Board of Commissioners

TOWN OF BURGAW BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS SPECIAL MEETING DATE: October 1, 2019 TIME: 9:00 AM PLACE: Burgaw Municipal Building BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Kenneth Cowan Mayor Pro-tem Wilfred Robbins Commissioners Jan Dawson, Bill George, and James Murphy BOARD MEMBER ABSENT: Commissioner Vernon Harrell STAFF PRESENT: James Gantt, Town Manager Kristin J. Wells, Town Clerk Zachary Rivenbark, Town Attorney Kimberly Rivenbark, Deputy Town Clerk Alan Moore, Public Works Director Louis Hesse, Building Code Administrator Jim Hock, Police Chief Clay Jasper, Deputy Fire Chief Wendy Pope, Finance Officer Tiffany Byrd, Deputy Finance Officer Cody Suggs, Parks & Recreation Director Andrea Correll, Planning Director MEDIA PRESENT: None INVOCATION: Reverend James Malloy PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: All The meeting was called to order by Mayor Cowan at 9:00 AM and the invocation was led by Reverend Malloy. Approval of Agenda Commissioner George made a motion to approve the agenda. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Dawson and carried by unanimous vote. Discussion – Capital Improvement Projects Mr. Gantt gave an update and overview of the current projects listed below. Courthouse Avenue Project: Mr. Gantt advised staff is in the process of moving forward with this project and a RFQ is required under the Mini-Brooks Act. He advised the RFQ should be complete within the next couple of weeks. Commissioner Robbins commented there is also a drainage issue on Courthouse Avenue. Storm Water Projects: Mr. Gantt said the Osgood Canal Drainage Improvement Project should be complete by the end of October. There was discussion regarding various drainage issues around town, including future studies with the county on the drainage issues going out towards I-40 and areas downtown. Renovation of the Former EMS Building: Due to the recent remediation of the Old Jail, Mr. Hesse stated there hasn’t been much progress on the EMS Building. Mr. Hesse advised squaring off the building in the front, placing restrooms and kitchen in the front, fixing roof, and installing a sprinkler system would be a rough estimate of around $150k. Official pricing would need to come from a contractor. Mr. Gantt commented now that the jail is completed, staff can concentrate on this project. Commissioner George commented we should be thinking about more space for the town, especially during disasters. He also suggested looking into moving the fire department somewhere and renovate the Town Hall/Fire Department building to accommodate spacing needs. Enterprise Fund & Sewer Capacity Issues: Mr. Gantt advised there are current studies occurring regarding the sewer capacity on the US Highway 117 Corridor. He said the board recently approved SPECIAL BOC MINUTES OCTOBER 1, 2019 PAGE 1 of 3  McKim & Creed to perform a study in the area to provide cost estimates on needed improvements. McKim & Creed will come and present the findings at a future board meeting. Mr. Gantt advised we are looking at $1.8 million for the improvements. He stated at the end of FY 18-19, there was around $2.6 million dollars in the reserve water and sewer fund. He also advised there is around $500k in system development fees available to use for water and sewer improvements. Street Paving: Mayor Cowan and Commissioner George commented on the needs for street paving around town. Mr. Gantt advised core samples would need to be done and research on water and sewer lines under streets. There was much discussion on this topic. Tealbriar and Village on 18: Mr. Gantt advised the two subdivisions have privately owned roads and major storm water issues. In prior meetings, it has been discussed on the town looking into taking over the roads and storm water structures. WK Dickson has recently done a brief study on the areas and based on the results, Mr. Gantt suggests have the developer hire an engineering firm to do a full study as an expense to them. Commissioner Robbins thinks since the property owners in Tealbriar are residents of the town, the town “owes” them something, by taking over the streets, etc. Commissioner Robbins also commented the town probably should have been taken over by the town when the subdivision was developed. After much discussion, Commissioner Dawson commented she did not think the town could afford to take them over. Mayor Cowan stated based on the preliminary information received from WK Dickson, he suggests advising the developers of the subdivisions of the findings from the study and move forward from there. Break 10:40 AM-10:49 AM Playground Equipment Replacement at Harrell Park: Mr. Gantt advised replacement of the playground equipment is included in the plan over the next couple of years. He stated the equipment was installed in 1995 and has some damage that pose a safety concern. After Mr. Suggs shared pictures of the current condition of the playground equipment at Harrell Park. He also informed the board of grant information and the proposed options for replacement. There was discussion regarding ADA accessible equipment. Commissioner Dawson requested Mr. Suggs to look into making parts of the Rotary Park playground ADA accessible since there is a larger space to work with. It was the consensus of the board to place this item on the next Board of Commissioners Meeting on October 8, 2019. Possible Future Renovation of the Second Floor of the Old Jail: Mr. Gantt advised it has been brought up in the past regarding renovation of the second floor of the Old Jail. He advised it is in bad shape and needs to be scraped down and repainted; he would like to see the second floor restored so that visitors can see the history of the Old Jail. There was discussion regarding liability of allowing people onto the second level of the building. Ms. Pope advised she can check with our current insurance provider. Mr. Hesse stated the biggest issue would be the lead based paint. Sidewalk Improvements: Mr. Gantt advised we are currently looking at ways to improve our sidewalks. He commented the cost estimate to extend the Clark Street sidewalk would be around $20k. Also, staff is looking at the west side trail areas and working with PARTF grants for funding of extending the sidewalks. Mr. Gantt advised we are also looking into a sidewalk on Fremont Street connecting downtown to the hospital. There being no further discussions from Mr. Gantt, Mayor Cowan commented on a letter received from Commissioner Harrell due to his absence. He stated Commissioner Harrell’s main concerns were the Courthouse Avenue project and the EMS Building renovations. Adjournment Commissioner George made a motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Robbins and carried by unanimous vote. The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 AM. SPECIAL BOC MINUTES OCTOBER 1, 2019 PAGE 2 of 3  _____________________________ Kenneth T. Cowan, Mayor Attest:_____________________________ Kristin J. Wells, Town Clerk SPECIAL BOC MINUTES OCTOBER 1, 2019 PAGE 3 of 3