Second reading of Fire Station 3 ordinance clarifies legal confusion

Published 12:05 am Wednesday, November 8, 2017

SALISBURY — Because of a legal complication, the Sept. 19 vote to approve rezoning the 100 block of Mahaley Avenue for Fire Station 3 did not count.

On Tuesday evening, the Salisbury City Council meeting rectified that complication by voting 3-2 to rezone the lot so that the new fire station can be built there.

Mayor Karen Alexander, Mayor Pro Tem Maggie Blackwell and Councilman Brian Miller voted in favor of the rezoning.

Councilmen Kenny Hardin and David Post voted against it.

City Manager Lane Bailey said he believes the city has done “everything we’re required to do and more” to make the process transparent and by-the-book.

Fire Station 6, which the council is supposed to hear about at its Nov. 21 meeting, will be built before Fire Station 3.

Other items on the agenda Tuesday included:

• The council authorized Bailey to enter into an agreement with the N.C. Department of Transportation for the construction of sidewalks on Old Concord Road from Ryan Street to Jake Alexander Boulevard.

• The council declared a temporary road closure for South Main Street between Franklin and Monroe streets on Dec. 8 for the Salisbury Fire Department’s 200th Celebration Parade.

The road will be closed from 7 to 8:30 p.m. that day.

• The council recognized seven international students at Livingstone College who are visiting for a semester from northern India.

• The council announced that the discussion about the future of the special-events committee would be tabled.

“The thought was, there’s something else today that some of you are very concerned about,” Bailey said, referring to Tuesday’s municipal election. “Based on the outcome of that, there could be a different group of people up here.”

He said that staff members decided the decision should wait until the next group of council members is elected.

• During the public-comment period, a woman who has lost several family members to suicide spoke about the importance of National Survivors of Suicide Loss Day, which is Nov. 18.

Vickie Eddleman — who lost her father, brother-in-law and two friends to suicide — thanked the mayor for proclaiming National Survivors of Suicide Loss Day locally.

“One death prepares you for the next, which is sad. It is sad that the stigma surrounding suicide and mental illness makes it difficult for families to grieve properly,” Eddleman said. “But speaking out, like we are doing, will break the stigma and reach through the darkness to these families to provide them support and love.”

Contact reporter Jessica Coates at 704-797-4222.