Town of Stallings, Gateway to Union County Stallings Sentinel Winter 2014 Issue 7 It is a widely held be- lief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Prot- estant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking to- ward his home one winter evening, com- posing a sermon, he was awed by the bril- liance of stars twin- kling amidst ever- greens. To recapture the scene for his fam- ily, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles. Stallings Christmas Tree Lighting and Parade of Trees Friday, December 5, 2014 6:30 p.m. Stallings Park 3501 Stallings Road Come join the fun! Tree lighting, visit from Santa, hot cocoa, sweets, treats, and live music! *If you would like more information, please visit our website: www.stallingsnc.org or call 704.821.8557
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Town of Stallings, Gateway to Union County
Stallings Sentinel
Winter 2014
Issue 7
It is a widely held be-lief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Prot-estant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking to-ward his home one winter evening, com-posing a sermon, he was awed by the bril-liance of stars twin-kling amidst ever-greens. To recapture the scene for his fam-ily, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.
Stallings Christmas Tree Lighting and Parade of Trees
Friday, December 5, 2014
6:30 p.m.
Stallings Park
3501 Stallings Road
Come join the fun! Tree lighting, visit from Santa, hot
cocoa, sweets, treats, and live music!
*If you would like more information, please visit our website:
www.stallingsnc.org or call 704.821.8557
Page 2
Dear Stallings Citizens,
As we close 2014 it has been an eventful year for the Town of Stallings. Highlights in-
clude:
The Town has hired a new town manager, Kevin Woods. He is a former US
Army Officer and is doing a great job.
The Town continues to be debt free and has reserves for future infrastructure
projects that are needed in areas of stormwater and roads.
Quality of life is very important in Stallings and Phase III of Stallings Park will be
complete shortly. The Park has won several awards and attracts folks from
around the county.
Council just completed its 2015 Planning Session and conservative folks will be
glad to hear that the needs of the Town were the focus.
Joint projects with NCDOT continue with the Monroe Road widening and im-
provements to the Potter Road/Pleasant Plains intersection.
An area of focus for Stallings is economic development. We have entered into an alli-
ance with Indian Trail, Matthews and Mint Hill to attract regional development that
will benefit all the Towns.
I would like to take this time to thank all the Town of Stallings employees for their
dedication and service to our residents. Residents can view Town information at
www.stallingsnc.org.
As we celebrate the Christmas season, I wish you and your family a blessed 2015.
Mayor of Stallings
A Note from the Mayor...
Wyatt Dunn
Page 3
Get Involved!
Are you ready to get involved in your community? Home is a great place
to start! The Town of Stallings has the following openings on its various
boards and committees:
Parks and Recreation Committee: Two (2) alternate positions
Stormwater Committee: Two (2) full positions and one (1) alternate position
Planning Board/Board of Adjustment: Two (2) alternate positions
Public Safety Committee: Three (3) full positions
Youth Members: There are two (2) spots available for youth members on the Public Safety
Committee and the Stormwater Committee. If you are between the ages of 14-18 years old
and are interested in serving on one of these committees, please contact Town Clerk Erinn
To obtain an application to apply for one of these vacancies, please visit the Town’s website at
www.stallingsnc.org.
Stallings Committee Details:
Parks and Recreation Committee (PRC): The PRC plans events within the Town. Some past events the
Committee organized are Stallings Fest, Easter Egg Hunt, and movie nights. Programming is also an inte-
gral part of the PRC.
Stormwater Advisory Committee (SWAC): The mission of the SWAC is to provide the Town Council with a citizen’s viewpoint on the stormwater management policies, policy changes, long term strategies, and the budgetary impacts. Planning Board: The Planning Board provides advice to the Town Council on zoning issues. The role of the Planning Board is to hear and make recommendations on development proposals involving a change in zoning. The Board also makes policy decisions concerning the direction of planning and development in the Town. Board of Adjustments (BOA): The BOA is responsible for hearing variance requests concerning develop-ment standards established by the Stallings UDO (Unified Development Ordinance). The BOA also hears appeals to the UDO Administrator’s decisions concerning interpretations to the ordinance. Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC): The PSAC assists the Town Council with public safety issues and makes recommendations. They help to enhance community awareness about safety, volunteering, and programs. This may include putting in stop signs or working with the police and fire departments to update policies. Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC): The mission of the TAC is to provide the Town Council with a citizen’s viewpoint on local and regional transportation issues, strategies, funding, priorities and to deter-mine the necessary data / information needed to assist the decision making process of the Town Council. Finance and Administration Committee (FAC): The FAC provides oversight and makes regular reports and recommendations to Council regarding Town matters related to: administration, finance, policies, and procedures.
