Town of Woodland Board Minutes
Date: October 5, 2023
7:00 PM

Board/Staff Present:

Randy Beale -- Mayor
David Cooper – Mayor Pro Tem
Brian Christison – Commissioner
Raymond Eaton – ORC
Brittany Burgess – Town Clerk

Commissioners Outland and Morris were absent.

Call to Order: Mayor Beale called the meeting to order at 7 pm. 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. Mrs. Burgess made a motion to amend the agenda to add section B. CDBG Closeout Public Hearing Minutes to Item 3, and to add section E. Bathroom Remodel to Item 8. Commissioner Cooper made a motion to approve the amended agenda, Commissioner Christison seconded and the motion passed.

Approval of Minutes: The next item on the agenda was the approval or amendment of the minutes from the regular meeting dated September 7, 2023, and the minutes from the CDBG Closeout Public Hearing dated October 5, 2023. Commissioner Christison made a motion to approve the minutes for the regular meeting and the CDBG Public Hearing, Commissioner Cooper seconded and the motion passed.

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: No public comments.

Fire Department Report: Robbie Collier read the monthly report which will be included in the minute book. Mr. Collier thanked the Board for coming and participating in the Open House that the Fire Department held. Mr. Collier reports that he heard the Fire Department will be getting $500,000 from the State, their plan is to buy a used Tanker and a put up another metal building on the concrete slab where the warehouse was. Every 5 years when the FD has their inspection, they take a big hit on the water supply because there are so many hydrants in and out of town that are weak, a new Tanker will improve their air hose rates which will in turn improve resident’s home owner’s insurance and businesses property insurance. Commissioner Cooper asked the reason behind the hydrant’s being weak, Mr. Collier explained that the hydrants in town are on a 4 inch line and the hydrants out of town are on a 6 inch line but are just so far from the tower that they have low water pressure. Commissioner Cooper asked if that was normal throughout Northampton County, or mainly just in this area. Mr. Collier replied it is not normal, the Town of Lasker has more water flow than we do because they have a big pump in that area. Mr. Collier says their next project over the coming months will be to get the specifications together to find a used Tanker and put a two or three bay metal building, with lights, receptacles, and heat. Commissioner Christison asked how big of a Tanker does the Fire Department need to qualify for, Mr. Collier answered they can get any size they would like but most fire departments get a 3,000-gallon tanker because it is safer to drive and easier to navigate down our back roads. Commissioner Christison asked about the Fire Department’s vehicles, specifically the Jeep and if they will continue to use it. Mr. Collier replied that the Jeep has some issues, and they voted in their last meeting to purchase a 16-foot flat bottom aluminum boat for $1,800 to help aide in some water rescues for when the bridges flood. Their overall plan is to keep the Jeep hooked to the boat trailer in the new building when they get that, it can also be used for anyone who is attending classes. Commissioner Cooper asked how many gas-powered vehicles the Fire Department owns, Mr. Collier replied just the Jeep, the Crown Victoria, and the Ford Explorer they will be receiving from the Police Department; everything else is diesel. Fire Chief Chris Collier plans to take the Ford and Robbie will keep the Crown Victoria. The Board thanked Mr. Collier and the Fire Department for everything. Commissioner Cooper told Mr. Collier to write Mr. John White a letter of appreciation for the history he presented at the Open House. Mr. Collier said that Mr. White will be emailing Chris Collier all the details and information from his speech so we will have official copies of it. Commissioner Cooper asked if Cleve Bowen was the oldest member, Mr. Collier replied he was the member with the most years of active service at 58 years. Commissioner Christison asked if the department is also getting younger people, Mr. Collier replied they just voted in two more.

Police Report: Commissioner Morris was absent, there was no police report.

Clerk Report:

a. Mrs. Burgess provided the Board with some options for ordering an American Flag for the Maintenance Department building. The Board decided to go with a 4x6 Nyl-Glo American Flag for the Maintenance Building.

b. Mrs. Burgess informed the Board that a budget amendment needs to be made for the payment of the sidewalk repair. Commissioner Christison made a motion to do a budget amendment and transfer $23,000 from the Powell Bill fund balance to Capital Outlay, Commissioner Cooper seconded and the motion passed.

c. Commissioner Christison reports that the Walking Trail has been redone because of being washed away from the rain. He would like to get a drainage system set up there to prevent this from happening again, Mr. Eaton said he has been in contact with Trinity Paving about that.

