Town of Woodland Board Minutes
Date: January 6, 2022
7:00 PM

Board/Staff Present:

David Cooper – Mayor Pro Tem
Brian Christison – Commissioner
Barbara Outland – Commissioner
Ricky Morris - Commissioner
Donielle McDermott – Town Clerk
Eddie Hoggard – Police Chief
Blaine Humphrey – Engineer with Rivers & Associates; joining via Zoom

Mayor Randy Beale and Raymond Eaton were 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 Morris made a motion to move item #10 to #5 and renumber the items that follow. Commissioner Christison 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 December 2, 2021. Commissioner Morris made a motion to approve the minutes as written for all the meetings. Commissioner Outland 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 Morris seconded and the motion carried.

CDBG: Blaine Humphrey was unavailable at this time to join via Zoom, therefore the board moved on with the meeting until he was available.

Public Comments: No comments

Fire Department: Robbie Collier was present to read the monthly report stating this was the lowest number of calls ever recorded for this time of the year.

• Status of New Building: the trucks are in the building, heat is on, and very little electrical work must be finished.
• Very good possibility that the DOT is going to give the fire department $25,000 to reimburse them the cost of the cement.
• The siren will be back up and running on January 22nd.
• The fire department will be planning an open house sometime in the spring or summer.

Police Report: Chief Hoggard reported that almost all of the 2020 grant money has been spent and we are waiting on the final reimbursements. The 2021 grant for $24,500 just opened for purchases. The 2022 grant application must be sent by the end of this month.

a. Chief Hoggard asked the board to approve the resolution to adopt the 2021 Municipal Retention and Disposition Schedule. Commissioner Christison made a motion to adopt the 2021 Municipal Retention and Disposition Schedule. Commissioner Morris seconded and the motion carried.
b. The resolution to adopt the Data Breach Policy was tabled for another meeting as Chief Hoggard is still working on this policy.
c. Chief Hoggard informed the board that there are some ordinances that the state no longer allows criminal enforcement. He will be looking into this more in order to know which ordinances for the Town may or may not be criminally enforced.

• As a reminder, Chief Hoggard will be out most of next week to attend a training conference in Cherokee, NC.
• Commissioner Morris asked Chief Hoggard if he was able get a part-time schedule worked out. Commissioner Morris would like to see a minimum of 24 hours per month.            Chief Hoggard said he has not but is working on it. Chief Hoggard said he would like to add a full-time position next budget year.

CDBG: Blaine Humphrey joined via Zoom. Mr. Humphrey sent the town a “Tentative Recommendation of Award” letter for the CDBG #19-I-3116 recommending the Town of Woodland issue tentative award for the Sewer Collection System Improvements Project to TA Loving Company for the bid amount of $932,700.00. A formal recommendation cannot be made until the grant contract for BOTH the 2019 and 2015 CDBG is complete. Commissioner Christison made a motion to tentatively approve Rivers & Associates recommendation of award for the Sewer Collection System Improvement Project to TA Loving Company in the amount of $932,700.00 subject to CDBG-I funding availability and agency approval. Commissioner Outland seconded and the motion carried.

Blaine Humphrey asked the board if they had any questions concerning the 2015 CDBG funds and/or the meeting between Stephanie Morris, John Tucker, Joe Dooley, Blaine Humphrey, David Cooper, Brian Christison, Raymond Eaton, and Donielle McDermott that took place the day before on January 5, 2022. Mayor Pro Tem Cooper said he and Commissioner Christison felt like they have a good understanding of what has to be done to proceed with this grant opportunity. He thanked Mr. Humphrey for helping the town find the money from the state to cover the more than $330,000 over budget cost of construction. Mr. Humphrey then left the zoom meeting.

