TOWN OF VANCEBORO  BOARD OF ALDERMAN MEETING  Held their regular monthly meeting on June 3, 2024 at 7:00PM in the Jimmie L. Morris Boardroom  I. Call to order by Mayor Chad Braxton.  II. Roll call Those Present: Mayor Chad Braxton, Alderman Russell Ipock and Alderman Todd McMillen. Alderman Keith Cannon phoned in at 7:34 p.m. and showed up in person at 7:56 p.m. Those Absent: Alderman Steve Belrose and  Alderman Thad Jones. III. Invocation by Alderman McMillen. IV. Pledge of Allegiance.  V. Approval of minutes from last meeting. Alderman Ipock made a motion to approve minutes. Motion was seconded by Alderman McMillen and carried. Vote 3-0. VI. Approval ofCash Receipts and Disbursements. Alderman McMillen made a motion to pay bills. Motion was seconded by Alderman Ipock and carried. Vote 3-0.  VII. Public Comment. No public comments.  VIII. Police Report was presented by Chief Keys. Officer Winnings has completed his training and is now patrolling on his own. We will be doing two saturation patrols here in town this month. Iattended the Back The Blue event on May 21st that was hosted by Coastal Carolina Taxpayers association. It was a great event that recognizes officers in our: area for their hard work and dedication to their agencies. National Night Out will be on September 7th from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Iam seeking volunteers to assist with this event. The event will be free for the community and help build relationships with the community and police. I'd like to thank Officer Johnson on his hard work and dedication hei is providing to the town. He has been coming in on his own time to patrol. Sergeant Hopper from Craven County    Sherriff's Office contacted us to commend Officer Johnson forl his hard work and dedication in becoming a better officer not only for himself but for the town. IX. Budget Proposal FY24-25. Some oft the main items on the budget proposal for this year includes: 4% COLA, $4,000 to library for books and etc., $50,000 for improvements on McLawhorn Lane and Dawson Lane, $9,000 for edging/curbing and ditchwork, $225,000 for new AMI water meters, $10,000 for painting at the Water Plant, $1 flat rate increase on garbage, 4% increase on water and sewer, and Utility Service- Turnkey Meter Survey. Utility Services has agreed to conduct a meter site survey for the town which will show everything we need to proceed in purchasing new water meters for the town. While they are. locating and compiling all of the data for the town, they will also complete our lead and copper information X. Clerk. Water Analysis for Hardness for the Water Plant. Public Works Supervisor, Vernon Edwards and Town Clerk, Beverly Drake compiled a spreadsheet to show the difference in the hardness of our water at the plant. Its shows the raw water coming into the plant prior to the renovation and after the renovation. The water Budget Amendment. Alderman Cannon made a motion to approve the budget amendment. Motion was seconded by Alderman McMillen and carried. Vote 3-0. XI. Mayor's Reports. Iattended the Back the Blue event with the Police Department, it was a great event. I'd like to welcome Officer Winnings to the Police Department. Birthdays this month include Public Works employee Cornelius Bradley and Chief Keys. Recycling pick-up will be. June 20th. July 1st, will be the next Board of Alderman meeting at 7 p.m. Please keep Alderman Jones family in your thoughts and prayers, his brother passed away. Imet with the Craven County director to discuss comprehensive draining throughout town. We will be doing small projects tor move water throughout town, this will be done annually. Thanks to Alderman Belrose for planting the flowers at Richard W. Bowers Park. Craven County will be donating $5,000 to the park for maintenance. We have signed an agreement to help the Judicial System with community service worker hours. West Craven Park will be getting $175K which will include six pickle ball courts. Icommend Craven County Commissioner Jason Jones and Tom Mark for their help with obtaining the town funds for maintenance on our park. Special thanks to the City of] New Bern for sweeping our streets before the Strawberry Festival. Is signed the contract with Barnhill to patch the streets in seven places where new homes have been built. I have received the preliminary drawings for the 17 (seventeen) new homes to be placed on Buck Lane. The property has been purchased and the zoning is R-8, which is adequate for the new homes. This would be great for the town in generating more property tax value. There is 12 homes on the market here in town. Utility Services met with us on metering systems with AMI capability. They need to complete a meter survey which will costs around $16K, while completing the survey  $.40 tax rate will stay the same.  that is due by October 2024.  quality is better now.  Meeting Minutes  June 3, 2024    they will also finish up our. lead and copper requirements that are due in October 2024. We collected $1,574.76 in Debt setofft this month. Alderman Ipock, Alderman McMillen and myself toured the Vanceboro Christian Help Center. The center looks great and it was a very informative tour. Alderman McMillen is on the board for the center, they are all doing a great job. They helped 428 families in May, they receive $9,000 annually from Craven County. They were given a building, they have had the electrical, lighting and sheetrock placed. Thanks to all volunteers that help our community. Special thanks to Director Christie Arrington. June 24that6 6 p.m. will be the public hearing to adopt the FY24-25 budget proposal. Public Works Supervisor, Vernon Edwards stated that James Cayton had completed the work at the Water Plant to move the backwash water from the Water Plant to the Wastewater Plant. Ihave completed several samples all week and SO far, our chlorides are reading within the requirement set by the State of230 mg/l. We spent $32,000 to upgrade this and am optimistic about the preliminary results. Alderman McMillen stated that Christie Arrington is compiling a list of the pros/cons for the Strawberry Festival. We may want to have better signage in place to help with the traffic. We need more volunteers to help set up the event and take Mayor. Braxton stated that the festival was safe, we had a good number of rides for the children, the vendors were great this year. He would like to have seen East Care be able to stay, but they were understaffed and had to pull out early. Alderman Cannon stated that the sponsors were. the way to increase profitability for the festival. When you have volunteers working to increase in this area as well as the vendors it will bring more money in. Iwould suggest reaching out to the school system to prepare the field for fire ants a month or two prior to the event, that way  down for the event.  itisn'tas much on the festival volunteers the week oft the event.  XII. Alderman Reports.  Alderman McMillen had no comment.  Alderman Ipock commended the mayor: for doing a review after the Strawberry Festival. This will help the event to improve and grow in the future. Ireached out to the Vanceboro Global Methodist Church in purchasing half of the mulch to split between them and the town, they are not interested in doing sO at this time. I attended the tour of the Vanceboro Christian Help Center, the building that was donated and everything looks great. This is a great asset to have in town, they have Alderman Cannon stated that he was sorry he missed the tour of the Vanceboro Christian Help Center. He stated that the building and everything looks good, and they are doing a great job. Thanks to Vernon for getting the new water softeners and filters in place. Great job to our Police for having 91 stops this month, this will help spread the word to watch your speed when traveling through Vanceboro.  improved a lot and iti is a blessing.  Meeting Minutes  June 3,2 2024    XIII. There being no further business we dismissed at 8:25 p.m.  Ihereby certify that the above is true and accurate record ofs said minutes.  OdEBohu CHAD E. BRAXTON MAYOR  BwilyW-Dale BEVERLY W.DRAKE TOWNCLERK  Meeting Minutes  June 3, 2024