Regular Town Council Meeting Summary - Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Lake Lure in all seasons

Thank you to all who joined us for the Regular Town Council Meeting on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, at 5:00 PM in Municipal Hall.  The following is a summary of the meeting for those who could not attend. You may download a copy of the meeting packet for further details and view a recording of the meeting here.  Please note that this is a summary and formal minutes from this meeting will be included in the following month's meeting packet.  

The following is the agenda for the meeting.

I.         CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Carol Pritchett called the meeting to order Council members led a prayer and the pledge of allegiance.

II.        AGENDA ADOPTION: The meeting was adopted as printed.        

III.       MAYOR’S COMMUNICATION: Mayor Pritchett recognized all the work that has been taking place in town toward our major infrastructure goals.  She acknowledged that much more work is needed to see these projects to fruition.  She thanked everyone in attendance for coming to the meeting.

IV.       TOWN MANAGER COMMUNICATION: Town Manager Hank Perkins summarized highlights from his Manager’s Report for February.

  • Public Services – The department is busy keeping everything working as smoothly as possible. Smoke testing began in late February and will follow through, until completion, in March. Continued progress on the sewer project continues. A vacuum truck has been added and a full round of vacuuming ditches has begun and will continue until completion. Top accomplishments/project updates: 1) Replaced Ram at bar screen at the treatment plant. 2) Completed Green Space drainage pipe replacement. 3) Routine maintenance such as, meter reading, hard trash, and facility repairs has been completed.
  • Community Development –  The department issued 49 permits in February compared to 33 in December and performed numerous follow-ups including 18 Zoning, 7 Lake Structure and 7 Land Disturbance Permits. Top accomplishments/project updates: 1) Kim Martin, Administrative Support Specialist, started with the department in February and has jumped right in making an impact by starting to organize the office, has taken on the Vacation Rental Progam including issuing permits and working on creating a better tracking process for rental operators. She brings 7+ years of experience with the Polk County tax office and a great “get the job done” attitude. 2) Continuing to maintain increased frequency of project inspections to identify/gain compliance before becomes major issue.
  • Fire / Emergency Management – It was still a busy month in February with Active Shooter training at LLCA; a meeting with the Manager at Vista Apartments about the flooding of multiple apartments; Loading new hose on two trucks; and a rescue in the lake bed near the beach area in town. MVC Hwy 9. The department responded to 30 fire/medical/rescue calls throughout the month. An increase in calls was due to the colder weather. Firefighters completed 473 Hours of Training this month.
  • Police – Rainy days have been abundant during February with a few nice days. This has kept traffic low with a few accidents. Officers use this time for training and keeping up with required updates. Top three accomplishments in February: 1) At the Lake Lure Classical Academy’s Director’s request, Officers and Chief Humphries along with other members of emergency services held a Parent / Teacher meeting that dealt with active shooter situations, concentrating on protocols not just for students but for parents and their roles in these types of situations. 2) Night of Honors was held again after a two-year hiatus due to COVID. 3) Sergeant Glen Gittens was awarded the Distinguished Service Award for his 16 years of service to the department. Officer Kortney Burrell was awarded with the Community Service Award for going above and beyond by stepping up when needed to fill in shifts, keeping the community covered. Corporal Collins was awarded the Citation of Bravery Award for single-handedly capturing two thieves stealing 833 gallons of gas from Ingles. 
