Regular Meeting
MINUTES
The Holly Springs
Town Council met in regular session on
Council Members Present: Councilmen
Council Members Absent: Councilman
Parrish Womble (arrived at
Staff Members Present:
Carl G. Dean, town manager;
2 and 3. The pledge of allegiance was recited, and the
meeting opened with an invocation by Kenneth George, pastor of The Church of
God of Prophecy.
4. Agenda Adjustment: The
Motion
By: Dickson
Second
By: Atwell
Vote: Unanimous
Items
Added to the Agenda: None.
Consent
Agenda Items Removed: None.
Other
Changes: None.
5. Public Hearing: Resolution
04-43 Selling Surplus Real Property - Mr.
Schifano said that
Mr.
Schifano said in order to enter into negotiations with only one entity,
He said the bank proposes to purchase the property at full
appraised value, paying all closing costs, with no additional
consideration. The request before the
Council is to consider adoption of a resolution declaring the property surplus;
stating that the Council has made the required findings in order to sell the
property by negotiated sale; and authorizing the proper disposition of the property.
Mr. Randy Waller of The Fidelity Bank addressed the Council
to provide information so that the Council could determine that the purchase
would result in a stimulated economy and create jobs. He described some of the preliminary plans of
the bank to expand its existing location.
With that explanation completed, Mayor Sears opened the
public hearing to accept input. The
following comments were recorded: None.
There being no comments, the public hearing was closed.
Action:
Having found that if the Town were to sell its surplus real property to
The Fidelity Bank, it would stimulate the local economy, promote business, and
create jobs above the average wage in town, the Council approved a motion to adopt
Resolution 04-43 declaring the Town’s real property located on Main Street and
commonly known as The Clothes Closet (and formerly known as Town Hall) as surplus
to the needs of the Town; and stating that the Council has made the required
findings in order to sell the property by negotiated sale; and authorizing staff
members to execute the proper disposition of the property by negotiated sale to
The Fidelity Bank.
Motion
By: Dickson
Second
By: VanFossen
Vote: Unanimous
A copy of Resolution 04-43 is
incorporated into these minutes as addendum pages.
6.
Planning Appreciation Week - Ms. Bobber said the Town’s
At this time, Mayor Pro Tem
At this time,
7. Consent Agenda: All items on the Consent Agenda were approved following a
motion by Councilman Atwell, a second by Councilman Womble and a unanimous
vote. The following actions were
affected:
7a. Budget Amendment, $1,730 – The
Council adopted an amendment to the FY 2004-05 budget in the amount of $1,730 to cover the cost of a damaged
police vehicle. A copy of the budget amendment is
incorporated into these minutes as an addendum page.
7b. Budget Amendment,
$24,500 – The Council adopted an amendment to the FY 2004-05 budget in the amount of $24,500
to cover contract change orders for the police station project. A
copy of the budget amendment is incorporated into these minutes as an addendum
page.
8. Annexation Ordinance A04-08 – Ms. Bobber explained that the
Town held a public hearing
Ms.
Bobber said the annexation agreement between
She said the Council approved a motion to allow the property
owners to tie in to the Town of Holly Springs water line at in-town water rates
immediately and to consider the question of annexation of their property at a
later date. Staff is working with the Robertses to provide water service to the residence. The 60 days required by the annexation
agreement has passed.
There was discussion of the annexation agreement. Council concurred that it would be the right
thing to do to annex this property as requested by the owner so that the extension
of public water lines of the Town of Holly Springs could be justified.
Action:
The Council approved a motion to adopt Annexation Ordinance A04-08 annexing
2.5 acres owned by Edward D. and Debra H. Roberts, and more particularly
described as Wake County Pin(s): 0740.03-02-0962, into the corporate limits of
the Town of Holly Springs and a motion to set the zoning, pursuant to the
Unified Development Ordinance, at Holly Springs R-30.
Motion
By: Atwell
Second
By: Dickson
Vote: Unanimous
A copy of Annexation Ordinance A04-08 is incorporated into these minutes
as addendum pages.
