The Franklin Town Council voted unanimously to adopt a new fund balance policy that sets a minimum amount the town will keep in its fund balance, freeing up previously reserved money for capital expenditures.
Finance Director Sarah Bishop recommended the minimum set at 80% of the town’s operating expenses and a maximum of 100%. Bishop estimated 80% is about 10 months of operating expenses.
During the Feb. 5 Town Council meeting, Bishop said she would like to have a policy in place that allows the town to continue to be fiscally responsible, but at the same time not holding back too much.
Based on the proposed policy, the town would have about $2.5 million in undesignated funds to spend from the current fund balance.
During the council retreat on Jan. 26, council member David Culpepper expressed some concerns about how they will decide what to spend the money on. “We’re going to be fighting how to spend $2.5 million,” he said.
During Monday’s meeting he and council member Joe Collins asked about a timeline for spending down the excess currently in the fund balance.
Bishop said the policy states that if the town falls below the minimum they have 36 months to bring the fund balance back up to where it should be, and that she would be OK with that same timeframe for spending down the current excess. But she advised that now that the policy is approved they need to start working on a plan for spending the funds.
Town Manager Amie Owens said going forward once the audit is complete each year, the council would know in December how much is available to spend, if any, so they can include that when the budget process begins in January.
Downtown Door
During Monday’s meeting, No Wrong Door Executive Director Sheila Jenkins gave an update on the new “Downtown Door.”
Downtown Door is housed in a building the town leased to the organization for a warming/cooling station. The facility has opened on nights when temperatures dipped below 20 degrees to give people a warm place to spend the night. Jenkins said in the 10 nights they have opened as a warming station, they’ve had 91 stays.
Downtown Door also offers homeless people a place to shower and do laundry. Jenkins said they have provided 61 showers and 35 loads of laundry. People using the facility have ranged from age 22 to 63. “That shows you that all ages can be homeless,” Jenkins said. “We have some that work. We had some stay overnight when it was so cold that got up at 6:30 and went to work.”
Jenkins expressed appreciation to the town for the space. She said they have about 40 volunteers helping to keep the facility staffed and that the community has been generous in its support.
“I can’t thank the community enough,” she said. “We cannot run this without the volunteers and the community support.”
Jenkins said they can always use donations such as snacks, toiletries (soap, shampoo) and laundry detergent.
Mayor Jack Horton thanked Jenkins and the volunteers for the service they are providing. Jenkins said, “It’s a big deal to volunteer for something like that.”
Downtown Door is located at 381 East Main Street, across from Seay’s Garden Center. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Jenkins said they may soon be able to add hours on Thursday.
Public hearings
The council held a public hearing on the rezoning of 22 properties on Second and Cherry streets. The rezoning has been under consideration since last summer, when resident Connie Stiles requested that the properties be rezoned from R2 to R1. The R2 residential zoning allows for mobile homes while R1 is for stick built and modular homes. At the time, the town was in the process of rezoning other areas of the neighborhood. According to Town Planner Justin Setser there are 12 manufactured homes in the area (located on nine parcels). Should the rezoning be approved, those owners would not be able to replace their mobile homes with another one.
Janet Ramski was the only resident who spoke during the public hearing Monday night. “To me this is either a land grab or someone who is very elitist is trying to eliminate low income families,” she said.
She said the homes that have created problems in the neighborhood are not the mobile homes but the stick-built homes. “The mobile homes are low income people who have nowhere else to go; they own their property, but they can’t afford to build a stick-built home.”
“I cannot afford to build a house and no one I know in that neighborhood can afford to build a new house,” Ramski said. “We just want to live our lives and stay in our homes.”
Collins said he was sympathetic to Ramski’s case. “I’m just not anxious to say, OK if you have a fire or something happens you’re out of here,” he said. “Because they’re not going to build a house there, those folks are not going to be able to. We’re moving people away from an area we’re putting a park there and trying to make better.”
