By Mark Wineka
mark.wineka@salisburypost.com

GRANITE QUARRY — The Board of Aldermen voted Monday night to finalize a contract with a Greenville, S.C., planning firm, which will lead development of a revitalization plan for the town.

The board stipulated the contract cannot exceed $35,000, including travel and other expenses. Meanwhile, town staff and officials will be seeking grants, donations and a possible loan to cover the costs of the planning contract with Arnett Muldrow & Associates of Greenville.

The firm plans to get started in March, with the whole process taking about six months. Representatives of Arnett Muldrow have said the community’s input will be important to the project.

In another matter Monday night, aldermen gave approval for Town Manager Justin Price to construct a reserve equipment garage for the Fire Department inside the existing town facility on North Salisbury Avenue.

“We’re going to take a little space from maintenance and give it to the Fire Department,” Price said. The extra garage space will allow the Fire Department to store a reserve truck, once the town’s new fire truck is delivered in April.

The board instructed Price not to exceed $15,000 in making the space modifications.

In other Granite Quarry news:

• Aldermen awarded a town audit contract to Eddie Carrick, a certified public accountant from Lexington.

• Aldermen appointed Michelle Fulbright to the Planning Board.

• Aldermen  tabled until March consideration of a Rowan-Iredell Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan and will invite Rowan County Emergency Management Services Director Frank Thomason to discuss it with the board at the March meeting.

• Price said he has been talking to N.C. Department of Transportation officials about the timing of the traffic light at U.S. 52 and Bank Street, and the DOT also has mentioned the possibility of making some aesthetic changes at the intersection. Aldermen have expressed a willingness to  pursue the matter, as long as they know what costs and values might be connected to an enhancement.

• The new Family Dollar in Granite Quarry opened to customers last Thursday, and the store will have a grand opening celebration and ribbon-cutting Saturday.

• Aldermen have scheduled an annual budget workshop and retreat for Feb. 20 and 21 at Town Hall.

• Aldermen met in closed session Monday night for a three-month review of Price, who was hired near the end of 2014.

• The town’s Maintenance Department has brought its leaf-vacuum season to a close, having collected roughly 162 loads, or 1,620 yards. The town picked up seven dump-truck loads of limbs in January.

Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263.