9a. Policy Statement No. #P-24, Hydrant
Access Procedures and Fees - Mr. Wilhelm explained that the Town has
10 hydrant meters that are checked out by large-volume water customers to be
used in measuring the water they purchase in bulk. Bulk water customers are generally builders,
contractors, street cleaning companies and power-washing companies. Often, these customers check out the meters
and keep them for months at a time as a matter of convenience; however, this
presents the Town with the problem of not having a hydrant meter available for
a new customer or having to track one down and having it returned. For this bulk water sales service, the Town
charges a $100 deposit, a $15 user fee and $7 per thousand gallons of water
drawn from a hydrant as measured by the meter.
Mr.
Wilhelm said that the subject policy, if adopted, would establish a rental fee
that may encourage users to return the hydrant meters more promptly. The policy calls for a daily rental fee to be
charged in accordance with the Town’s fee schedule (this year, that fee would
be $20-per-day.) Or, a customer can choose to pay a monthly rental fee, to be
charged in accordance with the Town’s fee schedule (this year, that fee would
be $100 per month.) The user (account
fee) fee of $15 would still apply as would the cost of the water.
He
said that he hopes a rental fee that accumulates over time would encourage
users to return the hydrant meters when not in use so that others could use
them. Also, from those who don't mind
paying the monthly rent in order to keep the meters for months at a time, funds
would be raised to purchase additional meters and to repair those that are
damaged.
Mr.
Wilhelm said the proposed rental fees are in line with or less than fees
charged in surrounding municipalities.
In discussion, the Council
determined that the suggested $100-per-month rental fee was too low and would
not provide much of an incentive for prompt return of equipment. Members agreed the fee should be increased to
$300.
Action: The Council approved a motion to adopt Policy Statement No. 24 establishing a procedure
and rental fees for the use of hydrant meters, with an increase in the
suggested monthly rental fee to $300.
Motion
By: Dickson
Second
By: Atwell
Vote: Unanimous
A copy of Policy Statement P-24
hydrant meters, as adopted, is incorporated into these minutes as addendum
pages.
9b. Policy Statements P-25 and P-26 Community
Agency Grant Program Guidelines – Ms. Powell said at
the Council's Oct. 19th meeting, copies of the grant applications
received were provided for review. Also
provided was a list of several suggested criteria that had been included in proposed
policy statements to establish some guidelines for the Council to use in making
awards and for recipients to use in spending and accounting for the funds
received.
She said proposed Policy Statement No. 25 addresses the
Council's evaluation of applications and enables the Council to provide fair
and equitable consideration to applications.
Proposed Policy Statement No. 26, she said, which addresses how funds
are to be used, would ensure that public funds are spent for a public purpose
and that budget and fiscal control statutes requiring responsible accounting
practices for public funds are followed.
She advised the Council that after the draft policies were
included in agenda packets, another idea occurred to her. She said the Council may want to consider
adding to Policy Statement No. 25 a provision that an application screening
committee be appointed each year to pre-screen the applications and make
recommendations to the Council. The
committee, she suggested, could be made up of the mayor, a councilman and a
town staff person. Pre-screening by
committee might prove to be less cumbersome, she said.
In discussion, council agreed that a
pre-screening committee should be formed and that the committee should be made
up of the assistant town manager, the town clerk and the finance director. In addition, the Council agreed that both
policy statements should be amended to provide no more than 25% of an agency’s
operating or project budget, rather than one-third as proposed.
Councilman Womble
questioned why the policies were being proposed and expressed concern that the
policies should have been adopted prior to an agency’s applying for funding
rather than after.
Ms. Powell explained that, for that
reason, the effective dates of the policy statements were proposed for the day
following
Action #1: The Council approved a motion to adopt Policy Statement No. 25, as amended to provide
for a pre-screening committee consisting of the assistant town manager, finance
director and town clerk, and establishing guidelines for the Town Council to
follow in evaluating grant applications in the Community Agency Grant Program including amendments to establish a target
amount cap for funding of $2,500 and no more than 25% of an agency’s operating
or project budget.
.
Motion By: Atwell
Second
By: Dickson
Vote: The motion carried following a 4-1 vote. Councilmen Pearson, VanFossen, Atwell and
Dickson voted for. Councilman Womble voted against.
A
copy of Policy Statement No. 25, Grant Program Evaluation Criteria, as adopted,
is incorporated into these minutes as addendum pages.
