Meeting Minutes – December 31, 2008

The Snow Hill Board of Commissioners regular meeting convened at 9:10 a.m. on Wednesday, December 31, 2008, at the Snow Hill Town Hall with the following members present: Mayor Lorrine Washington; Commissioners James Bizzell, Percy Edwards, Dennis Liles, and Geraldine Shackleford. Also present were Town Clerk, Michelle Strickland, Town Administrator, Bob Clark and Town Attorney, Brian Pridgen.

1.      Call to Order – The meeting was called to order at 9:10 a.m. by Mayor Washington.

2.      Prayer – Prayer was offered by Commissioner Bizzell.

3.      Pledge of Allegiance – Mayor Washington led the Pledge of Allegiance.

4.      Roll Call – The clerk called roll.  All members were present and a quorum was declared.

5. Consider Approving Meeting Agenda – Mr. Clark recommended to the Board that items 8b3 and 11c be tabled. Motion was made by Commissioner Liles, seconded by Commissioner Edwards and carried unanimously to approve the agenda with items 8b3 and 11c being tabled as recommended by Mr. Clark.

6. Special Order:

a.       Report of Town Clerk-Applications Received for Commissioner – Miss Strickland announced that Mr. Robert “Bobby” Taylor and Mr. A. Stephen Ginn had made application for the unexpired term of Commissioner Lorrine B. Washington.  She referred them to the applications (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes) that were included in their agenda packets.

b.      Open/Close Nominations for Unexpired Term of Commissioner Lorrine B. Washington – Mayor Washington opened the floor for nominations for the Unexpired Term of Commissioner Lorrine B. Washington.

Commissioner Edwards nominated Mr. A. Stephen Ginn.  Commissioner Liles nominated Mr. Bobby Taylor.

Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Shackleford and carried unanimously to close the floor for nominations.

c.       Interviews/Q/A Nominees – Both nominees came forward to answer the questions prepared by the Board.

d.      Hold Election for the Appointment of Commissioner to the Unexpired Term of Lorrine B. Washington – Mayor Washington called for an election to the seat.  Members who stood in favor of Mr. Stephen Ginn were Commissioner Bizzell, Commissioner Edwards, and Commissioner Shackleford.  Commissioner Liles stood in favor of Mr. Bobby Taylor.

e.       Declaration of Appointee – Mayor Washington declared Mr. Stephen Ginn with a vote of 3 – 1 as being appointed to the unexpired term of Commissioner Lorrine B. Washington.  The Oath of Office was administered to Mr. Ginn by Mayor Washington.

f.       Remarks of Appointee – Commissioner Ginn made several remarks and joined the Board at the table.

7. Consider Approving Meeting Minutes: November 26, 2008; December 8, 2008 – Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Liles and carried unanimously to approve the minutes of the November 26, 2008 meeting with a correction to the motion on item 10r.

Motion was made by Commissioner Shackleford, seconded by Commissioner Bizzell and carried unanimously to approve the minutes of the December 8, 2008 meeting as written.

8. Report of Officers:

  1. Mayor: Remarks

  1. Town Administrator:

1.                  Project Budget Ordinance and start-up resolutions for CDBG $75,000 Capacity Grant (08-C-1808) and signature card authorizations to include the Mayor, Mayor pro Tem, Town Administrator and Interim Finance Officer – Mr. Clark informed the Board that a meeting was held with Joyce Smith on December 19, 2008 and the project is on schedule.  He informed the Board that there were some documents on the agenda today in regards to the project.  Mr. Clark handed out (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes) the Project Budget Ordinance and asked that the Board authorize a start-up resolution for the project.  He also asked the Board to authorize the signing of the signature card for the project to include the Mayor, Mayor Pro-Tem, Town Administrator, and Interim Finance Officer.

2.                  Recommend consideration of up to $2,000.00 from the SH Development Commission appropriation for administrative fees for the Rural Initiative Project, Inc. (RIPI) related to the Snow Hill Colored High School “Rosenwald School” Restoration Project – Mr. Clark spoke to the Board about raising the amount set aside from $1500 to $2000.  He informed the Board that an invoice had been received and it exceeded the original $1500.00 that was set aside.  He observed that the justified final amount would be a little less than $2,000, an amount former Mayor Davis had suggested the board authorize. Clark recommended in lieu of a budget ordinance amendment use of up to $2,000 available in the Commission’s appropriation. It appears the Commission will have at least that amount unspent or committed in this year’s budget. If acceptable, Mr. Clark and Commissioner Liles would report the decision to the Snow Hill Development Commission.

3.                  A Resolution of Adoption of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) – This item was tabled in the approval of the agenda.

4.                  NC League of Municipalities Regional Legislative Updates-4:00 p.m. January 21, 2009 in Wilson – Mr. Clark shared material (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes) that was received regarding the update session.  He asked that anyone who wished to attend to let the Town Clerk know.  The deadline for application is January 16, 2008.

5.                  Report of Employees Core Competencies and eligibility for Annual Bonus Consideration – Mr. Clark informed the Board that he had calculated the annual core competency bonus amount.  The clerk read to the Board Mr. Clark’s report (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes).  Mr. Clark recommended authorization of the core competency bonus in the amount of $272.20.

This report was received by consent.

  1. Revenue Collector/Town Clerk:

1.                  Mr. John Rea appointed as Extraterritorial Area Member to the Planning Board by Greene County Commissioners – Miss Strickland shared a letter (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes) that had been received from the County appointing Mr. John Rea of 102 Hunters Trace as an extraterritorial area member to the Town of Snow Hill’s Planning Board.

