Town of Woodland Board Minutes
Date: December 2, 2021
7:00 PM

Board/Staff Present:

David Cooper – Mayor Pro Tem
Brian Christison – Commissioner
Barbara Outland – Commissioner
Ricky Morris - Commissioner
Donielle McDermott – Town Clerk
Raymond Eaton – O.R.C.
Eddie Hoggard – Police Chief

Mayor Randy Beale was absent.

Call to Order: Mayor Pro Tem Cooper 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 Christison made a motion to amend the agenda to add 9e Premium Pay and 10e Sidewalks. Commissioner Outland seconded and the motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: The next item on the agenda was the approval or amendment of the minutes for the regular meeting dated October 7, 2021, the Regular Board Meeting dated November 4, 2021, and the regular meeting reconvened on November 11, 2021. Commissioner Morris made a motion to approve the minutes as written for all the meetings. Commissioner Christison seconded and the motion carried.

Consideration of Bills: Mayor Pro Tem Cooper excused himself from this part of the meeting since Bryant and Lassiter had a bill to be paid. Commissioner Christison took out the Rich Square Market bill stating the board had to pay this because it was for food for the Christmas luncheon given to the town employees by the board, and it needed to be divided among the board. 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 Morris seconded and the motion carried.

Chad Meadows – 160 D Zoning Changes: Mr. Meadows joined the meeting via zoom. He writes development codes and comprehensive plans and updates across the state. In 2019, the General Assembly rewrote statutes regarding how local governments can control land use and created a new chapter. Every local government has to update their codes and zoning rules in order to be compliant with the state. Some of these changes are not just state changes, but also federal changes. Mrs. McDermott sent Mr. Meadows the Town’s zoning ordinance for review. According to Mr. Meadows, the Town needs to make changes/updates to the following: procedural, enforcement, meetings, uses, signs, subdivisions, and cross references. Mr. Meadows gave four cost options ranging from $700 to $15,000 to help the Town rewrite our codes and zoning ordinances.

Public Comments: No comments

Fire Department: Robbie Collier read the fire department report which will be included in the Minute Book.

- The Concrete contract with Revelle Builders was signed. They are hoping to have the concrete poured by Christmas.
- Howell Bros. is planning on grading out the front and sides of the building and they are ready to begin as soon as the fire department gives them the go, which will be a week       before the concrete is poured.
- Mr. Collier spoke to Michael Gant today about building the boxes, and he is on board with that and will be waiting for Mr. Collier to give him the go ahead.
- The fire department raised over $12,000 on the deer tournament.
- The fire department wants to use their CD to pay for the concrete.

Mayor Pro Tem Cooper asked if there is a leak by the fire department. Mr. Collier said yes, there is an 8 inch line between the warehouses leaking. He recommends capping the line or putting in a new valve. There was discussion between the board, Mr. Collier, and Raymond Eaton on determining where the leak is and how to fix it.

Commissioner Christison made a motion to have the maintenance crew fix the leak by the fire department if the leak is found. Commissioner Outland seconded and the motion carried.

Commissioner Christison made a motion to allow the fire department to use CD 0260 to pay the balance on the concrete invoice after the $20,000 donation and the remaining money left from the $200,000 budget for the fire department. Commissioner Morris seconded and the motion carried.

Police Report: Chief Hoggard thanked the board for the Christmas luncheon then read the monthly police report which will be included in the Minute Book.
- The 2020 Block Grant is coming to an end. Chief Hoggard has almost spent the balance of the $24,000 grant.
- The 2021 grant is almost complete, just waiting on signatures.

