LUMBERTON — Lumberton City Council members gave initial approval Monday on a proposed revision to the city’s begging ordinance which could make enforcement easier in the city.

“The Legal Department has been in communication with the Police Department in an effort to revise our ordinance pertaining to begging and soliciting,” City Attorney Holt Moore said. “The primary concern has been the increased begging on right of ways and intersections.”

Since the measure is regarding a local criminal ordinance, state law requires the ordinance revisions be reviewed by Council members twice before final approval is given. Monday’s meeting was the first approval, which came unanimously, and Council members will review the ordinance again in next month’s meeting.

State statutes “provide some help” regarding beggars and panhandlers, Moore said, but have limitations, including that the individual must be impeding traffic to be deemed in violation; sometimes those individuals, such as someone with a sign at an intersection, may not be impeding traffic, Moore said.

“This will give a little more teeth in terms of what the police will have to use,” Moore said. “Everybody’s seen how widespread this issue is and we’re trying to be a little more proactive.”

The revised ordinance would prohibit “aggressive solicitation,” which includes solicitation that is “disturbing and disruptive to residents and businesses”; approaching or following pedestrians or repetitive attempts following refusals; the use of “abusive or profane language” or “unwanted physical contact”; or soliciting near banks, ATMs, public transportation facilities or crosswalks.

The ordinance would also ban soliciting in street right-of-ways.

“Council finds that the likelihood of harm to occupants of vehicales or the solicitors themselves is such that solicitation from drivers and occupants of vehicales within the rights-of-ways shall not be allowed,” the ordinance states.

Door-to-door solicitation would also not be allowed without express permission by the occupant of the premises.

The ordinance states that violations would be “punishable as a misdemeanor.”

“At least its an effort to try and curtail some of that, and the public has been really concerned about all the begging, and the right of way being a danger for the drivers, and for the people that are standing in the right of way,” Councilman Leroy Rising said as he made the motion to approve.

No-games-in-streets ordinance updated

Council members also approved a slight revision to the city’s no-games-in-streets ordinance, of which the primary focus is basketball goals in street right-of-ways.

The current ordinance is difficult to enforce, Moore said, because street right-of-way widths vary in different locations across the city. The city hopes the revision will accomplish what was in mind without tying enforcement directly to the right-of-way, Moore said.

“Even if you could measure it — if you put the basketball goal three feet outside of the right of way, it’s not any better, because you can’t play without being in the street,” Moore said. “That was kind of the theory. This will be a little bit subject to interpretation, but if it’s clear to an officer that where it’s located there’s no way to play without being in the street, (they’ll be able to enforce the ordinance).”

Basketball or soccer goals, the ordinance states, are not allowed in any public right-of-way — or, an addition states, “in any location where the game cannot be played without the players and/or the ball, frisbee, etc., (the item being thrown) being frequently in the street.”

Lumberton Police made the request for the ordinance to be clarified, City Manager Wayne Horne said, and will be responsible for enforcement. The property owner will be notified and will have two weeks to move the goal, the ordinance says, and if it remains in place the city has the right to remove it.

Floodgate update

The approval of a change order in the contract for an environmental assessment for the floodgate to be constructed underneath Interstate 95 near VFW Road allowed for Public Works Director Rob Armstrong to give Council members an update on the project’s progress.

Factors beyond the city’s control have delayed the environmental assessment, Armstrong said, including the I-95 widening and elevation project. Now, though, the environmental assessment is in its final stages.

Due to the time incurred, and a widened scope to the project with more features added, the Timmons Group requested an additional $8,000 be added to the original assessment cost of $19,900, which was awarded in August 2021.

The city feels the price increase is fair, Armstrong said, given the delays and the additional work done by the Timmons Group.

While moneys to fund the floodgate’s construction have been awarded by the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR), the city can’t draw on those funds until the environmental assessment is completed, Armstrong said.

The added $8,000 expense will be paid for by Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Relief funds previously awarded for the project.

Monday’s meeting also saw notable developements on other Public Works-related projects:

— A professional services agreement with The Wooten Company was approved by Council members for the First Street Drainage Project; Council members previously selected The Wooten Company as the firm for the project due to its familiarity with and qualifications for the project. The professional services agreement is for $76,900, to be paid for from N.C. Golden Leaf Foundation Grant funds. The project will run a new channel from Second Street to First Street just south and east of downtown Lumberton and will tie an existing culvert on Second Street to a new culvert on First Street, improving stormwater drainage in the area.

