County’s master plan scheduled for presentation Monday

Published 12:10 am Sunday, April 19, 2015

Rowan Commissioners on Monday will receive a master plan for its departments that could decide the future of The West End Plaza.

The plan will be the second of two presentations made by Adw Architects, a Charlotte-based firm, about the county’s space needs. An initial study was presented last month showed that the county would need 438,000 total square feet — including space currently occupied —  for all of its departments. West End Plaza, formerly the Salisbury Mall, is seen by previous and current commissioners as a space to house some county departments with space needs.

Social Services was outlined in the March space needs study as the county department with the greatest needs for space. Social Services will need an additional 20,190 square feet over the next 15 years, excluding its current space. The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office was a distant second in needed space. The Board of Elections needs an entirely new facility, according to the study.

County Manager Aaron Church, when asked, said he wasn’t able to describe what the master plan presentation will reveal. Although Church and commissioners have met with Adw Architects about the master plan, Church said he hasn’t sought to find out exact details of Monday’s master plan presentation. The master plan also isn’t included in the county’s agenda documents on the Rowan County government website.

The West End Plaza was purchased in December 2013 at a cost of $3.45 million from money in the county’s fund balance, which partially functions as a savings account. The new group of county commissioners have looked to the master plan and space needs study as tools to help determine how the county should use The West End Plaza.

The master plan presentation is commissioners’ last item on Monday’s agenda before adjournment.

Other items for consideration Monday include:

• Appointment of a re-branding task force

In February, county commissioners agreed to proceed with a comprehensive re-branding effort that’s being led by the Salisbury-Rowan County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. The convention and visitor’s bureau is also paying for the project through a hotel occupancy tax. The rebranding could include new letterheads, county business cards, a logo and website design, according to a presentation made by Tourism Director James Meacham.

County commissioners previously appointed Patterson Farms co-owner Michelle Patterson as the chairwoman of the task force. Commissioner Craig Pierce, who serves as the liaison to the CVB is also on the re-branding task force.

When commissioners meet Monday, they’ll consider appointing 13 others to the task force, including: Kelly Alexander, State Alexander, Dustin Wilson, Barbara Hall, Whitney Wallace, Amie Baudoin, Krista Osterweil, John Ketner, Justin Dionne, Nicole Holmes-Matangira, Thad Howell, Alan Lambert and Jeanie Moore.

• A public hearing for a 1.5-acre rezoning on the 3000 block of Old Concord Road

The request is from Mike and Lynn Hartness. The pair are the owners of Kustom Karts and are requesting the land be rezoned from rural residential to commercial, business industrial to help expand their business.

• Transferring a lease at the Rowan County Airport from Piedmont Skydiving to an unnamed business

Piedmont Skydiving signed their current lease at the airport in June 2014. None of the agenda attachments for Monday’s meeting list the name of the new business.

• Raising the lease price for painting company WEL Aviation, LLC from $2,000 to $2,166 for a spot at the Rowan County Airport

•  Allocating a total of $462,383 to the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council

Of the funds, $322,700 will come from the N.C. Department of Public Safety, according to agenda documents.

• Authorizing the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office to apply for a grant to provide stabproof and bulletproof vests