MINUTES
Snow Hill Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting
Monday July 14, 2008—7:30 p.m.
Snow Hill Town Hall
201 North Greene Street, North Carolina 28580

The Snow Hill Board of Commissioners regular meeting convened at 7:42 p.m. Wednesday, July 14, 2008, at the Snow Hill Town Hall with the following members present: Mayor Don Davis; Commissioners James Bizzell, Percy Edwards, Dennis Liles, and Geraldine Shackleford, Acting Secretary Addie Watson; Town Administrator, Bob Clark, Attorney Brian Pridgen, Public Works & Utilities Director Dana Hill, and Animal Control Officer Kathy Pazzaglia.

Call to Order – Commissioner Edwards called the meeting to order at 7:42 p.m.

Prayer – Prayer was led by Commissioner Bizzell.

Pledge of Allegiance – Commissioner Edwards led the Pledge.

Roll Call – All members were present with the exception of Commissioner Washington. It was without objection that Commissioner Washington is excused due to recovering from surgery.

Consider Approving Meeting Agenda – Mr. Clark asked the Board to consider approval of Addie Watson, to serve as recording clerk for the meeting. Acting Town Clerk Michelle Strickland is attending Tax Conference in Asheville. All approve by common consensus for Addie Watson to serve as recording clerk.

Mrs. Watson asked the Board to consider including item 7d4 Flex-Pay Report to the Finance Officer’s report. Mr. Clark asked, under the Mayor’s report to add line 7a1 as the Fireworks Display Update and 7a2 the Resolution Honoring Paul and Glenda Scott on their 50^th Wedding Anniversary.

The Mayor entered the meeting at 7:55 p.m.

The Mayor asked to add to action items to line 10. Letter i. for the Resolution of Paul and Glenda Scott and letter j. for the change order for the Community Center’s sound system for the amount of $4071.25. Also change items 7b2a to 7b3 and change 7b2b to 7b4.

Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Liles and carried unanimously to approve the agenda with the recommended addition of Items 7d4, 7a1 and 2, change 7b2a to 7b3, change 7b2b to 7b4 and Action Items i. and j.

Consider Approving Meeting Minutes: June 25 and recessed on June 30, 2008. Motion was made by Commissioner Shackleford, seconded by Commissioner Bizzell and carried unanimously to approve the minutes of the June 25 and 30, 2008 meetings.

Report of Officers:

Mayor:

4^th of July Celebration and Fireworks Display recognition and support. The Mayor recapped the fireworks display at the South Greene Baseball field as improved both in length and in attendance. Last year the length of the firework display was short and lacked the requirement of a certified pyrotechnic. This year the Rosenwald Center contracted with Piedmont Pyrotechnics to organize the fireworks event and ordered the basic show at $2,500, but decided to upgrade the show on the 4^th of July to the $5,000 package. Due to Rosenwald Center’s late planning and booking of the pyrotechnics three weeks prior to the event appropriate funding was not calculated. The Town has already contributed $500 as outlined in the budget, however, the Mayor asked the board to consider appropriating an additional $500 from the Recreation Commissions miscellaneous funds to contribute a full $1,000 to the event. This would match similar activities in the community, such as the Ag Fest (Sweet Potato Festival) and Back-to-School Festival. The Rosenwald alone raised $769 in separate donations towards the event and is expecting to raise enough to make up the $4,000 after the Town’s $1,000 contribution. The Mayor also suggested the Town organize a task force to continue to grow this event in the future.

Resolution Honoring Paul and Glenda Scott on their 50^th Wedding Anniversary. The resolution was read by Acting Secretary, Addie Watson and was asked by the Mayor to accept the report as read (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes).

The Board accepted the report.

Town Administrator:

Community Center update & Community Center Project Budget Ordinance Amendment No. 01 and report on parking/drainage/trail & site improvements. Mr. Clark presented the change order to the Board for the Project Budget Ordinance Amendment No. 1 for $4,071.25 for the sound system (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes), which includes the built-in sound system, the amplifiers, speakers, and microphones. The Greene County Improvement Association will donate additional funds to the Town to cover these improvements. The Board also received information that the renovation of the building is completed, exterior grounds work has been designed and permits secured. A meeting with Burney & Burney, Inc. and site engineer is being arranged. Parts & Recreation Trust Fund representative Mr. Steve Moler will tour the facility on Wednesday, July 16^th at 11:00 a.m. to discuss project progress.

