TOWN OF COATS Board of Commissioners Thursday, May 12, 2022 Official Minutes  The' Town of Coats Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Thursday, May 12, 2022, at 7:00  p.m. ini the Board of Commissioners' Meeting Room at Coats Town Hall.  Members Present: Mayor Chris Coats Mayor Pro-Tem Jerry Beasley Commissioner Allen Mosby Commissioner Kelvin Gilbert Commissioner. Marc Powell Members Absent: Commissioner Shirley Allen LCALLTO ORDER  Staff] Present: Nick Holcomb, Town Manager Connie Lassiter, Finance Director/Town Clerk Teresa Brown, Library Director Staff. Absent: Alton Bain, Town. Attorney Ken Storicks, Chief of] Police Rodney Pleasant, Public Works Director Mike Collins, Parks & Recreation Director  A quorum being present, Mayor Chris Coats called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Mayor Coats delivered thei invocation and led those in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Coats requested to amend the agenda by adding ai five-minute recess as. Item V and moving New Business to Item VI, Manager & Department Updates tol Item VII and Adjournment to Item VIII. MOTION BY: Commissioner Marc Powell, SECOND BY: Commissioner Kelvin Gilbert  RESOLVED, to approve. Agenda as amended. APPROVED: 4-0, unanimously approved  II. CONSENT. AGENDA  A. Approval ofl Minutes - April 14, 2022, Regular Meeting; April 28, 2022, Recessed Meeting  B. Approval of Attorney Bill - Services Rendered April 1-30,2022  C. Sell ofC Cemetery Plots C471 and C472 RESOLVED, to approve Consent Agenda. APPROVED: 4-0, unanimously approved  MOTION BY: Mayor Pro-Tem Jerry Beasley, SECOND BY: Commissioner Marc Powell  II. PUBLIC! FORUM  Mayor Chris Coats opened the Public Forum.  1    Hope' Turlington of327 S Railroad St, Coats, NC: stated that she was heret to speak for her sister, Connie, whose house is being condemned. Ms. Turlington thanked the Town for working with her on this and mentioned that they had gone to Habitat and the Coats Baptist Church in hope for help. Ms. Turlington said that they were working as hard as they can to do what they had been asked and once again thanked Gale Spears of 120 Gale Spears Dr, Coats NC said she was here to talk about notices of condemnation being put on houses. Ms. Spears asked the Board do they serve and care about the people or are they a Board that doesn't do anything tol help them. Ms. Spears alleged that this lady (pointed to person in audience) had been told she could doi it the hard way or the easy way by selling her property and wasn't told how she could get any help to do anything tol her property. Ms. Spears asked the Board ifity was them or the person telling them this. Ms. Spears said it was something to work on because the Town was getting al bad reputation and that they've completely wiped out the black neighborhood with threats and Tricia Bristow of9 973 SI Lincoln St, Coats NC and Hazel Stephenson of2 220 S Railroad St, Coats NC presented the Board with a list of upcoming Chamber events. Ms. Bristow gave ai reminder oft the Chamber Banquet being held next' Thursday. Ms. Stephenson invited everyone to come by to see the new Harold Dixon ofMason St, Coats NC expressed that he was unhappy with things that go on int the Town. Mr, Dixon said hel liked thej people that run the Town but doesn't1 like some things that they do. Mr. Dixon said hel had structural engineers say al house could be saved and then he's had to either burn the house, haul it offa and one het tore down completely, another house he moved; a trailer he was given time toi fix. Mr. Dixon mentioned the house. Hope Turlington spoke ofearlier and asked what happens ifs she doesn'thave money for all things required, what can she do. Mr. Dixon implored to help as a  the' Town for patience.  bullying and she came to tell Board before and hasn'ts seen any changes.  Chamber office.  community.  Mayor Chris Coats closed the Public Forum after hearing no one else.  IV. PUBLIC. HEARING  Coats Unified Development Ordinance Draft  Town Manager Nick Holcomb explained that the draft of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) derived from the need toj prepare due tot the pressure pushing down from the' Triangle area with Coats beginning to be aj popular destination for residential development and what we hope will be commercial development as well. Mr. Holcomb stated that the Town contracted N-Focus to assist with the updating oft the zoning and subdivision regulations ordinance and since then there had been multiple meetings on  updates. Mr. Holcomb expressed the goals oft the update were as follows:  Clear process and guide for Staff, Planning Board, Governing Body, local property owners and Include state mandates clearly within the UDO, specifically flood damage prevention and Introduce quality standards for future commercial development and major subdivisions; more  professionals int the development industry  watershed protection  zoning options for' Town to offer in rezonings  2    Town Manager Nick Holcomb emphasized that the Public Hearing is on the UDO and had nothing to do with annexation noting that it was illegal to annex other than a voluntary annexation. Rick Flowe ofl N-Focus explained that development planning is about setting standards and specifications and modernization of standards and specifications is key. Mr. Flowe stated that setting standards for subdivisions and making sure that you' ve got good infrastructure! like sidewalks reach across the spectrum ofp people of alli income, socioeconomic, racial and age levels; that it truly is about community. Mr. Flowe mentioned that the changes and updates were not made based on who somebody was, but it was about fixing the' Town in anticipation of the wave that is about tol hit. Mr. Flowe indicated that he was here to  assist with any questions regarding technical aspects. Mayor Chris Coats opened the Public Hearing.  