There was so much to discuss at the Walnut Cove Town Meeting on May 6 that a recess was finally called with a resumption of the discussion set for the next Tuesday, which was two days ago.
The meeting was called to order a little after 7 p.m. at the Walnut Cove Senior Center. Honored for May during the meeting were Billy S. Flinchum, a member of the planning board, and Danalee Pipes, an alternate member of the planning board.
Next, the fire department was slated to present its annual budget. Instead members gave a budget package to the board to look over before the next meeting.
New business opened up with a discussion of the Accessory Use Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance. This amendment concerns outbuildings attached to residential property. Zoning Administrator Byron Brown was on hand to answer any questions the board might have. The amendment was approved with some revisions. Other revisions to the Town Zoning ordinance were approved, resulting in a total reformatting of the entire Zoning Ordinance to make it more user-friendly.
Repairs to town hall following water damage from a leaky roof a couple of months ago were also addressed. This hearkens back to the stormy weather in February that caused extensive damage to town hall and the police department.
Excessive water leakage resulted in work crews from Disaster One being called in to tear out materials that were irreparably damaged. In this process, workers detected indications of mold throughout the building. An inspector was brought in free of charge by the town’s insurance carrier, the League of Municipalities. He found many cases of mold affecting the building’s structure.
Mold removal is not covered under the town’s insurance policy, but there will be an insurance pay-out of approximately $10,000 to repair the damage caused by the excess water. This figure is based on the report prepared by Disaster One and has been double-checked by the insurance adjuster. This money would cover replacement of floors, carpet and padding in the town manager’s office and the police department, baseboard for the bottom of the paneling where water damage is evident and replacement of ceiling tiles in the police department.
It has been suggested by the mold inspector that additional steps be taken to rid the building of the mold problems. The first step is for all paneling to be removed and replaced with sheetrock, framing material cleaned and rotted materials replaced. Then the foundation of the entire building would need to be sealed, ceiling tiles removed and cleaned or replaced and issues in the crawlspace corrected.
A preliminary estimate of the total cost could be between $40,000 and $50,000. This figure includes painting. Town funds are in good shape to handle the expense, but the board was informed that they must decide exactly what should be done. After discussion, the board recommended that the staff get proposals for the repair work and bring those to the workshop meeting slated for May 13.
The board then moved to the Resolution of Support for North Carolina Small Town Main Street Program in which Walnut Cove is entering its fourth year. Each year, participating towns must re-declare their desire to continue in the program. One idea to garner more support for the community program is to move the meetings from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in hopes that more people could attend. At this time, the committee meets the third Thursday of each month at the Walnut Cove Senior Center.
Demolition of structures which do not meet minimum housing standards was addressed again this month. Two more residences, one at 907 N. Main St. and the other at 811 Main S., are due to be demolished. Repeated attempts have been made by the town to resolve the violation of code issues, but no efforts to comply have been made by the property owner who owns both buildings. Attempts to handle this problem without having to resort to destroying the properties have included numerous letters and an opportunity to meet with the code enforcement officer.
After discussion, the board adopted the town ordinances to effectively condemn the buildings; the final decision, however, is contingent upon the town attorney’s advice. He was unable to attend the meeting due to illness in the family. The staff was directed to get demolition bids to bring to the table at the June meeting
Dearmin expressed regret over this issue. “With each demolition of an old house, we lose a little sense of town history,” he said. “If this continues, we might one day be a town with all modern structures.”
Dearmin then handed out an initial copy of the 2008-09 annual budget proposal and announced that there would be a budget workshop open to the public on May 29. The next public hearing is scheduled for June 3. The budget must be presented formally before the June 30 deadline for its adoption.
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