Norris plans workshops Thursday evening
What the city plans to spend its recent $375,000 state parks and recreation grant money on will be the topic of discussion at a City Council workshop at 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13, at the Norris Community Building. This is one of the parks included in proposed initial improvement projects to be paid for out of the grant money. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
At 5 p.m., the council will hear input from the city manager and interested residents about city worker pay and benefits, based on studies comparing Norris’s current pay scales and benefits to other nearby cities with similar populations and staff sizes.
“It’s going to be more of a discussion of salaries and benefits – what data we’ve collected and where we got it from,” City Manager Adam Ledford said Monday.
“This came out of the last budget session, and we will share the info we’ve collected on market conditions, and go through it on a department-by-department basis,” he said.
City leaders have said that retention of staff is a major goal, and that pay and benefits play a large role in that effort.
Thursday’s session precedes the coming budget workshops by the City Council that will lay out the framework for the budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The council is expected to pass the new budget in June.
At 6 p.m. Thursday, the second workshop will concentrate on the role and duties of the Norris Tree Commission, and particularly on how and where trees can be planted on city property, including right-of-way.
The council passed a revised tree ordinance on first reading in October that deals with some of the issues, but second and final reading was delayed pending a workshop to get public input on the changes.
Among the issues are how close trees will be allowed to be planted to sidewalks and underground utilities, Ledford said.
Some of the suggestions would place restrictions with distances so long that no trees would be allowed to be planted on most right-of-way property.
Also to be discussed will be what residents should be allowed to do on city right-of-way that borders their property, and what rights the city would have to remove anything residents put on right-of-way without first getting the city’s permission.
That could include residents having paving done for parking of vehicles on right-of-way, and the planting of shrubs, trees and other vegetation on right-of-way, which essentially is city property.
Ledford said there could be issues where a resident might pave over a water line, and the city then would have to destroy the pavement to dig up the water line to repair a leak.
Both Thursday workshops are open to the public, and will be held in the City Council meeting room in the Norris Community Building.
Another council workshop is set for 5 p.m. Monday (Jan. 13), prior to the 6 p.m. City Council regular meeting, on the priorities for the city’s initial $750,000 recreation-improvement projects, for which a $375,000 state Local Parks and Recreation Fund grant has been received. The city must match that grant.
“We will be seeking input on what the community wants incorporated into the recreation plan,” Ledford said.
In addition, there will be a public hearing at 5:45 p.m.Monday as a prelude to the second and final reading of an updated peddlers ordinance at the 6 p.m. council meeting.
An additional council workshop will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, to discuss the future needs of city facilities, including possible upgrades to the Community Building.
As for the peddlers ordinance, on Dec. 9, the council passed on first reading the proposed update, which would amend the city’s current restrictions on door-to-door salespeople, primarily by allowing residents to add their addresses to a “no solicitors” list that would be maintained at city hall and provided to any salespeople seeking permits to sell products, but not services, door-to-door.
Such a move, which was suggested during the November council meeting, would make it illegal for a commercial solicitor to approach the home of anyone whose address is on that list, similar to the way the federal “Do Not Call” list is supposed to work.
This issue arose primarily in response to a pest-control company’s recent door-to-door solicitations in Norris, which brought some complaints to the city offices by residents.
Mayor Chris Mitchell said at the time that there was “a bug man” making “aggressive” solicitations at residents’ homes, but because the man’s company had obtained a city soliciting permit, that did not violate the existing ordinance.
Assistant City Manager Bailey Whited suggested the idea of the no-solicitations list.
In January 2024, the council approved the first peddlers/solicitors ordinance to help control door-to-door sales.
“I think we will have almost no peddlers [with approval of the ordinance],” Mitchell said earlier.
Other Norris city meetings this month will include:
• Jan. 16, 6 p.m., Watershed Board.
• Jan. 16, 6 p.m., Little Theatre Board.
• Jan. 20, 7 p.m., Animal Shelter Commission.
• Jan. 21, 6 p.m., Water Commission.
• Jan. 21, 7 p.m., Recreation Commission.
• Jan. 23, 6 p.m., Community Development Board.
• Jan. 27, 5:30 p.m., Tree Commission.