Hope Turlington of327 S Railroad St, Coats NC: asked what Residential Main Street' Transitions (RMST) means. Ms. Turlington expressed concern over the little lots that houses are on now if condemned will not be able to build back on with new setbacks and 101 foot is al lot of ground. Ms. Turlington suggested that a short booklet put inl laymen'st terms so the average person could read it be made available to people Rick Flowe explained that the RMST is covering al lot oft the older parts of town and doesn't have 10-foot setbacks as iti is at transition zone because many oft those parts oft town were developed before there were any standards toi follow. Mr. Flowe. stated thel RMST is intended to make a lot more. homes out there Jonathan Daniel of287 Williamstown Ln, Coats NC commented that al lot ofh his questions were answered before the meeting about the confusion of thel ETJ being annexed. Mr. Daniel asked with the UDO is Mr. Flowe responded that there is no difference between in-town or out-of-town that it's purely based on Rick Grandinetti of3785 Church St, Coats NC stated that it was al lot of pages with al lot of controls that put people on guard and even with the best ideas there willl be push backs. Mr. Grandinetti expressed that everya article should have been sent out one at at time because it was a lot to digest and requested to give people more time to read it. Mr. Grandinetti conveyed that there are al lot oftimes it contradicts and that April Dixon of3785 Church St, Coats NC communicated her online research oft three other towns that N- Focus had done ordinance and thej problem is when you cut and paste something tor make another town similar it removes the integrity and uniqueness and the reason of why people want to move to Coats for the small-town feel. Ms. Dixon encouraged everyone to read it and do research on their own. Gale Spears of 120 Gale Spears Dr, Coats NCi indicated that the map didn'treference the Sunny Acres Subdivision and asked why the first black subdivision built in Coats wasn'ton the zoning map. Ms. Spears expressed that thel homey feel of Coats is being taken away. Ms. Spears said the map didn'thave Gale Spears Drive which is most of Sunny Acres and it has McLean Street and wanted tol know when it was changed from McLean Drive. Ms. Spears stated that there were too many categories for a little town Drew Parker of 1021 Lilyanne Ln, Coats NC said he was speaking for' Turner Matthews and that if passed ity will increase the cost of living; policies are extremely stringent with many unnecessary; major  so they can understand what the Town wants.  conforming as what the old R-6 and R20/8 did.  there a difference in regulations for those living inside the city limits or outside.  district you are in.  its should be in laymen' st terms.  like Coats, and wei need to look at it al long time before we adopt it.  3    subdivision requirements will increase cost that will pass on to consumers; curbing, guttering, sidewalks, major landscape buffers are unnecessary; limiting lot sizes in agriculture districts to two and one-half acres willl hurt value of landowners if or when they decide to sell. Mr. Parker went on to say that the draft gives authority for officers to come on your property at any time and there are enough rules already in place. Mr. Parker expressed concern with the permits required to cut down tree and install fence on your Brian Turlington of1117 SI Lincoln St, Coats NC: asked how much roadside commercial property is available for businesses and if we give up that prime real estate for houses what are we, going tol have. Mr. Turlington stated that the Town is not ready for the boom and the roads are. not ready and asked what Harold Dixon of Mason St, Coats NC: stated that it was inevitable that we were going to grow; we need rules and regulations, but ifyou go by the pages, you will need permission to go to the bathroom; we need Craig Matthews of4 496 Howell Rd, Coats NC: stated that he had read it and hoped everyone had read it. Mr. Matthews conveyed his concern that it required more staff] like Code Enforcement Officer and maybe a Watershed Administration Officer and Code Enforcement deputies allowed to enter any building to check for violations; subject to: fines and penalties and resulting in a lot ofbuildings being torn down. Mr. Matthews said another concern was the: subdivision requirements made it hard tol keep in budget of what al buyer could afford; and limits the ability of buyers to buy good houses. Mr. Matthews asked Board to take time to look at the ordinances we already had and make amendments. Ben Dixon of 1052 Old Stage Rd N, Coats NC expressed concern that al lot oft the ordinance would turn the Town: into an HOA and believed document to be a cookie cutter thing. Mr. Dixon asked to