Next Tuesday marks one year since last year’s city elections. It has been an interesting year in Laurinburg municipal government, to say the least.
Citizens, whether they care to admit it or not, do seem to be more interested when there is a little conflict or controversy in their city government. But what citizens really want, of course, are results.
Last week’s city council meeting produced some results. Firstly, six months ago, citizen Sara Schmidt requested City Council allow prayers at the beginning of city council meetings.
However, it took our new policy of responding to public comments within 30 days to resolve this issue. After citizens Charles Parker and Pastor Michael Edds raised it again recently, we quickly discovered that the law is clear on this, meetings can begin with either a prayer or a moment of silence. Council may need to say a prayer for mercy at next Tuesday’s new City Hall citizen input session.
Secondly, after years of council doing nothing to protect the city from being overrun by solar farms, a city ordinance was passed to prohibit any more solar farms on the main entrance corridors (401/501 bypass, Aberdeen Road, etc.). City council has stood by ineffectively as solar farm after solar farm was built against citizen’s wishes.
They did nothing but say ‘it’s a difficult issue, but our hands are tied’. All it took was a 15-minute phone call to the UNC School of Government to learn that, in fact, the city has and always had every right to zone out these solar farms on highly visible roads.
Lastly, and most importantly, we learned that an out-of-town developer has purchased and plans to renovate and restore both the Market Furniture Building and the old State Bank Building (the one with the clock) downtown. The Market Furniture Building will have upscale apartments on the top two floor with a possible restaurant or brew pub on ground floor.
For me, this news is particularly gratifying. Several years ago, the former owners of the Market Furniture Building offered this building to the City for $1. The former mayor and city council declined the offer and felt the building was only fit for the wrecking ball.
However, my family purchased it instead, with the conviction that preserving this landmark building was worthwhile. We were never able to develop it ourselves, and ultimately gave it to the city a few years later to market it to developers. Through the work of a series of Laurinburg community developers (Brandi Deese, Teddy Warner and Michael Mandeville )and City Manager Charles Nichols, a developer of historic properties was found and this building will survive.
Market Furniture Building, built in 1904, occupies ‘ground zero’ of Historic Laurinburg. With its Romanesque-style, cast-iron storefront, and decorative brickwork it is one of the most distinctive structures in Laurinburg.
For Laurinburg to rise again, it is my deep belief, we must preserve, not destroy, Laurinburg’s proud heritage. We should not let city council destroy the Barrett Building, former home of Laurinburg’s longest serving mayor.
We should not let the school board abandon I. Ellis Johnson, the school that is a source of pride to Laurinburg’s African-American heritage. Similar schools throughout the country, many over a 100 years old, have been preserved and are not only fine schools but are repositories of community pride and testimonies to their community’s past. Without Laurinburg’s historic homes, buildings, and neighborhoods, Laurinburg is nothing special. With them, Laurinburg has a sense of place and a sense of pride critical to our future.
So, last week was a good city council meeting. But, I fully realize what is more important to Laurinburg citizens is lower utilities and taxes, more things to do, and better infrastructure.
That is why I encourage all citizens to make plans to attend next Tuesday’s citizen input session on the proposed $10.5 million new City Hall. If money is not spent on this unnecessary project, utilities and taxes can come down, vital infrastructure can be improved, and community amenities can be considered.
Hope to see you there.