ROCKINGHAM- The City of Rockingham met for their regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening May 8. Following an invocation by Rev. Jim Nelson, Pastor of First Baptist Church, the board approved the consent agenda.
City Manager, Monty Crump discussed the upcoming budget for 2018-2019. Of the proposed budget, Crump noted, “There are no tax increases , no water or sewer increases…the city remains in good financial shape, the fund balances remain sound.”
On the personnel side, Crump stated that the city police dispatchers will transfer over to the county when the new 911 center comes on line which would move these salaries to the county budget.
The proposed budget includes a 2% across the board cost of living adjustment for all city employees according to Crump. Following the high level review by Crump, council set a budget workshop for a detailed review on May 31. A hearing will follow on June 12 to publicly present the budget.
A public hearing was held for a rezoning request of 5.9 acres of property located at 149 Hudson Street on Roberdel Lake from “Open Space (O-S) to “Rural Residential” (R-20).
Massey explained that the O-S boundaries were created 40 years ago prior to digital mapping technology being developed. The O-S zone was originally intended to help protect and preserve environmentally sensitive areas. The planning board proposed to remap the area following the high water mark of Roberdel Lake. “That’s what we have done around the remainder of lake when we have delineated other requests, from the high water mark.” Following an open hearing where nobody spoke either for or against the request, the board unanimously approved the rezoning of the property.
A second public hearing was held requesting adoption of the updated Pee Dee Lumber Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan. Following the public hearing in which there were no concerns brought forward the board approved the plan as submitted.
Crump brought a request on behalf of several council members to move the time of the monthly meetings to an earlier time. Currently the board meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. After some brief discussion, council unanimously approved a motion to move the time up to 6:30 p.m. beginning with the July meeting.
“The next two council meetings are going to be pretty busy,” said Crump. He noted that the project for the new downtown Richmond CC campus will be getting underway with a significant number of items for council to address. According to Crump, there will be loan documents to review as well as other concerns to be handled. Crump stated, “The pre-bid conference is set for May 29 at City Hall with bid opening scheduled for June 12.
During closing comments, Councilwoman Sullivan discussed an encounter she had with a visitor to Rockingham during the recent Discovery Place Run. Sullivan said the visitor, who worked for the Federal Government, had lived in Florida and was now in Cary told her “You all have a pretty town here.” The visitor went on to state that, “I’ve been many places and seen policemen working, but your men are really outstanding”. Sullivan said she just wanted to thank the police force and let everyone know how others see our town.
Mayor Steve Morris issued a proclamation recognizing the week of May 6 through May 12 as Municipal Clerks’ Week. The proclamation specifically extended appreciation to Rockingham Clerk, Sabrina Y. McDonald and all municipal clerks for their service and dedication to the communities they represent. Morris concluded with, “Sabrina, thank you very much for all you do and your service.”
The Rockingham City Council meets on the second Tuesday of each month. For additional details about this meeting contact Rockingham City Hall at (910) 997-5546.
