By Hugh Fisher
hfisher@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS ó Cabarrus County EMS has a new home at Kannapolis Fire Department’s Station No. 5 following approval of a lease agreement by the Kannapolis City Council.
The 50-year lease of approximately 1,600 square feet at the station was unanimously approved by the council at Monday night’s regular meeting.
Station No. 5, located on Barr Road, opened in January; it was designed with bay space for an ambulance and living quarters for EMS personnel.
The Kannapolis Fire Department currently has one fire engine on site, with plans to add a ladder company in the future.
The 50-year lease term is being paid up front with a lump-sum payment of $368,590.58.
However, City Manager Mike Legg said the lease can be renegotiated if either the Kannapolis Fire Department or Cabarrus County EMS choose new facilities or if the station becomes obsolete.
“I can’t imagine a situation, though, where we would not want an EMS facility at this location,” Legg said.
In other business:
– The council tabled discussion of a municipal agreement between the city and the N.C. Dept. of Transportation regarding improvements to the Rogers Lake Road railway crossing near South Main Street, pending a vote in the U.S. Senate this week on money earmarked for the project.
City planners have long wanted to construct an overpass for Rogers Lake Road, formerly Universal Street, next to the road’s intersection with South Main Street.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed an omnibus spending bill last week that contains $950,000 for the project, earmarked by former Rep. Robin Hayes.
Legg said Hayes’ successor, Rep. Larry Kissell (D-N.C.), fought to preserve the earmark.
“We’re appreciative of both our current and former congressmen,” Legg said.
The intersection is a traffic hazard for cars on both Rogers Lake Road and nearby Ridge Avenue, where traffic backups often leave cars sitting on the railroad tracks waiting for the light to change.
“That’s a very, very dangerous intersection,” Mayor Robert Misenheimer said.
Legg said NCDOT engineers have been surveying around the intersection in preparation for improvements there.
It’s possible the approximately $7 million to $10 million needed to build the overpass could be raised through federal stimulus money. Legg and Public Works Director Wilmer Melton promised council members a full report at the March 23 council meeting.
– Council members unanimously approved the city’s 2009-10 action plan for use of HOME consortium funds received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, following a required public hearing.
According to Irene Sacks, the city’s director of business and community affairs, the city will partner with Prosperity Unlimited to use the $119,522 to construct an affordable home and provide its buyer with down payment assistance.
Sacks said the original plan had been to build and offer two homes, but the current housing market and availability of funds caused the plan to be scaled back.
No citizens spoke at the public hearing.
– Council members unanimously approved a utility agreement with The Grand of Kannapolis, LLC to construct a gravity sewer line draining to an existing line in a nearby subdivision.
The Grand is building a 240-unit multifamily development on Trinity Church Road near the intersection with Orphanage Road.
The Grand will construct the sewer line and reimburse Kannapolis for the cost of easements.
The proposed path of the line lies across three tracts belonging to two property owners, Melton said.
He hopes negotiations with those owners for the easements will proceed smoothly, but, in response to a question from council member Kenneth Geathers, Melton said the city would use condemnation proceedings as a last resort.