PITTSBORO — The Pittsboro Board of Commissioners held its first meeting Monday after postponing last month’s meeting due to coronavirus concerns, conferencing via the Zoom video platform and focusing on updating meeting procedures during the stay-at-home order and receiving updates on major projects.
Town manager search
The process for the search for the new town manager to replace Bryan Gruesbeck, who was asked to resign in January, has begun and a timeline agreed upon by the board. Applications will be received until May 6. Twenty-eight candidates have applied so far, according to Pittsboro Interim Town Manager Bob Morgan.
The board will meet for a 90-minute closed session on May 11 to begin discussing the candidates. On May 25, the number of applicants will be narrowed to six during another 90-minute closed session. Those candidates will then go through an assessment process. The finalists’ assessments will be discussed in a final closed session on June 12 in the hopes to determine the board’s choice for a permanent town manager.
UDO process
The town has been working on updating its Unified Development Ordinance for several years. In recent months, board concerns about the draft document have been addressed in meetings between Commissioner Michael Fiocco and Town Planner Jeff Jones. According to Morgan, the two met twice in the past two weeks and plan to meet three more times before offering the document to the full board. Morgan also noted that staff has been trying to contract with a firm to format the document, but said that “no one is willing to edit someone else’s work.”
Sewer line to Sanford
Staff has been working with The Wooten Company of Raleigh to secure the necessary permits from the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality to begin work on a force main and sewer line to Sanford to provide much needed capacity to the town. Morgan said that the Secondary Cumulative Impact statement will likely be ready the first week in May for the board’s review. Following approval, the document will be sent to the state with an anticipated four to six months until its approval. The town has also held numerous meetings with the City of Sanford over the past few weeks discussing long-range plans to ensure Pittsboro’s future needs will be met.
Town Hall
Town staff have started the application for a USDA loan for Pittsboro’s $16 million town hall project. The town is currently conducting a Phase One Environmental Review and may have to also conduct a Phase Two review as well for the application. In addition, the loan requires five years of financial projections, but with reductions of revenue related to COVID-19 still uncertain, the town’s finance department has been working to update based on the newest information.
Once submitted in four months, the application will still need to be processed by the USDA. Morgan was uncertain how long that process will take. With the timeline for the project having been delayed, some issues have arisen for the county offices, which were going to lease out a portion of the new building for a decade. Morgan said that Paul Messick, the town’s attorney, has been negotiating the lease with the county. As a result of the delay, one of the offices which were going to be housed in the new building will likely have to be located in temporary facilities during construction.
The board will continue to hold its regular meetings using video conference technology in the near future based on recommendations by the state in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@Chathamnr.com.