Public hearing on Royal Farms rezoning request rescheduled for Sept. 12

WALLACE — After being rescheduled due to Tropical Storm Debby, the Wallace Town Council held its regular monthly meeting on Thursday night, Aug. 15, which required a public hearing on a rezoning request to also be rescheduled until the Sept. 12 meeting.

“This is really just an administrative switch-up because we didn’t have our meeting on Aug. 8 so we have to re-advertise the rezoning,” explained Planning Director Rod Fritz. The request from Two Farms, Inc. is to rezone the 6.08 acres that remains on their property from RA-20 to HB-Highway Business in order to build a Royal Farms gas station on the site.

The parcel is at the corner of Highway 11 and 41 (Southerland Street) in the Tin City area of town, and formerly housed the Tin City Express gas station. “They only rezoned about half of their property,” Fritz said. “Behind it, adjacent to Plantation Acres, they’re now asking to rezone that parcel to HB. It’s probably going to be under construction sometime in the near future.”

At one point, Fritz explained, apartments were proposed for the site, but they ended up going across the street.

“That community got together and didn’t want that there,” Fritz said. “I’ve been in contact with a couple of people from that community, trying to work through a buffer scenario so that we don’t have a contested rezoning.”

The rezoning will allow Two Farms, Inc. to “maximize their future development,” Fritz said.

The council voted unanimously to reschedule the public hearing for after 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12.

The town council also learned at the August meeting that the state has awarded an additional $50,000 for the repairs of Boney Mill, bringing the total for the project to $406,350. Town Manager Rob Taylor said the extra funds will be used to get the flooring done in the old grist mill.

“The foundations are complete, the steel structure has been reestablished and reinforced, and the pilings have been wrapped and filled with concrete,” Fritz said. “The roof rafters are complete. The roof has been put on. I think they have to come back yet and impregnate the beams with some kind of silly putty that’s going to preserve the beams.”

Next up, the floor should be finished. “We have to be able to walk in it,” Fritz said. “We don’t have to open it up to the public, though.”

The council unanimously approved a budget amendment to increase the construction project and set aside the grant proceeds.

The town is also applying to have Boney Mill added to the National Register of Historic Places.

In other business at the Aug. 15 meeting, the council:

• Approved a resolution and memorandum of understanding, which allow the town to move forward with a strategic planning process in concert with Samantha Darlington from the NC Department of Commerce’s Rural Planning division.
• Awarded a contract to Barnhill Contracting Company for $4,547,794 to realign a portion of the roadway by the Wallace-Pender Airport to allow for runway expansion. The contract will be fully reimbursable by the Department of Transportation, Town Manager Rob Taylor said.
• Awarded a contract to Fred Smith Company for $3,783,150 to rehabilitate the existing runway at the airport and add new lights. The project requires a 10% match from the town, and Taylor said the town is using funds from the state to cover the match.
• Approved a budget amendment to purchase a used vehicle for town employees and sell an unneeded 4×4 vehicle.
• Approved a capital project ordinance for a $115,000 StRAP (Streamflow Rehabilitation Assistance Program) grant to improve water flow at Nicholson Creek.
• Approved a resolution to accept a loan from the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for construction of the Maple Creek force main project, which the town has titled the 830 Project. The loan is for $1,884,218, and will go with the existing $800,000 grant, Taylor said.

Also at the Aug. 15 meeting, Councilwoman Tasha Herring thanked town employees for helping with Tropical Storm Debby.

“Usually, the streets downtown start flooding faster than anything,” she said. “When I looked downtown, the water was flowing. It was moving so it didn’t flood.”

Mayor Jason Wells echoed those sentiments. “During the storm, we had a lot of folks put in some extra hours,” he said. “The key is getting the water out. … [It] did not flood at all, which says a lot for the amount of rain we got.”

He added that the town should continue seeking funds to help clean out creeks and ditches. “That’s something that we need to continue to work on, even though the storm has passed,” the mayor said.