TOWN OF GARLAND 2021 CDBG-I APPLICATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2021  REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS & PUBLIC HEARING FOR  6:00 PM  The Regular Meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Town of Garland and Public Hearing for 2021 CDBG-I application was held virtually via GoToMeeting on  Tuesday, September 21, 2021, at 6:00 pm.  The following members of the Board of Commissioners were present:  Austin Brown (Present Virtually) Carolyn R. Melvin (Present Virtually) Eddie Bronson, Jr. (Present Virtually) Jo A. Strickland (Present Virtually Barbara A Peterson (Present Virtually)  Also, present virtually: Mr. Rich Moore of McDavid Associates, Town Clerk Pamela Cashwell, Mrs. Emily Williams of the Sampson Independent and Mrs. Sylvia Chestnutt of the Sampson Weekly. There were approximately five citizens in attendance.  CALL TO ORDER  Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown presided over the meeting in Mayor Murphy's absence due to illness. Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm and welcomed everyone in attendance. Town Clerk, Pamela Cashwell, was present  recording notes for the minutes.  QUORUM  Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown established there was a quorum present.  APPROVAL OF AGENDA  Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown requested board members review the agenda for approval. Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown requested to add under 5. A. Garland Volunteer Group. Commissioner Carolyn R. Melvin made a motion to approve the agenda with said change, seconded by Commissioner Barbara A. Peterson and  carried unanimously. (See attached).  PUBLIC HEARING FOR 2021 CDBG-I APPLICATION  Commissioner Carolyn R. Melvin made a motion to enter Public Hearing for the 2021 CDBG-I Application, seconded by Commissioner Barbara A. Peterson and carried Citizen Joyce Miles asked Mr. Moore if she was right in hearing him say the application was completed and will be submitted by September 30, 2021, as required. Mr. Moore replied if board members approve the application for the funding, the application will be delivered tomorrow to the town for the required signatures.  unanimously.  1    No other comments or questions were offered.  Commissioner Jo A. Strickland made a motion to close the Public Hearing, seconded  by Commissioner Carolyn R. Melvin and carried unanimously. Minutes for Public Hearing are recorded in a separate set of minutes.  Commissioner Carolyn R. Melvin made a motion to approve the application for the 2021 CDBG-1 funding and authorize the mayor and/or her successors to sign the application, seconded by Commissioner Barbara A. Peterson and carried  unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENTS  Mrs. Cassandra L. Liles addressed board members to ask for consideration of a waiver of fees and fines assessed to her for being incompliant with zoning regulations for a mobile home she owns at 424 Gibbs Rd., Garland. She stated health reasons for being unable to get the requirements completed in accordance with the timeline. Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown informed her the board would discuss this Mrs. Joyce Miles of 527 Gibbs Rd., Garland addressed board members and staff present stating she would like to thank Sampson County Economic Development for their help in establishing the re-opening of the Garland Shirt Factory. She also thanked Mr. Rich Moore for preparing the 2021 CDBG-I application that will help to get Garland back into sync. Mrs. Miles addressed the upcoming elections noting there are two candidates for mayor and six candidates for three vacant board seats. She asked if there was any type of forum set up for citizens to meet the candidates and hear from them what their platform will be. She stated although she isn't eligible to vote, she is aware of many citizens who don't know the candidates and would like to meet them. She stated it is important for candidates to understand there is more to the office than attending one meeting per month and asked that a format be set by which the public can meet the candidates for election. Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown stated the board would consider this request and be in touch with her. Garland Volunteer Group Requests: Mrs. Wanda Simmons of 1046 Hill Circle Rd., Garland addressed board members thanking the mayor, board members and staff for getting us through Covid. Speaking on behalf of the Garland Volunteer Group, she stated we have several requests for expenditures from the community events unrestricted fund. The first request is to continue the town sponsored trunk or treat event this year for area children. This will be a drive-thru event that will take place on Saturday, October 30th from 5pm to 7pm. This will be a strictly drive-thru event and we propose cars would enter off 411 onto S. Church Avenue and pass by rotary park, turning left onto W. Front Street. The area will be spaced out as to avoid large crowds and the cars would then exit onto 701 going on their way. She stated they would like approval to spend up to $300.00 from the unrestricted funds to provide  request and notify her of their decision.  2    treats for the children and prizes for the trunk decorating contest. No questions were The second request is approval to spend up to $700.00 from unrestricted funds to purchase a steel or metal 16-20 ft Christmas tree to be used in rotary park during community events for Christmas. Mrs. Simmons has secured a vendor for this and Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown stated the board would consider these requests and Commissioner Jo A. Strickland made a motion to approve the funding requests for the trunk or treat event to give organizers time to plan for the event, seconded by Mrs. Simmons asked the board to consider a decision on the tree request soon, as  asked about this request from board members.  noted it is getting harder to find local live trees each year.  contact her when a decision was made.  Commissioner Barbara A. Peterson and carried unanimously.  the vendor will need time to construct the tree.  