TOWN OF VANCEBORO BOARD OF ALDERMAN MEETING  Held their regular monthly meeting on April 12, 2021 at 8:00PM in the. Jimmie L. Morris Boardroom  I. Call to order by Mayor Chad Braxton.  II. Roll call. Those Present: Mayor Chad Braxton, Alderman Steve Belrose, Alderman Keith Cannon, Alderman Thad Jones, Alderman Todd McMillen and Alderman Dennis  Smith.  III. Invocation by Alderman Belrose. IV. Pledge of Allegiance.  V. Approval of minutes from last meeting. Alderman Smith made a motion to approve minutes. Motion was seconded by Alderman Jones and carried. Vote 5-0. VI. Approval of Cash Receipts and Disbursements. Alderman McMillen made a motion toj pay bills. Motion was seconded by Alderman Smith and carried. Vote 5-0. VII. Police Report. We obtained a permit through the Game Warden to trap coyotes for two months. Jeffrey Acker was cconvicted with Second degree murder in the death of Carolyn Patterson, he will be sentenced 38 to 47 years inj prison. Officer Herring has completed his SRO training for Craven County. Officer Baker will bei in radar school in May. The department would like to amend the grass ordinance that is currently used for VIII. Clerk- Budget Amendment - Grant from American Rescue Plan. Alderman Smith made a motion to amend the budget to include grant money from the. American Rescue. Plan. IX. Mayor's Report. Assistant Clerk Brittany Mumford is on vacation and willl be celebrating al birthday tomorrow. Eric. Jarvis and William Edward Cleve passed away; our thoughts and prayers go out to their families. The ditch work on Grand Avenue and Mill Road has been completed. We received our FEMA money of $22,000.00 from Hurricane Isaias. Alderman McMillen, Alderman Smith, Zoning Chairman Russell Ipock and myself met with Mr. Todd Edwards from Farmville about the community. It would be great to have an eye doctor, dentist and another restaurant come to Vanceboro. Iwould love to see the Elks Park on Bailey Lane grow as well as the Stewart Park extension over the next few years. Had a phone conference with Harvest Beam regarding broadband in Vanceboro. VFW hosts blood drives every 56 days over at their building located on the corner of  the Town.  Motion was seconded by Alderman Belrose and carried. Vote 5-0.    First Avenue and White Street. Please sign up and support those in need by giving blood. The next Board of Alderman Meeting will bel held on May 3rd. Budget workshop for the Town will begin on May 10th at 6:30 p.m. A resource fair will be held at the VFW building on First Avenue April21*:. Anyone needing to work or disaster relief should attend this event. Continue to come out and support the. Job Readiness Boot Camp being sponsored by Craven Community College. Mr. Greg Singleton has a heart to try and help people to get back into the work force after being in prison. This program guarantees to help place you into a job upon completion. We have collected $4,849.69 SO far from Debt Setoff this season. Wewilll be donating $3,500 to our Vanceboro Public Library to help them purchase books and other items to help our community. Public Works employee Jason Blackwood passed his Grade 2 Wastewater exam for the State. Congratulations Jason! We are proud of you and your progress thus far. The drying beds at the Waste Treatment Plant is usually cleaned with a pitchfork which takes anywhere from a week to a week and a half to complete. We rented a bobcat, per the State Inspector during our recent inspection and all five drying beds were completed in eight hours. The Board of Alderman will be doing Water and Wastewater plant tours on April 26th at 6:30 p.m. We will be receiving $140,000 through the American Rescue Plan in. June. The Federal Government should be sending out more instructions on how this money may be used in Town. Our current grass ordinance gives the resident 15 days to comply; we are looking into amending this ordinance to shorten the length of time and height restrictions for non-compliance of grass. We will hold a public hearing at our next Board of Alderman meeting on May 3, 2021 to discuss this amendment further. The Public Works Department is planning to purchase a new backhoe, estimate is $63,000. On February 25th, wel had our yearly State inspection of the Water Plant and Wastewater Plant. Our feedback from the inspection stated there were no significant findings at either plant. Thank you Vernon Edwards and Public Works employees for all your work  and dedication to keeping the Town up to State guidelines.  X. Alderman Reports.  Alderman Cannon stated that the library would be having Story Hour on Wednesdays from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. They are having a sale on books to raise money for thel library. They have raised around $400 so far. They have a new program to encourage. local residents to become a friend of the library. Through a generous donation you can help increase the services that the library can offer to our community. For more information you can pick up a flyer at the library or at the Town Hall. On May gth from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the library will bel hosting a Storybook Walk beside Kite's Supermarket; Snowie Alderman Belrose stated that he and the Police Chief had taken a boat ride in the creek behind the Police Department and Town Hall. They took pictures and put 3' metal stakes into the bank to monitor erosion ofthe creek bank. The Town may want tol look at the runoff from the parking lot at the' Town Hall and from the Police Department, which could actually be contributing more to the erosion along the bank of the creek. TBH Forestry and Mulching gave the Town an estimate to plant 115 trees in front of the Alderman Smith stated that 312 College Street needed to be cited for grass and debris  Time will also be there to spread some, joy to each of the children.  Wastewater Treatment Plant of $4,500. cleanup around the property. Meeting Minutes  April 12, 2021    Alderman Jones had no comment.  Alderman McMillen thanked the Town for purchasing the lumber tol build a picnic table for the Richard Bowers Park. Thank you to West Craven High School for building the picnic table. Would like to gather several people to volunteer to help clean up over by the playground to make it easier to mow and maintain. Thank you to the Vanceboro Rotary Club for donating a bench for the park. The bench is being donated in memory of  Richard W. Bowers. XI. Public Comment.  Hudson Jordan - 704 College Street stated that his wife was bitten by the neighbor's dog. The Craven County Sheriff's Department hasn't been much of a help in this situation. My wife and I do not feel safe in our own yard. Mr. Lou Powell and Mrs. Debbie Nipper have both had encounters with dogs in Town being mean. Ifthere is anything thel Police can do to help we would appreciate it. There is also a rooster that is crowing all day XII. Closed Session - Alderman Belrose made a motion to go into closed session in accordance with NCGS 143-318.11(a)(6). Motion was seconded by Alderman Smith and carried. XIII. Open Session - Alderman Belrose made a motion to return into open session. Motion was  everyday and it is difficult to ignore.  Vote 5-0.  seconded by Alderman Smith and carried. Vote 5-0.  XIV. Adjournment.  There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:58 p.m. Ihereby certify that the above is true and accurate record of said minutes.  OndEBh ( CHAD E. BRAXTON MAYOR  BwyW-Dale  BEVERLY W.DRAKE TOWN CLERK  Meeting Minutes  April.12,2021