The pallets are stacked about 30-40 high.
NORMAN — Community members and the Town Council of Norman expressed frustration about the visual eyesore that’s being caused by a wood pallet production company that’s using a former community center as a storage facility.
“He’s really making our town look really ugly,” said resident Hilda Pemberton. “It appears that it gets worse day by day. It’s going to get to the point that nobody wants to come to Norman. Those of us who live here, we want to keep our town looking half-way decent. I’m really ashamed to have anybody come and visit me.”
Local business owner Alfonso Carrillo pays $450 a month for the storage facility. The current lease ends at the beginning of April.
Town Clerk Glenda McInnis says that “we’re in between a rock and a hard place” on whether to continue the lease. Norman has lost all of its sales tax money as a result of Richmond County’s switch from per capita to an ad valorem sales tax distribution method last year. The $450 of rent money is now Norman’s primary source of income.
“We know it looks ugly and we’ve talked to him about how it looks,” Mayor Pro Tem Stephen Cranford said. “We haven’t decided yet (to renew the lease). He’s going to have to clean-up a lot.”
Members of the community mentioned concerns about the unloading of the pallets and how cars in the process are blocking the street. The stacks of pallets, including the ones closest to the road, reach about 40 pallets high, which some pointed to as a safety hazard.
Mayor Tonia Collins said that Carrillo promised that the storage facility would be kept clean and not become a problem.
“If we knew it was going to look like that, we would never have agreed to it,” Cranford said. “We’re going to do something about it.”
Cranford noted that the town of Norman needs the income and that the rent money is supporting the town of Norman at the moment.
“I know it looks bad and I get sick of it every time,” Cranford said. “Just be a little patient and we’re going to try and fix it.”
Councilwoman Renate Mann said that if they can resolve the sales tax dispute with the county, they will be in a stronger financial position to see if something else can be arranged.
