TOWN OF WILSON S MILLS REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING August 17, 2015 PRESENT: OTHERS PRESENT: CONVOCATION: INVOCATION & PLEDGE TO THE FLAG: APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Mayor Phillip Wright, Mayor Pro-tem Kenneth Jones, Councilmembers Joan Harris, Fleta Byrd, Randy Jernigan and Johnny Eason Town Attorney Bill Anderson, Town Administrator Zach Ollis, Town Clerk Leighanna Worley Mayor Phillip Wright declared a quorum present and called the meeting to order at 6:33pm. Councilmember Joan Harris led with an invocation, and then Mayor Phillip Wright led the Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Wright asked for any changes to the Agenda. Town Administrator Zach Ollis asked that item ii. Discussion of Susan George James Endowment be added under g. Finance Officer s Report and asked that a Closed Session for discussion of personnel, pursuant to G.S. 143.318.11.86, be added to the agenda. With no other changes requested, a motion was made by Mayor Pro-tem Kenneth Jones and seconded by Councilmember Joan Harris to approve the agenda with the suggested changes. Motion carried unanimously. Said Agenda is attached to and made part of these official minutes. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Regular Council Meeting --July 20, 2015 PUBLIC HEARING: Ordinance to Rezone Property Uzzle Industrial Drive owned by G&C Properties Mayor Phillip Wright asked for any changes to the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting from July 20, 2015 and there were none. Councilmember Johnny Eason to approve the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting from July 20, 2015 as submitted. The motion carried unanimously. Mayor Phillip Wright opened the Public Hearing regarding the Uzzle Drive Property owned by G&C Properties at 6:36 pm. With no one wishing to speak, the Public Hearing was closed at 6:37 pm. Councilmember Fleta Byrd to approve the following Ordinance Amending the Wilson s Mills Zoning Ordinance for Property Owned by G&C Properties and Investments, Inc., 1.52 Acres Located on Uzzle Industrial Drive From (I/W) Industrial/Warehouse to (I/W with GB-HCO) Industrial / Warehouse With General Business Highway Corridor Overlay. The motion carried unanimously. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE WILSON S MILLS ZONING ORDINANCE PROPERTY OWNED BY G & C PROPERTIES & INVESTMENTS, INC. 1.52 ACRES LOCATED ON UZZLE INDUSTRIAL DRIVE FROM (I/W) INDUSTRIAL/WAREHOUSE TO (I/W with GB-HCO) INDUSTRIAL / WAREHOUSE WITH GENERAL BUSINESS HIGHWAY CORRIDOR OVERLAY WHEREAS, a petition has been received from G & C Properties & Investments, Inc. to rezone a 1.52-acres tract of land from I/W Industrial/Warehouse District to I/W with GB- HCO Industrial/Warehouse with General Business Highway Corridor Overlay District; and WHEREAS, the required newspaper notices have been given, adjacent property owners notified, the recommendation from the Wilson s Mills Planning Board has been received, and a public hearing has been held at a regular meeting on August 17, 2015 with members of the public soliciting input on the matter. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE TOWN COUNCIL of the Town of Wilson s Mills that:
PAGE 2 Section 1. The Zoning Ordinance of the Town of Wilson s Mills is amended to change the following area from I/W Industrial/Warehouse District to I/W with GB-HCO Industrial/Warehouse with General Business Highway Corridor Overlay District and to amend the Wilson s Mills Zoning Map to show the area change: BEING all of Lot 12, containing 1.52 acres, more or less, Uzzle Industrial park, as shown on a map recorded in Plat Book 63, Page 266, Johnston County Registry, to which plat reference is hereby made for a full and complete description of said lot. Section 2. All laws and clauses in conflict with this Ordinance Amendment are hereby repealed. Section 3. This Ordinance Amendment shall be effective immediately upon adoption. DULY ADOPTED THIS THE 17 th DAY OF AUGUST 2015 1 st OPEN FORUM: Mayor Phillip Wright opened the first public forum at 6:38pm and with no one wishing to speak, closed the public forum at 6:39pm. REGULAR BUSINESS MAYOR PHILLIP R. WRIGHT: MAYOR PRO-TEM KENNETH JONES: Planning Department Report: Mayor Wright had nothing to report. Mayor Pro-tem Jones stated that members had a copy of the typed report for the Planning Department, and then asked Town Administrator Ollis if he had anything he wanted to add or discuss regarding the report. Town Administrator Ollis discussed items on the report including the date of the Planning Board s last