Town of Woodland Board Meeting
Date: July 11, 2024
7:00 PM

Board/Staff Present:

Randy Beale – Mayor
Brian Christison - Commissioner
Ricky Morris - Commissioner
Raymond Eaton - ORC
Brittany Burgess - Town Clerk

Call to Order: Mayor Beale called the meeting to order at 7 PM. Pledge of Allegiance was recited and a moment of silent reflection.

Approval of Agenda: The first item of business was the approval or amendment of the agenda. Commissioner Christison would like to amend the agenda to change section 13 to Closed Session and add section 14. Adjourn. Mrs. Burgess would like to amend Section 8 to change item E from McGee Accident to Brown Accident and add Item F - Clerk Oath of Office. Commissioner Morris made a motion to approve the amended agenda, Commissioner Christison seconded, and the motion passed.

Approval of Minutes: The next item of business was the approval or amendment of the minutes from the regular board meeting dated June 6, 2024. Commissioner Christison made a motion to approve the minutes from the regular board meeting dated June 6, 2024, Commissioner Cooper seconded, and the motion passed.

Consideration of Bills: Commissioner Cooper made a motion to approve bills, Commissioner Christison seconded, and the motion passed.

Public Comments: No public comments.

Fire Department: Mr. Robbie Collier read the monthly report. Mr. Mickel Pruden has asked if the variance of funds for the Fire Department in Fiscal Year 2023-2024 can be transferred to the Fire Department’s Capital Improvement Fund. Mr. Collier informed the Board that the Fire Department had a variance but there are still encumbrances for the end of the Fiscal Year to be paid out so it would be better to wait until September 2024 to execute the transfer. Hoping to finish technical rescue training by January. Commissioner Cooper thanked Mr. Collier and the Fire Department for everything they do for the town. Commissioner Cooper asked about the possibility of a freak explosion throughout town, Mr. Collier explained our biggest liability for a freak explosion would be the Woodland Olney school or the New Dixie Station by the railroad tracks in George. Commissioner Christison thanks the Fire Department for the use of their building as Town Hall while ours is being remodeled and remediated, Commissioner Morris mentioned that he spoke with Fire Chief Chris Collier and he reassured him it is no problem.

a. Mr. Mickel Pruden has requested the Board to appoint Mr. Robbie Collier to the Fireman’s Relief Fund Board because Jimmy McDermott has retired. Fireman’s Relief Fund Balance is a pot of money for any hardships that may occur to one of our firefighters and our fire department were to choose to help that individual or their family. Commissioner Cooper made a motion to appoint Robbie Collier, Commissioner Christison seconded, and the motion passed.
Police Report: Commissioner Morris reports that we are still contracted out with the Sheriff’s Department, and they are patrolling at night. He mentioned that he thought he had a Police Chief in line, but things didn't work out. Commissioner Morris also brings up the Evidence Room that the Sheriff’s Department has been trying to get in order and how it was tentatively to be done this past week, but it has stretched out for a few more weeks. They should return next Thursday and Friday to complete. Mayor Beale mentions that the former Chief’s for the Town were not held accountable to do their job as we are finding out with the help of the Sheriff’s Department.

Clerk Report:

a. Budget Amendment for Town Hall Repairs - Mrs. Burgess proposed a Budget Amendment for Town Hall Repairs, line item 10-420-98, in the amount of $42,029.17 as it was accidentally forgotten when preparing the budget. Commissioner Christison made a motion, Commissioner Morris seconded, and the motion passed.
Mayor Beale announced that at 7:24 pm, Commissioner Morris left the meeting for an emergency.

b. Cost of Living Raise - Commissioner Christison proposed a cost of living raise to be administered to the town employees in the amount of 3% to each employee, part time and full time to go into effect next pay period. Commissioner Christison made a motion, Commissioner Cooper seconded, and the motion passed.

c. McCready Water Bill Credit - Mr. Isaiah McCready is currently out of town and cannot attend this meeting but has requested Mrs. Burgess to speak on his behalf via email. Mr. McCready and his family recently moved into Town and received a very high water bill due to his wife leaving the bathroom tub faucet running while they were out of town. When he and his family were moving their things down from Virginia, their water got turned off due to the confusion and miscommunication about them being set up on the automatic draft when they had not completed the paperwork for that. His wife called while they were out of town, paid the amount to get their water turned back on and had unknowingly left the bathtub faucet running, which continued to run until they returned. McCready is just reaching out to see if there is a possibility for him to receive partial credit and or forgiveness for this mishap. Commissioner Cooper made a motion to give them a $340.92 credit with stipulation of a one-time occurrence (12 month period) for the month of June 2024 due to high water usage, Commissioner Christison seconded, and the motion passed.

