Group wants city to improve customer service

Rocky Mount City Council fielded complaints Monday from residents who say the city fails to meet the service needs of residential utility customers.

Jessie Frazier, chairwoman of Members of Citizens for Fair Utilities, asked city officials to furnish her and her group with a copy of the city’s customer service policy.

Frazier and Rocky Mount resident Dorothy Cook both accused city customer service representatives of refusing to restore power to the home of an ailing resident when overnight temperatures dropped below 40 degrees last month.

“She was told there was nothing they could do to help her,” Cook said. “They told her, ‘You can call 911 if you need to.’”

Mayor David Combs attempted to reassure Cook, referring her to a city policy that requires the public utilities department restore power to homes of delinquent customers with health issues.

Frazier said she plans to review the customer service policy and propose changes to improve the plan. Members of Citizens for Fair Utilities, along with a few other community action groups, has been lobbying more than a year for city leaders to take steps to lower utility rates.

Welcomed annexation

Also at its regular monthly meeting, the council agreed to investigate a request to annex a five-acre lot northwest of the city for the development of a credit union.

Officials with State Employees’ Credit Union petitioned Rocky Mount leaders last month to incorporate the property at the corner of N.C. 43 and Peele Road, heading toward Dortches.

Credit Union officials said they plan to develop the property and build a third local credit union branch to serve residents who live north of Rocky Mount.

The parcel is contiguous to Rocky Mount city limits, Assistant City Manager Peter Varney said, and meets all legal requirements to be annexed.

Planning officials will conduct a feasibility of the proposed annexation before moving forward.

New office space

In other business, City Council approved a proposal to purchase the lot at 230 S. Church St., formerly operated by Hertz Rent-A-Car.

Utilizing a transportation grant included in the federal stimulus package, city officials proposed to purchase the property for $72,000 and use it to relocate the Tar River Transit rural driver’s office from the first floor of the Train Station.

The N.C. Department of Transportation had requested the city vacate the office. AMTRAK plans to take control of the space occupied by Tar River Transit, city officials said.

Sports complex expansion

The council also accepted a grant Monday that will help park officials move forward with the third phase of development at the Rocky Mount Sports Complex. The $75,000 project will pay for a proposed trail to connect the complex with the Tar River Trail.

City officials also plan to add batting cages, sand volleyball courts, a large playground and a picnic shelter to the facility off Independence Drive. About half of the $397,000 project will be covered through a reimbursement grant from the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, officials said.

The plan also will bring covered dugouts to the 10 baseball and softball fields already at the complex. Per the grant agreement, the city will have until the end of 2012 to complete the construction.

City Council scheduled its committee of the whole meeting for 2 p.m. Nov. 23 at City Hall.