Town of Woodland Board Minutes
Date: January 7, 2021
7:00 PM

Board/Staff Present:

Randy Beale – Mayor
David Cooper – Commissioner
Barbara Outland – Commissioner
Ricky Morris - Commissioner
Donielle McDermott – Town Clerk
Raymond Eaton – ORC

Commissioner Christison and Chief Hoggard were absent.

Call to Order: Mayor Beale called the meeting to order at 7pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited followed by a moment of silent reflection.

Approval of Agenda: The first item of business was the approval or amendment of the agenda. Commissioner Morris made a motion to approve the agenda as is. Commissioner Cooper seconded and the motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: The next item on the agenda was the approval or amendment of the minutes of the Special Called Meeting dated November 23, 2020, Regular Board Meeting dated December 3, 2020, Special Called Meeting dated December 8, 2020, and Special Called Meeting dated December 31, 2020. Commissioner Morris made a motion to approve the minutes as written. Commissioner Outland seconded and the motion carried.

Consideration of Bills: Commissioner Outland 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: No comments

Fire Department: Robbie Collier read the report which will be included in the Minutes Book. One thing to note from this report is 66 of the total 85 calls were out of town calls.

• Mr. Collier said the asbestos inspection for the fire department building is scheduled for January 14, 2021.
• Due to Covid, Ladies Night dinner has been postponed.
• Truck 192 will be paid off this month, so next year’s budget will be better.

Police Report: Chief Hoggard was absent, however his submitted report was reviewed and will be included in the Minute Book.

a. Chief Hoggard wanted the board to know that he plans to purchase a service weapon, Glock 22 Serial Number SHR513, from the Town of Aulander for $250.00.
b. Chief Hoggard submitted a Conflict of Interest and Ethics Policy for the board to review for approval at the next board meeting. Chief Hoggard is working on a grant, and the grant requires the Town of Woodland to have a Conflict of Interest Policy in place.

Commissioner Morris said there is a lot of gun fire in the projects at night. He stated he let the chief know already because he wants him to be careful and to let the part time officer(s) be aware.

Clerk Report:

a. Mrs. McDermott included in the board packets the annual software agreement with Southern Software for April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023. The cost of this agreement is $3,955.00. Mrs. McDermott told the board that we currently use Citi-Pak, but Southern Software has encouraged us to switch to FMS. Both are with Southern Software but FMS is recommended because CitiPak is so outdated and not compatible with some of our programs. The annual service agreement amount will not change, but to make the switch, we would need to pay around $3,000 for the upgrade and conversion and training. Mrs. McDermott said this is for informational purposes for now, but she is planning on bringing this up during the future budget workshops.
b. On January 20, 2021, Northampton County EMS Station 4 is having a ribbon cutting ceremony in Conway.
c. Mrs. McDermott informed the board that Northampton County added a new holiday on July 9th, Liberation Day. She said that the town follows the county’s holiday schedule so she wanted to know if we will be taking this holiday as well. The board said they will table this for our budget meeting.

Maintenance Report: Raymond Eaton read the monthly report which will be included in the Minute Book.

• Mr. Eaton asked the board to adopt the new Low Flow Devices Inspection form. Commissioner Cooper made a motion to adopt the new form as is. Commissioner Outland seconded and the motion carried.

a. Commissioner Cooper said him and Commissioner Morris met to discuss applications, but they were uncertain if the town is looking for someone to replace Tommy Pierce’s position or are we looking to hire two people, one for Tommy’s position and one for Perry Collier’s position. Raymond Eaton checked with the county and their starting rate for their public works is $13/hour. The committee needs to know what exactly we are replacing and at what rate. Commissioner Cooper would like to wait for Commissioner Christison to get back in order to look at the budget numbers to see what we can afford. Commissioner Outland asked Mr. Eaton how many people he thought we needed. During the summer, we need more to help maintain grass. He would like to have four people, two can go one way and the other two can go another way.

Commissioner Cooper agreed stating we should consider adding four people for safety reasons. He suggests we talk to Perry Collier to see if he plans to work part time, how much, and what he hopes to make. The mayor asked if we are considering keeping Mr. Collier part time and adding a full time to which Commissioner Cooper replied he would like to see three full time and Mr. Collier part time.

The board asked how long it takes to get all the certifications needed to become an O.R.C. Robbie Collier, who use to be the town’s O.R.C. replied that it would take 4 to 5 years at a minimum.

CDBG: The monthly status report from the Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments dated December 3, 2020 was in the board’s packets. This report will be in the Minute Book.

Zoning Report: No report

Armory: Commissioner Cooper reported the armory has been sold to Tam Sonnenberg for $25,000 and the town is currently working on the paperwork. Commissioner Cooper said Mr. Sonnenberg was the only one to follow the guidelines requested in the paper as far as submitting a straight bid with the proper down payment.

Comments from the Mayor: Mayor Beale thanked the board for a job well done this past year. He thanked the clerk, Mr. Eaton, and the entire team of workers for all we have done stating he is proud of us all.

Comments from the Commissioners: Commissioner Cooper said our previous mayor has sold his house and has moved back to New Jersey. He did a lot for Woodland and should remember him. He had his heart and soul in it.

Commissioner Outland said Michael Wray sent a gentleman down here to look at our roads. She said we may be able to get some assistance to help with asphalt on our state highways, which include 258, 35, Finley Rd., and Cherry St.

Raymond Eaton told Commissioner Cooper he would like to get with him to get the rocks needed to finish the memorial grounds.

Public Comments: Bobby Mann said when he came to Woodland, Dr. Stanley was the mayor. Mayor Manuel made history as the first black mayor of Woodland and he suggested we start putting mayors’ pictures up in our building. Mr. Mann went on to ask if we have a town police working at night. He hears a lot of guns at night. Commissioner Outland said no, he has not worked in quite a while. Mayor Beale said he would like to meet with Commissioner Outland tomorrow evening to discuss this issue. He reminded the board his main purpose of running for mayor was because of the crime in town.

Adjourn: At 8:00 p.m., Commissioner Outland made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Cooper seconded and the motion carried.