  • Parks, Recreation & Lake – Worked on getting online boat permit sales capability, creating new connection from the Dittmer-Watts Trail to the Green Space and ordered new signage for Weed Patch Mountain Trail. Dittmer-Watts Nature Trails volunteer walked the trails and reported issues – 1 volunteer; 2 volunteer hours 8. Buffalo Creek Park trail boss walked the trail and reported issues – 1 volunteer; 4 volunteer hours 9. Weed Patch Mountain trail boss walked trail and reported issues to be addressed at next work day – 1 volunteer; 7 volunteer hours 10. Organized a Weed Patch Mountain workday on 2/9 to remove fallen trees, repair trail tread, and widen a trail section – 3 volunteers and 2 staff members; 21 volunteer hours. Organized a Buffalo Creek Park workday on 2/14 to repair minor erosion, improve water diversions, and remove dead trees – 3 volunteers; 18 volunteer hours. Organized a Dittmer-Watts workday on 2/23 to repair minor erosion and water diversions– 3 volunteers; 12 volunteer hours. Helped set up and give out information at Lake Lure information table at The Rumble on 2/26 – 2 staff members and 3 volunteers; 15 volunteer hours. Planned upcoming trail maintenance days and recruited volunteers to help. Checked Buffalo Creek Park, Dittmer-Watts Nature Trails, and Weed Patch Mountain for damage. Utilized volunteers to collect water samples– 4 volunteers; 24 volunteer hours. Utilized a total of 103 volunteer hours.  
  • Finance – Revenues and Expenditures Reports are provided as separate attachments to supplement this summary. During this monthly accounting period, unaudited revenues were received for various reimbursements that had been requested related to the capital sewer project. Finance, in conjunction with Town’s consultants and auditors, will determine the correct or appropriate funds to post reimbursements related to prior sewer projects and endeavors. Revenues are tracking as projected and departments are doing well in expenditures in regards to individual line items in the departmental budgets. The Town Project Manager, Mike Dydula, has already become a tremendous aid and resource for financial analysis. With the data he is providing, budget tracking of the various projects and review of related invoices will continue to aid in the properly posting expenditures and correlating it to reimbursement requests.at permits collections are tracking more than the same period last year. The Town continues to have a strong financial position with an unreconciled bank balance of approximately $11,331,000 for all funds other than special revenue (the Dam Fund). There will continue to be a cycle of expenditures and reimbursed revenues that will occur during March due to the first phase of the sewer project and the APRA funding procedures. A review of all the Town’s leases (including real property and equipment) has been completed in conjected with GASB requirements. External auditors are requesting detailed information from the analysis. Once completed, it appears that the audit will quickly enter the final stage and reporting. Mr. Ford provided the presentation outlined below. 
  • Communications – Communications Director Krejci continues her community outreach as she has posted 33 news articles that illustrate town-related news, a listing of these articles with hyperlinks was emailed to over 1,872 citizens, along with a link to the Town Calendar of Events. There were 9,094 website users in February. This represents a 24% incease (+1,775) over February of 2022. Social Media: Published 45 Facebook posts for the community with a post reach of 18,511 for the month. The Town of Lake Lure now has over 19,352 followers as of February 2023. Other projects/activities included continued work on FEMA Grants, and Rumble 2023 Coordination. 
  • Manager / Clerk / Admin Summary: February was a busy month including an array of staff, council, and board meetings and everchanging day-to-day operations. We continue to work with Lebella Engineering on the new sewer system and planning. We advertised the Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) to be done again in February of 2023. In addition, advertised the Dam 20’ Valve Installation. The delivery of the valves continues to be on schedule for the month of May, 2023. In the midst of major project, the Town continues to strengthen the relationship with state entities.  Mr. Perkins advised that the tow was working on the establishment of Policies and Procedures for contracting and Purchase and Procurement. Staff continue to oversee the work on sleeve installation (boring) in Sunset Cove.  He reported he was working with Mike Dydula, Project Manager, in developing project management tracking. He also noted that the town was continuing the extensive work with the Flowering Bridge organization and Attorney William Morgan for the establishment of a ground lease for the use of the town property that the Flowering Bridge is operating upon.