Michelle Strickland, Acting Town Clerk and Revenue Collector is attending Tax Collectors School July 13-16 in Asheville, NC. Ms. Strickland has submitted two items for consideration by the board.

Settlement Report for FY 2007/2008 Taxes. Mr. Clark presented the settlement report for Michelle Strickland, Revenue Collector to the Board. The collection rate for 2007-2008 is at 94.39% as of June 30, 2008. There were 46 total uncollected taxes for 2007 in the amount of $15,481.48 (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes).

Request to charge the Revenue Collector with billing and collecting 2008-2009 ad valorem and personal property taxes. Mr. Clark informed the Board of Ms. Strickland’s request to have the board direct the enforcement and collection of taxes.

The Board accepted the report from Mr. Clark.

Town Attorney: Piedmont Natural Gas franchise. Mr. Pridgen presented to the Board the Piedmont Natural Gas Company Ordinance. The ordinance was just received this morning by Mr. Pridgen who explained the contract between the Town and Piedmont Natural Gas complies with all required Town safety guidelines, permits, zoning, etc. previously in place by the Town. An indemnification provision has also been put in place to protect the Town. What this means is that if Piedmont Natural Gas came in and during the scope of their work one of their employees causes damage to property or to person they would not hold the Town liable (Town would be held harmless). The Mayor asked that because the contract was not time sensitive to table it until the following meeting. This would allow the Commissioners a chance to review the contract and give Mr. Pridgen a chance to make necessary revisions and bring them to the next meeting before voting.

Finance Officer:

Budget Amendment No. 02009-1 increased Workers Compensation Premium through NC League of Municipalities Risk Management. Mrs. Watson asked the Board to consider approving the Budget Amendment No. 02009-1 to increase the Worker’s Compensation Premium that was budgeted based on last year’s totals. There were salary increase that were adjusted for, additional personnel, and changes in the description of current personnel which contributed to the amount increase from about $6,000 last year to about $12,000 this year.

Preparations for FY2007-8 Comprehensive Financial Audit. Mrs. Watson informed the Board of Barrow, Parris, and Davenport, P.A. making contact with the Town to begin preliminary fieldwork on July 21-23, 2008. The Preliminary Audit Questionnaire has been completed and sent back to the auditors last week. The Town has also received a list of needed materials for the audit that have been distributed to all departments to complete and gather.

Proposed Purchase & License Agreement with Logics, LLC for computing systems software, installation and training services for $37,860.00. The funds are appropriated in FY2008-9 budget. Mrs. Watson briefly explained to the Board that once the agreement has been approved Logics would be able to come in and begin installation. Mr. Clark sent the contract for Mr. Pridgen to review and there were a few items he found in the cursory review that he would like to address. Mr. Clark did mention the contract was time sensitive. A few of those items Mr. Pridgen was concerned with was the Force Majeure and Damages Provision. How Logics would handle payment obligations if either were to incur (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes). The Mayor noted the use of Logics from other neighboring Towns such as La Grange and Farmville and moreover that Ms. Strickland is already familiar with Logics from her previous employment with Farmville.

Flex-Pay. Mrs. Watson reported to the Board that the staff was moving forward with the new payroll software. Mrs. Watson asked the Board members and Mayor to contacted her no later than Wednesday, July 16, 2008 with direct deposit information to send out to Flex-Pay along with all the other reports requested to begin the new payroll software. The Town is not outsourcing payroll, but using a new system, which will provide additional quality control and ensure accuracy.

The Board accepted the report from Mrs. Watson.

Public Works & Utilities Director:

Report on Cemetery decorations and use of cement vases and consideration of amending Section 93.03 of the Cemetery Regulations. Mr. Hill provided the Board with pictures of what was acceptable and unacceptable use of cement vases in the Town’s Cemetery. He also brought a cement vase from Ayden to show the Board what the Town could offer cemetery lot owners for floral decoration. The Town would provide the cement vases for the same price purchased from Ayden. Mr. Hill asked the Board to consider reviewing the Groundskeeping Ordinance Section 93.03 C to include more specific placement of vases in the cemetery.

