info on theirp protocol regarding crystal springs and clarify whoi isl liable for possible contamination and copies of any environmental results be shared with the community. Itr needs tol be clarified who is responsible for anyl long tern consequences as ar result of the burn. We recommendi that the City ask the McNamara's for a reprieve and take no steps at this time to destroy Crystal Springs including practice bums. Preservation NC a Non-profit stated at our meeting that they are prepared to make an offer on the! house. They use an option to purchase contract where they worki in a specific Niche Market for Historic, Victorian homes! like this tot try and find owners to purchase and restore thel homes. We recommend the City support Preservation NCi in its effortst to purchase the Crystal Springs who would also place an easement or covenant on the too ensure its preservation Ifithasn't àlready been done they would follow through" with that for sure. Moving forward that the City, Planning Board and' Thel Historic Committee and any other relevant entities like new owners should work collaboratively together to create policies and solutions to prevent this occurring int the future and I submitted a Commissioner Oxtoby so1 this Preservation NC do they purchase the! house, or do they look for people with big Mr. Anderson I'm afraid don't know the details at thet time the new directori is new to us too! his name is. Jack Thompson the way! he described itis Quote we are willingt to make an offer today which was last Friday. Solguess you can interpret ite either way. Buti it sounds like they would doi itt through selecting someone else sO we recommend  that were collected as well as sO suggestions. Mayor Morgan yes she ist the selling agent.  letter this evening to request just that. pockets to buy and preserve the house?  we increase or initiate conversation with them to obtain that.  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Public Hearing -2/12/2024  9    Commissioner Oxtoby wouldn't that be between them and the! buyer?  Mr. Anderson yes I'm not certain myself would hope the maybe the city could get involved in certainly issue a recommendation we the committee know that the city can't force ap preservation orr rather tol burn or teari it down but we can atl least weighi in with recommendations based on community interest thati is very strong. Mr. Hal Green asked ift they made an offer orj just saidt they would make an offer.  Mr. Anderson said that! he didn't say he made an offer.  Mayor Morgan The only one able to answer thati is Cat Chayet, doy you think the owner isi interested in sellingt the Cat Chayet he said not unless it came through me. Ireally don't think so butl don't know. He was upset the wayl  property? was treated Friday.  Commissioner Marion made a Motion to Request the city of Saluda Planning board researchand provide guidance to the Saluda Historic Committee. and Board of Commissioners with regards toi Identfvingpotential historicallys significant property concerns and provide possible solutions with respect to State, Countyand  City ordinances. Commissioner Talbot Seconded votes were as follows. Passed- (3) Aye -Talbot, Marion, Morgan (2) Nay -Oxtoby, Walker  22-S Schedule al Public Hearing for Revised Telecommunications Tower Ordinance Regular  Schedule Board of Commissioners Meeting March 11th, 2024  Attorney Berg North Carolina General Statutes revised the wireless Telecommunications ordinance ai fewt tears ago and Saluda's ordinance wasn't updated to reflect those changes to incorporaté the new technology such as the carrier on wheels for example in addition Polk County had carved out an exception forv wireless communication ordinance permitting thati is in respect of public safety facilities such that it was necessary to fill gaps in radio coverages in areas that we would be ablet to replace a wireless communication tower to allow fore emergency services to communicate with each other. So that was an exception they carved out and since Saluda is having the same difficulties with respect to holes and coverages included carved outf for public safety facilities as well. So essentially this updated ordinance is keeping in! line with the North Carolina General Statutes changes that happened technology  as well as to carve out exceptions for public safety facilities,  City Manager Orr read the Resolution. Walker seconded and all were in favor.  Commissioner Oxtoby made ar motion to accept the Resolution to Schedule al Public Hearingfora Telecommunication Tower Ordinance. Amendment for March 11th 2024 at 7:00 pm as Read Commissioner  23-1 Henderson County-Saluda City. Resident  Ralph Mayer and my wife. Jane back here this situationi thatl want tot talk about only involves a handful of Saluda City residents. We got al big surprise in. January when Qur fixed rate mortgagej jumped up by about 500.00: a month. Iwent to Tangie myi first thought was the reassessment Isaw ther reassessment saidi ife everyone's mortgage went up that much Saluda sure won't have any deficient problems. So Iwent to Tangie and she sent met to Steve and Steve helped me and explained to me what was going on. Here is what's happening we live in Henderson County there is nine of us int the city limits of Saluda. Sot this year Henderson county changed the assessment on property values jumped up about 55% whichi is huge. But what Henderson county did was adjusted thet tax rate to come down to make itp pretty taxi neutral it went up a