The five hundred and seventy-seventh session of the board of Aldermen, Village of Alamance

October 27th, 2025

7:00 p.m.

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

Absent:

Invocation: Invocation given by Phil Cheap

Approval of Agenda: Alderman Tichy motioned to approve the agenda, seconded by Alderman Andrews. The Motion carries 6-0.

Approval of August 25th Regular Meeting Minutes: Alderman Tichy makes a motion to approve the September 22nd minutes, seconded by Alderman Hunt. The motion carries 6-0.

Code Enforcement Violation for S NC 62:

Mrs. Folwell states that there was a violation at a property listed as “S NC 62’ regarding a nuisance for a ‘brush pile.’ Paul with SCE states the pile was first tagged on 9/24/2025. A notice of violation was mailed on 9/25/2025, with a follow-up reinspection on 10/15/2025. SCE spoke with the property owner, Elizabeth Powell, who indicated by phone that she would not be removing the brush pile. SCE issues the civil penalty letter. Paul with SCE asks how the village would like to move forward, as the civil penalties are in place. The property owner stated, ‘If you need to put a lien on my property, go right ahead, but you aren’t getting any money out of me.’ Alderman Crouse and Alderman Cheap brought up two different brush piles that had sat in the Village for longer than a few weeks and didn’t understand why this was any different. Mayor Tichy informs the board that the village is complaint-based and, per our contract with SCE, they wanted to ensure they are using the contracted time appropriately. They offered to do a trial run so SCE could proactively ride and find violations, and that is when the brush pile was spotted. No complaint was made to the Village. Mrs. Folwell informs the board that the bottom of the letter states that anyone can submit an appeal, and that doing so stops the penalties. The appeal will then be presented to the board for approval or denial. Paul with SCE states that if they do not receive a phone call from anyone, they will proceed with the next steps in the process. Due to no written appeal having been filed, the board is now at the point of assessing the civil penalties that started on 10/15/2025. Mayor Tichy states that the penalties ended on 10/22/2025, when the brush was burned. Mayor Tichy tells the property owner that she must submit an appeal to the Village Administrator if she wants the board to review the week’s fines. Alderman Hunt states the board believes the pile is no longer a violation, but nothing should be waived without a written appeal.

Public Comment

Sherry Ford, 3968 S NC 62, states that a resident who lives at 3430 Pond Rd was supposed to come tonight, but, due to illness, she asked Mrs. Ford to share with the board what she thought of the Utility Building. (Mrs. Ford reads the residents’ comments. “Whose building is that? I can’t believe that awful thing is there. Who would have done that?” Mrs. Ford then said she asked the resident if she had any ideas about what the Village could do. Per Mrs. Ford, the resident said, “That thing should be torn down, it ruins the sign.”

OLD BUSINESS

Engineer Report:

Cardinal Lane Drainage Issue: Mr. Novelli states that he spoke with the Contractor last week, who was planning to come in on Wednesday; however, due to the weather, the work has been put on hold. It will likely push the work into early next week. Work is anticipated to take approximately 3 weeks. Mr. Novelli states that he will be on-site for all inspections of that project. Street Repair for FY 24-25: Paving work will be completed after the storm drain is installed. Heritage Glen 5C.2: The construction is still ongoing, as they have not certified their water line, and will be on hold until proper testing and certification of the water line. Water Quality Issues: Mr. Novelli states that water samples were obtained on October 20^th. All results came back today, 10/27/2025, and everything was perfectly normal, with no abnormalities in the water. They are still trying to figure out how to resolve this issue. Birch Street Pump Station: Funding was requested and obtained; the resolution will cover all of the funding we discussed in the prior meetings, and signing the resolution will give approval, saying we accept funding, and that we can move forward with the force main that will be connected to the Birch Street Pump Station. The amount of funding included will not cover the full cost of upgrading the pump station and the force main. The resolution will cover the force main, and the Pump station improvements will be covered with Village funds. Mr. Novelli states that they are currently in the design phase, but he hopes to receive approval to go to bid with an informal bid within the next couple of weeks, with an estimated cost of $230,000.00 to make all repairs. Mr. Novelli stated that the roto dialers we declined and received a refund, the extra money from the Cardinal Lane sewer project, and additional unallocated funds total $197,000.00, which will be used to cover the Force Main installation. 4534 Alamance Baptist Church Loop: Mr. Novelli states that the Contractor and Engineer are working to complete the work. Mr. Novelli states that they are still looking at the Engineering Specifications. Once they establish these improvements to their code for development, he will bring them before the board.

ORC Report:

Mr. Allred states that the Birch Pump Station is outdated and that problems requiring repairs are occurring. Every time the alarm goes off at any pump station, he responds. Everything is working well at NC 62 and Pond Pump Stations. Mr. Allred and Mr. Novelli are still working on the water quality issue; they are still flushing as they always have, and there is good chlorine in the system, but they are still working to resolve it. Mr. Allred states that they did make the repairs identified during smoke testing.

