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Open house
An open house and reception for the Gaston College East Campus will be Oct. 8.
This event is open to the public and scheduled for 4:30 p.m. in the general classroom building at 7230 Wilkinson Blvd. in Belmont.
Gaston County voters approved bond funds to the college to support the renovation of over 13,000 square feet in the general classroom building. A second floor was added to the facility’s existing high bay areas, adding over 6,300 square feet to make new classrooms, computer labs, offices and other areas in the facility.
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Apparent solution reached in watering crisis
By THOMAS LARK
- Thu, Mar 20, 2008
BELMONT—An apparent solution was reached Monday night in the ongoing watering crisis caused by the drought.
At a special meeting of the Belmont City Council, a motion was passed unanimously to approve the recommendation of the Belmont Water and Sewer Committee, made March 10 at the latter group’s meeting.
The motion, respectively made and seconded by councilmen Charlie Flowers and Charlie Martin, means revising the city’s current Stage Three water use restrictions by:
•limiting hand-watering and drip irrigation of trees, shrubs, plants and personal food gardens to three days a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, with no time-of-day limitations on said watering methods, while watering grass and turf remains forbidden;
•allowing for the maintenance of plant inventories at retail garden centers, such centers within mass merchandise outlets or other businesses with live plants, as their stock-in-trade is permitted by means designated and operated to maximize the efficiency of water use;
•and by letting customers apply for variances to permit the maintenance of freshly-installed landscapes, lawns and erosion control projects that were initiated before the issuance of the Stage Three directives.
Before the vote, the council heard from Gerald Robinson, a scientist with the United States Geological Survey. Thanks in part to last week’s heavy rains, Robinson said, the levels at area lakes are the same now as they were a year ago.
“But this can be misleading to the public,” he said, adding that the drought is by no means over. “A drought is extremely difficult to predict.”
With normal rainfall amounts, local municipalities could see a return to the less severe Stage Two conditions in six to nine months, said Robinson.
“But I’m not a policymaker,” he said. “I’m purely a scientist.”
Belmont Utilities Director Chuck Flowers said his department has imposed fines upon customers with leaks of more than 1,000 gallons.
“But we’ve not had to fine too much since November,” Flowers noted.
He added that meters may not be a good way to police the matter anymore, and spot checking could be better.
Mayor Dr. Richard Boyce observed that the council was seeking only to do the best in a difficult circumstance.
“We’re trying to do what’s right by our citizens in this drought,” said Boyce, “and not impose any undue burden on our city staff, Chuck and his crew. And our intent is not to hurt any business but to do simply what we think is right in this situation.”
Local landscaper Brian Hoagland of Hoaglandscape said drip irrigation would have only the most minimal of impacts.
City Manager Barry Webb noted that there are always variations in lake levels.
Robinson again stressed the diceyness of droughts.
“You can’t predict,” he said. “You can only go on probabilities.”
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