meeting, at which members discussed annexation agreement boundaries for possible dealings with various towns and specifically with the Town of Clayton. He said possible approaches to boundaries in favor of Wilson s Mills include everything south of Vinson Road, East of Glen Laurel and North of Hwy 70 Business. Mr. Ollis mentioned that he and Councilmember Byrd attended a meeting with the Stakeholder Oversight Team (SOT) of the South East Area Study on August 13, 2015 at the Clayton Center in Clayton. He explained that it is a Multi-Modal Transportation Planning group. He said the they are working to put Wilson s Mills idea of the future of the county into the mix with other towns in the county so that Wilson s Mills desires will be heard in regard to future land use, designs and standards, traffic models for the South East area of the Raleigh/Wake County area. Another issue, explained Mr. Ollis, is Bear Farm Road, which was cut into two sections after an annexation by Selma. It leaves two roads in different towns with the same name, which is causing issues for 911 Communications. 911 Communications has approached both Selma and Wilson s Mills about changing the name of one of the roads. Mr. Ollis said initially he felt it was Selma s issue to fix, since it was Selma s annexation which caused the problem. He said he decided to take the matter before the Planning Board during its August 3 rd meeting and the Board decided against making any changes to the name of the road, citing undue inconvenience to property owners on Bear Farm Road. Mr. Ollis called on Councilmember Randy Jernigan, who is familiar with 911 operations, to discuss the problems associated with the roads. Councilmember Jernigan said 911 has been working with the Town of Selma for a year regarding renaming the road. The Selma Town Council recently told 911 that it will not take any action on the matter, according to Councilmember Jernigan. Mayor Pro-tem Jones asked if the Town of Wilson s Mills could also decide not to address the matter. Councilmember Jernigan said the town would be taking on a liability issue if it does not act. He told Council that if a Law Enforcement Officer was in trouble at the intersection of Bear Farm Road and Highway 70 there would
PAGE 3 be confusion with two such locations a mile apart. He said the same is true if there were a fire down Bear Farm Road. He said help might go to the wrong location. Mayor Pro-tem Jones asked if the Town of Selma also was taking on a liability by not taking action. Councilmember Jernigan answered yes but said he believes the Town of Wilson s Mills need to be the bigger people and solve the problem. He said he feels that it is our issue to solve. Mayor Pro-tem Jones said he feels it is Selma s issue since there is only one resident on their end of the road. Councilmember Jernigan stated that it is a safety issue for the residents on Wilson s Mills side. Councilmember Byrd mentioned that every parcel on the Wilson s Mills end of Bear Farm Road would need to be re-addressed with GPS addressing. Councilmember Jernigan said that Johnston County has agreed to pay for work necessary to change addresses and street signs. Following a lengthy discussion, Mayor Pro-tem Jones suggested looking into exactly how many residents the name change would effect and find out from the county if the two roads could be labeled East and West and North and South but keep the Bear Farm Road name for each before making a decision. Councilmember Byrd said she used to send a letter to residents when a street name change was requested by the county and give them a chance to suggest new names for the road or just voice their opinion about the change. Mayor Pro-tem Jones asked if there was further information about the county providing sewer services to any satellite annexation including the Gordon Property. Town Administrator Ollis said that the county would provide sewer service with the idea that the Town of Wilson s Mills would pick it up at a later date, providing the property was annexed into a municipality. He said we can t just go out and put sewer on the property. It would have to go through the County s guidelines and the development planned for the property is too large for the county to approve. A pump station would also have to be put in by the county and Wilson s Mills would have to buy it once the property is annexed. Council had no further questions. TCC/TAC Report: Economic Development Update: JOAN HARRIS: Update on Events Board Activities: Mayor Pro-tem Jones stated that he had nothing new to report on the TCC & TAC meetings, except there is a meeting