City Council

MINUTES WENTWORTH TOWN COUNCIL June 6, 2023 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, June 6th, 2023, at 7:00pm. Council Members Present: Mayor Dennis Paschal Jr., Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Conner, Daryl Crowder, Cheryl Moore, Dennis Paschal III 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 Lynn Cochran, Planner Rockingham Update - Media Article I. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Dennis Paschal Jr. called the meeting to order. Article II. INVOCATION Mayor Paschal 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 add Budget Amendment No. 4 for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 to Article VII. New Business, D”. Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Conner seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “To approve the Agenda as amended”. Mayor Pro Tem Conner seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 1 Article IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Town Council Meeting – May 2, 2023 Councilmember Dennis Paschal III made a MOTION, “The minutes stand approved as written”. Mayor Pro Tem Conner seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Article V. OLD BUSINESS There was no old business. Article VI. PUBLIC HEARING A. Adoption of Budget Ordinance for Fiscal Year 2023 – 2024 Mayor Paschal called the public hearing to order. There were no questions or comments. Mayor Paschal closed the public hearing. Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “To adopt the Budget Ordinance for Fiscal Year 2023 – 2024 as written.” Councilmember Paschal III seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. (Note: The Budget Ordinance for FY 2023-2024 is herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 2 Article VII. NEW BUSINESS A. Consideration of Audit Contract for Fiscal Year End June 30, 2023 Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “We approve the audit contract for fiscal year end June 30, 2023.” Mayor Pro Tem Conner seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. (Note: The audit contract with Rouse, Rouse, Rouse & Gardner for fiscal year end June 30, 2023 is herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 3 Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 4 Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 5 Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 6 Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 7 Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 8 Article VII. NEW BUSINESS B. Consideration of Grant Project Ordinance for Construction and Installation of the SCIF Grant Project Amendment No. 2 Yvonne Russell, Town Clerk/ Finance Officer reviewed the amendment. She explained that the changes detailed in the amendment reflect the addition of projects approved at the last Town Council meeting. Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “We approve the Grant Project Ordinance for Construction and Installation of the SCIF Grant Project Amendment No. 2”. Mayor Pro Tem Conner seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. (Note: The Grant Project Ordinance (SCIF Grant) Amendment No. 2 is herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 9 Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 10 Article VII. NEW BUSINESS C. Discussion of Town of Wentworth 25th Anniversary Celebration Ms. Russell and Council discussed ideas for the Town’s 25th Anniversary Celebration in the park. The following is a list of items that were agreed upon:  Event date and time – July 22, 2023 ; 10:00am until 1:00pm  Food Trucks – ice cream, donuts, snow-cones  Vendors – crafts, food, produce, etc. (no vendor fees; vendors may stay the entire day)  Bounce houses – Water slide/ bounce house combo and additional bounce house for small children  Town Seal pins – quantity of 500  Door prizes  Serve watermelon under shelter Councilmember Paschal III mentioned the 100th Anniversary of the Wentworth Consolidated School. He confirmed the 100th Anniversary is October 22, 2023. He suggested directing the Wentworth Historic Preservation Committee to get some artifacts together about the school for an anniversary event, and perhaps have previous faculty and others associated with the school there to participate in the event. Everyone agreed this should be taken up at the August 1, 2023 Council meeting so that advertising may begin in late August. Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “We plan our Town of Wentworth 25th Anniversary Celebration for July 22, 2023 from 10:00am – 1:00pm to include the two bounce houses we discussed, and the farmers market/ crafts and vendors.” Councilmember Cheryl Moore seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Article VII. NEW BUSINESS D. Consideration of General Fund Budget Amendment No 4 – FY 2022-2023 Ms. Russell reviewed the fourth and final budget amendment for Fiscal Year 2022- 2023. Regarding changes that involve the SCIF Grant, Councilmember Paschal III asked, “Is that just that process that we’ve been going through where we’re just allocating the SCIF money to replace money that would otherwise be in our General Fund?” Ms. Russell explained, “The $250,000 that we’ve added to Other Revenues/ Grants… the State was supposed to deposit the second SCIF Grant of $250,000 directly into the Town’s SCIF Grant banking account, but they sent it to our operating bank account instead. So we have to transfer that to the SCIF Grant banking account, and I have to show that in the General Fund since they deposited it to our regular operating bank account. That’s $250,000 in Revenue and the Expenditure line item is at the end of your spreadsheet and it is Transfer to State Capital and Infrastructure Grant. That’s the only part we are paying ourselves back for. The rest of it we have paid directly out of the SCIF Grant bank account.” Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 11  Ms. Russell continued, “The $26,077.28 shown in Revenues under Transfer from Special Revenue Fund, that covers some of the costs that we had to pay out of our General Fund because we did not have checks yet for the SCIF Grant bank account.” Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “We approve Budget Amendment No. 4 of the General Fund for Fiscal Year 2022-2023”. Mayor Pro Tem Conner seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. (Note: Budget Amendment No. 4 for FY 2022-2023 is herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 12 Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 13 Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 14 Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 15 Article VIII. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments. Article IX. ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Paschal made the following announcements:  The next regular meeting of the Wentworth Planning Board is scheduled for Tuesday, June 20, 2023, at 7:00 pm at the Wentworth Town Hall.  The next regular meeting of the Wentworth Town Council is scheduled for Tuesday, July 11, 2023, at 7:00 pm at the Wentworth Town Hall.  The Town Hall will be closed Tuesday, July 4, 2023 in observance of Independence Day.  Yvonne Russell received her recertification as a NC Certified Municipal Clerk. Article X. ADJOURN Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “to adjourn.” Mayor Pro Tem Conner seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Respectfully Submitted By: __________________________ Yvonne Russell Town Clerk & Finance Officer Approved By: _______________________ Dennis Paschal, Jr. Mayor Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes June 6, 2023 – pg. 16