City Council

City of High Shoals Regular Council Meeting July 11, 2023 • Call to Order o Mayor, PJ Rathbone, called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. In attendance were the following members: ▪ Dennis Cash ▪ Denese Cook ▪ Bo Rhyne ▪ Bobby Vassey ▪ Kathy Rhyne ▪ Jimmy Laws ▪ PJ Rathbone • Invocation • Pledge of Allegiance • Approval of Agenda o Motion to add discussion/action:bridge lights to agenda made by Kathy Rhyne, seconded by Bo Rhyne. All in favor. o Motion to approve agenda with bridge lights by Ms. Rhyne, seconded by Mrs. Cook. All in favor. • Approval of Minutes o Motion to approve June 2023 by Kathy Rhyne, seconded by Mr. Vassey. All in favor. Citizens’ comments/concerns: The City of High Shoals Council offers citizens the opportunity for Public Expression issues per NCGS 160A-81.1 (limited to 3-5 minutes per speaker). No one has signed up to speak during the meeting. Good of the Order: This is a time set aside for members to offer comments or observations (without formal motion) about the organization and its work. The good of the order is also the time to offer resolution to bring disciplinary charges against a member for the offenses committed outside a meeting. No one spoke toward the Good of the Order ➢ Departmental Reports: • Police Report-Gaston County o Sgt. Eisenhour had 4 reports total o 44 calls to service o 60 Special Checks (officer initiated) o Animal Care Enforcement received 2 calls o Special checks conducted at park and ballfields o 15 special checks at City Hall o Lincoln Terrace had 5 special checks & 3 check locations o License Checks at Cherry Street & Lincoln Street • Financial-Dennis Cash o Checking $449,462.00 o Savings 1: $160,356.30 o Savings 2: $11,103.36 o Cap Mgmt: $45,258.36 o Total: $666,180.02  • Cemetery-Denese Cook o Nothing on the cemetery • Water/Sewer-Bo Rhyne o Hardin Road Lift Station had 3 pumps go down. Spare pump was placed in, one was cleaned and running, the other two pumps will be taken to get refurbished. o School St water line has been fixed (completed today). Quick clamps split the pipe. • Streets/Maintenance/Sanitation-Kathy Rhyne ▪ Streets & Maintenance – Jimmy & Kathy are looking at filling in the ditches on N. Lincoln and a pipe being place in. ▪ Sidewalk kudzu, and traffic signs. ▪ Sign needs to be ordered for State St. ▪ Sanitation – Trash truck is ok. • Parks/Recreation-Bobby Vassey o Yard of the Month: 116 Dayton Road • Sean Reed o Movie Night August 12 – Mario Brothers o Update on 50-year celebration • Vehicles-Jimmy Laws o HS1 o Inspections due on all non-diesel vehicles o Sharpening blades on mowers • Administration/Mayor Report-PJ Rathbone o Nothing to add for tonight ➢ Open Public Hearing: True Homes Zoning o Motion to open public hearing for True Homes Zoning by Jimmy Laws, seconded by Dense Cook. All in favor. o Ms. Ratchford from Gaston County, REZ-23-03-31-00148 Conditional Rezoning Request. Requesting to rezone and the developer could not be able to modify without having to go through the entire process again. Total acreage for rezoning is 57.62 acres. o Current zoning is R1, RS12, & RS20. The proposed use is for residential 115 single-family lots. o Density, building standards, buffer zones (developer going above & beyond) o Developer to build streets meeting NCDOT standards o Gaston County approved the presented plan unanimously 8-0. ▪ Kasey from N. Lincoln St. asks about sewer, if they’re receiving their own lift station o Currently there’s an interconnect in the city. That lift station on Hardin Road o Capacity-wise our lift stations can handle this o People fly down N. Lincoln St., concerned about the quickness o Costner Elementary had the lowest scores, short-staffed, not being paid and large class sizes. And now we’re having an entire 115 families coming in with no room in the schools. With the addition of the development, we’ll be losing the small-town feel.  ▪ Ms. Peedin has a question for TruHomes. She asked the developers who their port-a-jon vendor is. ▪ Chuck McCarter on Old Rustic Trail. Asks about law enforcement, 115 more homes to the area. We already borrow from the county. Do we have any concerns about maintaining our police presence if we add to the area. Sergeant Eisenhour there isn’t a whole lot of crime in the area. With the increase of population, we can and will shift resources appropriately. o They know beforehand when a system is coming in. o Dr. Morgan is overgrowth for schools and is on the planning board. Therefore, he knows before the development is approved. o It does not affect the fire department o Will add speed bumps in the neighborhood o Construction entrance will be from Lincoln Street o Will purchase a sewer lift pump for $10,000.00 o Strike through garbage pickup from HOA and will go to the city o HOA will pay for street lights o Close Public Hearing ➢ Motion to close public hearing by Kathy Rhyne, seconded by Mrs. Cook. ➢ Motion to accept resolution with conditions listed above, seconded by Mr. Vassey. All in favor. ➢ Open Public Hearing: Grant o Motion to open public hearing by Kathy Rhyne, seconded by Denese Cook. All in favor. o Replace 70 year old water lines built to connect on Frye St. o Starting closeout was $68,000 under budget o Started at height of Covid. o Was constantly flushing water lines o All of issues with water pressure, Rosemary McCurry’s service line connected and the pressure went down. Usually caused by trash in the lines. o 11 new fire hydrants, took out 8. Will be addressed for labeling the hydrants o NO action needed on council’s portion o Phase 2—no information has been released as of yet. Submitted in May. Second round was primarily extra funding. Worse case scenario we reapply in September for River St. Everything has been turned in. ➢ Close Public Hearing o Motion to close public hearing by Ms. Rhyne, seconded by Mrs. Cook. All in favor. ➢ Old Business: • Discussion/Action: Resolution to accept map/zoning change request for True Homes ➢ Motion to accept resolution with conditions listed above, seconded by Mr. Vassey. All in favor. ➢ New Business: • Discussion/Action: Bridge lighting o Motion to allocate $3000 for 64 solar masonry style solar lights, seconded by Bobby Vassey. All in favor. ➢ Motion to Adjourn made by Mrs. Cook, seconded by Bobby Vassey, all in favor.