Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By  Jeanna Baxter White

Word Master Media Group

“Where there is no vision, the people perish,” said Mocksville Town Manager Ken Gamble, quoting Proverbs, as he kicked off the town’s strategic planning and budget retreat last month at the Davidson-Davie Community College.

“Today we will be talking about the numbers and how to best utilize the resources that we have.”

The half-day meeting was designed to give the town board and staff the opportunity to discuss the challenges and needs facing the town during the coming year and to look at the big picture before making specific decisions about how to allocate resources.

Board members listened to presentations from Gamble,  economic development, the town’s engineer, and the heads of each department. Although the public was invited, no one took advantage of the opportunity.

Following is an overview of the meeting so that Mocksville residents will have a better understanding of the budget process.

Economic Development – Past, Present, Future

The presentations began with an economic development overview from Terry Bralley, president of Davie County Economic Development.

Gamble said the success Mocksville is experiencing doesn’t happen by accident. “It happens because of the things you did five, 10, 15 years ago. Terry is going to give us an overview of  where we’ve been, where we are now, and where we are going because it is important that we understand this so that we aren’t thinking in a year to year mindset but a three to five-year mindset.”

Bralley said the basic building block for economic development is infrastructure. He said when he came to Mocksville in 1979, the tax rate was .50 per $100 valuation. Today it is .29. “Do you know why? You grew the tax base.”   

Mocksville has a great reputation in North Carolina for winning deals. “You’ve had a banner year with 550 new jobs and $100 million added to the tax base. Economic development is an investment in your own future. It is one of the few departments that you are paying that will pay you back.”

Bralley provided an update about new spec buildings being built within the next year.

He pointed out the town’s desperate need for housing. “We need young people. We need people moving to this community to take these jobs.” He detailed new housing starts and said that they would help drive retail, which is also on the rise.

Water/Wastewater Capital Improvement Plan

Chuck Willis, Willis Engineers, who serves as the town’s engineer, shared what he calls the road map he uses to try to stay ahead of Bralley’s economic development.

Using maps, he explained the town’s water and wastewater Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) which details larger projects to be implemented over the next 10 years. The plan is generally updated annually as part of the town’s budget process.

Currently, there are several CIP projects underway, including a new pump station and force main to convey wastewater from the Leonard Creek basin and the newly expanded Brakebush Brothers Chicken Plant. These facilities will move wastewater from the town’s Dutchman’s Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Davie County-owned treatment plant in Cooleemee, creating additional capacity for development in northern Mocksville. Improvements will also include the renovation of a pump station and an additional water line to improve service to customers on the south side of town.  Also underway, is a project to replace some of the pumping equipment at the Dutchman’s Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Future projects will concentrate on improvements north of  I-40 to allow for continued growth, likely to include an elevated storage tank, water pipelines, and replacement of a pump station and force main.

Over the next few months, the board will consider details of these projects and will adopt an updated CIP. The town will continue to work with Davie County and the economic development commission to pursue grant and low-interest low funding.

Willis addressed supply chain issues and the 30-40 percent increase in costs over the past two years. “The struggle you will face in accomplishing these projects will always be money. Some projects will have grant funds attached but many will not. It will be difficult on Ken’s (Gamble) and Brian’s (Moore, public works director) part to determine what these projects will cost operationally and how to pay for them and build a long-term financial plan.”

Modified Zero-based Budgeting Approach

Before each department presented its budget needs, Gamble said the town is using a modified zero-based budgeting approach in which department heads examine each line item to identify underused resources.

The leadership team looked at the previous three years to capture trends in expenditures. They looked for line items consistently underspent and could be reduced and the funds reallocated; items that were artificially high because of one-year expenditures; old cost assumptions for services that might need to be adjusted up or down to reflect current prices; and retiring debt payments.   

“I told my leadership team that available funds would go to the greatest need. Funds don’t belong to any department. They belong to the town and we have to look at them as an overall resource. This is a team effort. Together we are talking about how we reduce or increase line items and take whatever we have left and use those resources first when looking at what we need for the community before thinking about raising the tax rate to pay for things.”

Mocksville Water

Treatment Plant

Justin Turbyfill, who serves as the water plant manager through Envirolink,  presented the capital improvement needs of the plant (WTP) broken down by priority ranging from critical needs to recommendations to improve efficiency and save energy. The most critical need was the replacement of an aged piece of equipment that would reduce the WTP’s operating capacity to 50% if it stopped working.

Mocksville’s Hugh A. Lagle Water Treatment Plant received an AWOP (Area Wide Optimization Program) Award in 2020 for demonstrating outstanding turbidity removal, a key test of drinking water quality, he said.

Administration

Stating that a goal without a plan is just a wish, Finance Director Lynn Trivette shared the administration department’s five-year employee development plan which focuses on professional training, coaching, cross-training, and relationship skill-building. “Setting my staff up for success in their roles starts with giving them all the tools and resources they need to do their jobs well.”

