By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
Salisbury City Council will meet at 2 p.m. today to discuss the search for a new city manager.
A representative from the city’s contracted search firm, Springsted Incorporated, will meet with council members at City Hall, 217 S. Main St. Although city leaders at one time had hoped to have a city manager in place by the end of the year, the timetable slowed due to the election and other changes in leadership, Human Resources Director Zach Kyle told the Post.
Once leaders decided the newly elected City Council would choose the next city manager, the process slowed down, former mayor Susan Kluttz said. All five council members were re-elected last month.
The city also is searching for a new broadband director to lead Fibrant, the city’s fiber optic utility that competes with private industry to sell Internet, cable TV and phone services.
Also at Tuesday’s City Council meeting:
• Bus stop shelters are coming to Salisbury. The council accepted a $75,663 Community Transportation Program grant to buy seven new shelters. The city will provide a 10 percent match, or $8,407, from Community Development Block Grant funds previously budgeted for the Jersey City neighborhood.
The shelters will be located at Walmart, Salisbury Customer Service Center, Rowan County Department of Social Services/Health Department, Jersey City, Rufty-Holmes Senior Center, Harris Teeter and the Employment Security Commission.
• The city will restore funding to the Rowan Arts Council, now under the management of the Salisbury and Rowan County tourism development authorities. The new management resulted in a 71 percent reduction in overhead for the arts council, from $44,000 to $12,900.
The savings went to smaller arts organizations in Rowan County, which split about $31,000 in funding this year, up from $15,000 previously.
The big three — Salisbury Symphony, Waterworks and Piedmont Players — received about $6,000 less this year, reflecting a 10 percent cut from the city and county to the arts council. However, the tourism authorities have awarded marketing grants to the big three in excess of $20,000, said James Meacham, executive director for the Rowan County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
• A 30-day comment period begins today for a proposed street name change. Staff recommends changing the 700 Block of Old Plank Road to West Marsh Street.
• The city will extend the completion date for the Sports Complex Sidewalk Improvement Project to Jan. 31. The $239,673 sidewalk project along South Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Ryan Street is done, and reimbursement for the project is pending N.C. Department of Transportation approval.
• The city will pay about $109,000 in 2015, a 3 percent share of a $3.6 million state project to modernize, rehabilitate and expand the city’s traffic signal control system. N.C. Department of Transportation will pay the rest.
• The Jersey City Neighborhood intersection improvements are complete at Mocksville Avenue and Caldwell and West Cemetery streets. The project will come in about $18,000 under the original $130,000 budget, even with the addition of a bus stop shelter ($8,400) and sidewalks along West Cemetery Street ($17,000), City Planner Lynn Raker said.
• The city will close the 100 block of West Council Street Monday through Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to replace the chiller on the roof of the City Office Building located at 132 N. Main St.
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.