The Moore County Board of Commissioners approved a request from the Moore County School System to utilize bond premium funding for the additional purpose of district-wide improvements at its Tuesday, April 16 meeting.
“Bond premium funds are currently purposed for the use of gym modernization and updates,” said assistant superintendent of operations Jenny Purvis. “We currently have five gyms that are being updated. We’re in the process of that right now and we estimate that there should be an estimated $3.4 million remaining in those bond premium funds once we finalize and finish completion of those five gyms.”
There are a number of improvements on the district’s master list, including replacing gymnasium bleachers at the three high schools, then auditorium rigging and curtains at the schools, plus updates to elementary school playgrounds.
“Other potential district-wide improvements would include projects like Pinckney where we would already be doing HVAC and asbestos abatement and while we’re undertaking that major project, it’s the perfect time to go in and replace floors, lighting and plumbing since we’re already doing extensive work there,” Purvis explained.
It was not immediately clear how many of the projects would be tackled with the funding.
In other business, the Moore Commissioners held a trio of public hearings, all of which were approved.
The first was to consider an amendment to the road name and addressing ordinance for the addition of seven new roadways.
“A request is hereby made to the board of commissioners to amend the Moore County Road Naming and Addressing Ordinance to add seven road names to the ordinance,” said GIS programmer analyst Rachel Smith. “Section 3 of the ordinance states that no new roads outside of the municipal limits in the county of Moore, whether part of the state secondary road system or private, shall be named without the approval of the board of commissioners.”
The new roadways include Bluestone Drive, Candace Lane, Cross Arrow Way, Freida May Lane, Nancy Court, October Road and Palmer Grey Court.
The second was for a rezoning request to rezone 3.77 acres of property located on Murdocksville Road from neighborhood business (B-1) to residential and agricultural (RA-40).
According to representation for the developer, the property has an approved preliminary plat which calls for the development of four lots, each about 40,000 square feet in size.
The final hearing was for an amendment to the UDO:
“The Unified Development Ordinance has existing language regarding prohibited uses within the Highway Corridor Overlay District that shows specific use types that are prohibited in the Urban Transition sub-district located in the Highway Corridor Overlay District,” said planning director Debra Ensminger. “The ordinance should be amended to remove the residential use of a personal workshop or storage building, as a prohibited use, to comply with the intent of the overlay district and its effect on commercial versus residential uses. So the corridor only applies to commercial, not residential. So this use should be allowed in the urban transition as residential and it’s not for commercial uses, it’s a residential use.”
Following the hearings, the board approved each request.
In addition the board also approved a $177,512.04 construction contract with McFadden Homes Inc. for the James Street waterline replacement project and a request for state funding for the county’s required VIPER TDMA upgrades, which costs the county approximately $3 million.
