Nass era begins on Pittsboro town board

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PITTSBORO — The Pittsboro Board of Commissioners on Monday had a full meeting with its newly elected mayor and commissioners.

Handing over the gavel

The first act was to swear in the town’s new mayor, Jim Nass, who was unopposed in the November election. Commissioners John Bonitz (incumbent), Jay Farrell (incumbent) and Kyle Shipp were all sworn in immediately after by Town Clerk Alice F. Lloyd. The new board than unanimously approved and presented resolutions in appreciation for outgoing Mayor Cindy Perry and Commissioner Bett Wilson Foley. The board also unanimously voted to re-appoint Commissioner Pam Baldwin to the Mayor Pro-Tem position.

The agenda

The board considered two requests involving sewer allocations — one for Mosaic’s first phase, which is located on Russet Run across from Northwood High School, for nearly 48,000 gallons per day, and the other for Thales Academy, a private K-12 school located off Thompson Street. The Thales Academy request also included a significant change to its site plan, a change that required board approval. Representatives for the construction of Thales Academy noted that the new design would no longer include a soccer field, but would include 40 additional parking spaces. The group only requested 5,000 gallons per day of the total 15,000 needed for the entire project.

Thales will be constructing the school in two phases, the first of which will be for the elementary school, parking areas and two entrances alone. The board approved all the requests unanimously. The sewer allocation approvals means that the “paper” capacity of the town’s wastewater treatment plant is about 75,000 gallons per day until it reaches a 110 percent threshold.

The board also unanimously approved a request by Lyle Estill, co-owner of The Plant on Lorax Lane in Pittsboro, to allow Bed and Breakfasts on property zoned M-2, Heavy Industrial. The Plant, which includes several businesses including Fair Game Beverage, Chatham Cider Works, Starrlight Mead, Oak City Hemp and Copeland Farms Restaurant, is hoping to include overnight accommodations for visitors at the facility. Town staff had originally recommended not approving the measure stating that it “did not find that residential uses are appropriate,” but the town’s planning board disagreed with a unanimous vote to approve the measure on Dec. 2. With the planning board’s recommendation and the additional knowledge that there were no citizen objections during the Nov. 25 public hearing, the town board voted to approve the measure.

In a 3-2 decision, with Commissioners Bonitz and Baldwin casting the dissenting votes, the board also approved a new communications tower to be constructed on the corner of Mitchells Chapel Road and Alston Horton Service Road. The tower will be located in the center of a 23-acre parcel and will include fencing, screening and landscaping as prescribed by ordinance. In several evidentiary hearings held throughout the year, several residents and adjacent landowners have voiced their concerns over the construction of the tower including health concerns and loss of property values. A representative for a competitor, SBA, which owns a nearby tower, has also spoken several times in opposition to the tower. Due to advertising errors, the board held evidentiary hearings in both April and in October. The same people spoke at both hearings. Though both Bonitz and Baldwin spoke of the concerns of the residents, the board ultimately approved the permit.

Town audit

The Pittsboro Board of Commissioners also heard a presentation from Jay Sharpe of Rives and Associates, LLP, who contracted with the town to perform its annual audit on finances. Sharpe noted that the town’s audit was “clean” with an “unmodified opinion” which is the best possible opinion an organization can receive. The town had no significant accounting changes in the previous year and the group found no disagreements with management or the staff.

The town has enjoyed seven straight years where revenues exceed expenditures in its general fund, the account where all financial activity outside of water and wastewater accounts occur. The town’s fund balance, a sort of savings account for the town decreased last year as the town transferred approximately $1.9 million for the new town hall project. Even with the transfer, Sharpe noted that the town’s unassigned fund balance is still 58 percent of the town total expenditures, which far exceeds the 8 percent mark which is recommended by the Local Government Commission.

The audit also noted that tax revenues for the town have increased annually since 2012 despite the fact that there has been no tax rate increase since 2015. A majority of the town’s finances are spent on (1) public safety, (2) general government, (3) transportation and (4) environmental protection.

The town’s water and sewer funds suffered a loss in terms of expenditures versus revenues. Sharpe noted this was due to salaries, benefits and contracts for the system. At the same time the ratio adequacy of resources in those funds are about three times what is recommended so the loss was not of a concern to the auditor.

“The town is in very good shape,” Sharpe said.

Reporter Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@Chathamnr.com.