An illicit discharge is defined as “any discharge into a municipal storm
sewer system that is not composed entirely of storm water.” Some of the
pollutants that fall into this broad category are:
Bridge Repairs on Stevens Mill Road
NCDOT estimates the bridge repairs on Stevens Mill Road near Blair
Mill Park to be complete the end of February 2015. If you have any
questions, please contact the Town Hall at 704-821-8557.
Sometimes these pollutants are carried through the storm drainage system by rain, wind, or improper
disposal into waterways. This can result in serious health and water quality problems. In addition, wildlife
and the overall appearance of the waterways are adversely affected by illicit discharges.
Paints
Pesticides
Solvents
Vehicle spills
Five Easy Ways that YOU can keep Illicit Discharges out of waterways:
1. Used oil, antifreeze and batteries can be recycled at an auto parts store. Clean up any spills immediately. Kitty litter or sawdust will absorb the spill. Be sure to sweep these up as well.
2. Wash your car on the grass so that the water, detergent, and dirt will be filtered by the soil. You can also take your car to a commercial car wash, where the dirty water is sent to a wastewater treatment plant.
3. Empty bottles of household cleansers, pesticides and weed killer should be disposed of according to label directions.
4. Cooking grease or oil should be put into a disposable container, sealed and then placed in the trash.
5. Household products, including paints, paint thinner and solvents can be taken to the County landfill. Paint brushes used with water-based paint can be rinsed in the sink. If you have a small amount of left-over paint in a can, stuff it loosely with newspaper, let the paint dry out completely, and put it in the trash
Council Member Debbie Romanow: "Where has the year gone? I love going to each meeting because the Council works so well together to better our town. In my neck of the woods, we have experi-enced an explosion of building of the Potters Point development and Mario's Pizza on Matthews-Weddington Road. Thank you to all who have contacted me to help handle any issues that have arisen. Feel free to call me with ANY questions or comments - 704-941-1818. Have a blessed Christmas season and I look forward to hearing from you!" Council Member Regis Griffin: 2014 has been a very busy year for the Town of Stallings. One of the first challenges that Council undertook was the search for a new Town Manager. I was honored to have been selected to be part of the search committee. We went through a very structured and lengthy process. And, I believe that we are all very pleased with the candidate that Council hired, Mr. Kevin Woods, as the manager. The primary focus that I have had this year has been the work of the respective committees for which I am the Council Liaison. The Finance and Administration Committee has taken on the huge task of reviewing all of the existing Town policies and related procedures. The point of this effort is to make recommendations to Council on ways to improve our processes and procedures to ensure that strong financial controls are in place, identify efficiencies that we can take advantage of and generally to see that all of the policies are brought up to date. The committee members have worked diligently and have done a great job. So, to each of them I want to say “thank you.” The Public Safety Committee has undergone a number of restructuring and leadership changes this year. But, things have settled down and the committee is now focusing on their goals. One of the first opportunities that this com-mittee is working on is to revisit a draft of the Emergency Preparedness Plan. We will need to work closely with a number of external emergency response agencies as well as with our own local public safety teams and experts. This will be a lot of work and will be a lengthy effort. But, the committee is dedicated and I am confident that we will deliver a great final product. One other thing that has been on my plate is that we are working on an IT Systems Assessment to make sure that the Town's IT and networking infrastructure is implemented in a way that meets or exceeds known best practices so that we are confident that our systems operate as efficiently and cost effectively as possible and to ensure that our data is as safe and secure as it can be in today's world. We have a great team of elected and staff members serving the Town and I think that is evidenced by all that we have been able to accomplish in 2014. I am very pleased and proud that I have had the op-portunity to be part of all of the good things that are happening in Stallings! I hope everyone has wonderful holidays and please remember that we are all here to help so feel free to reach out.
