January 14, 2019 (REGULAR MEETING)  Minutes of the regular meeting of the Mayor and Board of Commissioners of the Present: Mayor Sam Bishop, Commissioners Cecily McCulloch, Jeff Eidson, Will Also present: Town Manager Brent Cornelison, Assistant Town Manager and Recreation and Parks Director Adam McComb, Town Attorney Raymond Parker Mayor Bishop welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order. He asked  Town of Elkin, January 14, 2019, 6:00 p.m. at Town Hall.  Gwyn, Tommy Wheeler and Skip Whitman.  and Town Clerk Cathie Tilley.  Police Officer Jessika Cave to lead our Pledge of Allegiance. The following items were presented for the consent agenda:  CONSENT AGENDA (Tab A)  Minutes of December 10, 2018 (Regular Meeting) Discoveries and Releases (included as Exhibit A)  AI motion by Commissioner Eidson to approve the Consent Agenda was seconded  by Commissioner Whitman and was unanimously approved.  PUBLIC COMMENTS  Mayor Bishop opened the Public Comments period and asked for There being no comments, Mayor Bishop closed the Public  anyone wanting to speak to come forward.  Comments period.  MAYOR AND BOARD COMMENTS FOR STAFF  Commissioner Whitman:  Shared two comments from Phillip Lyles (Yadkin Valley General Store). Phillip expressed appreciation for assistance from: Laura Gaylord in finding someone to take over his store. Elkin Fire Department for assisting with getting his mother safely from her house during the recent storm after she  lost power.  Commissioner Gwyn:  The Strangers to Neighbors meeting held January 12th went well. Almost 500 people attended. Thanked Mayor Bishop and Commissioner Whitman for their parts in the success of the meeting. Was humbling to see so many people coming out. Several entities were represented.  There were no comments from Commissioners Eidson, McCulloch or  Wheeler.  PUBLIC HEARINGS - There were no public hearings.    REGULAR MEETING  1. Presentation by Palmer Mcintyre (Conservation Planner) from Piedmont Land Conservancy Conceming the Lassiter/Chatham Property (Ms. Mcintyre was  accompanied by Kevin Redding, Executive Director PLC)  Gave brief history of the Piedmont Land Conservancy (PLC) and talked PLC is applying for a Clean Water Management Trust Fund Grant. Ifthis funding comes through, they will use it to purchase a piece of land (about 235 acres) located in' Wilkes County on Highway 21 near Stone Mountain that includes the headwaters of the Big Elkin Creek (property PLC owns adjacent property (about 60 acres) that was donated by the These two properties are important to the area known as the Blue Ridge Escarpment, a very biologically diverse area situated between our There are logging roads already on the property that can be adapted into trails along with accessible parking areas that can become public  about the work they do.  is known as the Lassiter property).  Chatham family.  Piedmont and Mountain regions.  parking lots.  PLC's business is to protect this land.  They are looking for someone to take ownership of the property. Once PTC owns the Lassiter property, their goal is to combine both tracts of property and gift it to the Town of Elkin to use for EVTA has offered to help construct and adapt trails for this project. Commissioner Eidson made a motion to work with the Piedmont Land Conservancy on this project. There were no questions. Upon a second by Commissioner Wheeler, the motion was unanimously approved. State Employees Credit Union (SECU) has requested leasing property Town Attorney Parker has reviewed a proposed lease agreement, and Asked for permission to enter into the agreement once Attorney Parker Commissioner Wheeler made a motion to give Town Manager Cornelison authority to enter into a Lease Agreement between the Town of Elkin and the State Employees Credit Union to place an ATM in Town Hall parking lot once Town Attorney Parker approves the Lease Agreement. There were no questions. Upon a second by Commissioner Whitman, the motion was unanimously approved. NOTE: An executed copy of Lease Agreement has been provided to the town clerk and is included with these minutes as Exhibit B.  low-impact recreational activities.  2. Consider Approval of a Lease Agreement with the State Employees Credit Union to Place an ATM. in the Town Hall Parking Lot (Comelison)  ino our parking lot to place an ATM. has returned to SECU for changes. gives his approval ofi it.  