Mayor Pro Tem Cooper reviewed for the board what was discussed during the meeting yesterday regarding additional funding for the CDBG project. Mayor Pro Tem Cooper and Commissioner Christison were both present during the meeting. Stephanie Morris with the NCDEQ found some de-obligated grant funds from the 2015 CDBG. The town of Woodland can request these funds to cover the more than $330,000 that will be over budget for our CDBG project. The problem is that this money must be spent before August 14, 2022, which means the town is on a tight timeline to get all the paperwork filled out, signed, and returned to the state. Whatever money not expended by the August 14th deadline will be up to the town to pay back out of the town’s money. The COG sent a draft letter to the town to review and tentatively approve. A copy of this letter will be included in the Minute Book. This letter is addressed to Stephanie Morris requesting additional funding to cover the shortfall. The additional amount has not yet been determined, but it will be around $400,000 +/-. Commissioner Christison made a motion to tentatively approve this letter to Stephanie Morris with the Division of Water Infrastructure and Department of Environmental Quality requesting approximately $400,000 additional funding to cover the shortfall of our CDBG-I Grant #19-I-3116. Commissioner Outland seconded and the motion carried.

The board discussed the need to designate Mayor Pro Tem Cooper as a signer for the 2015 CDBG paperwork because of Mayor Beale’s new work schedule and his inability to be readily available to sign paperwork. Commissioner Christison made a motion to designate Mayor Pro Tem as an authorized signer for the 2015 CDBG paperwork. Commissioner Morris seconded and the motion carried.

Clerk Report: Mrs. McDermott presented to the board the annual support agreements between the Town and Southern Software. The clerks currently use Citi-Pak, but the board put money in the budget to switch to an upgraded version called FMS. Commissioner Christison made a motion to approve the Southern Software’s annual agreement for both the clerk’s and chief’s computer programs. The chief’s RMS & DSN annual support amount will be $2,250 beginning July 1, 2022 and ending June 30, 2023. The clerk’s FMS & HW annual support will be $3,994 beginning April 1, 2023 and ending March 31, 2024. Commissioner Morris seconded and the motion carried.

Mrs. McDermott contacted Doug Baker with Rainbow International out of Williamston to come in and do a mold check on the building, and more specifically her office. Mr. Baker came on January 5, 2022 and determined the first thing the town needed to do was repair the roof stating there was no need for him to do testing until the water leaks are taken care of. Chief Hoggard contacted three companies to come and give us an estimate on fixing the roof. One company came the afternoon of January 5th and the two others will be in within the next week. Commissioner Christison said he would like to send some workers from Benchmark over to have a look since they deal with metal all the time. He would like to see the roof fixed rather than be replaced.

Maintenance Report: Since Mr. Eaton was absent, Mayor Pro Tem Cooper read the maintenance report. Mr. Cooper then asked the board to keep Mr. Eaton in their thoughts and prayers as he has to have surgery soon.

Mayor Pro Tem Cooper told the board they may need to consider raising the water and sewer rates next year. This should be done gradually instead of a big jump at one time.

Comments from the Mayor Pro Tem: Mayor Pro Tem Cooper read a Christmas card addressed to the board from former Mayor Manuel and his wife.

He asked Chief Hoggard if it is legal for the truck on HWY 35 to remained parked there in front of their house. Chief Hoggard said he believes it is legal due to the street width.

Mayor Pro Tem Cooper asked for the chief to get a list of street lights together and call them in to Dominion. Chief Hoggard asked how the town can go about getting a light pole put up at the corner of Sycamore and Peachtree Street stating this is the darkest street in town. The board said it may be as easy as calling Dominion requesting they put it up, but suggested asking for the cost first.

Mayor Pro Tem Cooper thanked the maintenance crew for putting up the Christmas decorations.

Commissioner Christison asked Chief Hoggard about the broken pole in front of Woodland Olney Apartments. Chief Hoggard said they pole belongs to Century Link and he has called them twice to report the broken pole.

Mayor Pro Tem Cooper suggested we push our residents to go to the REA website and sign up for internet. He said the more people we have sign up, maybe the quicker we can get it in our area.

Comments from the Commissioners: Commissioner Morris asked if anything can be done with the loud music and cursing going on at the basketball courts. Him and his family had to leave recently due to the vulgar language.

Commissioner Christison thanked the board and the employees for all they do.

Public Comments: Chief Hoggard told the board he ordered two new batteries for the radar sign. This will keep the sign up and running longer.

Adjourn: At 8:05 Commissioner Outland made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Christison seconded and the motion carried.