Hearing on street work to be held
By Steve Herring
Published in News on February 29, 2016 1:46 PM
Two Canterbury Village residents have asked to have their names removed from a petition asking the county to make street improvements in their subdivision.
The man and wife said they feel the amount property owners would be assessed to pay for the work is "exorbitant" and "unjust."
It should be borne instead by the original developer and the county if the streets were not built to state standards originally, but still passed county inspection.
Wayne County commissioners Tuesday will hold a 9:30 a.m. public hearing on the proposed assessment for the work in Canterbury Village and North Creek subdivisions.
A second public hearing will be held on proposed changes to county zoning around interchanges and corridors of U.S. 70 West, the new U.S. 70 Bypass, Interstate 795 and U.S. 117 South.
The meeting will get under way at 8 a.m. with an agenda briefing following by the formal session at 9 a.m. Both will be held in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse annex.
Residents in the two subdivision have petitioned the county to bring the streets to standards acceptable to the state Department of Transportation so they can be taken into the state's secondary highway system.
State law allows counties to do so and then levy an assessment on the property to pay for all costs involved with such a project.
At least 75 percent of the property owners, representing 75 percent of the road frontage, have to sign the petition in order for the county to act on it.
The DOT has estimated it will cost $3 million for the proposed project area that includes 123 residential lots fronting on the subdivision streets of East April Lane, Abbey Place, Adler Lane, Chancery Drive, Coventry Drive, Helms Court, Helms Drive, Hyde Park Drive, Lane Tree Drive and Londonderry Drive.
Property owners in those two developments would have to pay $24,861.42 each.
Letters were sent out to property owners in the two subdivisions about the cost.
The public hearing will give residents a chance to comment on the proposal as well as add or remove their names from the petition.
However, to keep the project on track the 75 percent thresholds would have to remain.
If the project proceeds, property owners can pay the full assessment within 30 days after the day commissioners approve the notice of confirmation of the assessment roll.
That has not yet been done.
A second option is that any portion of an assessment not paid within the 30-day period must be paid in 10 equal annual installments.
In this case the installment would be $2,485 annually plus interest of 5 percent per year on any outstanding balance.
The proposed zoning map changes were created generally utilizing a 300-foot buffer along the corridors up to the interchanges and then following existing property lines around the interchanges.
The proposals are:
* Zoning of land along the corridor and interchange of West U.S. 70 West and new U.S. 70 Bypass to the Johnston County line to Community Shopping and Residential Agricultural-20.
* Rezoning of land around the interchanges and corridors of the new U.S. 70 Bypass from Wayne Memorial Drive to the Lenoir County line to Community Shopping, Residential Agricultural-20 and Village District.
* Rezoning of land along the corridor of I-795 to Community Shopping and Residential Agricultural-20.
* Rezoning of land along the corridor and interchanges of U.S. 117 South to Community Shopping and Residential Agricultural-20.
In other business Tuesday:
* Duke Energy Product and Service Manager Evans Taylor will update commissioners on the Neighborhood Energy Saver Program to start in the Mount Olive area in the June. Duke Energy Progress District Manager for Government and Community Relations Mille Chalk will also be present.
* Social Services Director Debbie Jones will update the board on the improvements, cost savings and increase in productivity as a result of the Northwoods software project.
The board will consider motions to:
* Approve the preliminary plat for the Bonnie Farms subdivision. County ordinances requires commissioners to review and approve every major subdivision before any construction or installation of improvements may begin.
* Award a bid Barnhill Contracting Company, the lowest, responsive, responsible bidder, in the amount of $193,000 for the County Office Building parking lot and drainage system project.
* Approve a budget amendment for Wayne Community College to reappropriate $764,812.48 in unspent funds from fiscal year 2014-2015 to fiscal year 2015-2016 for capital outlay at the college.
The public comments portion of the meeting will start at 9:15 a.m. There is a time limit of two minutes for non-agenda topics and four minutes for agenda topics. Those planning to speak need to sign up before the start of the 9 a.m. session.
Items on the consent agenda include: Resolution adopting the fourth amendment to the position classification and pay plan; establish a meeting of the Wayne County Board of Adjustment on April 5 at 9:30 a.m. in the commissioners' meeting room for public comments on a special use permit request for a proposed solar facility at 413 Ruskin Road, Dudley; change commissioners' March 15 meeting to March 16; authorize a change in hours of operation at Steele Memorial Library in Mount Olive; revisions in the Wayne County Public Library policies and disruptive behavior, meeting room, and registration/circulation; and budget amendments.
Commissioners will have lunch with the Goldsboro City Council and staff at the Goldsboro Event Center on Slocumb Street.