She detailed recent updates including new accounting software, a phone system, computer upgrades, and a customer web portal that allows residents to make payments or reservations. Future needs include video conferencing, a smart meeting room, fire department technology improvements, staff security training, and new security cameras for Rich Park that would stream directly to the sheriff’s office.

Last year, a new HVAC system was installed. This year Town Hall needs a new roof and pavers. Future plans include windows and bathroom remodeling.

Human Resources

Emily Quance, human resources specialist, shared what Mocksville is doing to select, train, motivate, and keep employees.

She said it is difficult to recruit employees, pointing out that there has been an open position in the public works department for the past two years. Quance said the town must develop fair pay and compensation, career development and advancement opportunities, and invest in employees through training and coaching. The town is conducting a pay study, which happens every five years, that is looking at employee development, developmental pay, performance (merit) increases, cost of living adjustments, and benefits.

Community Development

Community Development Coordinator Tami Langdon proposed a series of capital improvements to enhance the downtown area and attract visitors. “I feel so blessed to have the type of downtown that we now have and would like to see it continue to grow.”

• Wayfaring signs included wayfinding signs which would promote and direct the public to key destinations like Rich Park, the visitor center, the downtown shopping district, and the Brock Performing Arts Center.

• Updating the South Main Street streetscape with benches, planters, tree grates, and Forest Pansy Redbud trees.

• A permanent farmer’s market at the old police station to include a certified kitchen, pop-up market, and a part-time restaurant serving food from the market.

• A permanent outdoor theater and stage at Main Street Park.

• East Depot Street Revitalization would include decorative light poles, promote facade grants, and a small park/picnic area at the corner of Pine and East Depot streets.

• Parking areas added at the old police station and Horn Street.

• Electric Car Charging Station in the parking lot at the old police station.

• The third phase of Main Street Park – small kid-friendly play area that could be used during the farmer’s market and events at the park.

• North Main Street sidewalk improvements.

Following the morning presentations, the board and leadership team took a tour of the Mocksville Fire Department and the public works facility. They looked at the old equipment to gain a better understanding of current and future needs.

Mocksville Fire

Department

During a working lunch, Chief Frank Carter shared the fire department’s capital and operational budget requests.

He said MFD had applied for a SAFER Grant (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) from FEMA designed to provide financial assistance to help fire departments increase the cadre of frontline firefighters or to rehire firefighters who have been laid off, and to recruit and/or retain volunteer firefighters. The request was for six full-time positions working a 24 on 48 off rotation. Each shift would then be manned by two 2 full-time firefighters and current part-time staff. Carter’s daily staff goal is a maximum of 6 and a minimum of 3 firefighters which would allow for an engine and ladder to be staffed 24/7.

Carter detailed the department’s capital and operational equipment needs such as turn-out and hazmat gear, breathing apparatus, rescue equipment, and a squad truck. The fire station also requires several upfits and improvements. Future needs include a newer used engine, and land for and construction of a second station to adjust for growth on the north end of town to maintain response times.

The department would also like to provide a small pension for volunteers who retire with more than 20 years of service.

Parks & Grounds

Chris Vaughn detailed Parks & Grounds’ needs, sharing photos of the old equipment and proposed replacements, including a new wheel loader and a utility vehicle for reliability and operator safety.

The baseball field fence at Rich Park needs to be replaced because sections are broken and bent, posts are beginning to rust, and gates will not fully close.

Vaughn said the department’s future needs and proposed a timeline for the purchase of a Sand Pro 3040 infield machine, leaf truck, softball field lighting, and paving the entrance road to the softball field.

Public Works

Public Works also needs to replace equipment. Director Brian Moore’s mentioned three items: a 1994 service truck, a 1983 Ford utility tractor, and an equipment trailer.

Moore said the department needs to have employees get certified in wastewater collections and water distribution following the retirement of the department’s certified employee. Moore and another employee are pursuing certification so the town will no longer need to pay the county for that service.

Gamble commented on the importance of building capacity within the town’s staff, saying: “It’s super important for us to look at these things and understand that if we don’t have the internal capacity we are going to have to pay for it,  so building our staff up is one of the long-term goals that we have. If we aren’t investing in our staff, we are going to pay for that at some point, whether it’s on-the-job injury, a higher ISO rating, or paying other people to carry our certifications. When we ask for money to invest in staff, that is money well-spent.”

Projects to Finish Out the 2021-2022 Budget Year

Gamble shared updates about the projects to be completed before the end of the budget year: Horn Street parking lot improvements, Mando Field concession stand remodeling, board room redesign, and relocating the farmer’s market.

He ended the retreat by sharing the schedule for the rest of the budget process, saying: “We are going to work together to make sure that we are doing what is best for the community. This budget is going to leverage our resources and partnerships to the fullest extent possible.”

The first draft of next year’s proposed budget will be presented on Feb. 25, with the public having input at regular board meetings March, April and May. The final budget proposal will be available for the public on May 4, with the board expecting to make a decision on June 7.

Gamble and the town board encourages the community to attend the public meetings.