Todate, we have not received the document back.  3. Consider Approving a Proposal from EnviroSafe to Do an Assessment of Our  Fire Department (Comelison)  EnviroSafe is a NCLM preferred firm for fire department assessments. We will receive a reduced rate by being a League member.  Page 2 of4    o They come highly recommended. Their assessment will include: An internal analysis Public feedback via a survey North Carolina  Benchmarking data analysis from ten (10) similar size towns in  An apparatus mechanical evaluation Preparation of a Capital Improvement Plan Providing the Town with a written report of their findings From this assessment, we will have a handbook for our next fire chief to Chief Wilson and Commissioner Wheeler have been involved in the Budgetary cap for this assessment is twenty-four thousand dollars  use for the upcoming five (5) years. discussions with EnviroSafe. They approve the proposal.  ($24,000).  This project will not require additional funds. used to fund the assessment.  Monies appropriated in this fiscal year's budget will be  Commissioner Wheeler made a motion to authorize Town Manager Cornelison to enter into an agreement to allow EnviroSafe to do the assessment as presented. There were no questions. Upon a second by Commissioner Whitman, the motion was unanimously approved This is a proposed agenda for our annual retreat (copy included as  (copy of proposal included as Exhibit C).  4. Discuss Draft Retreat Agenda (Comelison)  Exhibit D).  The proposed items are related to our budget. decisions during budget workshops.  Discussing these items now will help when we start making Provided information related to each item and explained why the items Requested board members let him know if there are other items that The following items were presented for approval from the Board:  were included.  they want added to the retreat agenda.  5. Consider Changes to the Personnel Policy  Article II. General Provisions Section 3. Definitions  Probationary Period: Remove twelve months o They will now serve a six months probationary period like all other employees.  provision for Police Officers.  Article IV. The Pay Plan Section 13. Overtime  B. Change total accumulated compensatory time forr non-exempt employees from one (1)full day accumulated at 1hour equals 1.5 comp-time hours  Page 30 of4    toar maximum accumulation of 40 total hours for all This will allow for more flexibility and help  non-exempt employees. with overtime pay.  Article V. Recruitment and Selection  Section 9. Probationary Period of Employment A. Removes twelve months' probation period requirement for all Public Safety positions. Section 8. Travel Expense and Reimbursement  Article VI. Conditions of Employment  Removes per diem pay.  Employees now have access to a town- issued credit card that can be used for travel expenses, or they can submit receipts for  reimbursement.  Section 12. Social Media  Changes made to wording to clarify what is mandatory and what is just a guideline. F. Removes payment of accrued time to be calculated in half or full days to payment of actual  Article VII. Holidays and Leave Section 5. Annual Leave  accrued time.  We now have this capability.  These are minor changes.  Commissioner McCulloch made a motion to approve the abovementioned changes to the Town of Elkin Personnel Policy. There were no questions. Upon a second by Commissioner Eidson, the motion was unanimously approved (copy included as Exhibit E).  MANAGER UPDATES - there were none  Mayor Bishop said the Board needed to go into closed session pursuant to GS143-318.118X5) to instruct the public body's staff or negotiating agents the position to be taken by or on behalf of the public body. We do not anticipate any action to be taken following the closed session. Commissioner Whitman made a motion for the Board to go into closed session. Upon a second by Commissioner McCulloch, the motion was approved. The Board left open session at 6:25 p.m. The Board returned to open session. Commissioner Whitman made a motion to adjourn. Upon a second by Commissioner McCulloch, the meeting adjourned at  6:55 p.m.  Sam  Attest:  datar  Apin Catherine C. Tilley, TownClerk  Page 4 of4