little biti in Henderson County butr notr much however we are in the cityl limits of Saludat ther nine of us Polk County hasn't adjusted theirs becauset they won't reassess until next year 2025 at that time theirs will come down whati isl happening to us is nine on! Laurel Mountain' Traily wèl have pretty neutral Henderson  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Public Hearing 2/12/2024  10    County but Saluda City Taxi is whatj jumped way up. Saluda City taxi is. .690 Henderson County dropped theirs tol like .34 something! like that to make itt tax neutral. Italked to Melissa O'loughlin with Polk County and also tol Henderson County. What they are telling us is that Polk County will reassess and everyone taxes will go up! buts she said Polk County will probably readjust to make it pretty tax neutral. Orj just as smali jump. Fort the nine of us we havet twoy years where we are paying an extraordinary amount to the City of Saluda because oft their weird situation where thet two counties are noti in sync with their reassessments. Henderson County reassessed Polk County will. My requesti is when I talked tol Melissa O'loughlin she said the City Attorney could probably write something fort the nine oft them temporary until Polk County does their reassessment. Ifl did the math on it right now Saluda City. .690t tax rate ift they dropped itf for the nine of us to a. 381 that would still ber more that tax neutral for this temporary twoy year time frame until Polk county reassesses then they will brin it down tot tax neutral. Theni it will go back into some kind ofb balance at that time. Ini the meantime ith hurts to pay an extra 500.00 a month. My request is can the City of Saluda do something temporary for the nine of us that are in this unique situation that livei ini the city limits of Saludal but are in Henderson Attorney Berg I can appreciate yours situation and your unique position where by part of. Jurisdiction where city limits is located in a different county with a different reassessment) year. However l'mr not aware of any authority wel havet to assign different tax rates within ourt taxing district. We pay our budget for the City the whole jurisdiction everyy yearv we are required to publish what our government neutral rate is and evaluation year. however sincey youl livei in a different county that reassesses theirp property ay year ahead ofF Polk County. Youi inl kind ofa catch 22 situation. I'm not aware of any authority wel have to do that. The only way I'm aware possible make that! happen is ask for a special legislative out that would be applicable in the future from our locall legislatures saying werei in a unique position we have different reassessment; years andt the revenue neutral rate isn't really revenue neutral for the ninei impacted properties. So we could ask the General Legislature for a special legislative law to accomplish what he is wanting to MR. Mayer will they always be off when reassessment happens? Will someone talk to them its seems like ity will Attomey Berg Yes thel best thing! think to accomplish what he wants to doi is Talk to our General Legislature and see ifv we can't get one to write al bill like. Jake, Johnson because he ist familiar with Saluda see if he could help us out either create a special taxing district fori those nine properties orj just something that would help with their problem. It's Commissioner Marion short session is coming up is it something that could be considered then? Who needs to reach Attorney Berg they normally don't like toi take up local bills during short sessions. We can talk to. Jake ands see ifhe  County to make itr nots such al burden on us?  happen andl Ican understand the need for that. happen againi int three years. not going tol happen now. out tot them?  can help with that. Ican, he can, we both can. We would need direction from yout to do that. Mr. Mayer, ifl call 911 where willt the call go to Polk orb Henderson County?  Chief Price itc could go to either County in that location. We would probably be the ones to come because of our Commissioner Marionmadean motion for Attorney Berg to speak to Representative. Johnson about potentially creatingas special tax district for the City property thati is inj Henderson County. Commissioner  mutual aid agreement.  Walker seçonded all were in favor.  Below is thel letter Mr. Mayer presented to the Board int the meeting book.  Ralph &. Jane Mayer 3641 Laurel Mountain Trail Saluda, NC: 28773 803-422-3883 February 7,2024  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Public Hearing 2/12/2024  11    Steve Orr City Manager 6E. Main St Saluda, NC28773 Overview:  Subject: High 2024 Saluda City Taxes for Property Owners in Henderson County Who Are Int the Saluda City Limits . However, there are nine (9) property owners int the Saluda city limits who are in Henderson County, not Polk  - The Saluda city limits are mostly in Polk County County. All are on! Laurel Mountain Trail in Saluda. Henderson County reassessed property values for 2024.  Property reassessments in Henderson and Polk counties are offset by one year.  - Polk County will not reassess property until 2025, according to Melissa O'Loughlin, Tax Administrator for Polk - When Henderson County reassessed our property for 2024, thet tax value increased by 55% from the previous e Duei to the hardship oft taxes thei increased values put on property owners, Henderson County dropped thet tax rate Polk County & Saluda City did not change their taxi rate because they will not reassess property values until 2025. - Therefore, the 90 of us in Henderson County. are being burdened with unusually higher taxes in 2024 based on Polk .! Melissa McLoughlin last week told me that when Polk County reassesses in 2025, they will drop the tax rate to . Next year in 2025, our tax rate (those of us in Henderson County) will drop also, giving us some: relief, but... - Meanwhile, we'r re paying much higher taxes this year due to higher Henderson County property assessments due . Wel have a mortgage on our property, and thet tax bill goes tot ther mortgage company. So until we had al large increase in our mortgage payment this year, we did notk know about this increased tax. This new amount is putting a Our request is that Saluda City make as special adjustment fort the nine of us who are in the Saluda city limits, but are in Henderson County, not Polk County. According! tor my calculation, Tol keepi ital little more than revenue neutrali from last year, the temporary tax rate should be 3800. This would only be needed for a year or until Polk County changes l'm happy to showy you the details oft the actual tax assessments upon request. Thank yous so muchi fory your  County year.  from 5610to. .43101 tol keepi it mostly revenue neutral, County/Saluda City tax rates of. .6900 keepi it mostly revenue neutral.  to Polk County/Saluda City unchanged' taxi rates of. .6900.  burden on us. Our Request:  the taxi rate upon their reassessments. consideration of this request. Sincerely, Ralph &. Jane Mayer  24-Duke Energy Substation Optimization Project  City Manager Orrl met with a couple Duke Energy representatives. You're going to receive a post car ify youl haven't already from Duke Energy about work that will be going on all year.AK lot of this is modernizationt they wil start at Substation and other places. Ify you didn't get a post card we have some ati the office. This is whatt they are going to be doing. It's in this areai feed out of the substation. They are doingt this throughout their whole region it's NC & SC. A lot of this is stemmed from the vandalism that happened int the eastern part of the state two years ago. They are upping the security att their substations and with that changing the technology that they are using. You will see some poles changed out, different lines strung some of the changes willl be improvements sO of them are not going tol be.  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Public Hearing 2/12/2024  12    There's not al lot that we can do abouti it. There's notr muchy we could change that was presented to us. lfyoul have. any concerns or questions that man on the post cardi is the one toi talk to. The city or county can't really do anything your advocates would be the utilities commission. So ify yout feel anything on your property isi not acceptable to you would need to contact the utilities commission. They sayt they are going tol be done early 2025 he feels based upon allt the equipment they are dealing with it will be mid 2025 when finished. Al lot of what willl be happening willl bet traffic delays because oft the work they are doing not thel loss of power there willl be a lot of vegetation management: so if you! have questions contact that gentleman ont the postcard. have nothing to do with Iti nor does the administration. Nor are we standing int thel background manipulating any ofi ite either. Straite upi thisi is al Duke Project. He showed a  map of where work would be done. 25-Passenger Rail Service AMTRAK  Mr. Meeks !'m! here tot talk about a small opportunity in western North Carolina to be a part oft the AMTRAK rail passenger system. Ineed the city tot take a little bit ofe effort also int this matter. What I'm looking forf from the city of Saluda and the Commissioners is some kind ofs statement or resolution to support rail passenger service in Western North Carolina specifically. Amtrak services. Amtrak can cross state lines to provide passenger services. There is a process that isi involved that goes beyond just making a statement Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in Washington has come up with ap process in whicht the classify the different rail lines passenger service could be a liable option so1 thisi isj just thel beginning for the need oft the Federal Railroad Administration tol list Saluda oni their corridor identification and development program. That would be step one. Once it's known that we down herei in Saluda want passenger rails servicet they willt take it under advisement and do some studies. Ita all takes time buty you also need to send a copy ofy your letter to Amtrak so they! know of our Intentions down! here in Saluda. Alsor need to send a copy oft that letter tot the secretary oft transportation Buttigieg he is working fori the president oft the infrastructure projects and our local representative who would have to! be US Senator Thom Tillis. Thom Tillis has done this at the other end of thes state andi in other states VA and! NC from purchased a rail line Richmond to Raleigh using infrastructure monies. NC portion was done by Thom Tillis and the White House has as senior advisor and infrastructure coordinator to the president that would be Miss Quilian sher needs to be brought up to date as what we Mr. Martin' Wheeler president of Carolina Association of Passenger Trains this is an initiative that is not the same as wel have been hearing about corridor ID a route between Asheville and Salisbury this