Meeting Minutes – December 8, 2008
The Snow Hill Board of Commissioners regular meeting convened at 7:42 p.m. on Monday, December 8, 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, Town Clerk, Michelle Strickland, Town Administrator, Bob Clark and Town Attorney, Brian Pridgen.
1. Call to Order – Mayor Davis called the meeting to order at 7:42 p.m.
2. Prayer – Prayer was offered by Commissioner Bizzell.
3. Pledge of Allegiance – Mayor Davis along with his sons Ryan and Justin led the Pledge.
4. Roll Call - Miss Strickland called roll and a quorum was declared. All members were present with the exception of Commissioner Washington who is recovering from having knee surgery. Commissioner Washington’s absence was excused without objection.
5. Consider Approving Meeting Agenda – Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Shackleford and carried unanimously to approve the agenda with the addition of item 8a6 as Fire Department Siren.
Mayor Davis requested a point of privilege in which he read the Board a letter (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes) and he tendered his resignation to the Town Clerk (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes). The Clerk read the resignation and in accordance with previous action of the Board asked Commissioner Edwards to come forward to preside over the meeting.
6. Special Order:
a. Report of Town Clerk-Applications Received for Mayor – Miss Strickland reported to the Board that the only application that had been received for Mayor was from Commissioner Lorrine Washington. She read a letter received with Mrs. Washington’s application (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes) recusing herself from presiding over the meeting.
b. Open/Close Nominations for Unexpired Term of Mayor Donald G. Davis – Commissioner Edwards opened up the floor for nominations. Motion was made by Commissioner Liles, seconded by Commissioner Shackleford and carried unanimously to nominate Lorrine B. Washington to fill the unexpired term of Mayor Donald G. Davis. Motion was made by Commissioner Shackleford, seconded by Commissioner Bizzell and carried unanimously to close the floor for nominations.
c. Hold Election for the Appointment of Mayor to the Unexpired Term of Mayor Donald G. Davis – It was without objection that questions and answers were suspended and a vote ordered. It was unanimous to appoint Mayor Pro Tem Washington to fill the unexpired term of the office of mayor.
d. Declaration of Appointee – Mrs. Lorrine B. Washington was declared the appointee to fill the unexpired term of the office of mayor vacated by Mayor Donald G. Davis. Commissioner Edwards announced that an oath of office will be administered to Mrs. Washington at her home immediately following the meeting by Town Clerk, Michelle Strickland.
Motion was made by Commissioner Bizzell, seconded by Commissioner Shackleford and carried unanimously to amend the approved agenda to add item 6e as “Fill Vacancy of the Office of Mayor Pro Tem”.
e. Fill Vacancy of the Office of Mayor Pro Tem – Motion was made by Commissioner Shackleford, seconded by Commissioner Bizzell and carried unanimously to open the floor for nominations to fill the vacancy of the Office of Mayor Pro Tem.
Commissioner Shackleford nominated Commissioner Liles to fill the vacancy of the Office of Mayor Pro Tem. Commissioner Edwards called for nominations three more times and there were none.
Motion was made by Commissioner Shackleford, seconded by Commissioner Bizzell and carried unanimously to close the floor to nominations.
It was by unanimous vote that Commissioner Liles be appointed to the Office of Mayor Pro Tem. Commissioner Edwards turned over the remaining portion of the meeting to Mayor Pro Tem Liles.
7. Consider Approving Meeting Minutes: November 26, 2008 – It was without objection that the meeting minutes from November 26, 2008 be tabled until the next meeting.
8. Report of Officers:
- Town Administrator:
1. Discussion of changing December 31 meeting – Mr. Clark spoke to the Board about possibly changing the date of the second regular December meeting due to possible holiday conflicts. All members present were ok with the meeting date and time staying as it was.
2. Grant Agreement CDBG $75,000 Capacity Grant start-up – Mr. Clark announced that the CDBG grant package had been received and that there was a meeting scheduled for December 19th with Ms. Joyce Smith. This meeting will be more of an administrative meeting. Mr. Clark informed the board that he is looking at January or February for the project to begin. Mr. Clark recommends authorizing the Mayor to sign the grant agreement so the project can get started.
