Cleveland Town Board Meeting 1/13/2020

Tonight was a busy night at the Town Board Cleveland, NC with a large number of issues addressed and voted on.

New Mayor Pro Tem

Travis Summitt was nominated and approved as Mayor Pro Tem of Cleveland.

Light Around Town

Cleveland will be getting signage and decorative lights soon as well as LED lights in town buildings.

Signage in Cleveland will be paid for by the county and will have a Rowan County theme. Signs specific to the West Rowan or Cleveland area will be unique and may be color coded with Cleveland having a light blue  color like the West Rowan High School color and signage. The project is in progress through the county, so it may take some time to get specifics.

The town of Cleveland will be paying for decorative lighting for the key business areas or areas with sidewalks. The lights will be put in by Duke Power, and it is expected that Duke Power will include more lights on poles than are currently installed. The town is planning to do the lights in two stages with the School Street area being delayed while the library and fire department are completed. Extra lighting will help on safety especially for those who walk at night.

The board voted to pay to change to LED lights in the town hall and other town buildings. The lights will pay for themselves in three years time and then continue to save over the cost of traditional bulbs in years to come. Some of the fixtures will be replaced to go from four bulbs to three bulbs, since LED does not require so many bulbs for good lighting.

No More Renting to Move Dirt

The town voted to purchase an excavator. Currently, Cleveland has rented one as needed. It has turned out that a rental is needed pretty often, so it made sense to buy the equipment and should save money and time in the long run.

Several excavator models were considered with estimates provided. The cheapest model was the largest and too large for the town. We do not have the equipment to move around a 9000 lb. machine. So, a slightly more expensive but manageable machine was approved for purchase.

Code Enforcement

Town Board members discussed doing something about violations of city codes. There are concerns that there are rules in the town that are not being followed like those related to old junker cars on properties. There are also rules about how high the grass can be and so on. Previously addressing such issues has been quite informal. The Board is discussing hiring someone to address or enforce the rules officially. This is just in the discussion stage but could involve hiring someone on an "as needed" basis which would cost around $70/hour plus a travel out fee.

Travis Summitt did note that if someone is hired, he or she should "have no buddies in town." He wants board members and those connected to be treated the same as other citizens in the enforcement of codes. 

Cleveland will seek more input from other small towns in the area and consider the various ways to deal with failure to follow codes before making a firm decision.

Community Input

Only one community member signed up to address the Board. It is required to sign up beforehand, and three minutes are allowed on the floor.

Nancy Brown said that the welcome sign "coming from Salisbury" is looking shabby, that the town needed to hire someone NOW to work on the Town Hall grounds as she had previously suggested, and that sidewalks in town and trails at the town park are not level and are dangerous. 

Census Coming Up

A representative spoke about the upcoming census, and town board members vowed to assist in getting accurate numbers and encouraging participation. State money allocations are based on population, so it will be good to get an accurate count in Cleveland and the West Rowan area.

Changes You Might Expect

Mike Miller of Miller-Davis from Salisbury went over results from a recent survey of residents considering what is needed in Cleveland. Miller said that there were many good suggestions and that the bulk centered around advancing businesses in town, expanding social media, and increasing connectivity.

As far as business goes in town and in the surrounding areas, the old Celanese building on 70/Statesville Bld. is being considered for various new uses. One company looking at the facility recycles automobiles. Others include companies doing distribution and calling centers. Nothing is close to closure at this time.

Town board members hope to see the old post office building filled. A coffee shop was mentioned as one possible business for that area. Filling the building will benefit all those at the strip center in downtown.

Several people mentioned on the survey that it is hard to get information about what is going on in the West Rowan area. The Cleveland web site is not visited so much, since more people use social media like FaceBook and InstaGram. The Board will be thinking of ways to get information to a wider group. The main communication tool at the moment is the town newsletter, but it only goes to people paying water bills. The goal would be to inform people both in the town or Cleveland and in the general West Rowan area and other interested people.

As far as connectivity, people mentioned that the sense of closeness in a small town is important but lacking in recent years. For example, the mayor Pat Phifer said that he was not able to get a meal with the Lion's Club recently, because about eight groups had fundraiser meals on the same day. He feels that we need some way to organize so that activities do not overlap and so that attendance is better for the different activities and events in the area.

The main theme at the meeting was that change is coming and that it is important to plan for change.