The Cost of Waiting: How Delayed Planning Affects Our Community's Future
If it sounds like our community is experiencing the results of long-term inaction regarding growth and infrastructure maintenance - You’re Right!
When local governments delay or ignore the critical task of planning for growth and maintaining infrastructure, it sets the stage for a multitude of cascading challenges.
Firstly, infrastructure, whether it be wastewater utilities, schools, or jails, deteriorates over time. When maintenance is postponed, small, manageable issues can evolve into major, costly repairs or even require complete replacement. As communities grow without proper foresight, the infrastructure, originally designed for smaller populations, becomes overloaded, leading to inefficiencies, service interruptions, and potentially even public health or safety hazards. Furthermore, a lack of preparation for growth can strain public services, from schools becoming overcrowded to emergency services being spread thin. Residents might experience decreased quality of life, and local businesses can suffer from inadequate support structures. Additionally, when a community plays catch-up and reacts to these challenges rather than proactively addressing them, it often results in higher costs and hastily-made decisions that might not be in the best long-term interest of the community. In essence, prolonged inaction regarding growth and infrastructure not only has significant financial implications but also impacts the daily lives of residents and the overall health of a community.
Some citizens have said, “…the solution is simple; just slow down the growth and allow the infrastructure to catch up”. Fair enough, but it really isn’t that simple. Rooted deeply into Conservative ideology are Property Ownership Rights which are protected fiercely in North Carolina. There is a great deal of farmland in and around the Town of Waxhaw and the reality is, some of the children who are inheriting the land are choosing not to farm. They’re dreaming of being doctors, lawyers or investing in other areas and so they sell the land. One of the largest landowners in our area once told me, “As long as yankee is buyin’; I’m sellin’. And who can blame him - he’s holding a $35 million check in his hand. Can you guess who’s buying the land? And can you guess what the buyer is going to do? They certainly aren’t going to turn it into a park, or a horse farm for our benefit.
Working with landowners in a way that benefits both sides has been and can continue to provide dividends for the Town of Waxhaw. These dividends have come to us in the way of infrastructure improvements, traffic lights, parks and connections to walking trails. That’s a big deal and we need to continue thinking in this direction so that future projects benefit us long-term.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation “NCDOT” is not going to rescue our town and they do not build interior roadway systems. They are currently over programmed by more than $12 billion which simply means, they have more projects than they could possibly ever complete.
For more than 20 years, Union County has been ignoring growth in our area by kicking the can down the road. Problem is, our community offers what a lot of other people in America want out of a community. Folks are moving out of crime ridden, poorly run cities in record numbers.
Can anyone guess what the first metric is that people consider before moving to an area? Schools! Union County schools consistently rank among the highest in the state and are nationally recognized. This is a remarkable achievement that is 100% attributed to our amazing teachers. The second metric people consider before moving to an area is crime.
It almost does seem overly simple to think about what’s going to happen in a community with such high school standards and low crime. More folks are going to move here.
North Carolina was just rated by CNBC as the number 1 state to do business in America. In fact, Union County is consistently among the fasted growing counties in Country for 20 years - and top in the state.
Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
Development isn’t going to stop. It’s also not going to slow down in spite of what some people might be pandering. If you’re hearing people say these things, they’re being dishonest and would be breaking North Carolina law should they be elected. That’s a FACT and not an opinion.
Projects are now coming in with package plants to solve wastewater challenges given the long-term inaction regarding growth and infrastructure maintenance from Union County. This cannot be stopped given the property owner rights. Any ideas what happens if/when a package plant fails? The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality “DEQ” comes in and the County has to take assume responsibility. And guess who pays for that? All of us.
Some residents have become upset with my truth telling, calling me a RINO or pontificating too often. Thing is, I’ve promised everyone in our town that I would be an analytically-driven Commissioner who’s transparent, and who votes based on what best serves the town.
I am going to say the quiet part out loud and let you know what’s really going on in our County.
Here we go…
For more than 100 years, there’s been a quiet little war going on between Eastern Union County and Western Union County. During a recent visit with a County official, it was told directly to me that, “Eastern Union County is tired of paying for the growth in Western Union County.”. That’s really interesting because the most recent ballot for a $130 million school bond mostly serves schools in Eastern Union County.
Additionally, sitting in between the Lawson neighborhood and the main border of Waxhaw is the Encore Community under the jurisdiction of Union County. The project applicant chose to process the project through Union County rather than the Town of Waxhaw. The realization was that the Town of Waxhaw has more strict ordinances such as traffic impact analysis, tree save and green space. The end result is that the County approved the project with fewer requirements. Fast forward to today, the development will now take full advantage of our town without having to pay to fund our police department, roadway improvements, and intersection improvements as would have been required by annexing into the Town of Waxhaw.
