Williston City Planner Jackie Gorman says development plans for the former Williston High School site are changing.
By Terry Witt -Spotlight Senior Reporter
An expected commercial retail development at the site of the former Williston High School may morph into something much different than expected.
Williston City Planner Jackie Gorman told Williston City Council members Tuesday night that BluRock Development has applied for a land use change to the comprehensive plan to build three fast food restaurants in the first phase of development. The land would be designated as commercial. It is currently mixed use.
Gorman said BluRock doesn’t know what type of retail establishments would be developed in phase two.
City officials were originally told BluRock was trying to recruit a high end grocery store to anchor a retail mall at the site of the former high school. The idea was greeted with enthusiasm.
Prior to BluRock buying the property, Williston’s comprehensive plan was amended to reflect a mixed land use designation on the property. The city heard the school board was selling the property and made the change in response to public input, according to City Manager Scott Lippmann.
Gorman said the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission will hear a request from BluRock on Dec. 30 to change the land use on the former school site from mixed use to straight commercial.
Williston Loses Power
Much of Williston lost power Tuesday morning when two live power lines touched, according to City Manager Scott Lippmann.
Lippmann said the power grid, which is operated by Williston’s municipal power department, has a problem with a device known as a re-closer. The city purchases electricity from Duke Energy and distributes power to the entire city.
He said the re-closer feature will have to be addressed. For now, the city is using a Duke Power re-closer.
For time being, everything is working, Lippmann said, but the city will have to find a long term fix for the problem.
City Manager Evaluation
City Council members will begin filling out forms to evaluate Lippmann for his performance this past year. The forms are due in City Clerk Latricia Wright’s office by next Tuesday.
Lippmann recently endured a tough stretch when he was accused of receiving pay raises for several years that were never approved by the full council. The council stripped him of raises they didn’t believe it had approved.
Questions were raised by Council President Nancy Wininger as to whether the process for determining how raises were given was somewhat vague and could be open to interpretation.
Councilman Charles Goodman didn’t think there was any confusing language in the city’s codes.
The council evaluations will indicate whether a cloud still hangs over the city manager or if he is back in the good graces of a majority of the board members.
Lippmann asked if the council wanted him to provide the traditional self-evaluation. The council indicated he could write the self-evaluation but they weren’t required to factor his comments into their individual evaluations.
The city’s manager’s self-evaluation can be a mixture of self-analysis as well as a recollection of everything the city achieved during the past year under his management.
Conditional Lien Forgiveness
Council members instructed City Attorney Fred Koberlein to draft documents that would grant conditional relief from $36,000 in liens against a vacant house if the buyer meets the city’s requirements.
The liens against the house at 329 NE 2nd Street accumulated over a period of years. The $36,000 in liens would discourage buyers from purchasing the house when it goes up for sale at a delinquent tax auction Monday in Bronson.
Under the terms of the conditional lien relief, the new owner, whoever that might be would have to pay administrative costs, recording costs and attorney’s fees and bring the house into compliance with city codes within six months before Wininger would sign off on waiving $36,000 in code enforcement liens.
Early in the discussion, Chuck Kennedy was asking the city to remove the liens in time for him to purchase the house at the tax sale, but Goodman felt such a move would give Kennedy an advantage at the auction. Wininger didn’t want to set a precedent the city would have to live with for future tax sales.
At the same time, the house wasn’t worth much more than the city liens pending against it. That fact alone would discourage anyone from purchasing the home at the tax sale. Koberlein suggested conditional lien relief. He said he has seen it work in other places.
The council approved the conditional lien plan. Koberlein anticipates having the papers drawn up by Friday afternoon. Kennedy was satisfied with the city’s decision. His plan is to purchase the house and restore it for resale. The ultimate goal from the city’s standpoint is to move the house back on the tax roll and to improve the looks of the neighborhood.
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City of Williston Regular Meeting December 3, 2019; Posted December 4, 2019
