By Shavonne Potts
Salisbury Post
ROCKWELL ó The Board of Aldermen has decided to postpone its proposed annexation this spring, saying town officials need more time to conduct their own research.
It will most likely be a year before the board revisits the issue, Mayor Beau Taylor said Wednesday.
In addition to an annexation westward from the town’s limits to Nazareth Home Road, Rockwell officials were considering a smaller area extending eastward along Main Street from the corporate limits toward Eastern Avenue.
The eastern areas included in the proposal were the Huntington Ridge Drive area, Sunshine Manufacturing, Paul Road and one or two other homes located on U.S. 52, according to a March 10 report.
That annexation would add 127 people on 88 parcels to the town’s 2,015 current citizens, according to the report.
The area under consideration west of town was larger, with 301 parcels and 532 people, according to an annexation report for that area.
“This has nothing to do with Salisbury’s annexation or the Rowan County Commissioners,” Taylor said.
Salisbury is planning to annex areas along N.C. 150 west of the city. The Rowan County Commissioners are backing citizens who want to stop the annexation.
The problem was Rockwell needed answers that the proposed calendar didn’t allow time for them to find.
“There was the water/sewer issues, garbage pickup and police protection. All of these things came up and we don’t have answers,” Taylor said.
“It’s strictly answers we did not get or resolve,” he said.
He said the answers didn’t necessarily lie with the Central Council of Governments, which is handling Rockwell’s proposal, as well as Salisbury’s.
“It’s a big issue for the citizens. We probably could’ve gotten it, but we want to be fair,” Taylor said of the deadlines.
An informational meeting scheduled April 10 and a public hearing slated for April 28 are canceled.
Taylor said he’ll be there just in case anyone shows up and if they still have questions.
“I think we are doing the right thing,” he said.
Contact Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253 or spotts@salisburypost.com.