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INDEPENDENT TRIBUNE:  Big plans in little Midland,
Town gearing for growth

  • Tim Reaves                      
  • Aug 14, 2015

MIDLAND, N.C. -- Midland is growing up and growing out, with the potential to become Cabarrus County’s “next big thing.”

The town’s population has been on the rise in the 15 years since its incorporation. It stood at 3,131, according to 2013 data, but its low taxes, proximity to Charlotte, rural surroundings and growing industrial base are attracting more people.

The Saddlebrook subdivision, off Bethel School Road, has sold all of its Phase II lots and is about to move into Phase III, which likely will bring 230 homes and about 700 more residents to the town, Town Administrator Doug Paris said. Other neighborhoods, like Tucker Chase, have seen similar demand. Town staff believe Midland’s population will reach 4,000 by July 2016.

Cabarrus officials on Tuesday unveiled plans for the county’s newest and biggest park, Rob Wallace Park, which happens to be right across the street from Saddlebrook and also adjoins the older Cabarrus Acres neighborhood.

And Corning to the south soon will have a new industrial neighbor. Codenamed “Project Burgundy,” the $56 million, 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility between the Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway and Wallace Road will bring “excellent jobs for the community,” Paris said.

Midland has tried to anticipate and encourage growth by building sewer lines in Cabarrus Acres and Historic Old Midland. And staff members are reviewing plans for the new 16,000-square-foot town hall, library and Main Street development area.

The town council also wants to alter its government to be more in line with larger municipalities.

Under Midland’s current “strong mayor” system, council members also perform staff functions, writing financial and policy documents and going into the field and doing inspections. Meetings are long and detailed, requiring council approval for almost every policy implementation.

As the workload increases, this form of government becomes more tedious and difficult, Paris said.

On Tuesday, the council unanimously passed a resolution stating its intent to change to a new arrangement, the “council-manager” system.

Under a council-manager form of government, the mayor and council focus on crafting goals and policies for the town, and the town hires staff members to implement those policies. The town manager serves in a role like a CEO of town government and has more latitude to implement the policies without the council needing to review every detail.

That system is the most popular type of municipal government in the country, Mayor Kathy Kitts said. Concord and Kannapolis both use it, and Harrisburg intends to change to the system as it too outgrows its strong mayor setup.

Midland’s Town Council has wanted to make the change for several years.

“It helps us to be able to focus on these policies and setting directions for the council and for the town,” Kitts said. “We don’t have to be in the day-to-day operations. … That’s where we want to move to.”

Also on Tuesday the council appointed Paris as its full-time town administrator -- he had been the interim administrator after David Pugh left the job in May. Paris will become town manager if the council adopts the new form of government.

“None of us have been trained to be in public administration,” Kitts said, and it would be a “fantastic thing” to have a professional like Paris in charge of town operations.

A public hearing on the government structure change will be held on Sept. 8, and the council expects to vote on the change at its October meeting.

http://www.independenttribune.com/news/big-plans-in-little-midland/article_47220f46-4286-11e5-8b4e-bfc6250404eb.html