HAMLET — A public hearing regarding the decision of rezoning a parcel of land on King Street as well as the draining of City Lake were the main agenda items for the March City Council meeting.
PUBLIC HEARING
Mayor Bill Bayless reported that the planning board met on Feb. 20 and in a 3-2 vote recommended rezoning a parcel of land at 730 King Street from R-6 Residential to B-2, which constitutes a general business district.
Rasheed Hansford, who requested the zoning change, said his proposal was “a vision or a dream of sorts.”
“I’d like to have a vending area for farmers as well as food trucks…the ultimate idea is that we also have a building as well,” Hansford told the council. “I’m coming to you asking that you give me a hand, give me a green light and let me work some magic and show Hamlet that the best place in the world is right here.”
According to City Attorney T.C. Morphis, the consistency statement is in accordance with Hamlet zoning.
The motion passed 4-1, with Councilwoman Abbie Covington as the lone dissenter.
NEW TRASH PICK-UP POLICY
Robert Brown, interim public works director, told the council that he was seeking a change to the off-street and back-door garbage pick up policy.
“…we found a hundred names were old, no longer doing back-door pickups … and no one had ever purged the books,” said Brown. “The city manager and I spoke about this and realized that we truly need a policy where when a customer calls we’ve got something that everyone knows what the policy is.”
Brown went on to say that, in the future, residents who would request back-door pick-up will have to have a doctor’s note on file with the city.
“By doing this,” said Brown, “we don’t have our employees going to back-door pick-ups when it’s not necessary.”
City Manager Matthew Christian added, “We’ve presented the policy to capture what we’ve been doing, so there are no major changes…”
The council also unanimously approved the donation of four self-contained breathing apparatus and four bottles, as is, to the Richmond Senior High School Fire Training classes.
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
During his report, Christian addressed the recent draining of City Lake.
“The dam is considered a ‘high-hazard dam’ and if it broke, it would be catastrophic,” the manager said. “We are doing an inspection of both sides of the dam and we want to make sure it’s in good shape.”
Christian also reported that:
- baseball sign-ups are currently taking place;
- an open house to discuss the Comprehensive Plan will be held on March 29 from 4-7 p.m.;
- free line dance classes are being held at the Senior Center every Monday at 7 p.m.; and
- Yoga Between the Tracks will be returning to the Senior Center in April at 6 p.m.
COMMENTS OF COUNCIL
The council collectively praised the $10 million grant the city received for work on the sewer and water lines throughout the town.
Click here to read about the grants received by Hamlet and other Richmond County municipalities.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Covington, “and the money will be put to good use.”
Bayless added that some of the water lines are more than 100 years old.
“It’s nice to know we can repair or replace where needed,” Bayless said.
The Hamlet City Council will next meet on Tuesday, April 11 at 6 p.m.