COMMISSIONER REPORTS  FINANCE  Credit Card Purchases - Clerk Pamela Cashwell reviewed all the credit card A.P. Check Listing- Report provided to board members for review of checks issued in BVA Report- Clerk Cashwell provided a BVA report for all funds dated July 15t to September 10, 2021. Clerk Cashwell asked board members to review these reports and pay special attention to their respective committees. She stated September 30th is the end of the first quarter in this fiscal year. She asked that they decide on their projects for this year and make plans now to complete the projects. She noted, historically, board members wait until June to begin projects for the fiscal year, stressing this should be the date projects for the year are completed. Reports Completed- Bank reconciliations for August 2021 have been completed for all three bank accounts and all other reported are up to date. Approval for Payment of WWTP Fines- Clerk Cashwell noted $2,634.84 was due by October 7th for fines as a result of violations received for the WWTP. Commissioner Barbara A. Peterson made a motion to approve paying the fines, seconded by  purchases for the month. (See attached). the last month. (See attached).  Commissioner Jo A. Strickland and carried unanimously.  BUILDINGSCEMETERY Cemetery Updates  Damaged Sign at Garland Community Cemetery- Monument sign has been ordered and the insurance company has paid for the replacement sign. The sign will hopefully  be ready for installation by December 2021.  3    Building Updates- New flooring installation at the senior center is planned for next week and once it is completed, all board members will be welcomed to go by and Repair/Replace urinal in bathroom at town hall- Commissioner Barbara A. Peterson stated she is contacting plumbing vendors to provide estimates to repair or replace the urinal located in town hall. Vendors report they are two months behind in Mold & Air Quality Testing at town hall- Testing was completed and mold was identified in several rooms at town hall. The vendor hasn't submitted a remediation quote to get rid of the mold. Clerk Cashwell will follow up with the vendor and  inspect the new flooring.  scheduling so she will continue to work on this project.  forward any data to all board members.  PARKSRECREATION  Safety Assessment- Report read in its entirety at the last board meeting. Updates- Commissioner Carolyn R. Melvin reported they are still working on receiving quotes for fencing and lighting repairs at the softball park. She stated she reached back out to a previous vendor for the lighting repairs and asked if he could work on the pricing due to limited funding the town has for this project, and the estimate is essentially the same as it was at $157,000.00. Big Jerry's Fencing from Fayetteville, N.C. provided an estimate for fencing repairs for $14,775.00 using commercial grade fencing. Commissioner Carolyn R. Melvin stated this quote was in line with the same quote Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown received. He also quoted  installing a black vinyl fencing at a cost of $15,360.00.  STREETS  Street name sign replacement- Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown stated a list has been compiled of street name signs that need to be replaced and he is awaiting a quote from the vendor on the purchase price. He stated we would revisit this in the Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown stated the sink hole remains on W. Third Street & White Lake Avenue. He stated the contractor is behind schedule and he hopes to get these Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown has reported the sink hole area on Grant Avenue to the Commissioner Jo A. Strickland stated she has contacted Mr. Mike Spell concerning the ditches at the softball complex and near the old shirt factory and she plans to  October meeting.  repairs completed soon.  NC DOT and is awaiting their response.  present quotes for the ditch maintenance at next month's meeting.  PUBLIC WORKS - WATER/SEWER/GARBAGE  Purchase Requests- No purchase request have been received from public works staff. Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown stated he and R. Boone need to compile one more stock supply list of needed purchases in anticipation of winter coming.  4    SAFETY  Commissioner Jo A. Strickland apprised board members of several incidents involving criminals stealing catalytic convertors from vehicles and one possible attempted break in of a home. She asked that everyone be mindful of their surroundings and to look out for each other. She stated the town doesn't currently have a community watch program and this may be something they should investigate restarting. She noted she sees a lot of foot traffic on her area cameras between the  hours of 2 am and 4 am. OLD BUSINESS  Cares Act Funding- Current Expenditure Report- Clerk Cashwell presented the current expenditure report. (See attached). She noted $12.04 was spent purchasing small zip lock bags to place masks in to distribute to the public. She stated she will be determining the payroll amount that was paid when she was out of work quarantined by the health department to be paid out of this funding. Discussion followed regarding purchasing touchless hand soap and hand towel dispensers for all  park areas. NEW BUSINESS  Park & Recreation-Ditch Cleaning- Commissioner Carolyn R. Melvin noted she is glad Commissioner Jo A. Strickland has requested quotes for ditch cleaning on Seventh Street by the walking track. She noted this area is in real need of maintenance. Mayor Pro Tem Brown also asked other board members to request quotes as well for ditch cleaning if they were aware of any contractors, so they will have several Assessment List- Commissioner Carolyn R. Melvin suggested board members complete an assessment list for their respective committees, listing the projects needed, costs of the project and date the project will be completed. If the project can't be completed, the reason why should be documented. She stated this would assist all of them with a plan moving forward so everyone is aware of identified projects for each committee and the status of the project. Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown stated he thought this was a good idea. No other comments were received. Mayor Pro Tem Brown stated he would contact Commissioner Carolyn R. Melvin to Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown stated he would like to add item #3. Consideration of waving zoning fines assessed to Ms. Liles. Mayor Pro Tem Austin Brown made a motion to waive the fines as discussed, seconded by Commissioner Barbara A. Peterson. Commissioner Jo A. Strickland asked if the paper trail matched Ms. Liles reports. Mrs. Wanda Simmons stated it did. The motion carried unanimously.  quotes to review and discuss next month.  get started on this recommendation.  CALENDAR OF EVENTS/ANNOUNOUNCEMENTS/CONDOLENCES  Condolences: The Town of Garland sends our sincerest condolences to all of those  who have recently lost loved ones.  5    ADJOURMMENT 6:57 pm. Board  Commissioner Carolyn R. Melvin made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Barbara A. Peterson and carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at  Pamela Cashuult  Pamela Cashwell, Town Clerk/Finance Officer  Austin Brown, Mayor Pro Tem  K  6