May 6. By Dave Vieser. The Cornelius Town Board will have its hands full Monday evening, even without a new proposed town budget to digest. A total of five public hearings are on the agenda, along with the adoption of new noise regulations.
Here’s a capsule summary of the items which the commissioners will be considering:

• Retreat at West Catawba: The final public hearing will take place on a proposal by Demeter Properties, LLC to develop approximately 9.5 acres of single-family and vacant land on West Catawba Avenue across from the Elevation Church into 57 town-home unit.
• SECU: The final public hearing will also be held on the  proposal by the State Employees Credit Union to construct an 8,500 square foot building with five drive-through lanes and street frontage parking on the site where the Days Inn Motel is currently located.
• Freedom House Church: The final public hearing will also be held concerning the Freedom House Church proposal to occupy an existing 11,504 square foot building located at 20310 Sefton Park Road. This building was most recently used as a gym.
• Forest at Bailey Glen Phase 3: The first public hearing will be conducted on Bluestream Partners proposal to develop 19 single family homes and an amenity center at 12904 Bailey Road, 18375 Barnhardt Road and the two adjacent parcels to the north on Barnhardt Road.

The commissioners will also conduct a public hearing to receive input on the proposed use of a finance contract with BB&T Bank to borrow $657,000 at 2.97% interest for installment financing of park land on Jetton Road Extension.

Hearing for noise ordinance

The Town Board will also consider approving a new set of noise violation regulations for Cornelius which caps the maximum permitted sound level outside of venues such as BoatYard Eats at  100 decibels between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 75 decibels between 9 p.m. and 10 a.m. Sunday through Thursday. The 100-decibel allowance extends to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and on certain designated holidays.

Initially, the new rules would only be enforced within and south of the Automotive Sales District Overlay on U.S. 21, the Business Campus and Town Center zoning districts. The previous town noise rules were considered to be too subjective and difficult to enforce.

Budget time

As for the budget, which usually is released the first Monday in May, Town officials were still tying to get additional information late Friday from the DOT on transportation projects which could impact the proposed spending plan. Town Manager Andrew Grant expects to discuss that and the Eletricities budget with the commissioners prior to the regular meeting. However, the proposed budget was not listed as an item on the official agenda released Friday afternoon.

The meeting will take place starting at 7 pm in Town Hall on Catawba Avenue, with Mayor Pro Tem Mike Miltich presiding.