Ronda commissioners discussed a proposed nuisance ordinance during their September meeting on Tuesday night.
"We need to look over this very carefully and take our time with it," said Commissioner Sam Foster.
"I am very leery of this. Are we letting in more government interference and having less for the individual," said Foster.
"We are a community and we have to have standards," responded Mayor Victor Varela. "This can affect our property values."
The proposed nuisance ordinance was partially prepared by Benchmark of Kannapolis and was presented during the July meeting. The nuisance ordinance would restrict junk cars in the yard and other upkeep issues. Benchmark is a firm that writes and enforces town ordinances.
Commissioners have been reading over the ordinance since then before a final draft is written by the town's lawyer, Bob Laney.
Restricting junk cars and indoor furniture from residents' yards was particularly mentioned by town officials during the meeting.
"Does this mean people can't have a couch on their front porch," asked Lahoma O'Lague, town administrator.
Commissioners wondered if junk cars and lumber from housing repairs could be in the backyards of town residents.
"Can't we say something about items being a certain distance from the road before banning them," suggested Foster.
Mayor Varela told Foster he needed to talk to a cross section of residents about what they want in a nuisance ordinance.
"I have talked to residents and many of them don't want this. They want to have a couch on their front porch," said Foster. "This is a slippery slope."
Commissioner Brenda Miller pointed out that an unmowed yard, banned in the proposed ordinance, causes rats and snakes.
"Let's go through this again and fine tune it to make changes for the next meeting," said Varela.
The ordinance, once approved, will be enforced by Benchmark. Varela said penalty fines for not obeying the ordinance would be structured so it covered the town's cost for hiring Benchmark.
Commissioners hope to approve the revised ordinance during the October meeting.
Update on the sewer, water
Varela said around 100 people are on the waiting list for water in the Pleasant Hill area. Grading has been completed on the pump station in that area and pipes are out for placement.
"We are just waiting for the pump station to be built," said Varela.
Lightning storms on Sept. 6 hit the pump station located near Memorial Park, the town's park near the Yadkin River.
Three thousand gallons of sewage spilled out around the station, said town officials. Alarms did not go off and no other signals were made for assistance. Also the generator did not begin working.
"They should have come on," said Varela. He said this is not the first time problems have occurred with the pump station.
Varela plans to discuss the pump station problems during a called meeting of the Yadkin Valley Sewer Authority on Thursday in Elkin.
Memorial Park
The town did not receive a state grant for improvements to Memorial Park, but were encouraged to resubmit the bid in January. Commissioners plan to meet one more time, before ordering basic playground equipment for the park. The town will pay for the equipment, which will include a swing set, slide and more.
Miscellaneous
Commissioners agreed to require landlords and new tenants to sign for water before it is turned on at the town hall.
Laney said enforcement of the town's Animal Control Ordinance is provided by the sheriff's department, following a discussion on dog problems.
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