Public Recreation Update:

Alderman Hunt states that no meeting was held this month, but the T-Mobile Grant documents have been submitted, and we are now waiting to hear back from them. Alderman Hunt also said they have decided to move the ending of terms to January, instead of October, for the Public Recreation Committee. The reason is that, in years like this one, when an election is underway, the new board members appoint new members.

Update on Utility Building:

In the November Newsletter, we asked the Community to submit their ideas/concerns regarding the Utility Building via e-mail. We received four emails.

Mrs. Folwell states that one email says “the Utility Building is fine the way it is, it doesn’t stand out as bad as it would if it was white or read, they suggested that we could get some invisible paint and paint it that color, if the concerned residents needed something to be upset about to put there attention on’ another email states ‘you could add nice landscaping around the building, false windows or a flag pole. They do not have a problem with the building, but they wanted to submit ideas. Another email stated, ‘The utility building is a monstrosity, it is too close to the road, the color is terrible, the view is destroyed, and there is nothing redeemable about it.’

Stonewall Construction is waiting for inspection.

NEW BUSINESS

Code Enforcement Proposal:

Mrs. Folwell states that, due to numerous complaints about our current SCE, she decided to reach out to local towns to see who they use for Code Enforcement. Mrs. Folwell spoke with Alliance Code Enforcement and stated that all the inspectors are ‘Certified Housing Code Officials with the North Carolina Association of HCO. Based on the Inspector Qualifications, the Company Qualifications, and the Company Operations and Experiences.

Mrs. Folwell also stated that Paul, with State Code Enforcement, mentioned that Eric will no longer be our Code Enforcement inspector. Paul will be taking over the village. Since we are under contract with SCE, we hope that, with Paul as our new inspector, these issues will be resolved.

Funding Offer Resolution for Birch Pump Station SRP-W-134-0299:

Mrs. Folwell states we were given $123,367 in advance, which has been in an account accruing interest and is now up to $197,000.00. This would be the amount we could apply for, but we must accept what was initially given to the village. Mayor Tichy informs the board that the State has authorized the Village to use this money, as it is the last of the COVID ARPA funds. Alderman Crouse makes a motion to accept the Funding Resolution. Seconded by Alderman Tichy. Motion carries 6-0.

Discussion on Potential New Burning Ordinance:

Mayor Tichy states that the Village burning ordinance is compliant with the State ordinance.

Because fire personnel aren’t enforcing the state ordinance, Mayor Tichy doesn’t think it’s necessary to include them in our ordinance. Still, Mayor Tichy states he would like to see specific state regulations adopted into the village ordinance. E.M. Holt Fire Chief Luke Macon states that the fire department does enforce the law; anything within 100 feet of a house will be put out because it is the law. The only thing they allow people to burn is ordinary yard brush/waste. Chief Macon stated that he was unaware of the state law that states, ‘if the town or village offers yard waste, then you cannot burn.’ Mayor Tichy states he doesn’t want to adopt anything tonight; he wants to come up with a set of rules that protect property but still allow residents to burn safely on their own property.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

Naydine Sharpe, 4432 S NC 62, expresses disappointment in the Mayor and how the election was run.

Cathera Bundren, 4412 S NC 62, asks for clarification on something she heard regarding a ‘wish list’ & ‘spending funds down.’ Mayor Tichy states that there is no wish list and funds are not being spent down. Long-range village planning has been done; the process began years ago and is posted on the website.

Mike Kimbro, 2946 Councilman Dr, states that he and his wife also have property on Cabin Rd. After speaking with Mrs. Folwell and Mr. Novelli, he has new concerns about the store. He states that the sewer terminates right there and is concerned that they will be coming to dig up their parking lot. Mr. Kimbro asks where the store’s sewer line is going. Mr. Novelli says that once they receive an approved plan, they will know. At this point, they must submit for further plan review. Any Construction will be done in the village right-of-way. Mr. Kimbro also expresses concerns that the 40 chickens in his neighbor’s yard are creating unsanitary conditions on his property. He has two dogs with recurring fungal infections on their paws, and he believes they are coming from feces being washed down into his year.

Elizabeth Powell, 238 Powerline Rd, Elon, asks whether the sidewalk cracks from the 6-year-old sidewalk project in the historic district can be sealed.

Jeremy Vestal, 4533 Alamance Baptist Church Loop, expresses a desire to be more of a community and offers to help if needed. He grew up in the Village of Alamance and loves it here. He expresses concerns about the Utility Building price.

OTHER BUSINESS:

Mayor Tichy requests a motion to go into Closed Session, Alderman Andres makes a motion, seconded by Alderman Hunt. Motion carried, 6-0.

Closed Session:

Pursuant to GS143-318.11(a)(6)-Conditions of Employment for a Public Officer:

Motion to adjourn made by Alderman. Motion carries 6-0