City Council

MAYOR P.O. Box 6, High Shoals, N.C. 28077 CLERK PJ Rathbone Tel: (704) 735-1651 - Fax: (704) 735-5595 Brandi Strange City of High Shoals Regular Council Meeting September 13, 2022 • Call to Order o Mayor Rathbone called the council meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. In attendance are council members: Jimmy Laws, Kathy Rhyne, Bobby Vassey, Denese Cook, and Dennis Cash and Mayor, PJ Rathbone. Bo Rhyne was not in attendance. • Invocation • Pledge of Allegiance • Approval of Agenda o Addition of the Code of Ethics for council members o Addition for discussion/action of disposition of inventory o Addition for forms to be completed for contractors. o Addition for approval of signs ▪ Motion to approve agenda made by Kathy Rhyne and seconded by Denese Cook. All in favor. o Motion by Jimmy Laws and seconded by Bobby Vassey to approve the additions. • Approval of Minutes o Regular Meeting o Special Meeting ▪ Motion to approve both sets of minutes by Kathy Rhyne and seconded by Mr. Laws. All in favor. ➢ Citizens’ comments/concerns: The City of High Shoals Council offers citizens the opportunity for Public Expression issues per NCGS 160A-81.1 (limited to 3-5 minutes per speaker). o No one had signed up to comment. ➢ Good of the Order: This is a time set aside for members to offer comments or observations (without formal motion) about the organization and its work. The good of the order is also the  time to offer resolution to bring disciplinary charges against a member for the offenses committed outside a meeting. o Mr. Cook spoke of Ricky Mayhew having an issue at his mailbox. The mail lady got stuck. The contractor added new gravel and tamped everything in. Hopefully, problem solved. o Hydrants o No issues with employees o Construction through town is moving right along. Two-Brothers are doing a great job. • Open Public Hearing #1: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Motion to open by Mr. Cash, seconded by Mr. Laws. All in favor. CDBG grant-Mr. Austin $950,000 will be received, approximately 7 single-family dwelling homes to be completed. A waiting list will need to be address by those who’ve already asked. An eight-year lien against homeowner, doesn’t affect property tax, mortgage, etc. The purpose of the lien is so that someone doesn’t sell the home. However, if a person passes away, the lien is forgiven. Pure grant money to the city. Application is due on September 30th. To apply, there is a resolution to be adopted, (Citizen’s Participation Plan) and Anti-displacement plan, and by-laws in selecting applicants. Income limits are necessary, 80% below median income. $52,000 for single, though goes up with additional members in the household. Four things adopted and we can move forward. Close Public Hearing #1 Motion to close this public hearing by Mr. Cash, seconded by Ms. Rhyne. All in favor. • Open Public Hearing #2: o Motion by Mrs. Cook and seconded by Bobby Vassey to open public hearing #2. UDO-Unified Development Ordinances for Gaston County This is to allow the county to finish the takeover that we voted upon. We will need to pass the resolution. There are no offers to Close Public Hearing #2 Motion made by Ms. Rhyne to close the second public meeting, seconded by Mr. Laws. • Departmental Reports: Police Report-Gaston County – Robbery case on Frye St., Drug Violation on Cherry St./S Lincoln St. two overdoses on N. Lincoln St. ▪ Citizen calls = 39 ▪ Officer Initiated Calls = 127 Financial-Dennis Cash o Checking = $583,641.14 o Savings = $150,049.32  o Capital Mgmt. = Cemetery-Denese Cook Everything is well Water/Sewer-Bo Rhyne Hardin Road lift station had to have a pump removed to be sent off to be rebuilt. Two pumps, one was in the container, which was already used and needed repaired, however, it cannot be repaired. They are going to get us an estimate for a new pump and the rebuild will be around $2500. The pump is required because the system because if there is water intrusion and it will make the alarm go off because it’s missing a pump. The alarm went off 6-7 times over the weekend. The one water leak that we had in town has been fixed (the one for the building). Rural water came back in and check to ensure it wasn’t leaking still. N. Lincoln St. had a leak at the setter. It was fixed. (Human cause) Streets/Maintenance/Sanitation-Kathy Rhyne o Repair on River St. starts tomorrow between 6:30 & 7 a.m. Curb jumper on State St. has stopped. The poles are deterring them. o Cherry St.-- No Parking Sign is missing. Brandi will contact the state, if not, we will purchase a sign to put up. o Banners-- Ms. Rhyne showed the banners to council and members of the audience. o 3 new poles going up o Sanitation—No issues with the truck Parks/Recreation-Bobby Vassey The Shade has arrived, and the mayor has said he will help the guys install it next weekend. The infield is a work in progress The rail coming down the stairs needs to be completed. Yard of the Month: 152 Harry Robinson St.—Ricky Dellinger Vehicles-Jimmy Laws HS-2 the rear tire is having an issue. The tire is dry rotting. Old 321 Auto gave us a good price on 2 tires, and they were installed. James River—54” Lawnmower, busted a spindle and bent a blade. Was not warranty work. Bill was $500.45. (Motion to approve the invoice made by Dennis Cash, seconded by Jimmy Laws. All in favor). Trying to ensure each vehicle is being driven by himself (Jimmy Laws) to be proactive to ensure proper working order of the vehicles. Administration/Mayor Report-PJ Rathbone—Water leak has been fixed at City Hall. The long-term contract with the Beaver man has caught 4 additional beavers during the summer. No phone calls from Holly Ridge for beaver issues. He went to mediation in Hickory over lawsuit against the city.  ➢ Old Business: Discussion/Action – Adoption of Unified Development Ordinance A copy of the resolution was provided for each councilmember. Motion to adopt made by Kathy Rhyne, seconded by Denese Cook. All in favor. Discussion/Action – Wiffle Ball Tournament PJ, Bobby, and a citizen have gotten a game-plan together and had flyers made. October 15th will be our wiffle-ball tournament. It will have a team of 7, all money will go back into the tournament. There will be a sponsorship if businesses want to participate. Long Shoals will be bringing teams as well. A lot of municipalities have been made aware, additionally. We hope for community involvement. No actions needed, just wanted to inform. ➢ New Business Discussion/Action – Revitalization Grant ▪ Resolution, Residential anti-displacement, neighborhood revitalization, Citizen Participation o Kathy Rhyne made motion to pass the resolution, the residential anti- displacement policy, and the selection committee members process by-laws program, seconded by Denese Cook. All in favor. o Motion to approve the citizen participation program made by Kathy Rhyne, seconded by Jimmy Laws, all approved. Discussion/Action – Banner Installation ▪ Hero Banners o Looking at 9/22 (we cannot find a lift through United nor Sunbelt) or 9/29. Estimated rental is $1400.00 ▪ Christmas Banners o 11/17 or 11/23 for installation. $1400 to be approved for rental per time made by Denese Cook, seconded by Jimmy Laws. All in favor. ▪ Discussion/Action—Christmas Parade Dates December 11th at 2 p.m. Motion to approve to consider December 11th at 2pm by Mrs. Cook, seconded by Mr. Vassey. All in favor. Discussion/Action – Planning Committee for 50-year celebration—November 6, 1973. The earlier we start planning, the better off we’ll be. At least two- council members to get some residents involved in planning the celebration. Kathy & Denese shall work as co-chairs.  Motion to nominate Ms. Rhyne & Mrs. Cook made by Jimmy Laws, seconded by Mr. Vassey. All in favor. ▪ Discussion/Action -- Lawsuit against the city o When the building was constructed, the general contractor abandoned the project and abandoned the subcontractors. We paid roughly $274,000 for this building. With T.M. Caldwell, he did not get paid the full amount for the plumbing for this building. Today, the mayor found out that Mr. Caldwell received a phone call from the architect and the previous mayor, and those two people told him to come back & complete the job and they would be paid. Some of the work did not pass inspection so a different plumber came in to pass inspection. He’s alleging we owe him $12,000. At mediation, they demanded we pay $12,000 and I refused. The company hadn’t been awarded a judgement yet against the contractor. So, this case was being handled by Mr. Windham, one of the attorneys at his office, Mr. Lowe, since he had already been involved in it. That attorney was present today. With these cases, we must file a motion of a summary judgement and take all evidence in front of the judge. There is a time frame to do so. IF that summary judgement is awarded to the city, then we are done. I made them aware that I will not and cannot decide for any monetary decision and it must be brought back to the council and be approved by the council itself. If any council members that were on council during construction, please let me know. We need to give the information to Mr. Lowe. Invoices to the general contractor or the plumbing company. The architect’s statement was that we had to add an ADA sink which we told him that he had to come add that and we’d pay out-of-pocket for that. Paperwork needs to be given to Mr. Lowe this week. NO action needed. Just wanted to make council aware. o Discussion/Action -- Carolina Lift Stations ▪ Company used to service and does all work on the pumps and generators. Hesitant on their 5-year tie-in. We can ask for them to change the terms to lock in a little less since there is no lock-in for a price. Or to lock the price for 5 years. Interested in what the preventative maintenance entails. Possibility for someone to be trained to perform the preventative maintenance. Motion to table made by Denese Cook, seconded by Bobby Vassey. All in favor. o Addition for discussion/action of disposition of inventory o Addition for forms to be completed for contractors ▪ Any equipment placed out of service will need to be signed off by at least two council members. This is to keep up with what we have and what has been taken away. Motion to approve both forms of disposition and contracted work form by Denese Cook, seconded by Bobby Vassey. All approved.  o Addition for approval of signs ▪ Motion to approve renderings made by Jimmy Laws, seconded by Denese Cook. All in favor. o Addition of the Code of Ethics for council members ▪ Motion to approve the Code of Ethics for council members made by Kathy Rhyne, seconded by Jimmy Laws. All in favor. ➢ Motion to Adjourn: Motion to adjourn regular council meeting made by Kathy Rhyne and Jimmy Laws, seconded by Bobby Vassey. All in favor. o Meeting adjourned at 7:51 p.m.