give it some time and make ai few changes as it seems some things seem to be extreme. Brian Raynor of 1346 Brick Mill Rd, Coats NC mentioned the ETJ being split through the middle of property and why wouldn'titi follow the property line; that might have impact down the line. Mr. Raynor stated that he had not read the UDO and would like more time to review it, but he was: familiar with Harnett County and asked if the Town was going to supersede County requirements or try to stay cohesive to not be too stringent and price ourselves out of businesses and residents coming in. Max Matthews Jr of1778 Clayhole Rd, Coats NC said we need a unified development ordinance as many of our current ordinances restrict al lot of things and don't give the Town Manager what hei needs to dol his job; the ordinance needs to simplify and unify with the County and local communities. Mr. Matthews stated that he had aj problem with the minimum lot size oftwo and one-halfacres in the ETJ even though he was against development and was for preserving farmland. Mr. Matthews asked the Board to give time to review ordinance and a tool to express concerns in writing to Nick and give Board information to Michelle Godwin of 870 NC55 W, Coats NC: stated that the Town of Coats definitely had needed a new UDO: for many years; the one now is very outdated, but the new ordinance is way beyond what the Town Robert Godwin of 870N NC55 W, Coats NC mentioned concerns with the allowance forj private driveway that refers to a detail for private driveway, but detail is not there; as for two and one-half acres on the outskirts oft town when youj jump over imaginary line and you can have two-thirds of an acre in the county, and 120 foot setback is wasting almost al haifofan acre in the front yard ofal house, Mr. Godwin expressed that when you start trying toi implement this you will find out whether it works or not;  property and the parking requirements.  the infrastructure would be,  to grow in a way tol help each other.  make a viable vote on this.  needs at this time; it's way beyond what is required for our county.  4    properties in this area are irregular shaped, might bet times when ordinance fits perfect but ifr not there is a way: for a variance, but a $400 fee for variance and simple text amendment is $400; sO ify you do pass this, give a grace period on variance fees and text amendments. Mr. Godwin stated ini the definition of a minor subdivision you can't do ai minor subdivision on ai tract ofl land less than five. acres, sO guess it's going to be considered a major subdivision, and you will have to come before the Board to get it approved on something simple; there's a void in there on a minor subdivision on at tract ofl land between two acres and five acres that needs looking at as there is al lot of parcels that might fall into that category between two and five acres that are, going to have to come before the major subdivision process. Mr. Godwin conveyed the need for more time to hash this through and allow input, maybe a question and answer session with the community. Mr. Godwin inquired about no easements on a minor subdivision other than four lots off a driveway which we don'thave a detail for sO we don't! know at this point ifthat's going to be al big paved street. Mr. Godwin raised the point of 60 foot right-of-ways when DOT will accept 50 foot; the' Town of Angier has a nice development with 501 foot right-of-way with sidewalks, grass strip, curb and gutters sO it works; 60 foot right-of-ways when trying to layout a subdivision you'll lose lots quickly on a larger tract ofl land. Mr. Godwin questioned the zoning map with some oft the ag district touching right up: against town and the new subdivision approved out there, will the ETJ have tol be adjusted on that; there's stuffi in town that's not farmland with vacant stufft that's not suitable for farming, but might be with water and sewer it could be developed sO some oft the zoning needs to be looked ata a little differently especially when it's touching in the middle oft town; ifyou want to grow the Town out, guess it will be rezoning and more money for the developers that will discourage them. Mayor Chris Coats thanked everyone for their input and announced that there would be no vote on this tonight and would like to recess the Public Hearing and have another one at the. July 14th meeting ifthe RESOLVED, to recess the Public Hearing until the regular meeting oft the Board ofCommissioners on MOTION BY: Commissioner Allen Mosby, SECOND BY: Commissioner Marc. Powell  Board approves. July 14,2022.  APPROVED: 4-0, unanimously approved  V.RECESS  Mayor Coats announced the five-minute recess at 8:35 p.m, Mayor Coats reçonvened the meeting at 8:40 p.m.  VI.NEW BUSINESS  A. Presentation ofl Proposed Budget & Set Public Hearing for Adoption of] FY: 2022-23 Budget Town Manager Nick Holcomb requested to set the Public. Hearing for the Adoption oft the FY 2022-2023 Budget Ordinance for. June 9, 2022, during the regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners. Mr. Holcomb highlighted some of the proposed budget items as follows  Ordinance  (Reference I):  $0.10 property tax decrease 5%COLA raise for employees Additional Police Officer  5    Full Time Parks and Recreation position Increase of$1.27 per month for Solid Waste fee  Mayor Pro-Tem Jerry Beasley commended Town Manager Nick Holcomb and Finance. Director Connie. Lassiter for their work on the budget and stated that this was a good budget. RESOLVED, to set the Public Hearing for the adoption of the FY 2022-2023 Budget Ordinance for. June MOTION: BY: Mayor) Pro-Tem Jerry Beasley, SECOND: BY: Commissioner Kelvin Gilbert  9,2022.  