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In addition to receiving a report on plans for the Stanly County Family YMCA’s westward expansion and adopting a bicycle and pedestrian plan for the town, Oakboro commissioners unanimously passed a motion to begin efforts to employ a police chief for the town.
Commissioner Bud Smith moved to terminate long-term contract discussions with the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office, while extending the existing short-term contract with the agency. Within the motion, he added that the commissioners would “give the hiring committee authority to aggressively pursue a chief of police.”
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Brett Barbee and passed by a 5-0 vote.
The action by the commissioners follows several months of controversy marked by several resignations among the town’s police force, followed by the resignation of Police Chief T.J. Smith in July.
A subsequent decision by commissioners to enter a long-term policing contract with the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office was met with opposition from citizens at public forums, leading to Monday’s action.
Earlier in the meeting, Stanly County Family YMCA CEO George Crooker, Assistant CEO Kelley Bigger and Fundraising Committee Member Charles Brown reported on the campaign to bring a YMCA facility to the West Stanly area.
“Even though it will be in Locust, it’s not going to be the ‘Locust YMCA,’ ” said Crooker, emphasizing that current growth in the West Stanly area justifies the proposed western facility.
“The time is right, and the people of West Stanly deserve this,” he said.
Bigger noted that the YMCA has operated programs in western Stanly for the past 25 years.
“We offer after-school programs, we operate the West Stanly Senior Center and we have a food pantry in the area as well,” she told the board.
Brown explained the two phases of the fundraising efforts, which, in addition to the $17 million western facility in Locust, would also include a $5 million improvement to the existing YMCA facility in Albemarle.
“Fundraising for phase one (improvements to the existing facility) has been limited to the eastern side of the county,” he said, adding, “any funds raised in excess of those needed for phase one will go toward phase two (construction of the West Stanly YMCA).
Brown noted that funding for the West Stanly facility would be concentrated within the western communities, and would be revenue neutral to the towns, since the YMCA is not tax-funded.
“There will be no increase in ad valorem taxes to develop this facility,” he said.
Commissioners voiced their support of the project.
“Nobody has to sell me on the benefits of the YMCA,” said Smith, adding that he visits the YMCA in Albemarle “at least a couple times a week.”
“I totally support this,” added Barbee.
Crooker noted that fundraising would begin “the middle of next year (2025),” with construction tentatively planned to begin in “late 2027 to early 2028.”
A resolution to adopt a comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian plan for the town was passed unanimously, following a remote presentation by Senior Transportation Planner Lyuba Zuyeva of VHB Engineering, along with comments from David Heath, a member of the plan steering committee, and Parks and Recreation Director Daniel Smith.
Zuyeva reported that the planning process, started in January 2023 and completed in August 2024, involved a local steering committee which conducted several public forums to gather input for the plan.
Heath noted that projects identified by the steering committee were prioritized based on citizen input.
“There were five projects that were prioritized in the scoring process, two of which were moved up from a community standpoint,” he said.
The final plan identified five projects as high priority, including bicycle lanes and pedestrian improvements on Main Street, improvements at the intersection of N.C. Highway 138, N.C. Highway 742, and St. Martin Road to enhance pedestrian safety, construction of two shared-use paths, which would connect downtown with Oakboro District Park and the South Oakboro community, and improvements to existing sidewalks.
The resolution to adopt the plan was passed unanimously following a motion by Barbee and a second by Commissioner LaToya Jackson.
According to Zuyeva, the next step for the town is to coordinate with the Rocky River Rural Planning Organization to integrate the newly-adopted plan into the RPO’s comprehensive transportation plan update.
The next meeting of the Oakboro Town Commission will take place on Nov. 18 at Town Hall.

Toby Thorpe is a freelance writer for The Stanly News & Press.