Steve Morris honored in final council meeting; public hearing for land use plan set for next month

ROCKINGHAM — Outgoing city council member Steve Morris was recognized at the November meeting of the Rockingham council.

Mayor John Hutchison presented a Community Service Award to Morris for his service of nine years as mayor or Rockingham and 19 years as a council member. Morris was also presented with a watch.

“It has been a pleasure and a high honor to serve the citizens of Rockingham and the surrounding area for the past 27 years,” Morris, who decided not to run for re-election, shared. “[My wife] Cynthia and I would have never dreamed of this as a young man, but here we are.”

“First and foremost, I could not have served without the support of my dear wife Cynthia,” Morris said. “She was always by my side, encouraging, critiquing and censoring my my contemplated remarks and sometimes her kind words were ‘I don’t believe I’d say that if I were you.’”

Morris thanked the mentoring he received from former mayors Gene McLaurin and G.R. Kindley, as well as City Manager Monty Crump and Assistant City Manager John Massey.

“The things we accomplished over the past twenty years were things we did together,” Morris said. “There were no ‘I did’… it was all ‘We did.’”

Morris warmly recalled some advice given to him from his grandfather.

“‘First, he stated ‘That if you are coasting, you’re going downhill.’ Secondly, he stated ‘If you’re driving a bus and trying to move forward, you will never get there by constantly looking in the rear view mirror.’ Thanks again for giving me the pleasure of serving with you and may God continue to bless us all.

Morris received a standing ovation following his remarks.

“I appreciate your honesty, your listening, and your willingness to accept our differences of opinions,” shared mayor pro tem Denise Sullivan, calling Morris a mentor and fondly recalling Morris’ longtime Rockingham jewelry store.

“I couldn’t ask for anybody to work better side by side for the benefit of the citizens of Rockingham with their interest always first and foremost in every decision that we made,” shared council member Bennett Deane who has worked with Morris since 2000. “You’ve often been the voice of reason many times.”

“You’ve been a good leader and done a real good job,” shared council member Gene Willard. “What’s most appreciated is you never had an agenda, other than what’s in the best interest of Rockingham,” shared Crump. “That’s the biggest compliment you could pay somebody.”

All council members also provided words of encouragement for incoming council member Holly Howe, who was in attendance of the meeting. Howe will be sworn in to office before next month’s meeting.

“It’s an awesome responsibility but you will do well and people have shared their confidence in you in wanting to serve,” Morris said.

Morris said he is looking forward to staying in Rockingham.

“I’ve bought a plot out at Eastside Cemetery so I’m going to stay awhile,” Morris said with a smile.

Shaping Our Future: 2033

Massey shared that a final draft of Rockingham’s land use plan, Shaping Our Future: 2033, has been completed after 15 months of work and collaboration.

“The plan is the culmination of extensive research and documentation of existing conditions in the community; a thorough effort to collect input from citizens; and the formulation of goals and objectives regarding priorities for growth and development over the next decade,” Massey stated in the memorandum.

The land use plan is now a requirement under North Carolina state law for zoning, although this is the third reiteration of the document that Rockingham has completed.

“It is very much a living document,” said Hutchinson. “We refer to it often, we monitor it and watch our success…and measure ourselves against the goals were periodically. In many ways it’s a document that does provide a roadmap for us for the next ten years.”

A public hearing will be held on the land use plan in December.

In a June letter to city council, Massey identified that 23 of the 32 objectives under the eight goals from Shaping Our Future: 2023 had either been accomplished or made significant progress.