Town of Woodland Board Minutes
Date: February 13, 2020
7:00 PM

Board/Staff Present:

Randy Beale – Mayor
David Cooper – Commissioner
Barbara Outland – Commissioner
Brian Christison - Commissioner
Eddie Hoggard – Police Officer
Marshall Lassiter – ORC

Commissioner Ricky Morris was absent.
Donielle McDermott was absent.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited followed by a moment of silent reflection.

Call to Order: Mayor Beale called the meeting to order at 7pm.

Approval of Agenda: The first item of business was the approval or amendment of the agenda. Commissioner Christison made a motion to amend the agenda by adding 6 b. Fire Dept. tree removal, 8 e. CDBG Grant, 8 f. Census 2020, and add a Closed Session for personnel. Commissioner Cooper seconded and the motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: The next item on the agenda was the approval or amendment of the minutes from the Regular Board meeting dated 1/2/20 and the Closed Session meeting dated 1/2/20. Commissioner Cooper made a motion to approve all the minutes as written. Commissioner Christison seconded and the motion carried.

Consideration of Bills: Commissioner Christison made a motion to pay all the current bills and to also pay all the regular bills that come in throughout the month. Commissioner Cooper seconded and the motion carried.

Public Comments: Patty Deneen spoke on behalf of the Woodland Community Outreach and invited the board and town employees to an Employee Appreciation Luncheon hosted by WCO on Friday March 6, 2020. More details will follow.

Fire Department:
a. Commissioner Christison shared with the board that the proposed 2020-2021 fire department budget was mailed to the county per County Manager Jackson’s request.
b. There are three quotes for the removal of the trees at the site of the proposed new fire department building: $4600 which does not include removal of tree tops or stumps, $11,467 removal of all 46 trees and grinding all 46 stumps, and $13,450 includes cutting down and hauling away all 46 trees, and digging out stumps and hauling them away. After discussion, Commissioner Cooper suggested waiting until the new budget year to move forward. Commissioner Cooper made a motion to table the removal of the trees at the fire department until July. Commissioner Outland seconded and the motion carried.

Commissioner Cooper thanked the fire department for the meal they provided in January.

Police Report:
a. Officer Hoggard informed the board that the town can only keep revenue from speeding tickets if the violation was a town ordinance, which would only include speed limits of 25 mph. He will check with all the back streets to see if speed limit signs are posted. If they are not, the speed limit is assumed to be 35 mph which would be a state violation, not a town ordinance violation.
b. The Tahoe ordered should begin being built in March and Officer Hoggard is hoping to see it the end of May.
c. Officer Hoggard said the town is having quite a bit of juvenile problems. He is currently taking petitions out on them.

Clerk Report:
a. The Northampton County Chamber of Commerce has requested a monetary donation of $400 for the 2020 July 4th Celebration. This is a donation made yearly by the Town of Woodland. Commissioner Christison made a motion to grant the request of $400 to the Chamber. Commissioner Outland seconded and the motion carried.
b. Suez, the company who services our water tank, sent their fee for the ’20-21 budget year. It has increased from $8,080.41 to $9,292.47. Commissioner Christison made a motion to accept the fee for our contract with Suez for ’20-21. Commissioner Cooper seconded and the motion carried.
c. At this point in the budget year, we should be at 61% or less in expenditures. We are currently at 53% in the general fund, 52% in water and sewer, and the fire department is at 85%. Commissioner Christison said the issue we need to be careful with is we are not using any labor in the Powell Bill to reimburse the streets and sanitation and water and sewer side. Therefore the labor we figured in the Powell Bill is now being spent in streets and sanitation and water and sewer which will possibly make us be over in labor.
d. Dates for budget workshops were discussed and it was decided to set those dates during the March meeting.
e. The town was awarded the Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $983,500. The state will be sending the town a letter in the next couple of weeks and it may also contain the contract. We will expedite acceptance when that letter is received.
f. There are informational meetings scheduled for the next week in the surrounding area for the upcoming 2020 Census.

Maintenance Report:
a. Marshall Lassiter requested the water line on Myrtle St. to be abandoned. Commissioner Christison made a motion to abandon that line. Commissioner Cooper seconded and the motion carried. The board reminded Mr. Lassiter to call 811 to mark the lines.
b. Marshall Lassiter requested the water line on Cottonwood St. to be abandoned. Mr. Lassiter spoke with a representative with Right Myer in Hertford County and they are willing to come and bore underneath the road to do this. There are two houses in service on this line, so before abandoning the line, Mr. Lassiter would like to run them a new service line, approximately 100 ft. for each home. Mr. Lassiter speculates the cost to be at least $7,500. He spoke to the fire department and they said they have no need for a hydrant there. Commissioner Christison made a motion to abandon this line on Cottonwood St. Commissioner Cooper seconded and the motion carried. We will use the money from the lagoon line item for the expense of both abandonments, Myrtle Street and Cottonwood Street.
c. The Case tractor is ready to picked up from the shop. The cost is not yet known. Not too long ago a new pump was put in at a cost of around $3,600. Mr. Lassiter suggested earmarking some money to replace this tractor. We will need to replace it in 2-4 years. The primary use of this tractor is mowing. It is recommended we purchase a 4x4 100 hp when the time comes.
d. Mr. Lassiter reminded the board that he would like to put surplus items in the Seaboard sale in March. Some of these items include a lawn mower, a smaller lawn mower, and a packer/roller.

Well Report:
a. Mr. Lassiter received three good samples, therefore we have accepted the new well. We are finally receiving water from the new well. Commissioner Cooper said how pleased he was with the state representative and state inspector did an incredible job looking after everything for us during the well process. Mr. Lassiter said how great of a job Dale Anderson with Rivers and Associates did for the town as well.
b. Mayor Beale needs to sign the Certificate of Substantial Completion for Contract II.

Zoning:
a. A new computer was purchased for the zoning board at a cost of $437.66.

Armory: As a point of information, a land surveyor named Mr. Leggett recently stopped by Town Hall to make sure the town board knew that our road at the Woodland Olney Apartments was recently paved.
a. The state issued the town a notice of violation on the boiler since we were unable to turn it on to be checked. Attorney Culpepper sent a letter to the state certifying that the boiler is no longer in service.
b. Attorney Culpepper suggested the town not file the deed for the armory until the town receives a good bid and the bidder is willing to sign a hold harmless agreement. The board would like for the minimum bid to be $50,000. The town will not be responsible for the cost of the survey. Once we receive an acceptable offer, we will proceed with the upset bid process. Commissioner Outland will talk with Luther Culpepper about typing up the hold harmless agreement.

Comments from the Mayor: Mayor Beale thanked everyone for their hard work on the well and the CDBG. He feels the town is moving in the right direction. Mayor Beale thanked the commissioners stating they are doing a good job and stated the police chief is doing an awesome job as well.

Comments from the Commissioners: Commissioner Cooper likes that the light at the intersection of 35 and 258 is working again. He also said to keep in mind the upcoming election.

Commissioner Christison said the chief is doing a good job and is communicating with the public well. Commissioner Christison also asked for prayers for Commissioner Morris’s grandbaby.

Public Comments: Barbara Gosney emphasized how important the census meeting is for the town. The next meeting is Monday in Rich Square. This particular meeting is a separate meeting for public officials and people interested in becoming census workers. Commissioner Outland agreed to represent the town of Woodland at the February 17, 2020 meeting in Rich Square.

Adjourn: Commissioner Cooper made a motion to adjourn the public meeting and go into closed session for personnel issues pursuant to NCGS 143-318.11(a)(6). Commissioner Outland seconded and the motion carried.