d. Lane Water Bill Credit - Mrs. Lynn Lane is asking for a sewer credit because while she and her husband were away, her sister-in-law came over and put some water in the pool and watered some other things and she would like a sewer credit for that because it did not go through the sewer system. Commissioner Christison answered that as a no.

e. Brown Accident - Mrs. Lucille Brown informed the Board the she came into Town Hall on Monday, July 8th to report that she had an accident in front of the Post Office back in November 2023. She said she was walking her dog on a leash and saw the “Children at Play” sign on a metal post leaning because of recent rain and her dog ended up causing the pole to fall onto her and knocked her down. She said a lady outside witnessed the accident and a nurse at Dr. Navarro’s office and Dr. Navarro helped her up and brought her in to treat her as a patient. After the accident happened, Dr. Navarro’s nurse called Town Hall to report the accident but gave no personal information to not violate any HIPAA regulations. Mrs. Burgess immediately alerted Mr. Raymond Eaton, who sent his maintenance crew out to re-erect the pole more securely and Mrs. Brown mentioned that the nurse informed her that our maintenance crew responded and fixed the issue while she was still being treated at Dr. Navarro’s office, but they did not dig a hole to re-erect it, just jabbed it into the ground. Mrs. Brown came in on Monday to ask for financial assistance from the Town because of the accident, she will now need an operation on both of her wrists because it ripped the ligaments. She mentioned that her wrists have been swollen ever since the accident and no medication has been able to aid her swelling, so Dr. Navarro had a specialist look at her hands and wrists and completed an X-ray which they tied to the accident. Commissioner Cooper asked when it happened, and she answered November 27th, 2023. Commissioner Christison said we need to talk to our insurance company to do this correctly, he would like Mrs. Burgess to provide a report of the phone conversation she had with the nurse at Dr. Navarro’s office. Commissioner Cooper asked Mrs. Brown to return on Friday to give Mrs. Burgess all the paperwork.

f. Oath of Office - Mayor Beale swore in Mrs. Brittany Burgess as Town Clerk of Town of Woodland with the Clerk Oath of Office.

Maintenance Report: Mr. Raymond Eaton read the monthly report. Mr. Eaton included an intent to request a medical leave of absence to take him to more of a part-time status. Commissioner Cooper wants to make sure that every employee respects the sewer auger and has very intense knowledge of that machine. Commissioner Christison asked if Mr. Eaton is keeping Mrs. Burgess informed of the occurrences with the employees. Commissioner Christison asked about the tennis courts and how it was zoned because he thinks we should move the sand and dirt across from Duck Thru because it is an eyesore.

a. Employee Evaluation - Mr. Eaton suggests conducting an employee evaluation.

b. Notice of Violations - We have some NOV’s they have been taken care of.

c. DEQ Inspection - Inspector would like a fence around the water tank and a raw water sampling faucet at Well Site #2. Eaton would like two 12 foot drive-in gates and Commissioner Cooper suggested one walk in gate. The Board would like to price the fencing with three fence companies and for Mr. Eaton to present their bids. Commissioner Christison asked about putting gravel at the water tower site, Commissioner Cooper replied just at the driveway. Commissioner Cooper suggests getting it surveyed to locate the property lines before anything is done.

Comments from the Mayor: Mayor Beale has no comments, but thanks the public for attending.

Comments from the Commissioners: The Commissioners thank everyone for attending. Commissioner Cooper hates the accident that happened to Mrs. Brown and wishes that she had brought it to our attention sooner than this.

Public Comments: Mr. Johnson asks about Cassandra Langford being appointed as Commissioner over Streets and Sanitation. The Board plans to discuss it in Closed Session. The Board explained that this is their first time doing this, so they are learning. Mr. Johnson said it normally is advertised to be voted on, but we haven’t advertised.

Closed Session: Commissioner Cooper made a motion to go out of open and into Closed to discuss personnel issues, Commissioner Christison seconded, and the motion passed.

Adjourn: Commissioner Christison made a motion to adjourn at 8:28, Commissioner Cooper seconded, and the motion passed.