Williamston considering property, equipment purchases

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A lengthy worksession held by Williamston Town Council Tuesday covered a wide range of topics including a possible new property purchase, an old property purchase and a property annexation. There was also discussion about purchasing five new police vehicles and 20 new airpacks for the Fire Department.

Property annexation for new business
The meeting began with discussion about a request for annexation of property located just outside town limits.
The property, which borders Hwy. 20 and Courtney Street, is being considered for a new business looking to locate in the area. If the deal goes through, Williamston will supply water and other services.
The property is currently zoned agricultural and will be rezoned to office/commercial according to Town Codes person Debbie Chapman.
Williamston Mayor Rockey Burgess said the property is contiguous with property located across Hwy. 20 which was annexed several years ago and is already in the town limits, allowing the new property to be annexed.
Talking to Council by phone, a representative of Baseline Development provided some information about the new business and discussed requests being made to the town.
The unnamed business provided the town with a standard zoning form which includes certain criteria resulting in the need for several zoning variances from the town’s code requirements. Chapman said the Town’s planning commission has reviewed the variance requests and approved them.
One example is a town requirement of 110 parking spaces for the 21,930 square footage of the proposed business. The Baseline Development representative said development plans are for less parking spaces. Several other variance requests addressed merchandise displays and other things that would be allowed to be placed outside in front of the business.

First reading on annexation of the property is expected to be held at the Feb. 3 Town Council meeting.

Mayor Burgess said that as a condition of the annexation, the Town is considering a tax rebate for up to seven years for the current property owners should the property sale fall through.

Town considering property purchase
There was considerable discussion about the purchase of approximately 10 acres of property owned by Trinity Baptist Church.
The property, which has been on the market for over a year, is located adjacent to the Church and has a narrow access from Anderson Drive.
Mayor Burgess said he has had some discussions with a representative of the Church about the property and the Town is considering an offer of $250,000 for it. Council would have to approve the purchase for it to go through.
Burgess said there was some concern about having only one access and the possibility of having access from Belton Drive.
Mayor Pro Tem Chris Alexander had a followup with Church representatives about possibly purchasing an additional strip of land adjacent to the Church which would allow access to Belton Drive. He indicated the Church offered to sell a strip of land for an additional $25,000 which would provide access from Belton Drive.
Councilman David Rogers indicated that he was not supportive of the purchase and commented that “The Town did not need to be in the real estate business.”

Mayor Burgess said that purchasing property can benefit the town and that the Mahaffey Road property and Milliken property, both which were purchased by the Town, are two examples which have led to residential development for the Town.
Councilman Alexander commented that property which is owned by the Town gives the Town more control, such as requiring sidewalks and greenspace, when negotiating with potential developers.
The Trinity property purchase is expected to be on the agenda for the next Council meeting.

Providing water and sewer service to property outside town limits
Council will also hold second reading on an ordinance regarding a provision of water and sewer services to properties located outside the town limits.
Mayor Burgess said the ordinance addresses providing utility services to “doughnut hole” properties which are properties surrounded by Town limits but which are not in the town limits. It will clarify response by law enforcement, codes enforcement and more clearly define corporate town limits for providing water and sewer services.
Mayor Burgess said the ordinance addresses the issue of a property that is not currently in the town limits, but is contiguous, being annexed into the city. It also addresses dealing with new customers and new homes that are outside the town limits but want water and sewer service provided.

Fee on unused buildings
Burgess said the Town is considering an ordinance at the request of Councilman Lee Cole requiring owners of empty buildings located in the town to pay a fee which would increase each year the building remains unused.

FEMA Grant consultant
Council is also considering hiring a consultant to do paperwork required for a FEMA reimbursement. Burgess said that bids were put out and that the Town will use GMC as the Town’s consultant on FEMA. He said that FEMA pays the consultant to do the paperwork and there would be no cost to the Town for the service.

Airpacks for Fire Department
During the worksession there was discussion about purchasing new airpacks for the Fire Department and five used vehicles for the Police Department.
Mayor Burgess said the Town has approximately $700,000 in reserves.
Fire Chief David Huff has requested 20 new airpacks for the Fire Department. In the past, the fire department has purchased used ones. The airpack currently being used expired this year or next Mayor Burgess said.
New airpacks cost approximately $10,000 each. Mayor Burgess said new House District representative Blake Sanders has offered to try to obtain funding to help pay for new airpacks and Burgess is recommending the Town approve a resolution stating the Town will provide $100,000 as a match to the state funding (If approved) of $100,000.

Purchase of five police vehicles
Mayor Burgess said he and Chris Trotter along with Police Chief Kevin Marsee have been looking at purchasing five used police vehicles. A company in Florida which offers used police vehicles and has been used in the past, currently has three Tahoes available, Burgess said.
A Chevrolet Caprice and Ford Explorer are also available from the same supplier.
Burgess said all five vehicles could be purchased for $68,110 including a payout from the insurance company for a Williamston Police vehicle which was involved in a wreck on the Interstate recently.
The Mayor is recommending Council approve $75,000 for the vehicles and needed equipment and to cover the cost of flying three people to Florida to drive three of the vehicles back to Williamston. He said the Town has the option of driving them back or paying to have them transported. One of the vehicles being replaced is a SRO vehicle for the Career and Technology Center which also has an allowance of $5000 per year from the School District.
There was some discussion about budgeting for new vehicles on an ongoing basis, which Councilman Rogers recommended.
Mayor Burgess said the Town could budget for new vehicles, but he said the Town is being “frugal” by purchasing used vehicles. The purchase will require a budget amendment, Burgess said.

There was also discussion about a used garbage truck the Town purchased last year. Burgess said the used garbage truck was purchased for $113,000 and it had to have a new flywheel costing $10,000, for a total cost of $123,000. He said a new truck would have been at least twice that amount. The larger truck requires less trips to the landfill, he said.
Mayor Burgess said he is recommending Council approve a budget amendment for the police vehicles and airpacks.

There was also discussion about the old hospital building, the property purchased by the Town on Greenville Drive that has legal issues associated with it, and work being done at the Old Water Treatment plant.
These items will be addressed in future stories in The Journal.