Russell Ledbetter | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) | Jan. 23, 2008

With the town board’s retreat planned for Feb. 22-23, aldermen have compiled a list of 22 accomplishments that grew out of February’s annual meeting.

Among the most significant was an overdue examination of the town’s overloaded sewer system, Town Manager David Saleeby said.

“Thanks to camera work, engineers have been able to look at (the town sewage system) and see that some areas don’t even have manholes or concrete floors,” Mayor Elbert Richardson said. “Some have clay pipes or joints have loosened and when rainwater makes its way to the Statesville water and sewage treatment system, we end up paying Statesville to treat (rain) water.”

Richardson said an upgrade of the town sewage system will “start with what is the worst.”

“The biggest majority of improvements people will never see because they are underground,” he said.

Also topping last year’s list was fulfilling the town board’s wish to recruit and retain quality employees, which Saleeby called the town’s “most valuable asset.”

“I want to make sure we are hiring additional police officers and keeping ahead of the curve,” Mayor Pro Tem Mike Spath said.

“We wanted to make sure that employees’ salaries and benefits remain competitive.”

That means putting the days when the town was a training ground for other municipalities to pluck valuable employees in the past, Richardson said.

“We are getting up to speed and whereas our employees could get more money in other places, we decided to upgrade our people,” he explained. “And it’s already started to pay off.”

The Town Board hired Matthew Selves, a former Iredell County Sheriff’s Office detective, to become Troutman’s chief of police in 2007.

Building on action items certain to be added to 2008’s list, the town held a public input meeting Jan. 14 in which 70 Troutman residents, working in groups of eight to 10, made suggestions for guiding the town’s future growth.

Participation “was huge,” city planner Emily Jackson said. “The big key is getting the public involved and not having just staff or board members plan the town’s growth.”

The town board and city staff will hold their annual retreat at Lake Norman State Park. The meetings are open to the public.

The revitalization and planning of downtown and plans for a new Troutman Town Hall and municipal building will be discussed.

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