3. Consider a Resolution of Adoption of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) - Consider a Resolution of Adoption of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) – Mr. Clark asked the Board to look over (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes) a copy of a resolution that had been received from the County. What the resolution means is that the Town of Snow Hill would join with the County and State for uniformity during times of emergency. Mr. Clark recommended that the resolution be tabled as he realized that the copy he had was an older copy.
4. Change Order No. 1 W. Harper St. Drainage Project- Mr. Clark handed out (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes) a copy of the change order request from Charles Hughes Construction. Mr. Clark advised that the project had to be changed due to fiber optic cables from Embarq interfering with the original design. Most of the changes were due to the resulting asphalt paving work. Mr. Clark recommends approving the change order.
5. Report on the Holiday Extravaganza – Mr. Clark stated that he felt the turnout for the Holiday Extravaganza was good. He informed the Board that former mayor, Don Davis, was presented with a key to the city on a plaque at the Extravaganza.
6. Fire Department Siren – Mr. Clark reported that the alarm at the fire station is not working. He has received initial information from Chief Bobby Carraway regarding having it repaired or replaced. Mr. Clark recommends asking the Snow Hill Rural Fire Department to bring back more quotes to the Board.
The Board received this report without objection.
- Revenue Collector/Interim Town Clerk: Release of taxes – Miss Strickland recommends tabling this item until the next meeting as she is waiting for more information.
The Board received this report without objection.
- Finance Officer:
1. Budget amendment No. 4 – Mrs. Watson handed out (a copy hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of these minutes) a copy of Budget Amendment No. 4. This amendment covers the change order for the West Harper Street Drainage Project in the Powell Bill Fund.
2. Audit update – Mrs. Watson informed the Board that the auditors will be here the first week of January. She hopes that the audit will only take a few days since they completed quite a bit of preliminary work earlier.
The Board received this report without objection.
9. Report of the Boards, Commissions, Committees and/or Taskforces: none
10. Unfinished Business and General Orders: Consider approving the cemetery vase and a cemetery vase fee of $10.00 – Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Shackleford and carried unanimously to approve the vase submitted by Mr. Dana Hill and the vase fee of $10.00.
11. New Business:
a. Consider approval of CDBG Grant Agreement (08-C-1809) for Capacity Building with the Department of Commerce “Bridges to Security” New Homes – Motion was made by Commissioner Bizzell, seconded by Commissioner Edwards and carried unanimously to approve the Mayor to sign the CDBG Grant Agreement (08-C-1809).
b. Consider approval of a Project Budget Ordinance Capacity Building Grant
(08-C-1808) for $75,000.00 – This item was tabled without objection.
- Consider Change Order No. 1 W. Harper St. Drainage Project – Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Shackleford and carried unanimously to approve Change Order No. 1 for the W. Harper Street Drainage Project.
d. Consider a Resolution of Adoption of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) – This item was tabled without objection.
- Consider changing December 31 meeting – By consent it was determined that there was no action needed on this item.
- Consider release of taxes – This item was tabled without objection.
- Consider Budget Amendment No. 4 – Motion was made by Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Bizzell and carried unanimously to approve Budget Amendment No. 4.
12. Program: none
13. Announcements and Public Comments – Mr. Clark announced that the Fire Department Christmas Dinner was well attended.
Mrs. Shawntè Davis stood and thanked the Board and citizens for the support they had shown her family during the last seven years her husband had been Mayor.
Commissioner Edwards, Liles, Bizzell, and Shackleford all stood separately and thanked former mayor, Don Davis, for his dedication and service. Mr. Davis was told that the door to Snow Hill was always open for him and his family.
14. Adjournment – Motion was made by Commissioner Shackleford, seconded by Commissioner Edwards and carried unanimously to adjourn at 8:31 p.m.
