By Jessie Burchette
Salisbury Post
Rowan County commissioners are leaning toward changing their traditional monthly meeting setup.
Instead of the two action meetings a month they now hold, commissioners want to hold one work session and one action meeting each month.
Vice Chairman Chad Mitchell suggested the idea of a work session, saying it will give commissioners more time to get information and discuss issues without the pressure to make a decision. Mitchell suggested the first Monday session be switched, adding that he expects some hiccups, including scheduling public hearings for rezoning and conditional use permits.
Commissioners enthusiastically endorsed the idea of a work session.Commissioner Jim Sides said commissioners who aren’t retired face a big hurdle trying to get up to speed on issues. “This is an extremely good idea,” said Sides.
While endorsing the work session concept, Commissioner Jon Barber went a bit further, suggesting commissioners give the Rowan County Planning Board more authority.
Barber suggested that conditional-use permit applications come to the Board of Commissioners only if the Planning Board vote isn’t unanimous.
He said that would take a load off the Board of Commissioners.
While Sides and some other commissioners were willing to consider the Planning Board change, they said that discussion shouldn’t be part of the work session proposal.
Chairman Arnold Chamberlain went further, saying he would not support giving the final decision on issues to an advisory board.
Commissioners unanimously endorsed looking at the monthly work session, asking County Manager Gary Page to check with departments to gauge potential problems.
If the board opts to convert the meeting schedule, it would likely be in early fall.In other business, the board:
– Approved changes in the county’s soil erosion and sedimentation control ordinance to bring it in compliance with state requirements.
The board also approved the hiring of Charles H. Sells Inc. of Mooresville to review erosion control plans and adopted a new fee schedule to become effective Aug. 1. The fees are intended to reimburse the county for the cost of the review.- Approved a watershed waiver request from Tom Dailey of Stanley for a planned race car shop and warehouse at 165 Pit Road in the motorsports park off N.C. 152 near Mooresville.Dailey plans a 12,000 -square-foot building.
– Approved a request from Matthew Weiss of Weiss Properties to allow construction of a private street network for a gated development, The Woodlands at Old Beatty Ford Road.
The proposed development will have 24 single-family lots in the 75-acre tract located along 6500-6800 Old Beatty Ford Road.