Ordinance amendments, coronavirus funds, meeting time discussed in town board meeting

SILER CITY — Siler City’s board of commissioners considered several potential amendments to town ordinances, an update on coronavirus relief funds and the option to adjust its future meeting time in its biweekly meeting Monday.

Planning and Community Development Director Jack Meadows kicked off the agenda with a series of proposals to change sections of Siler City planning code in response to various citizen requests. Proposed amendments included:

• An adjustment to accessory building setback requirements in response to a resident’s petition to build a carport that would violate current acceptable standards. Meadows pointed out that many older Siler City homes “already have carports that are attached to their homes that probably are within (current setback requirements) or even closer. So, this is certainly not unusual.”
• Changing street entrance and parking area aisle with requirements to accommodate plans for the affordable housing project on Campus Drive and adjustments to the Deep River Missionary Baptist Association facility. The amendment could also permit Mountaire Farms to proceed with street modification around its property, which Mayor Pro Tem Cindy Bray worried might add to “how congested that area is going to be, especially when school starts back up.”

The board did not discuss the proposals at length; with three commissioners in attendance at the meeting via Zoom, the board was “not permitted to vote on the matters until the following meeting,” Bray said.

Meadows supported the amendments but offered a qualification.

“I have to point out, if you make this available,” he said, “it’ll be available to every property owner in Siler City.”

Setting a precedent of frequent concessions concerned the board. Commissioner Chip Price was especially apprehensive at the prospect of property owners eventually acting in violation of town ordinance with the expectation of lenience from the town.

Coronavirus funds

In his report, Town Manager Roy Lynch revisited the coronavirus relief fund which Siler City Finance Director Tina Stroupe explained at length in the board’s previous meeting.

“The town of Siler City recently received COVID relief funding, as Tina and I had mentioned,” Lynch said. “The CARES Act requires that the payments from the Coronavirus Relief Fund only be used to cover the expenses that are within the following guidelines: necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the coronavirus … Other allowable expenses are payroll and benefits costs for front line public safety employees.”

The commissioners were quick to suggest potential uses for the $381,000 fund.

“Is there any way that we can use it for providing water?” Commissioner Lewis Fadely asked. “It is a necessary utility, and it is a health and well-being issue, so is it covered under this $381,000?”

“I’m wondering about UV sanitation for the police,” Commissioner Curtis Brown said. “I’m just thinking about the police department because they have to haul people in the back and you never know what you’re going to pick up.”

Lynch agreed with the commissioners’ sentiments, but he was not sure to what extent they could be covered with these funds.

For the sake of time, CRF was tabled for discussion at a future meeting.

For future notice

If you plan to attend Siler City board of commissioners meetings in the future, take note: starting on Nov. 2, the board will start meeting half an hour earlier.

“There’s been discussion about changing the regular meeting time of the board of commissioners from 7 p.m., moving it up to 6:30 p.m. to align with the same meeting time as the planning board,” Lynch said.

If you would expect a public hearing to precede such a change, your thinking is not unprecedented.

“Originally,” Lynch said, “we thought the process would be best served by holding a public hearing as some local governments do when changing the time of meetings … But the board can elect to make the change through approving an ordinance amending the town code.”

The commissioners elected to proceed with the latter option and voted unanimously to change their future meeting times.

Reporter D. Lars Dolder can be reached at dldolder@chathamnr.com.