Page 6
Stallings says “Good-Bye” to Council Member Fred Weber
Council Member Fred Weber has resigned his position as the Council Member for
District 5. Fred and his wife Adrienne are moving to New York to be close to their children
and grandchildren. The Webers will be missed!
Stallings Town Council Member Notes
Page 7
Mayor Pro Tempore Kline: The year has been packed with a lot of actions. First was the search commit-tee for the Town Manager which resulted in finding our New Town Manager Kevin Woods. Kevin has hit the ground running having several challenges which he has taken in-stride while learning his new position. We made it through the budget cycle placing a priority on Street resurfacing. The Transportation Com-mittee working with Staff established a prioritization list for this Budget year. We have begun the resur-facing with various streets in the Shannamara Sub-division. Staff will be working to get projects ready for execution in the Spring/Summer next year. The objective in the end is to have a comprehensive Street resurfacing plan prioritized and cost forecasted going into the next Budget cycle. Council Member Shawna Steele: During November, the town manager, police department, park and rec-reation director, and Councilwoman Steele met with a group of Porter Ridge High School students who participate in the Occupational Course of Study (OCS). These students earned community service hours which is a required component of the curriculum pathway to a NC High School diploma. These students learned about town government, administration, law enforcement, parks and recreation, storm water, transportation, and code enforcement.
Upcoming Council and Committee Meetings Monday, December 8: Town Council @ 7:00 pm Tuesday, December 16: Planning Board @ 7:00 pm Thursday, December 18: Parks and Recreation @ 7:00 pm Friday, December 19: Finance @ 7:30 am
Page 8
Stallings Parks and Recreation
Parks Hours
Stallings Municipal Park September-April: 8 a.m. to Dusk May-August: 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
*CLOSED on Thursdays from 7-10 a.m. for maintenance. * Interactive Fountain Closed for season Re-Opening May 2015 Blair Mill Park September-April: 8 a.m. to Dusk May-August: 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
*CLOSED on Wednes-days from 7-10 a.m. for maintenance. *
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
(optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
Do you know you can get paid to recycle? Yes, that’s right...PAID!
Because you are a Stallings resident, you are eligible to become a
member of Recyclebank, an online loyalty program which rewards
you for recycling.
How does it work?
Go online to www.recyclebank.com or call 1-888-727-2978 to begin
your registration process. Recyclebank will then issue you a PIN
which will allow you to finish your registration process. Once you
are registered, you can begin earning points and redeeming your
points for coupons and merchandise.
How do I earn points?
RECYCLE! The Town’s combined recycling pounds are recorded and
points are distributed equally among the users. For every pound of
recycling collected, 2.5 points are credited. Once your points are
credited to your account, you can begin redeeming your points.
Currently, Recyclebank has more than 400 local and national reward
partners. Stallings residents favorite coupon to-date is a $10 Harris
Teeter coupon (when you spend $50).
Tell your Stallings friends and neighbors!
The more we all recycle, the more points we earn. Together we can
make a difference for the planet and earn rewards at the
same time! So what are you waiting for?! Register today to start
earning points for cash discounts or merchandise!
The leaf disposal pickup is increased from 11/1/14 to 1/31/15. Residents are
allowed a total of 40 bags of leaves and other yard debris (shrub trimmings, grass clippings, etc.).
Christmas Tree
Collection
Christmas trees will be collected only on the weeks of January 5 and January 12 on your regu-lar yard waste collection date for your zone. Please visit www.stallingstrash.com for your pickup schedule and other helpful in-formation about their services.
Residents are reminded to have their items curbside no later than 7 a.m. to be collected and place the carts with the opening toward the street and 2-3 feet away from any other structures (i.e. mailboxes, trees, other carts, etc.).