— The test well phase of the city’s Well Relocation Project was closed out as Council members approved a change order for $5,757.66 in additional supplies and materials which the city was obligated to pay for; Additional Supplemental Appropriation for Disaster Relief Act (ASADRA) funds will cover the cost; these relief funds after hurricanes Matthew and Florence are specifically designated to move wells currently in the flood zone to higher ground; three test wells were dug at proposed sites which showed high yield and quality at each. Armstrong stated the new wells will have higher capacity than the wells they are replacing.

— Council members approved a $56,045 engineering contract with Charles Underwood Inc. for a well rehabilitation, which is well under the $75,000 budgeted for the project.

911 update

Council members approved the purchase of a software upgrade for the city’s 911 system.

The system’s current recording equipment can only handle VHF channels; a new Archiving Interface Server will be able to record Viper channels for the fire and police departments, with the ability to record as many as 200 channels from across the state.

The upgrade may take several months to complete, and will cost $107,425.76 after a 10% discount by vendor Motorola. Part of the equipment installation is eligible to be paid for with state funds, totaling $69,978.33; the city will be responsible for the balance of $37,447.43, which will be paid in installments as the project moves forward. It will be paid for from the 911 undesignated fund balance, which has a current balance of $183,110.71.

City honors Boy Scout Troop 301

Before getting to the city’s business, Council members took a moment to recognize members of Boy Scout Troop 301 in attendance, including eight scouts and two leaders.

Mayor Bruce Davis, who was a Boy Scout himself growing up in Lumberton decades ago, felt the recognition was a full-circle moment.

“When I was a little boy, we didn’t have a lot, we lived in a very poor neighborhood. But a retired gentleman started a Boy Scout troop,” Davis said. “I didn’t know what that was at the time. But it was (troop) No. 301. … Today, we have a new 301, and they’re here tonight. It gives me great pleasure to tell you about them, bring them up here and get their picture made, and I’ve got a city pin for each one of them.”

Other business

In other business, Council members:

— Recognized six city employees who recently retired: Christopher White, senior fire captain; Frank Hunt, motor equipment operator; Lorenzo Wilson, a crew supervisor in the recreation department; Charles Evans, a crew supervisor in public works; Joseph Thompson, a police corporal detective; and Deborah Parker, a plant chemist with environmental utility services.

— Appointed Lisa Douglas to fill a vacant seat on the city’s Planning Board representing Precinct 6. Douglas has previously served on the board.

— Appointed McGregor Strickland to the Lumberton Firefighter’s Relief Fund board, replacing Kenny Morgret, who stepped down.

— Approved an agreement with Duke Energy Progress for the adjustment of power lines at the former Scottish Packing Company plant site, where the city has plans to install a boat ramp into the Lumber River. Relocation of the lines is cost-prohibitive, so instead the height of the existing lines will be adjusted so adequate space for the ramp can exist underneath. The cost will be within a range between $35,145.27 and $49,395.03, Deputy City Manager Brandon Love said, depending on whether a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit is required for the project; it will be paid for with existing grant funds.

— Approved for the city to go ahead with the design and permitting of the Linkhaw Road/CSX Railroad culvert replacement. The city has received $250,000 in grant funds, but the project cost will be approximately $600,000, and this approval allows the city to begin planning stages of the project while continuing to seek additional funding, with an approximate difference of $239,010 paid for from Water and Sewer Capital Reserve Funds. A separate grant application has been submitted for a culvert replacement further north on the same railroad track in The Oaks subdivision.

— Approved for the city to formally take bids for a project to widen Fayetteville Road. Materials are expected to cost about $280,000, and labor $635,000; the cost will be paid for up front from the general fund balance but reimbursed by the N.C. Department of Transportation upon the project’s completion.

— Approved agreements between the city and NCDOT regarding utility relocations relating to the I-95 widening project. The city’s required 25% for the utility relocation in the West Fifth Street area will cost approximately $1.292 million, while the same 25% requirement for a Public Works-related utility relocation at the Carthage Road interchange will cost $184,148.15.

— Approved the purchase of an easement on Capuano Road for $61,200.

— Gave city staff the authority to enter into an agreement with Dolan Consulting Group for consulting work regarding crime statistics.

Council members also approved the following allocation of Community Revitalization Funds:

— $900 to the Lumberton Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Beta Sorotity for its MLK Day coat drive.

— $800 to help with expenses for the MLK Day Parade, to be held Jan. 27 at noon.

— $750 for the Lumberton High School cheerleading team for travel expenses for national competition in Florida.

— $750 for the Cupid Shuffle 5K Fun Run on Feb. 10, benefitting the Lumberton Junior Service League.