APPROVED: 4-0, unanimously approved B. Amend ARP Grant Project Ordinance  Town Manager Nick Holcomb reminded the Board that a Grant Project Ordinance was created in September to spend the ARP funds on AMI radio read meters and Water Infrastructure Repair. Mr. Holcomb informed thel Board that since the US Treasury Final Rule for expenditures was given in January that the School of Government strongly suggested claiming the standard allowance and revenue. replacement for those receiving less than $10 million. Mr. Holcomb recommended that the Town elect to take the standard allowance and expend all ARP funds for law enforcement salaries and benefits beginning July 1,2022, until funds are depleted.  (Reference 2) salaries and benefits.  RESOLVED, to amend the. ARP Grant Project Ordinance to expend all ARP funds for law enforcement MOTION BY: Mayor) Pro-Tem Jerry Beasley, SECOND BY: Commissioner Kelvin Gilbert  APPROVED: 4-0, unanimously approved C. SCIF Grant Itemized Workplan  Town Manager Nick Holcomb presented an estimated list of cost for repairs and enhancements to the old Public Works Building that the Board agreed to use the SCIF Grant funds toward during the last meeting. Mr. Holcomb stated that although a vote was not necessary, he would like to hear from thel Board on seeing the value in the estimated cost ofitems to make sure there were no Commissioner Allen Mosby conveyed that we: need to make the building look good especially on the outside and that painting, windows, fence and cleaning up were of value. Commissioner Marc Powell stated that the enhancements would be keeping inline with our Downtown Beautification project. Mayor Pro-Tem Jerry Beasley commented that the list of repairs would bring the building up tot the best it could be, and items should be put out to bid. Commissioner  feelings of wasting money before he seeks bids. (Reference 3)  Kelvin Gilbert indicated that he was alright with it.  VII. MANAGER AND COMMITTEE REPORT  Nick Holcomb, Town Manager, updated the Board on the following:  1. North. Johnston Street paving project is underway and being done to DOT standards; should be  completed in two to three days  6    2. The final Streetscape Plan should be ready in two weeks; the plan was funded by USDA grant at 4. Ethics Training for newly elected officials will be at 10:00 a.m. on May 26th at' Town Hall 5. Downtown Streetscape Master Plan is anticipated to be presented tot the Board: next month to Connie Lassiter, Finance Director/Town Clerk, informed the Board that a CD issued by First Bank was renewed on) May 9, 2022, for a term of 18 months at .2% after no better rates were: found when Teresa Brown, Library Director, reported that the library had ai total of424 patrons and issued 51 new library cards in the month of April. Ms. Brown informed thel Board that she along with Nick and Shannon had reviewed the draft oft the Library Consolidation Agreement from the County Board, Ms. Brown expressed that she feels that all the requests made had been fulfilled by given the County. Town Manager Nick Holcomb stated that the Town. Attorney had reviewed the contract and: found that the Indemnification section needed to be clear about parties at faulti instead ofholding each other harmless. Mr. Holcomb mentioned that he didn't! have an update, but the' Town Attorney should've relayed that to thes staffattorneys with the County and hopefully that will be a minor adjustment made to the agreement. Nick Holcomb, Town Manager, commented that the proposed Budget documents had the revenue and expenditure to date as of April 30t, sO Finance Director/Town Clerk Connie Lassiter created al Financial Summary instead oft the full Revenue and Expenditure Report showing individual line items. Mr. Holcomb stated that the full reports required a lot of paper and asked the Board for their thoughts on presenting al Financial Summary each month instead oft the full reports with the knowledge that a of thei full reports would be available for review in the' Town Manager and Finance/Clerk office. Mr. copy Holcomb mentioned if the Board desired a full report could be included in their packets each quarter. Commissioner Kelvin Gilbert expressed that the Financial Summary was a great idea. Mayor Pro-Tem Jerry Beasley stated that he didn'thave aj problem with it as long as it was available to look at each month and sent out quarterly. Mayor Chris Coats asked for consensus of Board and all agreed to the Financial  no cost to the Town  3. Chamber Banquet will bel held on May 19th approve, deny or request changes to the plan.  five other banks.  contacting  to the  Mr. Holcomb mentioned that the final draft should be available at the. June meeting.  Summary each month with a full report given quarterly.  VI. ADJOURN RESOLVED, to adjourn.  MOTION BY: Commissioner Marc Powell, SECOND BY: Commissioner Allen Mosby  APPROVED: 4-0, unanimously approved Meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.  Town Clerk  Chris Coats,  dlt  Mayor  56  7