Culpepper pointed out, as he has during past discussions about zoning, that the decisions the council makes affect people’s lives. “We need to be careful that it’s not illegal to be poor in this town,” he said.
Town Planner Justin Setser said he had received a letter from Thomas Alligood who owns property on Cherry Street stating he was opposed to the rezoning.
Setser said although the town’s Planning Board recommended rezoning the area R1, that was not his recommendation and instead suggested leaving the properties that have mobile homes zoned as R2.
The council unanimously approved tabling a vote on the rezoning proposal.
The council set the date for public hearings on the following:
• A text amendment for the Unified Development Ordinance that will establish a Temporary Use Permit that would allow people to live in a recreational vehicle or trailer on their property while they remodel or build their home.
• The rezoning of 115 properties in the Old Murphy Road area, which is outside Franklin’s corporate limit but within the town’s Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction. Currently all properties in that area are zoned C2 (commercial) except for the rock quarry, which is zoned industrial. With the proposed rezoning there would be a mix of residential, commercial, Neighborhood Mixed Use (NMU) and industrial.
The public hearings will be held during the regular council meeting beginning at 6 p.m. Monday, March 4.
Street closures
Devon Dupuis, manager for the new Macon County Farmer’s Market, gave the council an update on plans for the market. Dupuis said they had been looking for a high traffic area as a venue for the new market which in addition to food producers will include crafters, food trucks, music, cooking demonstrations and other activities.
Dupuis said they have applied for nonprofit status and have been approved for the food vendors to accept SNAP and EBT payments, including the Double Snap where consumers get twice the amount when purchasing fruits and vegetables.
“I’m excited about bringing this new activity to downtown Franklin,” she said.
The Town Council approved the closure of Iotla Street each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. from May through November for the new market, with the exceptions of when there are town events such as PumpkinFest.
When asked about what would happen with the current farmer’s market held on Saturday mornings on Palmer Street, Dupuis said that is a different group but those vendors can apply to participate in the Macon County Farmer’s Market.
The council also approved the following street closures:
• Iotla and Church Street from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 28 for the second annual Why Us Kids youth mental health rally. Gracie Parker spoke to the council about her activities over the past year to help raise awareness of the mental health needs of children and advocating for trauma counselors in the schools. Parker said unfortunately there has not been much action. “That’s why I will not stand down,” she said. “I will not stop until kids get the help we need, here and everywhere.
• The closing of Phillips Street for the Artisan Alley from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on March 23, April 13 and April 27. A minimum of 35 arts and craft vendors are expected to participate.
Public works projects
• Owens presented a request for a $45,000 task order for McGill Associates to provide engineering services for the Wilkie Street sewer line project. McGill completed the design and engineering for the project in 2023. The new task order would include the RFP, bid opening, award recommendation and construction administration. Owens said the project has been on the town’s improvement list for six years and they originally thought it was something that could be done in-house; however, due to the nature of the work they have decided it is a job that should be bid out. The change order was unanimously approved.
• Bryson Enterprises received the bid for the sidewalk replacement and reconditioning on Harrison Avenue and Phillips Street. American Rescue Plan Act funds will be used to help pay for the project. Bryson’s bid was for $384,906.25. J&E Concrete Construction had the lowest bid at $293,200, but because they did not complete the required walkthrough, their bid was disqualified. The third bid was for $386,400 from DanGrady Company, LLC.
Mayor appointments
Mayor Jack Horton made the following liaison appointments: Joe Collins, ABC board; David Culpepper, Appalachian Trail Community Council; Rita Salain, Southwestern NC Home Consortium; Robbie Tompa, Ordinance Review Committee; Mike Lewis, Macon Program for Progress; Vice Mayor Stacy Guffey, Macon County Economic Development Commission.
The council went into closed session to discuss the acquisition of property. Upon coming back into regular session, Horton said the board did not come to a consensus and no action was taken.
The next Franklin Town Council meeting will be at 6 p.m. Monday, March 4 in the boardroom on the lower level of Town Hall.