By Mark Wineka
mark.wineka@salisburypost.com

GRANITE QUARRY — Thanks to a gift over the holiday season, the town of Granite Quarry is set to grow by roughly nine acres.

Clifton Thomas Byrd of Blythewood, South Carolina, gave to the town his family’s land at 2790 Faith Road. Byrd had long wanted to donate the property, and the deed transfer has gone through.

Monday night, aldermen set a public hearing for Feb. 4 on a voluntary annexation of the nine acres. Mayor Bill Feather also urged the board to send a formal thank-you to Byrd.

In accepting the property, the town agrees that during Byrd’s lifetime no additional residential structures or roads will be built on it, except for walking paths or a gated emergency access road.

Within nine months of the conveyance, the town will erect a plaque on the property recognizing its donation by the Byrd family.

Byrd also has 90 days to remove any personal property he wants. The nine acres include a rental house and garage. The house is no longer occupied.

But it’s a mess.

“We need a loader over there,” said Jason Hord, the town’s maintenance supervisor. “It’s going to be a project.”

Mayor Bill Feather agreed: “Now that we’ve acquired the property, we’ve acquired materials” both inside and outside the structures, he said.

Alderman Kim Cress, who has visited the property and urged every other board member to do the same, said a 30-yard dumpster probably will be required for the stuff that’s needed to be thrown out from the interior of the house and basement.

Cress also advised that a salvage person be contacted in case he or she would be interested in carting away some free scrap metal.

“That’s something to think about,” Cress said.

Cress also pushed for a survey of the former Byrd land and a town-owned property on South Main Street.

“I think it’s just good business,” he said of delineating the exact boundaries of both parcels.

In other business, Acting Fire Chief Hord introduced two of three new volunteers with the Fire Department — Elaine Carlton and her daughter, Amy Carlton Parnell. They are both EMTs, Hord said.

Town Manager Phil Conrad also announced that Aubrey Smith of Granite Quarry will be hired as the town’s new deputy clerk, starting Jan. 22. She replaces Scott Stewart, who took another job.

Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263.