this month. Mayor Pro-tem Jones told Council that the next meeting for the Economic Development Committee Work Force Center in Clayton on Aug. 26 at 12:30pm. Items discussed at the meeting, he said, would have a huge impact on the Wilson s Mills area. Councilmember Joan Harris told Council that the Events Board has been working hard on vendors, sponsors, and entertainment for the Pumpkin Festival. She said the Events Board would be meeting on the following Tuesday at 6:30 pm. She also presented contracts for DJ Services from Stevie Edwards, Inflatable Services for Bobby and Beth Frye, and Games, Staff and Prizes for David Wright that need Council approval. Mayor Pro-tem Jones noted that one contract had insurance included in the policy but others did not. Town Attorney Bill Anderson said that some services require liability insurance, such as the inflatables. He said the others are small businesses and do not have insurance included in the contract. Town Clerk Leighanna Worley told Council that the insurance on the inflatables was required by the Town s insurance carrier a few years ago because children would actually be climbing and playing on the inflatables. She said she could call
PAGE 4 CONTRACT for Event Services Stevie Edwards: CONTRACT for Event Services Bobby & Beth Frye: CONTRACT for Event Services David Wright: Update on Silver Stars Activities: JOHNNY EASON: Sewer Report FLETA BYRD: Street Department Report: the Town s insurance carrier to see if the other game vendors would be required to carry insurance as well. A motion was made by Councilmember Fleta Byrd and seconded by Councilmember Randy Jernigan to approve the contract with Stevie Edwards for DJ Services as submitted. Motion carried unanimously. Councilmember Fleta Byrd to approve the contract with Bobby and Beth Frye for Inflatable services as submitted. Motion carried unanimously. Councilmember Fleta Byrd to approve the contract with David Wright for games with the condition that the Town s insurance carrier is okay with Mr. Wright having no insurance coverage. Motion carried unanimously. Councilmember Harris told Council that the Silver Stars had approximately 20 children from Wilson s Mills Elementary School in the group meeting in August. The children learned about areas of Town services including the Police Department and Fire Department. The children also ate lunch with the group. Councilmember Eason told Council that he met with Johnston County regarding the town putting in sewer lines. He said they were receptive and would help the Town as much as they can. He said he also attended a Triangle J meeting and all were helpful in regards to the sewer project. He said it was decided that a sewer meeting would be held on the second Monday of each month at 10 am, and that the Town Attorney, Engineers, Town Administrator Ollis, Councilmember Eason and Mayor Wright will attend the meeting to stay up-to-date on the sewer project. Councilmember Fleta Byrd said the town is using temporary help in the street department and looking to hire permanent help. She also gave her take on the SOT meeting that she attended with Town Administrator Ollis. Councilmember Eason asked if there was any mention of commuter rail in Wilson s Mills, and Councilmember Byrd said nothing new had been mentioned in the meeting. Council had no other questions. Councilmember Byrd had nothing further to report. RANDY JERNIGAN: Police Department Report: Councilmember Randy Jernigan referenced the Police Department report and asked Lieutenant Strong if he had anything to add. Lt. Strong gave copies of activities in the Police Department for the month of July and first part of August for review. He said the information was not available in time to be included in the Council packets. There was a discussion regarding changing the vendor for brake pads and rotors for the police cars and the cost to change them. Cost estimates showed the price may be cut nearly in half. Also discussed was the possibility of purchasing cameras for the police cars by selling police department surplus items. The department has one usable car camera and one body camera at present. Councilmember Jernigan brought up that Pine Level Police Department has body cameras that cost approximately $200 each and are wireless while the one the Town of Wilson s Mills uses costs $700-$800 and is wired. Also discussed was the possibility of replacing aging tasers. Lt. Strong said today s cost is approximately $1,400 per taser. He also said he d like to address the issue of tasers through grants. Council asked Lt. Strong to keep them updated on progress.
