KANNAPOLIS — Two more budget amendments for projects that were tabled at an earlier August city council meeting were approved unanimously by the council Monday night. The total projects will cost less than $2.5 million, but the larger of the two will extend over several years.

The larger and costlier of the two projects involves upfits and renovations to the Public Works Operations Center. The amendment budgets $468,000 from the city’s General Fund, representing 25 percent of the total cost, and $1,406,250, representing 75 percent of the cost, from the Water and Sewer Fund. According to staff reports on the project, “this project is a large capital project that spans multiple fiscal years, may have debt proceeds or outside funding (grants and therefore will be set up in a separate capital project fund.”

At an earlier meeting, several council members expressed concern over whether renovations made sense, and at least one council member wanted a chance to tour the facility before voting.
Included in the plans are updating plumbing and the HVAC system, including new ductwork and exhaust systems along with a new boiler; architectural plans/designs to contribute to the renovation of offices, restrooms, locker rooms, shops, meeting rooms, lobby area and the break room in order to create better flow and use of the space; replacement of all interior and exterior doors including passenger entry/exits and mechanical roll-up doors; the addition of a large bay to accommodate the washing of over-sized trucks, jet vacs, backhoes, lawn equipment and other larger vehicles; the addition of six bays that will allow for indoor storage of vehicles during inclement or cold weather; repaving the motor pool area; adding gating and security card access to the entire premises; expanding the fuel island from four pumps to eight; and adding an additional generator to support the entire facility.

The second amendment appropriates $397,500 for planning and design for Eastside Park. A capital project fund is set up for this project because of the cost and because the implementation of the project will span multiple fiscal years and generate the need to issue debt for this project.

According to City Manager Mike Legg, the city was notified Monday it has received a state Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) grant in the amount of $500,000 for this project. The grant is a pay-back grant, so funds will be paid up front, then grant money will reimburse the city.

The planning phase will involve consideration of the construction and design of a 33-acre city-owned Midlake Road property with Lake Fisher frontage. The project would include the design of a passive park, including open space, lake access (paddle boats), walking paths/sidewalks, greenway/nature trails, playground, picnic shelters, splash pad, dog park, restrooms and parking.

Legg told council members that the design phase should be complete by late spring of next year, and construction could begin in the summer of 2025 and be completed within a year.
A third amendment was tabled until the Sept. 9 meeting to allow further discussion. That amendment addresses the revitalization of Midway, but the proverbial “elephant in the room,” the apartment structure in the center of Midway, was a point of some contention.

Ryan Dayvault pointed out that the structure is the biggest blight that exists, and “it’s hard to imagine anything successful with that right in the middle, so we probably need to address that first.” He said it would be a challenge to get investors interested if the city did not have a plan of action for that building.

Mayor Pro Tem Doug Wilson asked if the city had considered “buying it and tearing it down?” He said he would personally, on his own, like to approach some of the business owners in the area that he knows to see how they feel about it.

“We do want to support those businesses who want to stay,” said Legg.

Mayor Darrell Hinnant asked the council if they could not at least go ahead and approve money for study and planning since either way, the apartment building would have to be addressed, but it wouldn’t affect the planning stage, but other council members resisted.

Considerations such as where the current tenants of the building would go, and Legg pointed out that currently, the building and its owner are not in violation of anything the city can act on. The city could go through the involved process of having the structure declared a blighted property, but that takes time.

“Midway is going to be a very big part of our footprint going forward,” said Councilor Darrell Jackson. “We’ve just about maxed out downtown, and we have hundreds of millions invested, and we need to keep it going.”

But the council agreed to carry the conversation over one more meeting in order to further consider options for the apartment building and to have time to try to reach out to existing businesses in the Midway area.