Clerk Report:

a. The twenty year CADA lease will be up for renewal on June 30, 2022. Mrs. McDermott recommended the board looking over the lease to see if there are any changes that need to be made. She also pointed out that the lease states that the lessee, being CADA, shall be responsible for all maintenance and repairs to the premises, up to the sum of $2,500. The cost of anything in excess shall be negotiable between the two parties. Mrs. McDermott pointed this out because the Town has been paying the total bills for maintenance such as bills to White and Woodley. The board discussed different options such as raising the lease or even selling the building. The board asked Mrs. McDermott to get in touch with the new director to set up a meeting to discuss the possibility of them purchasing the building. Commissioner Christison recommended continuing paying the maintenance bills as we have been doing for the remainder of the lease.
b. Mrs. McDermott explained that the Coe family recently purchased a plot in the town cemetery after calling and wanting to know if they had a plot left in the old cemetery. Mrs. McDermott told the Coe family that she does not have extensive records on that cemetery, so she was unable to give them that information. The Coe family has discovered they do in fact have a plot open in the old cemetery, so they are asking the town to buy back the plot. They have already buried the urn of a family member, but they want to exhume the urn and move it. The board discussed this and decided it would be the right thing to do to let the family move their loved one closer to the rest of the family. Commissioner Christison made a motion to refund the Coe family $450 for the cost of the plot and perpetual care of that plot. Commissioner Morris seconded and the motion carried.
c. Northampton County will be offering eligible citizens assistance with their water and sewer bills starting in January of 2022. The signed agreement between the county and the Town of Woodland was in the packet for informational purposes.
d. Also in the packet for informational purposes was the official election results from the November 2, 2021 election.
e. Commissioner Christison spoke to the board about possibly using some of the American Rescue Plan money for premium pay as a bonus to the employees for working during Covid. They discussed paying a set amount per hour for the hours worked during this time, which can be dated back to the first of March of 2020, or paying a set amount. In order to move forward, one of the first steps would be to get a premium pay policy in place.

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

a. Mr. Eaton would like to purchase a rail system for the rail and chains that have gone bad at lift station 4. The cost will be roughly $4,000 to $5,000. Commissioner Christison made a motion to replace the parts for lift station 4, but not to exceed $7,500 and use general ledger # 30-810-75. Commissioner Outland seconded and the motion carried.
b. Mr. Eaton proposed a safety incident reporting form to be used to keep track of any incidents that may occur. Commissioner Morris made a motion to adopt the Woodland Safety Incident Reporting Form. Commissioner Christison seconded and the motion carried.
c. Mr. Eaton brought two options for new park grills to the board with his suggestion being the single base grill for $862. Commissioner Morris made a motion to purchase the single base grill using funds from the recreation department. Commissioner Christison seconded and the motion carried.
d. There are approximately 24 nylon American flags that need to be replaced. Mr. Eaton included in the packet a couple different options. Commissioner Christison made a motion to purchase the flags from the United States Flag Store at a cost of $21.95 with a 9% discount for ordering 12 or more. Commissioner Morris seconded and the motion carried.
e. Evans is the only estimate we have received for the sidewalks. Their estimate was $29,773. CRMP and Rose Bros both recommended Evans, however it was noted that Robbie Collier said before that he was not pleased with their past work.

CDBG: The monthly report will be included in the Minute Book.
a. The addendum #1 and the pre-bid conference minutes were included in the packet for informational purposes.
b. The bid opening for the CDBG project will be next Tuesday, December 7, 2021 at Town Hall at 2:00 pm.

Comments from the Mayor Pro Tem: Mayor Pro Tem Cooper thanked the maintenance department for getting the Christmas lights up. He then asked if we have gotten anyone to look at the roof yet, in which Mrs. McDermott replied to no. Mayor Pro Tem Cooper let Mr. Eaton know that the water leaks on 258 need to be fixed.

Comments from the Commissioners: Commissioner Morris asked if anything was decided on the dump truck. The board said that Mayor Pro Tem Cooper was suppose to take it to get an estimate.

Commissioner Christison thanked Mr. Eaton for getting the permitting done so the town does not have to test as often saving us money.

Commissioner Outland asked Mr. Eaton when he will have his surgery. Mr. Eaton is still waiting on that.

Public Comments: no comments

Adjourn: At 8:54 p.m., Commissioner Christison made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Outland seconded and the motion carried.