Morganton seeks $6.7M in grant funding for CoMMA upgrades

To give the 40-year-old CoMMA Performing Arts Center a makeover, the Morganton City Council has directed the Western Piedmont Council of Governments to apply for $6.7 million in federal funding to complete the project.

In 2023, the city completed a master plan for CoMMA, which revealed the need for renovations to the front of house, auditorium, backstage areas, dressing rooms, along with the addition of a loading dock, storage space, and a multipurpose space for community events and classes.

Ben Willis with the WPCOG came before the council Monday evening to discuss the project’s eligibility for a pot of funding dedicated to commercial revitalization with the federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program.

“This funding has to support revitalization and the recovery of your commercial district, so it has to be for something that supports visitors, tourism, use of restaurants, use of hotels,” City Manager Sally Sandy said.

The funding could cover not only the construction of the project but would provide an additional 10% in funding for project administration.

“We’re trying to take advantage of as much opportunity to bring as much of these funds to not only the City of Morganton, to Western North Carolina as possible,” Willis said, adding that the application will be one of the first applications for the western part of the state.

Mayor Pro Tempore Wendy Cato asked whether state officials have given any insight into whether they would be interested in funding the project. Willis, who is the director of community and economic development for the WPCOG, said he would not make any promises, but added that the city and the WPCOG have a strong application because of their combined CDBG experience.

“None of us are really experienced in disaster recovery work, so we’re trying to apply what we know about CDBG to disaster recovery, and it is weird, but we’re going to go after it,” Willis said, adding that another pot of money will open in July.

The next round of funding will address public infrastructure projects, where parks and recreation projects will be eligible. The city has been struggling to find disaster funding for its parks and recreation projects, which was the hardest hit department during Hurricane Helene.

SPEED LIMIT CHANGE

The council approved a concurrence with the N.C. Department of Transportation’s plan to add stop signs on Kirksey Drive at Amherst Road, converting the intersection into a four-way stop.

The change comes after there have been several serious-injury accidents in the area. Along with the additional stop signs, the speed limit will decrease from 45 to 40 mph along Kirksey Drive from East Union Street to around Vine Arden Road.

Wendy Smith, director of Development and Design Services, said that it would be ideal to have a roundabout in that area, but that it would be costly and likely require infrastructure changes and taking some surrounding property.

“From a planner’s perspective, it’s a bypass, and the point of the bypass is not to stop, but we also want to take care of people,” Smith said.

Councilman Butch McSwain said he found it odd to only decrease the speed limit 5 mph as opposed to 35 mph. Smith said that originally NCDOT only asked for stop signs, but city staff asked for some sort of appropriate reduction to help those that might not be aware they have to stop.

“They did their studies with the appropriate traffic analysis tools, and they came back with the recommendation to reduce it to 40,” Smith said.

“The reality is that even if we don’t concur, they (NCDOT) can still do it, and they will,” Sandy said, adding that the city will change its ordinance once stop signs and speed limit signs have been installed, so that the city can change its ordinance in order to allow enforcement.

OTHER ITEMS:

• Council approved the voluntary annexation of two properties on Enola Road, adjacent to Fiddler’s Run, after nobody spoke during a public hearing on the item.
• Council approved a Memorandum of Agreement, authorizing the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to improve public access at the Morganton Weir Portage. With $139,600 from Duke Energy, the city and NC Wildlife will expand the current easement by 50 feet and have two concrete take-outs/put-ins to better accommodate river traffic.
• Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the Morganton Department of Public Safety and Western Piedmont Community College that allows designated MDPS employees to serve as adjunct instructors, while remaining in their regular employment capacity with the department. WPCC will reimburse MPDS at a rate of $32 per hour for each hour an employee works as an adjunct instructor.