CORNELIUS NC: Celebration! Of both past and present—was the focus of Cornelius’s October 7th Board of Commissioners meeting. Awards, proclamations and presentations show pride in the Cornelius community.

AME Zion Church – 150th Anniversary

The largest of the meeting was the celebration of Torrence Chapel AME Zion Church’s 150th anniversary. At 150 years, the historic black church predates Cornelius’ founding in 1893. Mayor Woody Washam recognized the church’s foundation of faith that has supported the area since its inception with a mayoral proclamation. The church’s many members were on hand to both receive the honor and to invite town leadership to their celebration gala later this month.

LaketoberFest wins Innovative Program Award

Parks, Arts, Recreation, and Culture (PARC) of Cornelius parks was also recognized. The 2019 NC Recreation and Parks Association awarded the town its Innovative Program Award for the LaketoberFest event [Pictured at top of article]. This event was started in 2013 with ~700 attendees but has grown to ~5500 as of 2018. The event is planned and partnered with Lake Norman Wildlife Conservationists. The event benefits this organization which in turn works to improve parks in the area. Dr. Scott Higgins, chair of the PARC commission, was on hand to be recognized for his work. The 2019 LaketoberFest was a great success on Saturday, October 12th at Bailey Road Park.

Cornelius police officers’ achievements

Three Cornelius police officers were also applauded. Lt. James Quattlebaum was recognized for completing his Masters Degree in Criminal Justice while Cpls. Graham Smith and Jeremy Sapp received their Intermediate Law Enforcement Certificates. Chief Black joined the mayor and town leadership in congratulating these officers.

Noise ordinance revisited

Celebration wasn’t the only thing on the agenda however. While the town took acceptance of two streets without contention it was the revisitation of the Noise Ordinance that cause heavy discussion. An amendment was proposed to allow citations to be waved if the violator takes action to mediate sound violations. While this was not disputed, Commissioner Kurt Naas pointed out that the ordinance as written set a limit at 100dB, which is much higher than surrounding areas. (For perspective, Charlotte is set at 85db. 100db is 32x as loud).

Members of both the board and town management acknowledged that this was true but pointed out that site measurements of ambient sounds in the area could be found above 90db in multiple locations. It was for this reason that a lower threshold could not be recommended. The amendment passed 4-1 with Naas against. Mayor Washam called it a “good start” and that “hopefully [it] will continue to improve.”

Cornelius Town Board meets the 1^st and 3^rd Mondays of the month at 7pm in the Assembly Room at Cornelius Town Hall, 21445 Catawba Avenue, Cornelius, NC 28031. You can view current and past agendas  as well as video streaming of the meetings on the Cornelius Town Hall website.