By Amanda Raymond

amanda.raymond@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — Residents of Spencer will soon be able to display their town pride on their cars.

Alderman David Lamanno suggested the idea of starting a Spencer Car Decal Program at Spencer’s Board of Aldermen meeting on Tuesday.

“It’s kind of a pride of place,” Lamanno said, “to let folks know you’re from the town of Spencer.”

The stickers are similar to the decal stickers from the Outer Banks. The word Spencer, in black, is across the oval-shaped sticker with a train next it.

They will cost $3.

Originally, Lamanno suggested that a small portion of the proceeds go to purchasing more stickers and the rest go to the Spencer Public Library.

Before voting, Alderman Kevin Jones suggested that the town pay for buying more stickers and give all proceeds to the library. The board agreed and approved the decal program unanimously.

“I think you’re idea is a very good idea,” Mayor Jim Gobbel said to Lamanno. “I think the sticker looks very good and it has the locomotive logo on it which is about Spencer’s … heritage and it pulls from the North Carolina Transportation Museum.”

Troy Powell, land management director, is also bringing something new to the community.

Although talking to property owners will remain the first strategy code enforcement uses, they will now be using yellow “Notice of Violation” yard signs for more difficult cases where they have not been able to get in contact with the property owner.

In other business, the board:

• Approved an alley closure in the 500 block of 2^nd street.
• Approved an amendment to the Municipal Records Retention Schedule to include digital records.
• Awarded a street paving contract to Hanes Construction.
• Discussed vacant, neglected and abandoned properties in the town, an agenda item suggested by Mayor Pro Tem Syliva Chillcott. It was decided that staff would look over the town’s existing ordinances to see if any updates were needed, using Salisbury’s ordinances as a guideline.
• Went into a closed session to talk about the purchase of a property for economic development.

During public comment:

• Bob Oswald suggested a few things to the board, including talking to a previous employee about completing the Historic Preservation Commission guidelines, removing dead phone poles around town and researching how big of a problem improper dog tethering is in the town.
• Patsy Duncan said she saw a problem with people gathering and walking in the middle of the street who are blocking drivers from passing and causing safety issues.
• Sherry Sides said in regards to the dog tethering issue, many of the dogs who are improperly tethered are in the back of residences and may not be visible driving by the front of the houses.

Contact reporter Amanda Raymond at 704-797-4222.