HAMLET — Two city council members begrudgingly approved two spending measures, including one related to a legendary landmark.
The council approved using $17,750 from the city’s fund balance to pay architect David Gall to perform an assessment of the Hamlet Opera House.
Interim City Manager Lane Bailey said Gall submitted a proposal with “a menu of options” for the opera house. However, Bailey recommended using Gall to assess the current conditions of the building.
“This will help us figure out what we need to do to preserve the opera house, to prevent further damage,” Bailey said. “This would identify issues that we need to address with the building such as the walls, the roof; what we need to do to fix that to keep from further deterioration of the building, preserve it where it is right now.”
After that, Bailey said, the city would look at what needs to be done to get the building back in use.
“And that’s just for him to determine how much more money we’d have to spend to get in compliance with …regulations,” said Councilman Eddie Martin. “We’re probably talking, what, a million dollars?”
Bailey said he wasn’t sure what that cost would be, but added some of the current issues include a leaking roof and water coming into the walls.
“I wonder what caused it to get in such bad condition,” Councilman Oscar Sellers said, to which Mayor Amy Guinn quickly retorted, “Not having regular maintenance.”
“We’ve got to determine what we’re going to do with it,” Councilwoman Abbie Covington said after moving to appropriate funding for the assessment. “It sits there and if we do nothing, it gets worse. If we do this, we determine if we’re going to do anything at all. But it’s been a discussion that’s been around and around this table for 20 years.”
Covington continued that there was no one on the city payroll qualified to make such an assessment, adding that Gall was one of the “movers and drivers” in the Depot relocation project.
“He’s familiar with the city of Hamlet and he certainly knows what he’s doing,” Covington said.
Martin, with Sellers seemingly agreeing, said he doesn’t question Gall’s capabilities, but wasn’t thrilled about spending so much on an assessment, knowing there will be millions needed for repairs.
“But, I guess that’s about the only way we’re going to know,” Martin concluded, seconding the motion, which was approved by the board.
Councilman Maurice Stuart was absent from the meeting and Jesse McQueen resigned earlier.
Click here to read about McQueen’s resignation.
During the city manager’s report, Bailey told the council that work on the debris landfill has “become a little more complicated than we first realized.”
Bailey said the city had received a proposal from the Cary-based civil engineering firm WithersRavenel to construct a new road around the landfill. The proposal also includes sedimentation and erosion control work.
The price tag on that project is $26,300.
Bailey said various options had been looked at but no others were viable.
“We don’t have any options, do we,” asked Sellers, “other than refuse it?”
As with the opera house assessment, Bailey said there was no one locally — nor in communities the size of Hamlet — who would be qualified for the job.
“We’ve kinda got our back against the wall,” Sellers said.
“This is a situation where we don’t have no choice,” Martin said before again seconding the motion, which passed.
Bailey moved on to the subject of code enforcement, saying the city has budgeted $20,000 for demolition of housing that doesn’t meet city code — but that amount wouldn’t cover tearing down two houses.
“We’re trying to look at some creative ways to demo the houses that need to be demolished,” Bailey said.
Code Enforcement Officer Dalton Millen is expected to make a presentation at the next meeting.
