City Council

TOWN OF WENTWORTH MINUTES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING WENTWORTH, NORTH CAROLINA July 9, 2024 7:00 p.m. The regular monthly meeting of the Wentworth Town Council was held on Tuesday, July 9th, 2024 at the Wentworth Town Hall at 7:00 p.m. 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, Town Attorney Anna Wheeler – DRBA Lindsay Pegg – Rockingham County Tourism 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 There were no Requests or Petitions of Citizens. B. Approve/Amend Agenda Councilmember Dennis Paschal III made a MOTION, “To add item C. Discussion of Christmas in the Park under New Business.” Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Conner seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Town of Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes – July 9, 2024 Page 1 of 13 Article IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Town Council Meeting 1. June 4, 2024 2. June 18, 2024 Councilmember Paschal noted a correction that needed to be made to the June 4, 2024 minutes at the bottom of page 3 in the ‘Note’: Hakon Nordstrand’s last name is shown as Trondheim; however, it should be Nordstrand. Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “The minutes be approved with an amendment to reflect the correction.” Councilmember Paschal seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Article V. OLD BUSINESS There was no Old Business. Article VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Presentation of Rockingham County Recreation Plan - by Lindsay Pegg and Anna Wheeler Anna Wheeler from the Dan River Basin Association and Lindsay Pegg, Manager of Rockingham County Tourism highlighted the Rockingham County Recreation Plan with a PowerPoint presentation. (Note: The slides from the Outdoor Recreation PowerPoint presentation are herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Town of Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes – July 9, 2024 Page 2 of 13 Town of Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes – July 9, 2024 Page 3 of 13 Town of Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes – July 9, 2024 Page 4 of 13 Town of Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes – July 9, 2024 Page 5 of 13  Mayor Paschal said, “You were talking about boating…I’ve been looking for a place to take out of the Smith River and put in at Mitchell Bridge, but there’s no public access out there, and I see Smith River/ Highway 14 access. As a matter of fact, as I cross the bridge I saw this little dirt road going down the side…they had burlap netting and everything out down there and I walked down there and I looked and I said there needs to be an access right here and maybe that’s what they’re doing. Is that what this is referring to?” Ms. Wheeler replied, “Yes…we’ve been working on that.” Ms. Pegg explained, “We put in a Resolution to look at that. That will go to the Board of Commissioners next week…We’re working with NCDOT on potentially acquiring that property for a river access.” Councilmember Paschal mentioned the Resolution included in the Council’s meeting packet. Ms. Wheeler said they are hoping that each municipality in Rockingham County will adopt the Resolution in Support of Pathways Trails Master Plan for Rockingham County Communities before they take the resolution to the County Commissioners. She noted there is no promise of funding from the municipalities in the resolution. Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “We pass the Resolution in Support of Pathways Trails Master Plan for Rockingham County Communities.” Councilmember Paschal seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. (Note: The Resolution in Support of Pathways Trails Master Plan for Rockingham County Communities is herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Town of Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes – July 9, 2024 Page 6 of 13 Article VI. NEW BUSINESS B. Consideration of Repair Projects for Wentworth Consolidated School – Phase 2 - Presented by Mayor Paschal Mayor Paschal reviewed a Revenues/Expenditures spreadsheet and a memo breaking down costs for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Wentworth Consolidated School projects. (Note: The Revenues/Expenditures spread sheet and memo are herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Town of Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes – July 9, 2024 Page 7 of 13  Referring to the Stonewall Construction quote for the cafeteria, Mayor Paschal explained, “We do have a little bit of a, it looks like some water on the very edges out in the main room of the cafeteria. That could be, of course I’ve talked to you all along about closing up those windows somehow in the auditorium, that could be coming down from that. So, what I’ve told Josh to do is when he gets in there and starts working on the water damage and maintenance in there, is to get up in there and figure out if we have something coming through the floor. If we do, I was going to wait until next year to do that, but if we need to do it before we do anything in the cafeteria then we may need to go ahead and do that.” Mayor Paschal continued, “We’ve got a lot of stuff in the cafeteria that belongs to the Theater Guild. I think a lot of it is out there in the main part of the cafeteria. We’ll to talk them about getting that out of there. Really we kind of need to clean the back of the cafeteria because it could be used as kind of a staging area if we rent that other part out. We’ve actually got a walk-in cooler back there that looks to be in real good shape, whether the fans and other things work or not I don’t know. If you add that piece in to 3,000SF out there, you can get $100.00 per hour rent. We’ll be looking at that going along, but right now what I want to do tonight is go ahead and approve the painting quote first which is $2,100. Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “We approve the gym floor painting quote for $2,100.00 and that was through Heritage Hardwood Floors.” Councilmember Paschal seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. (Note: The quote for painting the gym floor is herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Town of Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes – July 9, 2024 Page 8 of 13  Mayor Paschal referred to the quote for a gym scoreboard. He noted there will be lines painted on the floor of the gym for volleyball as well as basketball. Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “We approve the scoreboard quote for $5,168.10.” Councilmember Daryl Crowder seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. (Note: The quote for the gym scoreboard is herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Town of Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes – July 9, 2024 Page 9 of 13  Mayor Paschal reviewed the Stonewall Construction quote for the first floor hallway. Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “We approve the first floor hallway quote for $47,521.88.” Mayor Pro Tem Conner seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. (Note: The Stonewall Construction quote for the first floor hallway is herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Town of Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes – July 9, 2024 Page 10 of 13  Mayor Paschal reviewed all of the quotes from Stonewall Construction for the first floor and exterior maintenance items. These quotes include the gym exterior, first floor classrooms, interior of cafeteria, and exterior of cafeteria. Mayor Paschal made a MOTION, “To approve the first floor and exterior maintenance items quote from Stonewall Construction.” Councilmember Paschal seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Yvonne Russell, Town Clerk/Finance Officer said she would prepare an amendment to the SCIF Grant Project Ordinance for the August 6th meeting which could be approved retroactive to July 9, 2024. (Note: The First Floor and Exterior Maintenance Items quote from Stonewall Construction is herein incorporated and made a part of these minutes.) Town of Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes – July 9, 2024 Page 11 of 13 Town of Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes – July 9, 2024 Page 12 of 13 Article VI. NEW BUSINESS C. Discussion of Wentworth Christmas in the Park Councilmember Paschal said he’d like to discuss a date for the event. He noted that normally the event date is the first Friday in December which would be December 6 this year. Council agreed that December 6, 2024 with a rain date of December 13th would be best for Wentworth Christmas in the Park. Article VII. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments. Article VIII. ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Paschal made the following announcements:  The next regular meeting of the Wentworth Planning Board is scheduled for Tuesday, July 16, 2024, at 7:00 pm at the Wentworth Town Hall.  The next regular meeting of the Wentworth Town Council is scheduled for Tuesday, August 6, 2024, at 7:00 pm at the Wentworth Town Hall. Article IX. 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 Approved by: _____________________________ Robert Dennis Paschal, Jr., Mayor Town of Wentworth Council Meeting Minutes – July 9, 2024 Page 13 of 13