The five hundred and fifty-eighth session of the board of Alderman Village of Alamance

December 16^th , 2024

7:00 p.m.

Present: Mayor Tichy, Mayor Pro Tem Isley, Alderman Crouse, Alderman Cheap, Alderman Hunt, and Alderman Tichy

Absent: Alderman Andrews

Invocation and call to order given by Mr. Reich

Alderman Tichy motioned to approve the agenda, seconded by Alderman Crouse. Motion carries 5-0

Alderman Crouse motioned to approve the November 18th, 2024, regular meeting minutes, seconded by Alderman Cheap. Motion carries 5-0.

Public Comment  

Debra Mata of 3969 S NC 62 asked about having a three-way stop sign to help with traffic on NC 62. She would like to contact the DOT to see if this is a possibility. Mayor Tichy said Mr. Farmerie would get their contact information for her.

ONGOING BUSINESS

Engineer Report  

Mr. Reich said a payment application for the street repairs was sent to Mr. Farmerie today. The requested amount is just under $80,000, with about $80,000 more worth of work to do. The work for Cardinal Ln will start in the Spring so it can be completed in one phase and allow for a cleaner construction site. The Heritage Glen phase 5C.2 has run into more rock than expected. The builder brought a hammer hoe to bust through the rock so they could lay the sewer line in the next week. Mr. Reich said Duke Power had not yet contacted them about the guy wire. This information is needed to decide where exactly the building will sit. The report came back from Hazen and Sawyer. The model and the system were in close agreement, showing no closed valves or bottleneck issues. The model showed more water flowing through the NC 62 meter than the Pond meter due to the Ed Thomas WTP being a higher elevation, by 15ft, than Macintosh. The model also showed that most of Macintosh’s water would supply the Southwest Pump station. These two factors explain why the NC 62 meter shows more water moving through it.

ORC Report   

Mr. Allred said the collection system was sound. The generators are due for service next month. The distribution showed an elevated reading on the HA5, so this area will be flushed and should be fine at the next reading. The valve exercise is underway; some are being repaired, and many are being cleaned out. Blowoffs are being made ready for exercising.

Quarterly Traffic Report

Mr. Farmerie said there were no significant changes from last quarter except for the vehicle count. Alderman Hunt asked why there was less speeding by the E.M. Holt sign. Mayor Tichy said it was likely due to the traffic turning from Kimesville Rd onto HWY 62 and the sign catching the slow speed, which would pull down the average.

Quarterly Finance Report

Mr. Farmerie said the most significant increase in revenue came from Ad Valorem taxes, mainly property taxes. The intergovernmental revenue had the first half of the Powell distribution come in. The investment earnings look good; we have almost 90% of the year-to-date expected collection. The expenditures side is looking normal. The administrative department has used 43% of the YTD expenditure, and finance has used 32%. The largest difference in expenditures from the last quarter to the current quarter is the increase of $110,000 in the transportation department due to the budget amendment made for the Cardinal Ln stormwater project. The sanitation department is at almost 60% of YTD expenditure due to purchasing trash cans.

The enterprise fund has collected almost 41% of water funds and 35% of sewer funds for the year to date. The administration department has only spent 17% of what was budgeted, and the operations department has spent almost 27%. There is a net positive of $88,000, an improvement from previous years.

Public Recreation Committee Report 

Mr. Farmerie presented the advertising strategy and the survey that would be sent to residents. The intent is to stagger mailings to Village residents and the ETJ zone. The residents would get a hard copy with a QR code in the water bills sent out at the end of the month, and the ETJ zone would be mailed postcards with a QR code link to the survey in February. A link to the survey will be put on the town’s website, and everbridge can be used to send a reminder message about the survey. There will also be hard copies at the Town hall. Mayor Pro Tem Isley asked why the ETJ residents were included in the study. Mr. Farmerie said the public rec committee had discussed getting opinions of those who might utilize a nearby recreation area. The board would like to see the response rate from Village residents before sending anything to the ETJ residents. Mayor Pro Tem Isley motioned to adopt the survey and strategies, striking out the mailing to the ETJ zone for now, seconded by Alderman Hunt. Motion carries 5-0

New Business

Public Hearing – Unified Development Ordinance

Alderman Tichy motioned to go into a public hearing, seconded by Alderman Hunt. Motion carries 5-0

Mr. Farmerie explained that the unified development ordinance combined the village’s existing zoning and subdivision ordinances into a single document. No fundamental changes were made. The planning board met in November and recommended the adoption of the UDO. There was no public comment.

Alderman Tichy motioned to accept the unified development ordinance as presented, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Isley. Motion carries 5-0

Alderman Tichy motioned to go out of public hearing, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Isley. Motion carries 5-0

SL 2023-24 Grant Project Ordinance Amendment

This is to apply for the SL 2023 funding for the Cardinal Lane sewer work, a reimbursement for part of the project that was not fully funded by the 2021 grant. The amendment is for the grant project ordinance, amending the previous total, which included the contingencies to reflect the final total of the Cardinal Lane sewer project. The final total is $73,633.00. The unallocated amount from this source of funding is $95,000.00

Alderman Cheap motioned to amend the grant ordinance project as presented, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Isley. Motion carries 5-0

Resolution Accepting SL 2023-24 Funding Offer

Mayor Pro Tem Isley motioned to accept the SL 23-24 funding offer, seconded by Alderman Hunt. Motion carries 5-0

Amendment to Capital Project Ordinance

Alderman Crouse motioned to accept the amendment, seconded by Alderman Hunt. Motion carries 5-0

OTHER BUSINESS

Mayor Tichy thanked Mrs. Folwell and Mr. Farmerie for their work this year. Mayor Tichy acknowledged Naydine Sharpe for her work in preserving the historical documents that are now displayed on the beautiful cabinet in the lobby, built by Ken Cass.

Alderman Crouse made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Cheap. Motion carries 5-0.

Mayor Tichy____________________________________

Misty Folwell, Clerk_______________________________