A long list of potential projects was laid on the table by Town of Highlands department heads during the board of commissioners’ annual budget retreat on Thursday at First Presbyterian Church.
It will be up to the board which projects get funded in the town’s operating budget for 2020-21.
Town manager Josh Ward kicked off the meeting with a mid-year financial review, which showed the town is in good financial standing.
“Property tax collections, at 97 percent, are actually down slightly from this time last year, but sales tax revenues are up,” Ward said. “We anticipate that we will meet the budgeted revenue for the current fiscal year.”
Public works director Lamar Nix kicked off the budget retreat with a list of projects his department would like to see completed in the next year. Many of those are street paving and sidewalk improvements.
Among the proposed paving projects were the second section of Cullasaja Drive, Chowan Drive, Spring Street, Pinecrest Road, Hickory Street and the Church Street alleyway. The total cost of those projects would be approximately $687,000.
“We did the first half of Cullasaja Drive in the current fiscal year and we would like to continue on and do the section to Mirror Lake,” Nix said. “Chowan Drive is another priority as the surface there has gotten pretty rough.”
Nix added that Satulah Road will be repaved in coming weeks. That project was funded in the current fiscal year budget and is expected to begin around April 1.
“Paving is something that we let go for a while and now we are trying to get caught up,” mayor Patrick Taylor said. “It’s a never-ending cycle and it’s something that we need to be on top of every year.”
Nix proposed a new stretch of sidewalk along 4th Street near the intersection of Marthas Lane. The new sidewalk would connect two existing sidewalks and correct a drainage issue.
Nix informed the board that the sidewalk could be installed with a retaining wall that would allow for a grass buffer between the sidewalk and roadway at a cost of $251,000. Or the sidewalk could be installed abutting the roadway with no retaining wall or grass buffer for $121,000.
“No matter which option the board chooses, the drainage issue at that location will be fixed,” Nix said. “Water lays in that area and in the winter it freezes and causes problems, so it’s something that needs to be addressed.”
Nix also proposed sidewalk repairs or additions for Satulah Road, Main Street near the Loafer’s Bench, Main Street near the Presbyterian Church, Main Street in front of Reeve’s Ace Hardware and Pierson Road. The total cost of those projects combined is approximately $120,000.
Under the water treatment section, Nix requested $628,000 to replace lines on Moorewood Road and $192,000 to complete similar work on Valentine Lane. He also advocated for refurbishing a belt press at the water treatment plant at a cost of $55,000.
“Our water treatment plant was built in the 1960s and remodeled and updated in the 1990’s,” Nix said. “Being that it’s now 2020, we need to start thinking long term about the future of that facility and whether it makes sense to update it again, or potentially build a new facility in the future. That’s nothing that we need this year, but it’s something for the board to consider and keep on its radar.”
Parks and Rec
Parks and recreation director Lester Norris presented his proposed expenditures and started with the replacement of two tennis courts at the Highlands Rec Center. The cost to resurface the courts and install a new fence was estimated at $120,000.
“The courts would be lined for both tennis and pickleball and they would be a color that would contrast nicely so the lines were all visible,” Norris said. “The outer area of the court will be green, the interior blue, the tennis lines white and the pickleball lines black.”
Norris also advocated for improvements at the dog park pavilion. Some of the pavilion’s support columns have experienced rot over the years and need replaced, according to Norris.
“The dog park is a facility that is used heavily, every single day, and its time we made the repairs,” Norris said. “The aging posts would be replaced and the entire pavilion would be repainted at a cost of $11,500.”
A project that isn’t of immediate need, but should be considered in the near future is the replacement of the lights at the town baseball field. Norris noted that the cost to complete that project would be approximately $228,000 if it were done in the coming fiscal year, but that price could fluctuate in the future.
Police and fire
The budget requests from Highlands Police Chief Bill Harrell and Fire Chief Ryan Gearhart each started with the replacement of radio equipment.
Harrell requested $34,000 for new in-car radios that are compatible with the county and state’s VIPER radio communications system.
“The county switched over to the VIPER system this year and we didn’t receive any warning that was going to happen,” Harrell said. “They sent us two portable radios, but obviously that isn’t going to cover our whole department.”
Harrell also requested $51,000 to build a garage/storage building behind the police department where the town’s service truck and all-terrain vehicle that tows the digital speed sign could be stored.
“We have measured the gravel area where the service truck is parked now, and a building would fit on that piece of property,” Harrell said. “Another added utility of having a garage building would be that we could do evidence investigations on vehicles without having to worry about the weather.”
Gearhart requested $24,000 for new VIPER compatible radios to cover his department. He noted that Highlands Fire and Rescue currently has three openings on its roster, but is well above the state-mandated roster requirement.
Gearhart’s second request was to replace a vehicle currently used by assistant chief Robbie Forrester at a cost of $38,000.
“That vehicle is nearing the end of its life and it’s nickel-and-diming us to death at this point,” Gearhart said. “The new vehicle would be equipped with a bed slide, a Leer bed topper and the standard lights and siren package.”