By Natalie Anderson
natalie.anderson@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY —  City Council members today will discuss a nearly $111,000 grant from FEMA to assist with purchasing new thermal cameras for the fire department and hold a public hearing related to a future Goodwill retail store.

The meeting will be held virtually at 6 p.m. and streamed live at salisburync.gov/webcast and on the city’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. Anyone who wishes to speak during the public comment period must sign up by 5 p.m. on Tuesday by contacting City Clerk Kelly Baker at kbake@salisburync.gov or at 704-638-5233.

In February, the Salisbury Fire Department applied for FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters grant to assist with purchasing 20 thermal imaging cameras. The department received a notification from the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month it would receive a $110,909 grant and be required to contribute a 10% match totaling $11,091.

The 2021-22 budget for the Salisbury Fire Department includes $12,000 in funding for the cameras. Therefore, pulling money from the fund balance is not necessary.

Also at the meeting, City Council members will hear a presentation and hold a public hearing related to the rezoning of one parcel located at 475 Faith Road from corridor mixed use to corridor mixed use with a conditional district overlay for the construction of an 11,500-square-foot Goodwill retail store.

In February, City Council members held a public hearing and approved rezoning a 1.71-acre parcel located on Faith Road from urban residential and corridor mixed-use to corridor mixed-use only. The parcel, 070-012, is located within 417-425 Faith Road as well as 112 Dunham Ave., near the Innes Street Market shopping center and an Aldi grocery store.

But Monday’s agenda says the project needs to exceed the maximum 75-feet front setback in order to meet other requirements for the future store’s frontage and drive-thru drop-off area. The city’s Technical Review Committee on Aug. 19 recommended approving the request to allow a 100-foot setback to the right-of-way of Faith Road and a 110-foot front setback to the right-of-way of Dunham Avenue.

During the February council meeting, Bill Haymore of Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina, who is making the request, did not state when the store could be expected in Salisbury. Haymore also said a North Carolina Department of Transportation study will be conducted to determine how vehicles will enter and exit the store since it will be located mid-block.

Also on the agenda:

• Council members will consider approving a two-year extension to the previously approved ordinance 2019-52 for the third phase of RoMed Medical Center. The request is because the previous approval and issuance of permits have since expired. There are no changes to the plan, which includes rezoning a 1.03-acre property at 1027 Lincolnton Road from general residential to residential mixed-use with a conditional district overlay to develop a two-story medical office center measuring 16,148 square feet. The plans were approved in Sept. 2019.

• The council will consider adopting a resolution setting the date of a public hearing for Oct. 19 for the purpose of a voluntary annexation request from Grants Landing, parcels 460-152 and 462-006, which total about 77 acres. City Council members in August approved the development of Grants Landing, which will be a 236-home development adjacent to the existing Forest Glen subdivision on Mooresville Road.

• Council members will consider approving a sidewalk encroachment at 117 East Innes St., where Smoke Pit’s downtown site was located, to install an ADA-accessible ramp in the right-of-way. The ramp would be constructed by Salisbury-based LMY, Inc., and run along the front of the building parallel to Innes Street, measuring 12 feet, 10 inches long. A similar ramp was approved and installed on the westernmost entrance of the building in 2017, and this ramp would be located at the eastern-most entrance.

• Council members will consider dedicating two tracts of land as public rights-of-way for Military Avenue. A memo from the city’s engineering department states the city purchased property in 1998 for new alignment of Military Avenue, but some parcels were never dedicated as public rights-of-way and therefore have no frontage on a public street. The request is for tracts 3 and 4 on Map Book 9995, page 3149, which are also identified as parcels 015-398 and 015-399.

• The council will consider approving the purchase of cellular data service with Badger Meter, Inc. for Salisbury-Rowan Utilities’ advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system. SRU’s water meters use cellular data each day to report readings, and Badger Meter hosts and manages this service for 81 cents per month per meter. The estimated cost to the city for this purchase is $218,321 from the 2021-22 fiscal year budget, and the city said in a memo enough funds were allocated for this expense in the budget.

• Council members will consider adopting a resolution to authorize the upset bid process for the sale of parcel 007-164 in the 1700 block of North Long St. Rowan Funeral Services, Inc., has offered $800 for the property measuring 0.32 acres with an assessed tax value of $19,872. The parcel is owned by the city and located adjacent to the railroad with no road frontage.

Rowan Funeral Services has put up the required 5% bid deposit, and the upset bid process of 10 days would begin upon council’s approval. The offer will be published for 10 days, and during this period, upset bids may be submitted. Bids must raise the current offer by at least 10% of the first $1,000 of that offer and 5% of the remainder. The process continues until 10 days passes without receiving a qualifying upset bid, with city council receiving notice of the final offer to accept or reject the offer.

• Council members will consider two reappointments to the Rowan Tourism Development Authority Board. The board is requesting the reappointment of Krista Osterweil and Cyndi Greenwood, who both represent lodging establishments, for additional two-year terms. Osterweil is the general manager of Hampton Inn Salisbury on Klumac Road, while Greenwood is the manager at Quality Inn and Suites on Klumac Road.

• Mayor Karen Alexander will proclaim Oct. 3 to Oct. 9 as Fire Prevention Week, while the month of October will be declared both Domestic Violence Awareness Month and National Crime Prevention Month.

The eighth annual Busker’s Bash will celebrate local talent on Oct. 1 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The event will feature talent ranging from solo musicians to fire-tossing jugglers while sidewalk artists will perform in front of participating downtown businesses. Voting pick packs and a map can be obtained at City Hall, Rowan Museum or Rowan County Visitors Center.