PAGE 5 FINANCE OFFICER S REPORT: Review of Financial Statements for July 1, 2015-August 11, 2015: Discussion of the Susan George James Endowment Funds: Town Administrator Zach Ollis referenced the financial statements that are for July 1, 2015 through August 11, 2015. He told Council that the lines are balanced. He asked Council for any questions and there were none. Councilmember Eason asked about the CDBG grant total and wanted to know if it was listed among the bank account balances. Town Clerk Worley said that since the grant is on a reimbursement system and not given to the Town as a lump sum, there is no bank account for the grant funds. Councilmember Eason asked for the amount of money remaining on the CDBG grant and Town Clerk Worley staff could get that total for him before the next Council meeting. Mr. Ollis explained that the Stiefel account has $26,317.98. He said at the end of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015 it was found that leaving the money in Stiefel, which is like a mutual fund or stocks, would not be approved by the Local Government Commission (LGC). He explained that the Town of Smithfield put together an Endowment agreement with Mr. George stipulating that the money be left in Stiefel because that is what Mr. George wants. He informed Council that the LGC would be okay with that agreement in place. Attorney Anderson said he had reviewed a draft agreement and that it looked okay to him. Mr. Ollis said the contract would be ready for Council to review and approve at the September meeting. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR S REPORT: Possible Budget Amendment and Discussion of GPS Tracking for Town Vehicles: Mr. Ollis said Council has asked for more oversight on patrolling. He presented information and a quote on a GPS system from InTouch GPS. The cost is estimated at $1,038 for 4 vehicles for the remainder of the 2015-2016 Fiscal Year. No contract is required and the first month of service is free, according to Mr. Ollis. The system would allow both Council and selected staff to view information at any time, from anywhere, through the online system. Information tracked includes, location, speed, and how long a car sits idle in one spot. Council discussed the need to have GPS on all 5 police vehicles, and asked for total cost of 5 vehicles being outfitted through a full fiscal year. Mr. Ollis and Mrs. Worley totaled the estimate to be approximately $1776.50 annually. Councilmember Jernigan said while it is something to look into, the Town doesn t have the money to fund it right now. According to Mr. Ollis, for a startup cost of $339.50 for the first and last month, the Town could start the 30-day risk-free trail and if the Town is not happy with it equipment can be returned and service cancelled. If kept, the town would pay monthly for the service. Councilmember Fleta Byrd to start the 30-day risk free trail for $339.50 and have Town Administrator Ollis report back before amending the budget for the cost of a full year. Motion carried unanimously. 2nd PUBLIC FORUM: Mayor Phillip Wright opened the second public forum at 8:03pm. Brunette Eason of 202 Country Valley Place commented on the games vendor that was chosen by the Events Board, and stated that their decisions were made with the thought of safety in mind. She noted that they are not going to choose games that would hurt people. Faye Wright of 725 Powhatan Road asked Council why an Events Board was needed if their decisions were going to always be overruled by the Council. She asked if the dunking booth vendor or pick-up ducks game vendor would need insurance, and expressed concerns that some Councilmembers decisions were going to cause the Pumpkin Festival to never grow.
PAGE 6 MOTION TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSION: RECESS: MOTION TO COME OUT OF CLOSED SESSION: ADJOURN: With no one else wishing to speak, Mayor Phillip Wright closed the open forum at 8:08pm. A motion was made by Councilmember Fleta Byrd and seconded by Mayor Protem Kenneth Jones to go into Closed Session pursuant to NCGS 143-318.11(a) (6) regarding personnel matters at 8:08pm. Motion carried unanimously. Mayor Wright called for a 5 minute recess before going into Closed Session. A motion was made by Councilmember Fleta Byrd and seconded by Mayor Protem Kenneth Jones to come out of Closed Session at 9:06pm. Motion carried unanimously. With no further business, a motion was made by Councilmember Fleta Byrd and seconded by Councilmember Randy Jernigan to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:06pm. PHILLIP R. WRIGHT, Mayor ATTEST: LEIGHANNA T. WORLEY, CMC, NCCMC, Town Clerk