PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CITY HALL PARKING

Laurinburg, N.C. – October 9, 2018 – The entire parking lot at City Hall will be closed indefinitely beginning on Thursday, October 11th, 2018 due to the ongoing construction of the New City Hall & Police Department. There are parking spaces along both sides of Everett Street from Church Street to McLean Street for customers to use in the interim. There are also 7 additional parking spaces on the grassy area at the corner of Everett Street and McLean Street that are available for parking as well. City Hall will need to be accessed using the walkway coming from Everett Street to the entrance of both the Police Department and the Consumer Billing Department. Please be aware of the signage for handicap parking availability and that space is marked in blue and is closest to this walkway on Everett Street.

If you are visiting City Hall for utility bill payment purposes, please remember that, for convenient alternatives, we have 24/7 bill inquiry and payments via the telephone and the City’s website. Call (910) 276-1521 to access records and make payment by phone or visit our website at www.laurinburg.org and select the option at the top of the page to “Pay Your Bill” to make online payments. The City currently does not charge a fee to remit payment by debit/credit card.

The City also has a Night Drop Box that can be utilized 24/7. Payments deposited in this box are retrieved daily. As an added convenience, please also consider using the Automatic Draft option. If you are interested in using automatic draft, please call or come by the Consumer Billing Office and request the necessary authorization form or you may download it from the City’s website on the Customer Service/Billing page. Automatic drafts occur on the 15th of each month.

You may also inquire with your bank about automatic bill-pay options. The majority of banks offer this option, whereby you can schedule the date you would like your utility payment sent from your bank to be received by the City. This option is handled entirely by your bank and the City has no control over when payment is actually sent. Therefore, you will need to make sure with your bank that the scheduled payment receive date is on or before the 20th of each month to avoid a late fee added on the 21st of each month.

The safety of employees, construction workers, and customers that come to the City Hall to conduct business is the top priority and the reason for taking these measures at this time. Your patience and understanding is greatly appreciated, while we work through this transitional period.

Additional press releases will be forthcoming for any other issues affecting customer access to city services at City Hall.

At its February 20, 2018 meeting, Council approved several changes to its Rules of Procedure concerning Council meetings.  The major changes are as follows:

• Requiring citizens to sign up prior to the meeting to speak during Public Comment Period; however, if time allows at the meeting, a citizen(s) who did not sign up previously can speak during the Public Comment period.
• If an individual has written comments, said comments are to be given to the City Clerk at the meeting.
• Anyone wishing to be on the agenda as a “Delegation” must make such request 10 days prior to the meeting.
• If a “Delegation” has written comments or presentation, they must be provided to the City Clerk 10 days prior to the meeting to be included in agenda packets.
• Maximum time for a “Delegation” to speak is 10 minutes.
• Miscellaneous administrative issues such as removing language concerning Council “work sessions”.

If anyone has any questions or needs clarification, please contact City Clerk Jenny Tippett at 291-2590.