Action #2: The Council approved a motion to adopt Policy Statement P-26, establishing
eligibility requirements for application and rules for the expenditure of any
funds awarded in the Community Agency Grant Program, including an amendment to
establish a target amount cap for funding of $2,500 and no more than 25% of an
agency’s operating or project budget.
Motion
By: Atwell
Second
By: Dickson
Vote: Unanimous
A copy of Policy Statement P-26, as
adopted, is incorporated into these minutes as addendum pages.
9c. Fall
2004 Community Agency Grant Applications – Ms. Powell reported that $32,500 is remaining in the line item for appropriations to community
agencies. As with any funds in the
Town's budget, funds awarded from this line item must be used by the agencies
requesting the money in ways that benefit the public or provide a service that
the Town cannot or does not otherwise provide.
Funds cannot be used for the benefit of a single person or group of
persons. And the Council is not
obligated to award all of the available money.
With
that explanation completed, Council began deliberations on each of eight
applications for funding. Applications were
received from: KidsVote, requesting
$1,000; Holly Springs Woman’s Club, $2,500; Holly Springs Dance Company,
$3,000; Holly Springs Chamber, $45,000 (with a provision that it could make do
with $10,000); Wake Education Foundation, $5,000; Hope Line, $600; Holly
Springs Assets Build Character, $5,000; and the Martin Luther King Jr.
Committee, $9,500. (The Holly Springs Kiwanis Club also had requested $2,500
and was granted $2,500 on Oct. 19 in advance of the club’s Haunted Schoolhouse
event in late October.)
Below
are key talking points made for each application:
KidsVote: Agency provides a community service directly
to local children.
Holly
Springs Woman’s Club: Agency provides
community service directly to the community and has done so for several
years. Agency has a history of
fund-raising and does not solely rely on contributions from the Town.
Holly
Springs Dance Company: Agency provides a
community service and raises its own funds. Another point of view was that a
public purpose would be hard to define from a service standpoint. Counterpoint is that the troupe is non-profit
and performs in representation of
Wake
Education Foundation: The Council does
not agree with this agency’s position that seems to be at odds with the
philosophy of “community schools,” favoring busing of children. Council does not believe Foundation directly
benefits the community.
HopeLine: Some on the Council said they do not know how
much of a service is provided directly to
Martin
Luther King Jr. Committee: Some on the Council
feel this is a new agency with no proven track record. Some on the Council feel this agency also
should be willing to raise some of its own funds for its event, rather than
requesting 100% funding from the Town.
Mayor Sears said there is a grass roots effort. A representative of the committee explained
that grant funding would be used to fund this year’s activities as well as serve
as seed money for the future. Funds
would be spent on a speaker, advertising, a souvenir booklet, a reception and
travel expenses for speaker, he said. Council urged the group to seek in-kind
contributions. Council consensus was
that the celebration would be a worthwhile project. Councilman Pearson suggested money plus
no-cost assistance, such as sound system and security. He added that the committee should be able to
raise money from the business community pretty easily in the future, too.
Action
#1: The Council approved a motion to
defer action on the Chamber of Commerce funding request until following a Nov.
10 workshop with the Chamber and some members of the Council to discuss the
issues that arose during discussions.
Motion: Womble
Second: Pearson
Vote: Unanimous
Action #2:
After consideration of applications, the Council approved a motion to award
Fall 2004 Community Agency Grants to the following applicants, distributed as
follows: Kids Vote, $750; Holly Springs
Woman’s Club, $2,500; Holly Springs Dance Company, $3,000; Wake Education
Foundation, $0; Hope Line, $250; Holly Springs Assets Build Character, $0;
Martin Luther King Jr. Committee, $4,750 plus in-kind services from the town.
Motion By: Pearson
Second By: Womble
Vote: Unanimous
10. Public Comment:
At this time, an opportunity was provided for members of the audience who had
registered to speak to address the Council on any variety of topics not listed
on the night’s agenda. The following
citizens were heard: None.
11. Other
Business: Council agreed to meet in a mini-retreat beginning at
12. Manager’s Report: Mr. Dean advised Council that department heads will be
meeting in staff retreat all day Nov. 9 at
13. Closed Session: None.
14. Adjournment: There
being no further business for the evening, the
Respectfully Submitted on
_________________________________
Addendum pages as referenced in these minutes follow and are a part of the official record