By Noelle Edwards
nedwards@salisburypost.com
Salisbury City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday on creating a city tourism development authority and levying a hotel occupancy tax to fund it.
That levy would be in addition to the countywide tax which funds the Rowan County Tourism Development Authority.
The council meeting starts at 7 p.m.
The occupancy tax issue has been tossed around for several months. First the Rowan Tourism Development Authority asked county commissioners to increase the occupancy tax for the whole county to 6 percent from the current 3 percent rate.
In February, the commissioners said no. That same month, the city set a goal of instituting its own tax and creating its own tourism authority.
State laws stood in the way, but earlier this month state lawmakers passed legislation allowing such a move.
The council will also hold a public hearing on the rezoning of land at the corner of Statesville Boulevard and Enon Church road.
Claude Bruce requested the rezoning on the land, which his mother owns, from General Residential to Residential Mixed-Use.
The Salisbury Planning Board voted at its Aug. 11 meeting to recommend the rezoning to the council.
The council will also consider awarding two contracts, one to Peregrine Communication Inc. in the amount of $671,239.80 for equipment, engineering and construction of a video acquisition system for the Fiber to the Home project.
The second contract is for $452,562 to Pedulla Trucking, Excavating and Paving Inc. for downtown parking lot improvements.
Also, the council will consider approving a revenue bond to fund an Interstate 85 sewer project and the water and sewer lines from a 2007 annexation.
The total bond amount being considered is $6 million.
Council meetings are streamed live at www.salisburync.gov/council/webcast.html and shown later on Time Warner Cable’s Access 16 television channel.