Town of Woodland Board Minutes
Date: May 5, 2022
7:00 PMT

Board/Staff Present:

Randy Beale - Mayor
David Cooper – Commissioner
Ricky Morris - Commissioner
Brian Christison - Commissioner
Donielle McDermott – Town Clerk

Commissioner Barbara Outland, Raymond Eaton, 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 Cooper made a motion to approve the agenda as written. 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 April 7, 2022. Commissioner Morris made a motion to approve the minutes as written. Commissioner Christison seconded and the motion carried.

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

Public Comments: No comments.

Fire Department: Robbie Collier read the monthly report. Commissioner Cooper asked if the fire department gets any sort of reimbursement for medical assists, and Mr. Collier said no.

• They have two classes left of the technical rescue classes.
• Some members recently attended a grain bin class in Halifax. This was a very informative class and Mr. Collier said he would like to see about having this class offered in Northampton County.
• Some members also recently attended an electrical vehicle training. Another very informative training. It takes more water to put out an electrical car fire than a house!
• Fire department put in for three grants, two state grants and one covid grant. If they get them, it will be used for equipment.
• They’ve added three new members to the department and one junior member.
• Mrs. McDermott informed Mr. Collier and the board that the North Carolina Department of Transportation reimbursed the fire department $25,000 for the concrete at the new building. The money was received today.

Police Report: Chief Hoggard was absent therefore Mayor Beale read the police report.

a. Mrs. McDermott informed the board that Chief Hoggard recently received two applications for part time.
b. Mrs. McDermott told the board that the town was having issues with the company who currently maintains our security cameras, Phoenix Camera and Technology.        In 2020, the town paid to have a camera installed at the new doctor’s office and it has yet to be installed. They keep saying it is backordered and now they are saying      they need to confirm the three year warranty will still apply.

Commissioner Christison said we need to have a schedule for the police department. Commissioner Morris said he asked for a policy to be written a couple months ago stating a minimum of three days per month for a part time officer, but it has not been done yet. The board all agreed this needed to be done.

Clerk Report:

a. Commissioner Christison made a motion to approve the audit contract from Thompson, Price, Scott, Adams for fiscal year ending June 30, 2022. Commissioner Morris seconded and the motion carried.
b. Northampton County Economic Development sent a letter to each municipality announcing $1,000 is available to each township to use for projects and restoration. The board agreed this would cover the cost of repairing the benches at the park. Commissioner Christison made a motion to approve the request for $1,000 from the Northampton County Economic Development. Commissioner Morris seconded and the motion carried.
c. The board decided to have our next budget workshop on May 19, 2022 at 6:30 pm.

Maintenance Report: Mayor Beale read the report since Raymond Eaton was absent. Mrs. McDermott briefly informed the board on the “other information” Mr. Eaton had listed as notes on his report. The wells have not been automatically filling up the water tower, therefore Mr. Eaton has been getting up during the nights to fill the tower. The following price quotes are in the packet:

1. Ferguson Waterworks $15294.62 – this is for 50 new meters and installation for the Housing Authority, plus 14 new meters for the town. The cost for the town’s part is $3733.
2. Wilson Rhodes Electrical Contractors, Inc. $2850 – this is to correct the telemetry between the lift stations. This does not include the cost for the phone company to install a phone line to the site.
3. Precision Digital Relays $691
4. Grainger for cable and wire leads $147.82

• Mr. Eaton would like to recommend a raise for Cody Hurdle and allow him to drive the town truck home.
• The doctor’s office has been having some issues with their pipes.
• A notice of violation was received this week for the areas of North Linden, Chestnut, and Pinetop. These are the areas that will be having work done using the CDBG funds.
• Residents at 401 Olive Street have been parking cars in the road making it impossible for the school busses to get through. This has been an ongoing problem the past few months.

The board discussed the problems with the well and the water tower and all agreed this should take first priority with spending. Commissioner Christison feels safe to say there is $5,000 left in this year’s budget in the 30 fund that can be used to pay for the water tower and wells to be fixed. They will ask Mr. Eaton to prioritize what needs to be done first.

CDBG: The monthly report will be included in the Minute Book.

a. Commissioner Christison made a motion to approve Change Order #1 for CDBG-I-19-I-3116 and CDBG-I-15-I-3647 to utilize a pre-packaged pump station provided by Gorman Rupp in lieu of the Dakota Pump base bid manufacturer. Commissioner Morris seconded and the motion carried.
b. Commissioner Christison made a motion to approve the Memorandum of Understanding for the CDBG Project No. 15-I-3647 & 19-I-3116, Rivers File 2020093 J1.2. Commissioner Morris seconded and the motion carried.
c. Commissioner Morris made a motion to approve the Notice to Proceed with the contractor T.A. Loving Company, contract name CDBG-I 19-I-3116 & 15-I-3647. Commissioner Christison seconded and the motion carried.

Comments from the Mayor: Mayor Beale thanked Mr. Bobby Mann for attending the meeting.

Comments from the Commissioners: Commissioner Cooper said to keep in mind the rising cost of fuel while working on next year’s budget. Commissioner Cooper also said he would like to see the tree in the middle of the side parking lot to come down. This will make for better parking, more accessible. Commissioner Christison said we may can do that this fiscal year using funds from streets and sanitation.

Public Comments: Bobby Mann asked if the camera system has a back up battery in the event of a power outage. The answer is no, but Commissioner Cooper said it would be nice to have a small generator at Town Hall in such an event.

Closed Session: Commissioner Cooper made a motion to go out of open session and into closed session pursuant to NCGS 143-318.11(a)(6) to discuss personnel. Commissioner Christison seconded and the motion carried.