2.                  Release and Refund of taxes – Miss Strickland spoke to the Board about the request of the release and refund of taxes that were included in their agenda packets (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes).  She spoke to the Board about each of the tax bills in question.

3.                  Town Council Calendar for 2009 – Miss Strickland provided the Board with a calendar of Snow Hill Town Council meetings for 2009 (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes).  She indicated to the Board that there were no regularly scheduled meeting dates that interfered with holidays.

4.                  Holiday Calendar for 2009 – Miss Strickland provided the Board with a 2009 Holiday Calendar (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes) and explained that in 2009 the July 4th holiday fell on a Saturday.  She explained that she had polled other clerks and most were following the state holiday schedule which provided the holiday on Friday, July 3, 2009.  The Board members agreed to follow the schedule set by the state for observance of this holiday.

This report was received by consent.

  1. Finance Officer:

1.                  Attendance at Regional Workshop- New Bern NCCMT – Mrs. Watson spoke to the Board about the workshop she and Mr. Clark had attended.  The workshop had covered a synopsis of the economy, trends and analysis’s, and revenue changes facing municipalities.  She informed the Board that due to the small size of Greene County that it hasn’t had to adjust as much as larger cities, but that revenue would likely be down.

2.                  November 30, 2008 Financial Reports & Analysis – Mrs. Watson referred the Board to the report (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes) that had been provided.  She spoke a little about the report and asked if anyone had questions.

3.                  Proposal to Restructure & Consolidate Funds and Accounts – Mrs. Watson spoke to the Board about the proposal, prepared by Munix Plus, Inc. (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes) recommended restructuring and consolidate funds and accounts. The Enterprise Fund would consist of the Water and Sewer functions, while the Powell Bill Fund and Cemetery Fund would be brought under the General Fund.  The change would greatly simplify the chart of accounts going in to the new software conversion. Each major activity or department (cemetery, street, water, etc.) would show revenue and expenditures. Mr. Clark noted how the funds consolidation had been discussed during the budget preparation and how this would be a good time to do it. Mrs. Watson answered questions from the Board and also spoke to the Board about moving from the accrual basis of accounting to the cash basis of accounting due to software limitations and errors.  She explained that after the conversion to Logics that the accrual basis would start again.

4.                  2009 Budget Ordinance Amendment numbering sequence – Mrs. Watson spoke to the Board about her memo (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes) and explained that the budget amendment numbers just got off track.  It is her recommendation to just skip number 3 and move forward.

This report was received by consent.

9. Report of the Boards, Commissions, Committees and/or Taskforces: none

10. Unfinished Business and General Orders:

11. New Business:

  1. Consider a CDBG Project Budget Ordinance 2009-1 and start-up resolutions for the CDBG $75,000 Capacity Grant (08-C-1808) and signature card authorizations to include the Mayor, Mayor pro Tem, Town Administrator and Interim Finance Officer – Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Shackleford and carried unanimously to approve CDBG Project Budget Ordinance 2009-1, a resolution to start-up the CDBG project and authorize the signatures of the Mayor, Mayor Pro-Tem, Town Administrator, and Interim Finance Officer on the signature card.
  1. Consider approving use of an amount not to exceed $2,000.00 from the FY2008-9 SH Development Commission appropriation (Cite: 10.6200.0100) for administrative fees for the Rural Initiative Project, Inc. (RIPI) services related to the Snow Hill Colored High School “Rosenwald School” Restoration Project – Motion was made by Commissioner Liles, seconded by Commissioner Edwards and carried unanimously to approve an amount not to exceed $2,000.00 for administrative fees from FY2008-9 budget (Cite 10.6200.0100) for  the Rosenwald restoration project.

c. Consider a Resolution of Adoption of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) – This item tabled in the approval of the agenda.

  1. Consider approval of Core Competencies Employee Annual Bonus – Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Shackleford and carried unanimously to approve the annual bonus of $272.20 as recommended by the Town Administrator.
  1. Consider release and refund of taxes – Motion was made by Commissioner Shackleford, seconded by Commissioner Liles and carried unanimously to approve the release and refund of taxes as recommended by the Town Clerk/Revenue Collector.

  1. Consider approval of Town Council Calendar for 2009 – Motion was made by Commissioner Bizzell, seconded by Commissioner Shackleford and carried unanimously to approve the 2009 Town Council meeting calendar as recommended.
  1. Consider approval of Holiday Calendar for 2009 – Motion was made by Commissioner Shackleford, seconded by Commissioner Ginn and carried unanimously to approve the 2009 holiday calendar as recommended.

  1. Consider the proposal to Restructure & Consolidate Funds and Accounts – Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Ginn and carried unanimously to approve the proposal to restructure and consolidate funds and accounts as recommended.
  1. Consider 2009 Budget Ordinance Amendment numbering sequence – Motion was made by Commissioner Shackleford, seconded by Commissioner Ginn and carried unanimously to approve moving forward with the budget amendment numbering sequence as recommended.
  1. Consider a closed session to discuss a personnel matter pursuant to NCGS 143-318.11(6) – Motion was made by Commissioner Shackleford, seconded by Commissioner Edwards and carried unanimously to enter closed session.

Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Liles and carried unanimously to reconvene in open session.

12. Program: none

13. Announcements and Public Comments

14. Adjournment – Motion was made by Commissioner Shackleford, seconded by Commissioner Liles and carried unanimously to adjourn at 10:50 a.m.