By Dave Vieser. Three controversial public hearings that were originally set for Monday Dec. 7 have been split up to avoid any possible issues with coronavirus regulations.

The Junker/Palillo hearing took place as planned, but the hearing on a 199-foot cell  tower near Jetton Road, has been moved to Monday Dec. 21, while the third hearing, for the Mayes Meadows project, has been moved to Tuesday Jan. 19.

The potential conflict was first brought to the town’s attention by Commissioner Jim Duke. “For many reasons, we needed to spread these out,” said Duke. “It was really a bad idea to hold three controversial hearings on a single night.”

That was borne out by Monday’s hearing on the 252-apartment complex on West Catawba Avenue proposed by developer Jake Palillo. It attracted almost 50 residents to Town Hall and lasted nearly two hours.