Brainstorming for the future: Waynesville leaders toss around to-do lists for the coming year

Apr. 13—Waynesville town board members held a free-wheeling brainstorming session last week, where each board member put forth ideas, goals and priorities for discussion.

The annual retreat gives town leaders a chance to dive into issues that they don't necessarily have time to address during the routine business of their twice-a-month town board meetings. The goals also provide marching orders to town staff on focus areas for the upcoming year.

While building a new fire station in Hazelwood emerged as the unanimous top priority during the retreat, each town board member laid out a host of additional goals they'd like to address.

Mayor Gary Caldwell

Caldwell reiterated a goal he's been championing for over a year now to build a gazebo along Main Street in downtown Waynesville. But there was only one bid on the project and it was twice more than expected at $150,000.

Plus, other town board members were unwilling to approve the project without first consulting with members of the new Downtown Waynesville Advisory Committee on whether they support the idea of a downtown gazebo. So Caldwell agreed to table it for the time being.

"No way this can't happen for that kind of money," Caldwell said.

Another item on Caldwell's wishlist was a picnic pavilion at the skatepark, but the single bid on that project was also twice what was expected at $100,000, so it was postponed also.

Instead, he suggested making bathrooms at the Obama-King park located in the Hillside neighborhood a top priority.

"We need to bear down on that. We need to make that happen. It's important to that community," Caldwell said.

Also on the downtown front, he suggested adding more sidewalk bump-outs to facilitate outdoor dining.

"A town that has outdoor dining draws people to come back," he said.

Alderman Chuck Dickson

Dickson's list included affordable housing as a top goal and suggested the town should take a more active role, including an affordable housing summit to bring community partners together around the solutions. He also suggested a home weatherization assistance program, advocated for greenway expansion and suggested hiring a consultant for grant writing.

Dickson once again broached the long-standing debate of whether to switch to staggered terms for town board members instead of all five coming up for election at the same time every four years.

"There is always a chance this entire board could be voted out. That's the reason every other town in Western North Carolina has staggered terms," he said.

Dickson also suggested the town consider a growth boundary to guide when and where it's willing to extend water and sewer.

"The question is how big do we want Waynesville to be," Dickson said. "The only way we control growth is through water and sewer. So how far do we want to extend water and sewer?"

Alderman Jon Feichter

One of the goals brought forward by Alderman Jon Feichter was getting the town's house in order when it comes to the business side of its electrical system operations. Feichter wants to see the town offer paperless bills and online payments.

Feichter also cited fixing the town's meter reading schedule. The town has been plagued by repeated turn-over among its meter readers for nearly two years, leading to inconsistent monthly bills because meters aren't read on a reliable 30-day schedule.

"Our meter reading seems to be an ongoing challenge. My last power bill was for a 50-day cycle," Feichter said.

That results in higher-than-normal bills, and the public doesn't understand that it's simply due to extra days in the billing cycle, he said.

Feichter suggested the town begin moving toward smart meters that don't require meter readers to drive around town with handheld readers to pick up the radio signals from meters. While swapping out the meters of some 3,000 electrical customers would be costly, the town could start the transition by installing smart meters on all new construction going forward.

"I would advocate we start doing that now," Feichter said.

Feichter also suggested the town get on board the solar movement to help stem the tide of global warming. The town could start by installing solar panels on some of its own facilities.

"What I would like to see is the town take a leadership role in the community to help spur development of solar," Feichter said. "One of the ways I think we could do that is to utilize the acres and acres of roof space we currently have."

The Waynesville Recreation Center would be a prime candidate, he said. While it's an upfront cost, solar panels would eventually pay off.

Also on the clean energy front, Feichter proposed jumping on board the electrical vehicle movement with the installation of fast chargers. Fast charging stations will increasingly be sought out by tourists in the not-to-distant future and would be a selling point for the town, as well as a way to bolster the town's electrical bottom line by selling the power used at charging stations.

"I really want the town to be a leader in clean energy and let's be bold," Feichter said.

Alderwoman Julia Freeman

Freeman cited ensuring police have the resources, training and equipment to "get the job done." One request for new equipment from the police department was an armored vehicle.

Street paving and pothole repair also made Freeman's list. It is one of the top calls town board members get from residents. Some streets in the town limits are actually state roads and outside the town's control, but even for city-owned streets, aldermen don't know what to tell the public when they hear complaints.

"I would like public works to give us a timeline and some better talking points so we can say something other than 'Well, that's a state road I'm sorry,'" Freeman said. "That's just not going over with the community anymore."

Freeman also cited getting the newly minted Downtown Waynesville Association Committee off to a good start and restoring downtown's certifications that lapsed under the old DWA.

Alderman Anthony Sutton

Sutton advocated for promoting diversity in the workplace when hiring, including minorities and LGBTQ.

"It is becoming harder and harder to hire people," Sutton said, citing workplace diversity as something that could be a selling point.

Sutton also wants to see more citizen-led community watch programs in concert with the police department.

"Sometimes perception is reality and that would actually help stem some of the concerns constituents have," Sutton said.

Sutton also seconded Caldwell's idea of adding sidewalk bump-outs on Main Street so restaurants could have more on-street dining. It would come in handy if Waynesville enacts a so-called social district where people can walk around on the sidewalks while drinking alcohol.

"That would make it a lot easier to serve alcohol on the street," Sutton said. "It would make it easier to accommodate."