Council weighs stormwater fixes and paving trade-offs for North Garden Court; manager reports sewer appropriation possibility and quarry noise complaints

Jabo, a council presenter, described severe stormwater problems on North Garden Court after heavy Memorial Day rains, telling the Fletcher Town Council that multiple undersized culverts are allowing runoff to flow across the road, wash out pavement and in some places divert across private property. "One of the issues...it's a 18 inch cover that comes under the road...it runs down to the ditch...it can't handle it," he said, and later described a 24-inch culvert running onto the road and a bridge-area cover that previously washed out.

Jabo said the town plans a two-part fix: install appropriately sized culverts and a concrete swale to keep water off the pavement and then resurface the road next spring. He described the town’s stormwater-assistance model — the town would cover roughly 90% of eligible costs and the homeowner or HOA would cover the remainder — and said Wildwood Gardens HOA had been ‘‘amenable’’ to the work. Staff proposed seeking cost estimates, splitting the work into two bid items (culvert and patch work now; paving next spring) to give contractors winter work and a more efficient paving job later.

Councilors noted budget constraints: last year’s budget had a $100,000 stormwater line that was cut by $40,000 this year, and staff warned that the North Garden Court job could consume much or all of the current Powell (paving) allocation. "This eats up our Powell bill allocation, likely the whole thing for this year," one staffer said, and suggested the town could re-prioritize a shorter street or consider a budget amendment if necessary. The council agreed to move the recommendation forward to the consent agenda for approval to proceed with estimating and bidding.

In the town manager’s report, Mark told the council that staff confirmed with Congressman Edwards' office that a $1,150,000 appropriation for a sewer project (Westfell, North Hudson, Dogwood Terrace) is included in an appropriations bill under consideration. He said the total estimated project cost is about $1.4 million and that the town may need to appropriate a small amount of local funds to close any gap if the appropriation advances. "It's in an Appropriations bill...it's not a done deal," he said, urging caution about timing and noting further approvals would be required at the agency level.

Mark also briefed the council about noise complaints near the Oldcastle mineral quarry, where Harrison Construction is managing closeout hauling; staff found no violation of the town’s noise ordinance based on permitted work hours but said they asked the contractor to curtail Saturday activity where possible and that the work is temporary, expected to finish late July. Finally, Mark updated the council on the Landing at Meadowview residential project and said the developer will need to provide a 50-foot dedicated left-turn lane (staff suggested up to 100 feet) on Old King Creek Road and coordinate with DOT because of an upcoming bridge reconstruction that could change the intersection geometry.

Councilors did not take final funding decisions at the meeting; they directed staff to obtain cost estimates and return with bid documents and recommended moving the North Garden Court work and library fund-balance designation to consent.