FROM STAFF REPORTS

The Statesville City Council gave final approval on Monday to Martin Marietta’s plan to expand its Statesville quarry operation.

Martin Marietta is planning to add 53.8 acres to its 278-acre operation and invest $40 million in relocating and upgrading equipment for its mining and crushing operation at the Statesville quarry.

The council voted unanimously to approve the company’s request to rezone portions of five parcels on Bradley Farm Road and Quarry Road from urban low-density residential and neighborhood business to heavy industrial with conditional use. The council also signed off on a special-use permit to allow the “replacement and relocation of quarrying machinery, freshwater settling basins and operations of an existing quarry onto new properties located at 155 Quarry Road.”

James Pressly, a local developer who is planning to build a senior housing complex nearby, dropped his opposition to the rezoning request and special use permit last month after Martin Marietta agreed to a series of concessions, which city officials incorporated into the special-use permit.

Under the terms of the agreement, Martin Marietta will:

♦ Limit hours of operation of the second crushing plant to 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays;
♦ Use strobe lights instead of beeping signals on company vehicles after dark;
♦ Erect a 12-foot berm with plantings near the residential development planned by Pressly’s company before the expanded operations begin;
♦ Acquire new environmentally friendly equipment that produces less noise and dust;
♦ Limit access to its property via Bradley Farm Road to emergency vehicles and vehicles required to maintain or inspect the berms;
♦ Not construct or operate an asphalt or concrete plant on the property;
♦ Preserve the natural tree buffer on the Staples property if and when it acquires it; and
♦ Reduce the maximum height of its facility from 80 feet to 70 feet.

OTHER BUSINESS 

Also during Monday’s meeting, the Statesville Council:

♦ Awarded a design-build contract for Fire Station 1 to Edifice LLC of Charlotte. The estimated project cost is $5.7 million.

♦ Approved the replacement of the Building Automation System for the Statesville Police Department. The current Building Automation System was installed in 2002 and is failing to control heat/air to portions of the building. The cost of a replacement system is $82,500.

♦ Gave final approval to an ordinance to annex the properties located at 294-304 Turnersburg Highway.

♦ Gave final approval of an ordinance to board/close an abandoned, dilapidated dwelling located at 443 W. Bell Street as unfit for human occupancy and establish minimum bid for foreclosure.

♦ Approved an ordinance to board/close an abandoned, dilapidated dwelling located at 1320 Old Charlotte Road as unfit and dangerous for human occupancy and establish minimum bid for foreclosure.

♦ Approved an ordinance to board/close an abandoned, dilapidated dwelling located at 1423 Reid Street as unfit for human occupancy and establish minimum bid for foreclosure. 

♦ Authorized staff to begin the solicitation process for Professional Consulting Services on City of Statesville Brownfields Grant Applications and Projects.

♦ Granted Downtown Statesville Development Corporation (DSDC) permission to host a Stroll the Ville series (name TBD) happening one to two Fridays each month June – October from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and approve the Special Event Permit. This would include two to four musicians/small groups performing on the sidewalks throughout the core of downtown. In addition to musicians, merchants will be allowed to set up “sidewalk sales” in front of their storefronts leaving seven feet of passable walking
area.

♦ Approved the Community Appearance Commission’s request to purchase two sculptures to be placed in the Sculpture Garden. The estimated cost for both pieces is $7,800.

♦ Approved the donation of 15 SCBA packs and 30 SCBA bottles to Mitchell Community College’s Basic Firefighting Training program.

♦ Approved the donation of six SCBA packs and 12 SCBA bottles to Career Academy & Technical School. 

♦ Approved a request from the Statesville Fire Department to apply for the FY20 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant.