Oakboro Family Dollar nearing completion

By Tiffany Thompson, Staff Writer

Thursday, May 8, 2008 May 07, 2008 02:00 pm

— Larry Branch, town administrator for Oakboro, announced during the council meeting Monday night that the new Family Dollar store was nearing completion.
“The new store is almost completed, and it is turning out to be very favorable,” Branch said.
Branch informed the council that the construction of the building and landscaping should be completed by Friday, but he does not have an official opening date.
“The workers have been working hard to make sure it’s completed by that date and I would imagine it would take several days for them to stock the store before it opens,” Branch said.
The request to build the new store was first presented to the project review committee with the planning and zoning board on May 31, 2007.
Branch and several council members commended the work the planning and zoning board did to ensure the design of the store meshed well with the town.
The original plan for the store included the standard Family Dollar store construction, which is a metal structure without any sidewalks or landscaping.
“The planning and zoning board did good work by implementing a new requirement for all buildings to have a certain facade,” Branch said.
After changing the design to include the new facade, sidewalks and landscaping, the plans were approved by the first of the year, and construction followed shortly.
“The Family Dollar store does look good, and I commend planning and zoning for doing what they did. They should be proud of what’s been accomplished,” said Councilman Terry Whitley.
Also during the council meeting:
• Branch announced that he had been working with the North Carolina Depart-ment of Transpo-tation (NCDOT) in setting a date to repave Main Street from Tenth to Second streets.
Branch is attempting to schedule a date that would not conflict with the Fourth of July celebrations and any Cruise-In events.
• Branch also announced suggestions for the new post office site is currently being solicited. Deadline for proposals for the site is June 4.
• Robert W. Odom, attorney at law, informed the council that the proposed golf cart ordinance is still on track and is making its way through legislature.
• May 19 at 5:30 p.m. was set as for a council work session to review the proposed budget for 2008-2009. Following the work session, a public hearing will be set.
• The council voted to allow Branch to purchase a reel-type lawn mower in order to mow the ball fields at the District Park.
The purchase was supposed to take place during the next fiscal year, but Whitley said it could not wait because the fields would need to be mowed within the week.
The purchase amount for the mower including tax is not to exceed $20,000.
• Police Chief Joe Lowder informed the council of the police activity for April. There were 181 calls for service, three of which were felony cases involving two breaking and entering larceny and one involving sexual abuse. Lowder said he has suspects for all three cases.
Lowder also informed council on several fraud situation around town. Each involve requesting personal information via e-mail, including Social Security numbers. Lowder said no respectable organization would request this information through e-mail.
Lowder also presented Thomas A. Burgess to the council as the newest addition to the police department. Burgess will be hired as soon as he is certified, which Branch said is included for this fiscal year’s budget.
• The council voted to continue the town’s contract with Synagrove Central for disposing of sludge and bio-solids at the treatment plant.
• Mayor Joyce Little informed the council that the proposed historic district plans were submitted to the planning and zoning board, which pending approval would be presented for a public hearing.
• Little also announced the clean-up days for Oakboro. May 10 includes appliances and metals, May 17 includes limbs and bagged yard waste and May 24 includes furniture.
For more information, contact Town Hall at (704) 485-3351.
• Lowder announced that a Peace Officer Memorial Service will be held at Jeff Shelton Memorial Park in Locust on May 10 at 10 a.m. and at Courthouse Square Park in Albemarle on May 13 at 5:30 p.m.

Contact Tiffany Thompson at (704) 982-2121 ext. 24 or snaponline24@carolina.rr.com.