Animal Control updates. Ms. Pazzaglia passed out an updated progress report from March 6^th until July 14^th (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes). Ms. Pazzaglia briefly read over the report highlighting troubled areas and future plans for the Town’s Animal Control unit. Parvo and ticks remain to be a treat to surrounding animals within Greene County. The door-hangers have been a tremendous help to provide documentation and concerns. Ms. Pazzaglia was also concern with the ordinance adopted from the County and suggested the Town look into revising and adopting their own policy. This would allow the Town to collect penalty and boarding fees, among other things, that the County has been benefiting off of for months.

Report on a trial period for summertime work hours. Mr. Hill asked the Board to table this concern until he was able to gather more information.

The Board accepted the report from Mr. Hill and Ms. Pazzaglia.

Report of the Boards, Commissions, Committees and/or Taskforces: None

Unfinished Business and General Orders: None

New Business:

Consider increasing from $500.00 to $1,000.00 funding in support for the July 4^th Fireworks Display form Recreation funds available in the 2008-9 General Fund and support efforts to begin planning a 2009 4^th celebration in collaboration with the Rosenwald Center for Cultural Enrichment. Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Bizzell and carried unanimously to approve increasing the fireworks funds from $500 to $1000 total contributions.

Community Center Project Budget Ordinance Amendment No.1. for $4,071.25 for the sound system considering the increased donation in this amount by the Greene Community Improvement Association. Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Bizzell and carried unanimously to approve the Community Center Budget Ordinance Amendment No.1 for the sound system.

Consider receiving the Revenue Collector’s Settlement Report for FY 2007/2008 Taxes. Motion was made by Commissioner Liles, seconded by Commissioner Shackleford and carried unanimously to approve receiving the Revenue Collector’s Settlement Report for FY 2007/2008 Taxes.

Consider charging the Revenue Collector with billing and collecting 2008-2009 ad valorem and personal property taxes. Motion was made by Commissioner Liles, seconded by Commissioner Shackleford and carried unanimously to approve charging the Revenue Collector with billing and collecting 2008-2009 ad valorem and personal property taxes.

Consider approval of a franchise ordinance with Piedmont Natural Gas Company. Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Liles and carried unanimously to table the franchise ordinance with Piedmont Natural Gas Company until the following meeting.

Consider Budget Amendment No. 02009-1 for increased Workers Compensation Premium through NC League of Municipalities Risk Management. Motion was made by Commissioner Liles, seconded by Commissioner Edwards and carried unanimously to approve the Budget Amendment No. 02009-1.

Consider approval of a Purchase & License Agreement with Logics, LLC for computing systems software, installation and training services for $37,860.00. Motion was made by Commissioner Shackleford, seconded by Commissioner Bizzell and carried unanimously to approve the Purchase & License Agreement with Logics, LLC for computing systems software, installation and training services for $37,860.00.

Consider approval of cement vases and consideration of amending Section 93.03 of the Cemetery Regulations. Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Liles and carried unanimously to table the approval of the cemetery vases and the amendment of Section 93.03.

Consider approval of the Resolution Honoring Paul and Glenda Scott on their 50^th Wedding Anniversary. Motion was made by Commissioner Liles, seconded by Commissioner Shackleford and carried unanimously to approve the Resolution Honoring Paul and Glenda Scott.

Consider the change order for the sound system for the Community Center. Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Bizzell and carried unanimously to approve the change order for the sound system for the Community Center in the amount of $4,071.25.

Program: Dale Hancock, Community Telecom Services for MediaCast Cable TV system update. Mr. Hancock informed the Board they have rebalanced all the amplifiers, added new antennas, and has increased the picture quality for the cable TV system. They plan on expanding to the new subdivisions soon, add new channels, and rewire the new cable TV building. Mr. Hancock also mentioned he is also a proud member of the National Cable TV Cooperative. Mr. Hancock says he looks forward to improving the cable TV in this area and enjoys serving the Town of Snow Hill.

Announcements and Public Comments. The Mayor asked Mr. Clark and Ms. Pazzaglia to pair up into a subcommittee to research and improve the Animal Control unit. Also, create tailored ordinances for the Town of Snow Hill and report back to the Board with findings.

Adjournment. Motion was made by Commissioner Shackleford, seconded by Commissioner Liles and carried unanimously to adjourn at 10:21 p.m.

______________________________

Don Davis, Mayor

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Adelaide Watson, Recording Clerk