Cornelius commissioners are expected to vote Monday night on the proposed $18.8 million town budget for 2014-15. The board also will hold a public hearing on Avery Park, a proposed 94-lot development on Bailey Road, across from W.A. Hough High School.

The meeting begins at 7pm at Town Hall, 21445 Catawba Ave. There’s also a 6pm “pre-meeting,” where commissioners will discuss a possible 3 percent pay raise for themselves as well as budget growth over the past 10 years in everything from salaries and retirement costs to trash pickups and town landscaping. Commissioner Dave Gilroy had requested the discussion at the last meeting, as a prelude to a vote on the 2014-15 budget.

The board will resume a public hearing on the budget, then likely take a vote. The spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1 leaves the town tax rate unchanged, at 24 cents per $100 of assessed value. It includes a 3 percent increase for merit raises for town employees and adds money for projects, police and fire equipment, among other things.

See more details of the budget on the town website, and in our May 5, 2014, report, “Manager’s budget won’t raise taxes, adds money for projects”

AVERY PARK

The board also will resume a public hearing on another rezoning, for Avery Park, a medium-density subdivision off Bailey Road. Developer M/I Homes is requesting a rezoning to allow a medium-density conservation of about 94 homes on 40.5 acres across Bailey Road from Hough High School. The developers plan houses of 2,100 to 3,500 square feet, with Victorian-style designs similar to what the company is currently building in the Antiquity Cornelius neighborhood.

See more about the project on the town website and in our Feb. 7, 2014, report, “99 homes planned on Bailey Rd., across from Hough High”.

OTHER ITEMS

In addition the budget and zoning matters, the board will take up several other issues:

• PARC Fee Schedule Changes – Town officials have proposed increases in some PARC usage fees, including field and gym rentals, and new fees for rental of the the new artificial turf fields going in at Bailey Road Park. The PARC Commission has endorsed the new fees.
• MI-Connection Board Representative Appointment – The board is expected to reappoint Bill Sykes as a nonvoting board member of the cable system, owned by Davidson and Mooresville, which also serves Cornelius.
• Big Day at the Lake Resolution – The board is expected to approve a resolution in support of Big Day at the Lake on July 19, which gives children with Big Brothers Big Sisters an outing on Lake Norman.
• Harborside Parking – The agenda lists a discussion about parking issues in the Harborside neighborhood, off West Catawba Avenue. Some residents there have been asking the town to intervene in a dispute with the homeowners association over whether the neighborhood should impose parking restrictions.
• Closed session – A closed session is planned to discuss two unspecified personnel matters.

See the full agenda on the town website.