d. Commissioner Christison reports there have been two complaints of high water bills from two separate residents in town. Each meter shows there is no flow and each residence’s consumption has gone back down this month from the last month. Meters have been change at both residence’s and the bill is still high. One residence in particular has high consumption normally between 13,000 – 15,000 gallons each month and when you factor in the rate increase it will definitely make for a high water bill. Commissioner Christison assumes that the high bills are from the water rate increase that went into effect in July. He does not know what else can be done about these high bills.

e. Commissioner Christison plans to ask the contractors that are going to do the Town Hall Remodel to include the ladies bathroom as well, which would include tearing down the wall paper, spraying the wall with bleach to kill the mold, and covering the wall with plywood and paint. Commissioner Christison told the Board the plan is to move Mrs. Burgess and Mrs. Bolton to the conference room while the remodel takes place, Mrs. Burgess asked if that would be a safe environment to work in considering the dust and spores from tearing everything down and the smell and chemicals from spraying the bleach, she also stated that the contractor’s said they were looking at a 6-8 week remodel. Commissioner Christison said if the remodel does take that long, we will need to look into getting a temporary work trailer for Mrs. Burgess and Mrs. Bolton. Commissioner Cooper and Christison both agreed that would require permits and could get expensive.

Maintenance Report: Raymond Eaton read the monthly report. Mr. Eaton informed the Board that the monthly report fee is going to increase. He has some phone numbers for wells here in town that need to be turned off and he will be getting that done soon. Certification for the Wastewater Permit will be coming in the mail. Commissioner Cooper reports that the Peachtree/Chestnut project is close to the end but they noticed on 10/5/23 there may be a leak at the job site, he reports they are passing most of their tests and he believes they will be still be here for another two weeks.

a. Mr. Eaton reported that there was a complaint about a grave marker getting chipped and one of the wheat bundles on the marker got damaged. Commissioner Cooper suggested digging it up and recessing it in the ground. Commissioner Christison asked what could be done to repair the marker and Commissioner Cooper said that it would probably have to be redone rather than repaired. Commissioner Cooper asked if we had insurance on the cemetery would that cover the incident, Commissioner Christison said he will reach out to Walt Pierce at Boyette & Robertson. Mr. Eaton reported there was a complaint on the water quality in town, but our water passes all the tests.

b. Mr. Eaton again brought up Mr. Wahid trying to open the Internet Café, Commissioner Morris said he wanted to wait to vote on it until all members were in attendance but we are still missing some at this meeting. Commissioner Cooper thinks the business will be approved, but the Board would like to get the Town’s approval on it. Some public wants bonded and armed security at the business. The Board is concerned over the safety of the town in regards to that type of business. Mayor Beale expressed that he is not in agreement with the business.

Comments from the Mayor: Mayor Beale thinks that the Open House that the Fire Department held was a great success.

Comments from the Commissioners: Commissioner Christison gives Mr. Eaton kudos for showing up and working so hard with everything that he is going through with his health issues. He said Mr. Eaton’s health means more to everyone than the work, so if he needs to take it easy for a while he can do so whenever.
Commissioner Cooper asked when will the water leaks get taken care of around town, Mr. Eaton replied that he plans to get those taken care of in the next week or so. Commissioner Christison says we need to put in some asphalt as well as some sand so that the pot holes don’t get so deep.

Commissioner Cooper reports that high speed internet is finally getting installed in town.

Public Comments: Mrs. Flood purposes doing Family Night Out this month, on Halloween night from 5:30 pm -8:00 pm. She would like the Board to be involved in this event. She plans to have some mental health help in attendance for the youth in the area. She will also have a food vendor there. She would like to have this event annually, as well as the Back to School Basketball Tournament. She is requesting $1,200 for the Trunk or Treat/Family Night Out. Commissioner Christison explained to her that we need a Vendor Name to put this donation in, she replied to put it in her name for the Woodland Community Outreach Program. Mayor Beale says we need to make sure we included Mrs. Flood’s donations in next year’s budget. Commissioner Christison made a motion to do a budget amendment to move $1,200 from 10-430-16 Maintenance and Repair in Recreation to 10-420-35 Donations, and $1,200 will be appropriated to Laureen Flood for the Woodland Family Night Out Event. Commissioner Cooper seconded the motion and it passed. Mrs. Flood thanks the Board for their support, the Board thanks Mrs. Flood for everything she does for the town.

Adjourn: At 8:14 pm, Commissioner Christison made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Cooper seconded and the motion carried.