VI.       PRESENTATIONS:

A.        FINANCIAL, BUDGET, AND AUDIT UPDATES: Finance Director Stephen Ford presented an overview of the County property re-appraisal and budgeting process. He noted a caveat upfront is that more information will be available at the end of the month. He clarified that the county sends out the reappraisals and information is available on the Rutherford County website.  he explained that there is an appeal period, which slows the Town’s process because of unknown values. He pointed out that property owners could appeal the appraisal but noted that if you appeal, it the values could increase or decrease. He is still looking at projections from the County and he should have more information in late April or early May. He stated that we were looking at an average of 50% increase in property values. Re-appraisals are based on a four-year cycle and Lake Lure is dependent on Rutherford County to determine values. He explained that the tax rate value does not change.  Each property owner will receive tax bill with their tax value.  That number is divided by 100 and multiplied by the tax (mill) rate. The current town tax rate is 5.3% and the County rate is 5.7%. He advised that the town ill need to consider a revenue-neutral rate. The town's current tax rate is around the average in the state but it will be updated based on the updated values. Mr. Perkins explained that each re-appraisal year, the town has to show the revenue neutral in the budget message. Mr. Ford provided Council with the County’s FAQs.

V.        COUNCIL LIAISON REPORTS & COMMENTS

  • Commissioner Scott Doster reported Zoning and Planning Board. The Board is working on the approval of the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge Education Center. He advised that the board would be making recommendations to Town Council on language to be included in an updated Lake Structures Permit.  This will include all requirements for those working in the lake to ensure everything is as it should be at the completion of the projects.  Commissioner Doster acknowledged the extensive contributions of Tom McKay as Chairperson for the Board for many years.  He advised that the Board is discussing the possibility of holding a contractor's forum to discuss what can do to make the process better.
  • Commissioner Scott Doster reported the activities of the ABC Board.  On 3/15/23, the State will vote to approve the relocation of the ABC store.  The Board has approved the new lease and will be reviewing plans for the relocation to the new location in the shopping center near Lake Lure Flooring. He gave special thanks to Linda Samarotto for her years of service on the Board. 
  • Commissioner David DiOrio reported the activities of the Lake Advisory Board and announced that Kathleen Hatfield is the new incoming Chairperson.  He thanked Mark Helms for his years of service on the Board as Chairperson. They are continuing to monitor the impact of the new Lake Use Regulations.  He advised that about 700 boat licenses have been submitted this year.  There have been about 300 boat permits this month which is on par with previous years. There have been a couple of unintended consequences to the Lake Use Regulations which they are reviewing and considering.   
  • Commissioner David DiOrio reported the activities of the Board of Adjustment / Lake Structure Appeals Board New Chairperson Greg Gardner. Neil Gurney will remain on the Board and service as vice Chairperson.  The regular work of the Board coninues.
  • Commissioner Jim Proctor reported the activities of the Parks and Recreation Board. He advised that the Board had a very productive meeting with Jim Walters continuing to serve as Chair and Ed Dittmer as Co-Chair.  He mentioned the volunteer hours that were about 103 hours but that did not include all the volunteer hours from The Rumble service project which was extensive. Commissioner proctor added that there were about 4,100 visits to the Flowering bridge last year and over 10,000 at the Dittmer-Watts Nature Trail. He added that The Rumble was well attended and was a big success this year, raising $9,000 for Carolina Climbers and $2,00 for Conserving Carolina. He mentioned that there are a lot of dates you can put on your calendar.  These are all listed on the Town Calendar.
  • Mayor Pritchett reported that the Steering Committee should meet in April.

VII.     PUBLIC COMMENT: Mayor Pritchett invited the audience to speak.

  • Moe Bay from 193 Deer Trail noted that this will be the 5th Annual Trash Talking Event that she has organized.  There have been about 25 bags of trash picked up on Boys Camp in previous years.  She noted that Rutherford County is providing supplies.  The event is on April 18 in the morning and everyone should meet at the Lake Lure Village Resort.
  • Ms. bay also noted that June 2nd is the 10-year anniversary for the Flowering Bridge.  She advised that the bridge is almost fully supported by donations and volunteers and they want to celebrate 10 years but also raise money for education center.  The event will be at the Riverside Event Center on 6/2/23.  There will be limited tickets available for the silent auction.  Tickets will go on sale in April and will be $80. If you have any questions or want to volunteer or donate, go to LLFB website.

VIII.    CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Pritchett presented the Consent Agenda and the following items were approved.  

1. Approval of the February 14, 2023 Regular Town Council Meeting Minutes and the February 22, 2023 Regular Town Council Work Session Meeting Minutes

2. Resolution No. 23-03-14 Amending the Advisory and Statutory Board Handbook

3. Resolution No. 23-03-14A Approving Rumbling Bald Concession Agreement

IX.       UNFINISHED BUSINESS

A.        RESOLUTION NO. 23-03-14B AUTHORIZING THE SHORT TERM GROUNDS LEASE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE TOWN OF LAKE LURE AND THE LAKE LURE FLOWERING BRIDGE: Mr. Perkins explained that as previously discussed, the Town has had a great working relationship with the LLFB for 10 years following the conveyance of the old bridge to the Town. Arrangement over the years has been informal, so as there is substantial investment the Town wanted to get into a lease arrangement to cement the relationship between the two entities. Tonight we have a 12-month lease which has been advertiseed for the Town to consider a 10-year lease next month. The reason for the 12-month is for time purposes. Ten 10-year had the required notice. The 12 month is substantially the same as in the past, but the Town is now taking on the role of the bridge inspections and creating a schedule for inspections.  The town will have added sewer to the utilities that the Town is going to cover in anticipation for the sewer for the education building.  It was noted that the town has asked for a local bill for the Town to enter into a lease to exceed 10 years, using state precedence.

X.        NEW BUSINESS

A.        REQUEST FOR TOWN COUNCIL APPROVAL TO RE-SAND THE EXISTING PRIVATE BEACH LOCATED AT 259 NORTH SHORE DRIVE: Community Development Director Michael Williams explained that we have been through several of these, recalled allowance from Army Corp to re-sand existing beaches. The motion was approved.

B.        RESOLUTION NO. 23-03-14C EXPRESSING INTENT TO REDISTRIBUTE FUNDS FOR FOURTH OF JULY FIREWORKS TO FUND HOLIDAY LIGHTING AND DECOR: Mr. Perkins explained that this is formalizing past discussions between Council and staff. Discussions took place regarding fireworks and the consensus was to forgo the investments in fireworks and take the funds to invest in holiday lights and décor in order to redistricute these resources to attract visitors in the off-season (winter months). Staff will develop a package to present to Council during the budget cycle. 

XI.       ADJOURNMENT

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