Union County Commissioner Melissa Merrill ran her campaign on shutting down the planned future of a wastewater treatment facility; an effort that generally takes 10 years to complete from end to end. Immediately after getting elected, she and a few other Union County Board members voted to lease back the 82 acre $4.6 million property to the original seller for $250 per month. Read that again. This transaction alone was shady enough that the North Carolina Auditor is currently reviewing. Problem is, when this investigation gets referred to the Attorney General, what happens next? When it gets referred to the Attorney General, is he going to be conflicted or simply overlook the indiscretions? It’s hard to tell, but I’ve already asked all of the other candidates for North Carolina Attorney General their opinions. This topic will certainly be a debate topic for 2024.
Some of the remaining remnants of the “Red Wall” who remain on the board in Union County are desperate to stop growth in Western Union County. This is the reason we’re seeing these “Walls” pop up and pandering to voters with promises of “No Growth” and lower taxes that they will not be able to keep. Case in point, The “Red Wall” promised to lower utility rates in order to get your vote, and 4 months after getting elected, the rates were raised back up after being told by the County Manager that they couldn’t sustain the lower rate.
The chickens have come home to roost and there is nowhere else to kick the can. Union County is in a deep hole from long-term inaction regarding growth and infrastructure maintenance with our wastewater, jails and schools.
As Union County continues to delay or ignore the critical task of planning for growth and maintaining infrastructure, it sets the stage for a multitude of cascading challenges. Firstly, infrastructure, whether it be wastewater utilities, schools, or jails, deteriorates over time. When maintenance is postponed, small, manageable issues can evolve into major, costly repairs or even require complete replacement. As communities grow without proper foresight, the infrastructure, originally designed for smaller populations, becomes overloaded, leading to inefficiencies, service interruptions, and potentially even public health or safety hazards. Furthermore, a lack of preparation for growth can strain public services, from schools becoming overcrowded to emergency services being spread thin. Residents might experience decreased quality of life, and local businesses can suffer from inadequate support structures. Additionally, when a community plays catch-up and reacts to these challenges rather than proactively addressing them, it often results in higher costs and hastily-made decisions that might not be in the best long-term interest of the community. In essence, prolonged inaction regarding growth and infrastructure not only has significant financial implications but also impacts the daily lives of residents and the overall health of a community.
Union County may tell you they have a growth plan, but they don’t. It has been stated by County officials the plan being considered is Bond Referendums every 2 years. Whether they’re Revenue Bonds or General Obligation Bonds, we’re not sure yet, but you can bet that taxes will be going up. To make matters worse, Union County will tell you that they’re not raising the rate to make you think that your taxes aren’t going up, but a Bond is a tax and we’ll be paying more - and that’s another FACT.
Several municipalities and organizations in Western Union County that include The Village of Marvin, The Town of Weddington, The Town of Waxhaw, and the Union County Chamber of Commerce signed resolutions asking the County for their growth and utilities plan. The resolution signed by the Union County Chamber was the nicest out of them all and even offered to help the County develop a plan. Instead of coming together and collaboratively developing a plan, the County got mad and voted to leave the Chamber of Commerce - a non-profit solely focused on encouraging and building up the businesses in our community. What does that tell you?
Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
Regularly turning to Bond Referendums as a go-to solution for community challenges presents significant pitfalls. While they may offer some financial relief in the short term, they pile on future debt, potentially leading to recurrent tax hikes for residents. This approach, focused on quick fixes rather than long-term planning, can strain a municipality's budget, diminish public trust, and limit financial flexibility. In essence, over-reliance on bonds risks creating a fragile financial foundation, hindering the community's ability to proactively address future needs and unforeseen crises.
Bond Referendums can certainly be a useful tool in specific scenarios. However, relying on them as a temporary means of addressing longstanding neglect and lack of planning is not a sustainable or financially prudent approach. A more comprehensive, collaborative, and proactive plan would be in the best interests of the community's long-term health and stability.
So, what’s next and how do we move forward?
The Town of Waxhaw currently has a board in place who are working towards what is best for
our future and acting on input from all the citizens and not just a single group. The opposition, who refer to themselves as, “The Waxhaw Wall” will have you believe otherwise. I am offering you the truth in that every action the current Waxhaw board takes, is working towards our future together as a community.
The challenges we face are complicated and not simple.
Vote Informed.
Ask the questions.
Contact your elected officials.
#Truth
#BridgesNotWall