City Council

Page i of 6 City of High Shoals Regular Council Meeting April 9, 2024 • Call to Order o Mayor PJ Rathbone called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. on April 9, 2024. In attendance are the following council members: Dennis Cash, Denese Cook, Bo Rhyne, Kathy Rhyne, Tim Eidson, and Bobby Vassey. • Invocation • Pledge of Allegiance • Approval of Agenda o Motion to approve the agenda made by Denese Cook, seconded by Kathy Rhyne, all in favor. • Approval of Minutes o Motion to approve the minutes from March 2024 made by Kathy Rhyne, seconded by Bobby Vassey. 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). Judy Taylor signed up to speak. She wanted to let the council know that she appreciated the ditch beside her house and Brian spreading out grass seed. The Easter egg hunt was super fun and there were so many people in attendance, though Mr. Bobby was the only council member there. The girl, boy, and the older man on the bicycle are in the brick building again Saturday or Sunday. PJ told her that the girl had “no-trespassed” from the park and the cemetery and advised her to call the non-emergency number and let them know. ❖ 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. PJ stated that with us being short on employees, we appreciate people jumping in and helping out and it is appreciated. Kathy stated there were no truck breakdowns either. ➢ Departmental Reports: ➢ Police Report-Gaston County o Jamoulis said the most common issue is the homeless and said he knows he has no- trespassed the girl and boy. o An assault, stolen property out of Lincoln Count along with four arrests ➢ Financial-Dennis Cash o Checking: $458,927.86 o Savings 1: $160,598.90 o Savings 2: $ 11,104.25 o Capital Management: $ 47,333.19 o Total: $677,964.20 Page 1 of 6 Page ii of 6 ➢ Cemetery-Denese Cook o We had ant killer put out last Friday (Cemetery, playground, and ball field) o There is a link on the website to send you to the cemetery. You can search for a loved-one’s grave. And if you do so on your phone, you can use your GPS to locate and actually track you exactly to their final resting spot. ➢ Water/Sewer-Bo Rhyne o Rags were ground up in the pump which was causing the issues on River Street. o There was a woman’s tank top stuck in the grinder in the lift station on Hardin Road o As of right now, all of the pumps are cleaned, serviced, and running as it should and the spare pump has been delivered. ➢ Streets/Maintenance/Sanitation-Kathy Rhyne o Need to get with Tim Eidson on State Street for the flooding of the yard. o No issues with sanitation o Should look into getting flyers or mailings to offer our services. ➢ Parks/Recreation-Bobby Vassey o Yard of the Month: 203 Dayton Road ▪ Danaye Perez o Easter Egg Hunt turned out great! We did have an issue with the toilets running exceptionally slow. There were rocks, bricks, asphalt in the sewer lines. Those toilets are old, the old toilets were put back in when we redid the bathrooms. Brian took flush valves apart and we’re thinking there’s just corrosion in the porcelain trap. We’ve at least one working toilet and the others are blocked off to use for now. ➢ Vehicles- Tim Eidson o Still working on the vehicles. The service engine soon light came on in the small trash truck today. o The truck has been listed on GovDeals, we are waiting for paperwork to come back so that we may file for a lost title. ➢ Administration/Mayor Report-PJ Rathbone o We had 3 interviews this week and we have one really great candidate, PJ reached out to the candidate, and he said he would give a definitive answer Friday. We have a few more interviews this Friday as well. o Mill property update- Still working through the additional testing that they are required to do. It won’t be long before we will have to make an official decision and get the appraisal for the property to give to Royster Oil. ➢ Old Business: • Discussion/Action: Vehicle(s) o Last time we left, we had financing information from People’s Bank, Chevrolet, Ford Business, and Ford. With the lease option there is no penalty to pay out early. With the other options, we could Page 2 of 6 Page iii of 6 possibly push the first payment into the next fiscal year. To obtain a dealer-trade to get the vehicle on site, then they have to have a commitment from the City. o Tim asked if to make the budget more feasible, he wants to know if we can’t use the monies in savings to purchase a vehicle out-right. However, the monies in the savings accounts have already been included into the budget; therefore, we cannot touch those funds for purchasing a vehicle. ▪ Dennis Cash made motion to lease the 4-wheel drive Chevrolet and the 2-wheel drive Chevrolet for four years, seconded by Kathy Rhyne. All in favor- all ayes. • Discussion/Action: Dallas Water Agreement o PJ said we received our initial water agreement from Dallas and did not like the price-point they were wanting. Friday, he said that he would email the information; however, he did not. ▪ Motion to table made by Dennis Cash, seconded by Kathy Rhyne. • Discussion/Action: Budget Meetings o April 22, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. for the first budget meeting. o April 29, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. for the second budget meeting. ➢ New Business: • Discussion/Action: Proclamation and Resolution of the 55th annual professional municipal clerks’ week, for May 5-11, 2024. o Motion to approve made by Kathy Rhyne, seconded by Bobby Vassey, all in favor. Page 3 of 6 Page iv of 6 Page 4 of 6 Page v of 6 • Discussion/Action: Fair housing Resolution for CDBG, Signatory Forms & Certifications o Denese Cook made the motion to adopt the Fair Housing Resolution, seconded by Kathy Rhyne. All in favor. Page 5 of 6 Page vi of 6 o Authorized signers for the requisitions as needed for the CDBG Neighborhood Revitalization Grant (2nd round of $950,000.) ▪ Tim Eidson made motion to add Bo Rhyne, Dennis Cash, PJ Rathbone, and Denese Cook to be signatories, seconded by Dennis Cash. All in favor. o ➢ Motion to Adjourn o Motion to adjourn made by Bo Rhyne, seconded by Kathy Rhyne and Denese Cook. All in favor. Page 6 of 6