BY DEBBIE PAGE
During a light agenda meeting on Thursday night, the Town Council honored Public Works staff members Cameron Morris and Casey Beasley as the Town of Troutman Employees of the Month for January.
Director Austin Waugh commended the pair’s hard work and dedication after a series of utilities issues in January. On January 10, a water main break on Wagner Street in extreme cold had to be quickly repaired after water began flowing toward a customer’s basement, at one point shooting water 20 feet into the air.
Morris and Beasley dug down to the break and jumped into the hole, getting soaked in the frigid temperatures during the process of stopping the leak. Afterwards, Waugh had to force them into the truck to get warm and let others continue the repair.
A few days letter, Morris and Beasley again had to repair a water main leak on Talley Road, this time in wintry precipitation and cold temperatures.
Waugh thanked Morris and Beasley for their efforts to keep the water flowing on behalf of the town and its citizens.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, the council also voted 4-0 (council member Eddie Nau absent) to:
♦ Approve an ordinance amending the Town of Troutman Code of Ordinances adding language that provides for goat grazing, allowing hens in the town limits, and setting acreage guidelines for owning horses, mules, donkeys, cows, goats, and sheep.
♦ Set a March 13 hearing date for annexation requests by Sterling Properties of Mooresville LLC for nearly 50 acres on Autumn Leaf Road and by John Lambert for 0.3902 acres at 142 Scotch Irish Lane.
♦ Approve an amendment to the Schedule of Fees for engineering review. Currently the fee is $90 per hour, plus 5 percent. The change would raise fees to $140 per hour and 10 percent if the invoice is under $2,000 and $140 per hour plus 5 percent if the invoice is over $2,000.
♦ Approve a text amendment to establish a Local Commercial (LC) zoning category in the UDO for less intense commercial areas to provide neighborhood services on parcels of less than three acres.
♦ The council voted to remove consideration of a request from Barium Seasons Homeowner Association of four stop signs to be placed within the subdivision after some residents expressed concerns over the issue.