HOPE MILLS — When the town’s board met for its last regular meeting of the month on Monday, members voted to approve a budget amendment of $90,500.
According to a memo from the town’s Finance Director Drew Holland to Town Manager Chancer McLaughlin, an amendment totaling $26,499 was needed to cover building repairs including roofing, the fire sprinkler system and replacing the backflow preventer. These costs were not included in the original budget.
In addition to the repairs, increased participation in sports programs has driven the need for more personnel. The town requires more gymnasium supervisors, scorekeepers, park attendants, recreation leaders and program instructors, resulting in a $41,000 increase in part-time salary costs.
“With this same expansion of programs and athletics, there is also a need for more department supplies for Parks & Recreation,” Holland wrote in the memo. An additional $5,000 is needed to cover the expanded costs for items like paper for the recreation center, Commissioner Elyse Craver told CityView.
Parks and Recreation Director Lamarco Morrison addressed the board regarding the amendment, mentioning the town’s splash pad. The pad used more water than expected and exceeded the department’s water and sewer budget. However, he said they can now better plan for those costs in the future.
While only open during the summer months, typically from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Holland estimated an additional $18,000 would be needed to cover water costs for the season.
Morrison added that the town had installed a regulator last year that shuts the water off when no one is using the splash pad, but it didn’t always function properly.
“This year we do have it working,” Morrison said. “We’ve had a contractor come back out and troubleshoot that issue. So, would it cost $18,000 this year? That’s a worst-case scenario. At least this way we have it covered so we’re not coming back here and doing another budget amendment.”
In total, Holland said $90,499 was needed to cover all the expenses.
The decision passed 3-2, with Commissioners Bryan Marley and Joanne Scarola and Mayor Pro Tem Kenjuana McCray voting in favor, and Commissioners Elyse Craver and Jerry Legge voting against.
When CityView asked Craver why she voted against the amendment, Craver said, “I’m tired of voting for something after the fact. You know they go and spend the money then say, ‘It was an emergency.’ How can $5,000 dollars for paper for the recreation center be an emergency?” Craver said she discussed with Bellflowers having an emergency fund in the budget so the board wouldn’t have to meet approval after spending the budgeted money.
Zoning request
Camden Road and Waldos Beach Road
During the agenda’s public hearings, the board heard two rezoning requests. The first was to rezone .86 empty acres located at the southeast corner of Camden Road and Waldos Beach Road from residential to an office and institutional zone. Tom Lloyd, acting as the agent on behalf of the land’s owner Bryant Properties LLC, told the board the land would be used for office space.
Bellflowers told Lloyd some residents from the boarding neighborhood had only two requests: “no tobacco shops and no used car lots.”
Lloyd assured the board neither would be on the lot and that the land would be used for office space with most tenants on a typical day leaving by 6 p.m. The rezoning was passed unanimously by the board.
Church Street Apartments
The board also heard a rezoning request of 5.9 acres from a R6 zone to a R5 residential zone for the intersection of 3700 Damien Dr. The property is a part of Church Street Apartments.
This rezoning would allow for more apartment units or tenants. The board discussed how adding more residents in the space would impact surrounding traffic as there is only one entrance and exit for the complex on Church Street. The complex also backs up to Hope Mills Middle School and the board discussed the amount of new traffic or congestion the new zoning might generate.
Dan Hartzog Jr., the town’s attorney, reminded the board they were legally not allowed to discuss what was going on the property or what plans the developer may have.
“You may not consider what might go there. It’s just, should this be zoned a particular way?” Hartzog said. “You’re looking at the property itself and not the potential project.”
Town Manager McLaughlin concurred with Hartzog’s statement and reminded the board that regarding the traffic concerns, there is a regulatory agency that specifically deals with those thresholds.
“Legally, with a straight rezoning, we literally can only talk about compliance with the zoning regulations,” McLaughlin said.
The staff recommended approval. The rezoning passed 4-1 with Craver opposing the rezoning.
Though he hasn’t set a firm date, Bellflowers told the board he plans on holding another town hall talk in a couple weeks, with the event beginning at 6 p.m.
Lastly, the board added a closed session to their agenda, and met to discuss property acquisition matters with the town’s attorney but sealed the minutes of the closed session after returning to the regular meeting.
The next regular scheduled town hall board meeting will be on May 5, 2025 in the Town Hall building.
