By Natalie Anderson
natalie.anderson@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — The Rowan County Board of Commissioners during a virtual meeting on Monday will consider a recommendation to implement an immediate hiring freeze for county departments.

The meeting will be at 3 p.m., and the public is able to tune into the virtual meeting from a computer, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device at bit.ly/rowanboc0504. The password to join the meeting is 05202020. The meeting can also be joined by phone at 720-928-9299, or 213-338-8477 or 602-753-0140.

Public comments can be submitted before noon on Monday via email at public.comment@rowancountync.gov.

Rowan County Manager Aaron Church is presenting the hiring freeze to the board in an effort to “maintain a balance of satisfactory service to the citizens and employees of Rowan County in the face of the economic impact of COVID-19.” Department directors can petition for exceptions to the hiring freeze by submitting a completed “Hiring Freeze Exception Request Form” to the Church’s office.

An exception to the hiring freeze, Church said, will be considered for positions that are critical to citizen and employee personal health and safety, compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations and the delivery of essential county services.

Also at the meeting, commissioners will also hear a request from the Rowan Economic Development Commission to schedule a public hearing for the May 18 meeting regarding an incentive request from “Project Lake.”

The project would be a new employer in Rowan County that would create 388 jobs over the next five years, with an estimated investment of approximately $14.1 million in new construction and equipment.

Also on the agenda:

• A public hearing to consider financing technology, flooring repairs and renovations at Kannapolis City Schools in the amount of $1 million as well as financing the construction of a concession stand at Dan Nicholas Park in the amount of $600,000. If approved following the public hearings, the financing would be considered by the Local Government Commission in June.
• A request from the planning department to schedule a public hearing on March 18 to adopt the updated FY 2020-21 HOME Action Plan. The anticipated funding amount allocated to the county based on the consortium’s direction was $192,081, but once Housing and Urban Development funding was received by the consortium, the actual amount to be distributed to the county is $178,260.

Contact reporter Natalie Anderson at 704-797-4246.