City Council

MINUTES WENTWORTH TOWN COUNCIL October 4, 2022 7:00 pm Wentworth Town Hall 124 Peach Tree Road, Wentworth NC The Wentworth Town Council held their regularly scheduled monthly meeting at the Wentworth Town Hall, on Tuesday, October 4, 2022 at 7:00pm. Council Members Present: Mayor Dennis Paschal Jr., Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Conner, Cheryl Moore, Dennis Paschal III, Daryl Crowder Council Members Absent: A quorum was met. Staff Present: Yvonne Russell, Town Clerk/ Finance Officer Hunter Wilson, Accounting Clerk/ Deputy Clerk Others Present: Ellis Martin, Attorney, Fox Rothschild LLP – Town of Wentworth Rockingham Update - Media Article I. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Dennis Paschal, Jr. called the meeting to order. Article II. INVOCATION Councilmember Dennis Paschal, III gave the invocation. Article III. APPROVAL OF TOWN COUNCIL AGENDA A. Requests and Petitions of Citizens B. Approve/ Amend Agenda Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “To approve the Agenda as written”. Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Conner seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Article IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Town Council Meeting – September 6, 2022 Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “The minutes be approved as written”. Mayor Pro Tem Conner seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes October 4, 2022 – pg. 1 Article V. OLD BUSINESS A. Wentworth Christmas in the Park 1. Consideration of Proposal for Food and Beverages Yvonne Russell, Town Clerk/ Finance Officer reported that a quote for serving 1,500 hotdogs has been received. The quote is $4.00/person for one hot dog, bag of chips and a canned drink, totaling $6,000 for 1,500 guests. Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “To approve the plan feed 1,500 people at the Christmas in the Park event.” Councilmember Daryl Crowder seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. (Note: The quote from Sweet Carolina is herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes October 4, 2022 – pg. 2 Article V. OLD BUSINESS A. Wentworth Christmas in the Park 2. Update from Town Clerk Ms. Russell reported the following progress made in planning for Wentworth Christmas in the Park:  Staff has had an initial planning meeting with Wentworth Elementary staff.  Staff has contacted the local coffee shop about preparing hot chocolate for the guests.  Staff has attempted to contact local food trucks but has not been successful in getting a response. Staff will contact Duck Donuts after receiving a business card from Cheryl Moore.  Staff has contacted an electrical contractor to hang the snowflake lights and string lights in the park.  The Town’s landscaper will work on getting a tree for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony.  Staff suggested asking the NC Highway Patrol about using their Breast Cancer Awareness vehicle as the Grand Marshal for the mini-parade.  The music DJ used last year will return for this year’s event.  Staff hopes to have “characters” walking in the parade and taking photos with guest throughout the event.  Staff has contacted Pelham Transportation to rent vehicles to carry guests from the parking area to the Park.  Staff will create an event map to hand out to guests.  Staff has purchased inflatable Christmas decorations for the outer perimeter of the Park. Council discussed roping off the Park driveway with designated areas open for foot traffic to pass over the driveway, in hopes of keeping the driveway clear for the mini-parade. Council agreed to reimburse Wentworth Elementary for their expenses related to the event, just as they did last year. Council suggested limiting the time with Santa Claus to two minutes per visitor in order to keep the line moving. Article VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Consideration of Proposal to Remove Six (dead/dying) Trees in Wentworth Park Mayor Paschal expressed his concern that six older trees in the middle of the park are dead and/or dying and may present a safety hazard. Junior Loye Tree Service has provided a quote for removing the six trees. Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “We contract with Junior Loye Tree Service to take the dead trees down in the Park.” Mayor Pro Tem Conner seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. (Note: The quote from Junior Loye Tree Service is herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes October 4, 2022 – pg. 3 Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes October 4, 2022 – pg. 4 Article VI. NEW BUSINESS B. Consideration of Quotes for Improvements to Ballfield at the Wentworth Consolidated School Site 1. Fencing 2. Ballfield Renovation Mayor Paschal presented quotes for fencing, ballfield renovation, and a quote for bush hogging, tree removal, and trench filling at the Wentworth Consolidated School Site ballfield. (Note: Three quotes for repairs to the Wentworth Consolidated School Site Ballfield are herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes October 4, 2022 – pg. 5 Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes October 4, 2022 – pg. 6  Councilmember Paschal III asked if the costs of these projects would be paid with ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Funds. Ms. Russell said that either ARPA Funds or the SCIF (State Capital Infrastructure Fund) Grant could be used. She explained that the SCIF Grant requires the project cost at least $100,000 to be considered a Capital Project. Mayor Paschal explained, “Prices are sky high right now, but I’m going to talk to architects about where you go into the gym, the renovation of it…and maybe the overflow to the auditorium and the first floor of the big building. We will have to bid that out.” He continued, “The guy from the roofing company said, we can order this stuff but I can’t give you a price on what it’s going to be because they won’t even tell us until it ships and it won’t be here until 2023, so I told him let’s just wait until 2023 and see if the prices go down.” Mayor Paschal said, “I’m going to try to work it to where, of course at some point Council will have to approve the scope of work, but get an architect over there to talk to them about doing a scope of work for us. When we’re in a position to pull the trigger on it and say we’re going to bid it out in…March…then they’ll already have the preliminary work done.” He added, “Of course Council will have to approve the architects going ahead and doing that.” Mayor Paschal said he’s going to ask Garcia Fencing to quote additional fencing past the foul ball area on the right side of the field. Cheryl Moore asked if any of the ARPA Funds or SCIF Grant funds could be used at the Park for another shelter. Ms. Russell said they could. Mayor Paschal made a Motion, “We approve all three quotes for the Wentworth Ballfield Renovation.” Mayor Pro Tem seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes October 4, 2022 – pg. 7 Article VI. NEW BUSINESS C. Consideration of Town Staff Attendance at the Master Clerk Academies & New Clerk’s Institute, November 16-18, 2022 in Durham, NC Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “We approve Town staff attending the Master Clerk Academies and New Clerk’s Institute on November 16-18, 2022 in Durham NC.” Councilmember Paschal III seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Article VI. NEW BUSINESS D. Employee Evaluation – Yvonne Russell, Town Clerk / Budget-Finance Officer Mayor Paschal explained, “The reason we’ve done another evaluation is because Yvonne’s anniversary date is in September and that is when she is supposed to be getting her evaluation and merit raise, but it somehow always got pushed out to June, and then we would have to retroactively do a merit raise. Also, she’s taking on additional responsibilities at the Town Hall, so Evelyn and I went ahead with the evaluation close to her anniversary date.” He continued, “The Personnel Committee has completed an evaluation for Yvonne Russell, Town Clerk/ Budget-Finance Officer. In our evaluation we noted that Ms. Russell has taken on the added responsibility of training and supervising the new Town employee. Our recommendation is to increase Ms. Russell’s annual salary by 8%, and add the title of “Staff Supervisor” to her job description. Her current salary is $58,992.72; we are recommending $63,712.14.” Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “We approve the Personnel Committee’s recommendation.” Councilmember Paschal III seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Ms. Russell noted that her employee evaluation is available for Council to review in the Clerk’s office. Mayor Paschal said, “We were getting ready to set it up for Closed Session, but then Ellis let Yvonne know we shouldn’t do that.” Ellis Martin, Town Attorney replied, “Yes, for what we were going to talk about, I don’t think we can.” Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes October 4, 2022 – pg. 8 Article VII. PUBLIC COMMENTS No one signed the speaker register for public comments. Article VIII. ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Paschal made the following announcements:  The next regular meeting of the Wentworth Planning Board is scheduled for Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at 7:00 pm at the Wentworth Town Hall.  The next regular meeting of the Wentworth Town Council is scheduled for Tuesday, November 1, 2022, at 7:00 pm at the Wentworth Town Hall. Article IX. ADJOURN Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “We adjourn”. Mayor Pro Tem Conner seconded the motion, and the meeting adjourned. Respectfully Submitted By: __________________________ Yvonne Russell, NCCMC Town Clerk Approved By: _______________________ Dennis Paschal, Jr. Mayor Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes October 4, 2022 – pg. 9