Town in good financial shape

The Aberdeen Town Council Tuesday approved a mixed-use development project between N.C. Highway 5 and Roseland Road, near the new Aberdeen Elementary School.

There was a lengthy discussion over whether the town or developer should push the Department of Transportation (DOT) to install traffic lights at the Farrell Parkway and N.C. 5 intersection near the school and to set an installation date.

DVM Properties, LLC and Mid-South Development, LLC requested to rezone three parcels of approximately 231 acres from Residential to Planned Development (PD). The proposed zoning would allow for 38,000 square feet of office and retail, with approximately 515 homes.

The land is hilly with some wetlands, and there was no discussion on the wetlands having endangered species.

N.C. 5 would carry the retail and office space.

Development over seven phases would include roundabouts at road intersections to reduce traffic accidents. The town’s staff recommended 12 conditions including safety and municipality concerns.

Mayor Robert Farrell referred to the possibility of the second access road not being completed, and Planning Director Justin Westbrook said the conditions would still be in place to have the access road constructed. The second access road’s purpose is to address traffic concerns during an emergency.

Attorney Nick Robinson said that balancing the construction of the second road would be expensive, but the interesting element is that by the time construction reaches 260 houses there is a high degree of motivation for the developer to build the road. The motivation is using as much property as possible to build the allotted homes so that no land is left stranded.

Robinson covered several goals to support Aberdeen including walking and biking trails, youth support and connecting the town with sidewalks.

In other business, Town Manager Paul Sabiston said that he will give the mayor his booklet for the FY 2020-2021 budget this week. At the June 8 meeting, Sabiston will hold a public hearing and then a work session with his presentation. In brief, the general fund is $9.3 million, and the water and sewer fund is $3.73 million. The proposed reduction is $300,000. Sales tax revenue is above average.

In other business, the Moore County Board of Elections Chair Elizabeth Mangrum presented documents about early voting.

Site selection has been a difficult step in early voting because some locations do not have convenient structures. Three strategic sites have been selected, and the board is in the process of securing these sites which are the Moore County Agriculture Center in Carthage, a facility in West End, and Aberdeen Parks and Recreation Center. The county’s Geometric Information System (GIS) shows sites are 15 miles within population density of each selected area.

The early voting process takes approximately two weeks including set-up and take-down. The council agreed to work with the board to use Aberdeen Parks and Recreation Center with a small fee.

Written by Sandhills Sentinel Journalism Intern Stephanie M. Sellers.

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