Mocksville Town Board approves sidewalk design, ordinance and budget amendments after sheriff presents midyear data

The Mocksville Town Board of Commissioners met Jan. 7 and voted to move forward on a multi‑part sidewalk design, adopt an amendment to the town burning ordinance effective Feb. 1, 2025, and approve two budget amendments to cover water infrastructure work and a retirement match, after a midyear presentation from the sheriff on calls and crime trends.

The board opened with a conflict‑of‑interest statement read by Lydia Lavelle, who reminded members the town follows “North Carolina general statutes and the town of Mocksville code of ethics policy adopted 11/09/2010, amended 01/06/2019, and further endorsed on 08/09/2022.” After adopting the agenda (added item F for sidewalk connectivity), the board heard a quarterly code‑enforcement report from Brandon Emery. Emery said the office opened 16 new cases in December, abated eight cases and is maintaining about a 76% abatement rate; he noted an abatement order tied to findings of fact that expires on 01/16/2025 for several Spruce Street properties and described next steps toward ordinance‑driven abatement if compliance is not achieved.

Sheriff JD then gave a midyear presentation of CAD and RMS data for the city. He reported 7,366 CAD events inside city limits in the prior year, 960 full criminal reports and 10,935 individual unit dispatches. Using NIBRS groupings, the sheriff said larceny and traffic‑related activity are prominent, that the busiest hours across the year cluster in the midmorning and that Tuesday/Wednesday showed consistently high call volumes. He told the board average response time for most calls is about 7 minutes, 15 seconds, and that a ComStat comparison shows a roughly 13% reduction in total reported crime year‑over‑year while certain categories such as drug offenses and disorderly conduct increased in absolute and percentage terms. “You have to look at both,” he said, noting a large percentage increase can reflect a small absolute change.

On business items, the board unanimously:

- Adopted the second reading of an ordinance amending Chapter 5, Article 2, Section 5‑23 to require builders to obtain a permit to burn construction waste or yard waste inside town limits; staff said the ordinance takes effect Feb. 1, 2025.

- Approved Budget Amendment No. 1 (enterprise fund) to cover a force main and a 6‑inch water line that had not been budgeted in the current year but were funded in prior years.

- Approved Budget Amendment No. 2 (general fund) to cover a retirement match for the former town manager; staff said the amount was not budgeted in the current year.

- Approved an amendment to town ordinances to post no‑through‑truck locations after repeated damage on West Maple Avenue and continued enforcement discussions with the car lot owner.

- Authorized a service agreement with JMT Engineering for Phase 2 conceptual design, bidding and construction management (design and bid administration fees presented as $7,000 and construction management/permitting $9,500 plus standard billing rates) from the community development capital project fund.

- Appointed Scott Geier to the Mocksville Planning Board for a three‑year term.

- Authorized staff to proceed with the sidewalk connectivity engineering/design proposal (part 1 and separate Duke Street work as part 2), with staff noting the town has a CRP grant (listed in the memo as $572,000 with a town match of $143,000) that could cover construction even though design costs must be paid up front. Staff recommended not tabling the matter because the DOT timeline and grant schedule could be delayed by a month or more if design work does not proceed.

Before adjourning, Lydia Lavelle briefly highlighted SB 382 and its potential implications for local planning authority, including limits on down‑zoning and retroactive effects on recent zoning actions. The board then moved into a closed session to discuss attorney‑client privileged matters, acquisition of real property and personnel (including hiring of a town manager), and later returned and adjourned.

The board recorded motions and passed each item by voice vote; no roll‑call tallies were provided in the meeting record. The town’s interim manager and staff noted ongoing winter operations and a recent major water leak the public‑works crew addressed.

What’s next: the burning‑permit ordinance becomes effective Feb. 1, 2025; staff will proceed with engineering and grant coordination for sidewalk design with JMT and continue follow‑up on abatement orders tied to the January 16, 2025 expiration date.