is a different FRA program The FRA has conducted: at two year study for long distance across the United States we have seen that there is a voidi in the Carolinas toward the mid-West other areas in the Country are getting on the mapa and all we needi to do right now is get ito on ther map. There's no money committing toi it just as show ofs support. Geti it oni the mapt they will use that for the next twenty, thirty forty years tot try andi institute some of these long district tracks. We're not asking for money or anything right now just get ont the list. Alot of thel long distance trains were! lost before. Amtrak and even during Amtrak. Carolina Special ran over 100! years and was lost! before Amtrak. went downt tot the FRA and had a meeting in Meridian Mississippi lasty year we discussed the ideal oft this concept. Yes, We willt take al look ati it and looks like you! have a case there thaty your areas not being looked at. We do! have a very robust state program NCDOT and all theirs state supported routes and alli the corridors they are working on. Thisi is a different route we ask them tol look at this ist thel long distance a route from the Mid-West tot the Carolina's we didn't specifically tell them the route was Saluda there is al lot ofr routes they will! bel looking at. A route from the Mid-West to the Carolina's and link into or rail system here. So when yout travel tot the mid-west you don't have to go all the way to New Orleans or come back to Chicago or you don't have to go all thev wayt to Washington tot travel that way tol Pittsburgh. Thati is where all oft this' is coming from. All we need now is as support letter. Ihave senti information toy youl Mayor, Town Manager andt the Clerk. It has very goodi information ofv what they! have come up with so far andi has instructions on what to do. Isent you what to dot to sendi itt tot the FRA website.. A couple of other areas of concerns are we are not against the Trail herei in Saluda we thinkt that Rail and" Trail can coexist several examples across the country' Western Maryland Scenic Railroad there's rails and trails altogetheri ito doesn't necessarily have to be one or the other. It's not a part oft the corridor that! has come outr recently. We may not be herei ini twenty, Thirly or Forty yearsf from now but we save the opportunity ifito does got to rails to trails we preservedi ifi it's necessary in al hundred, two hundred years ito can be Commissioner Marion, what was the place yous said was rails and trails? Didl Iseei in your information packet that the route would be Spartanburg to Asheville would be one stopi int the upstate? Would the Amtrak stop here in Saluda or Mr. Wheeler, Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. Ithinki ifity was one oft these long distance trains their not expresses ora anything you would probably have Hendersonville, Saluda and Spartanburg would be my guess.  want herei ini the way of aj passenger service.  converted back tot transportation. wouldi itg goi through?  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Public Hearing 2/12/2024  13    Mr. Meeks, what I think) you are referring tol Isi in thet upstate of South Carolina they are half wayt through a study to provide high speed passengers with a one stopi ini the upstate. It would be Gréer South Carolina. Commissioner Marion, Sot the one stop would be for the high speed? Where would this route start in Charleston? Mr. Wheeler, and thati is supposed to! be al high speed with speeds up to twol hundred miles an hour. Ito could be  Mr. Meek, that would be from Charolette to Atlanta with a one stopi in Greer.  Charleston ift that is the route chosen.  Mayor Morgan Iwill forward the email to you with the information. Commissioner Marion Iwill reach outt to you and get some more information. Mr. Wheeler all of westem North Carolina can benefit from it.  26-C Closed session  Commissioner Talbot made a motion to accept the Resolution to enter closed session as read for personnel matters and Attorney Client privilege Commissioner Walker seconded and all were in favor.  Time entered Closed Session 8:45p pm  27-Adjourn  Out of closed session at 9:45pm Back to Regular session at 9:45pm  After Closed sèssion Commissioner Marion made a motion to approve the 3% merit for Steve based on his current Salary at the same time increase his base salary to 85.500.00 effective immediately and in agreement that we willy work toward a future bonus structure based on predetermined percentages ands set goals within Attorney Berg suggested a motion pursuant to our closed session we authorize the City Manager to retain a surveyor and appraiser to arrive at the size and value of the property tol be exchanged and wet future authorize the City Commissioner Oxtoby Made the Motion that Attorney Berg Read Commissioner Walker Seconded all were in Commissioner Marion made a motion to adjourn the meeting Commissioner Walker seconded and all were in  the next 90 days Commissioner Walker seconded ally were in favor.  Manager to enter into ar real property exchange agreement.  favor. favor.  With no further business to discuss,  The meeting adjourned at 9:48 pm February 12th, 2024.  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Public Hearing 2/12/2024  14    Respectfully submitted by Pamela' Waters, City Clerk. Adopted this 11th day of March, 2024.  Pamela' Waters, City Clerk Bmilago  Ghilig  AL CORPORATA SEAL  Board of Commissioners Regular scheduled meeting and Publici Hearing 2/12/2024  15