Public Hearing /Open Meeting Town ofWhitakers  Board ofCommissioners Monday August 5, 2020 7:00 P.M. Virtual Conference Call  Conference Call Number: 1-605-313-5369; Access Number 864082 Present: Mayor Dr. Esterine Gary Pitt; Commissioner Sammy Hopkins; Commissioner NancyT Taylor; Commissioner Janice Bellamy; Commissioner Doris Howington; Others Attending via call were Town Administrator Thomas Everett; Chief Lynette Clements; Grant Consultant Dennis Patton; Attorney Brian Pridgen; Town Clerk Shante Williams; Suez Representative Tony Gorham; James Overton, Barbara Sutton, Citizen;  Commissioner Rev. Doris Lindsey via conference call.  Christopher Barrett, Engineer  1. Meeting called to order by Mayor Esterine Gary Pitt. 3. Shante Williams, Town Clerk performed "Roll Call".  2. Commissioner Rev. Doris Lindsey Lead in pray and Pledge of Allegiance.  Mayor Dr. Esterine Gary Pitt stated some rules for being on the call  4. Agenda Editing and Approval.  Commissioner Taylor had a question about Agenda Item #7 for Attorney Pridgen, as to why the Board not considering the adoption oft the Demolition Ordinances? Attorney Pridgen responded stating the State Law that was recently adopted permits and set the rules allowing Boards to conduct electronic meetings. The rules are if you have a Public Hearing which can be electronically, you cannot adopt or act on that item at that meeting you have to allow an additional 24 Commissioner Bellamy asked to added Item on Agenda for the discussion Attorney Pridgen answered Commissioner Bellamy stating the discussion can go under the Commissioner Comments and Concerns after the departmental  hours for public comments.  Commissioner Duties and Responsibilities  reports  Mayor Pitt asked to Entertain a Motion to Accept the Agenda. Commissioner Taylor made the motion to Accept the Agenda with the changes that were made, and the additions. Commissioner Bellamy Second the motion. No further Discussion. The Commissioners vote as  follow:  Commissioner Nancy Taylor "Yes" Commissioner Doris Howington "Yes"    Commissioner Sammy Hopkins "Yes" Commissioner Rev. Doris Lindsey "Yes" Commissioner Janice Bellamy "Yes"  Motion carried  5. Approval of Minutes: April 28, 2020; July 20, 2020  April 28, 2020 minutes  Commissioner Howington stated she came across serval typographically errors in the minutes that needed to be corrected. The errors were numerous. She was not sure if she could point out all the errors or if she needed to provide a copy of Attorney Pridgen stated if there were not material errors only typographical errors, he suggested she provide copy of errors to have corrected. Commissioner Howington pointed out some informational changes that need to be made. Such as the first page indicated that All Commissioners were present except Commissioner Lindsey. The minutes also do not state if Commissioner Lindsey was Absent with or without notice and usually it is indicated ini the minutes. At the bottom of the same page it stated the applied Grant amount will be $750,000.00 and it should be the Grant amount applied for will be $750,000.00. On page 2 Rich Moore #5 in addition, where the in iron grows in the pipes impacts the disinfection, it supposed to be disinfectant. Attorney Pridgen suggested if the Board agrees, the Board could adopt the minutes subject to the revisions and any other typographica issues identified by Commissioner Howington which will be provided to the Town Clerk. Then those Mayor Pitt asked if any of the Commissioners had any notations if they would Commissioner Howington pointed out "submitted by" was missing also from the Attorney Pridgen asked Mr. Patton were these the minutes he needed for the Mr. Patton stated that the minutes where not. The July 6, 2020 minutes were the minutes needed to submit. But the. July 6, 2020 minutes would need to be completed and approved by the deadline August 31, 2020. Mr. Patton pointed out that the voting Aye in the minutes was incorrect it should not "!" but "Aye". Commissioner Howington agreed that was one of the corrections she has also.  the corrections to Ms. Williams to correct.  changes could be incorporated.  please submit to Ms. Williams for correction. minutes and that would need to be corrected.  grant?    Commissioner Lindsey asked if could she address heri issue on the minutes? Commissioner Lindsey informed everyone that she was late for the April 28, 2020 meeting due to at funeral, but she was on the call, because she addressed Mayor Pitt stated the records should reflect that Commissioner Lindsey was Commissioner Bellamy stated that Ms. Williams should not have done the minutes. That Mayor Pitt should have recorded the minutes because at the time Mayor Pitt informed Commissioner Bellamy that she did not provide the minutes. She facilitated the call. The minutes are the responsibility oft the Town  her concerns about the closing cost. delayed but present on the call. there was not a Town Clerk.  Administrator.  Mayor Pitt asked to Entertain a Motion. Commissioner Howington made a motion to accept the minutes with the corrections that willl be made according to correction presented by Board members to Ms. Williams for the April 28, 2020 minutes with the understanding that Ms. Williams did not prepare the minutes, but is just going to type the minutes for records. Commissioner Taylor second the motion, but had a question, who was the minutes submitted by? Commissioner Howington asked whoever prepared that minutes for the approval should be named as submitted by. Mayor Pitt asked Mr. Everett who prepared the minutes? Mr. Everett answered Ms. Williams prepared the minutes off the recording from the April 28th meeting. No  further Discussion. The Commissioners vote as follow:  Commissioner Howington "Yes" Commissioner Taylor "Yes" Commissioner Lindsey' "Yes" Commissioner Hopkins "Yes" Commissioner Bellamy "Yes" Motion carried Minutes Approved  Approval of July 20, 2020 Minutes discussion.  Commissioner Howington stated the same thing goes for. July 20th minutes. First thing would be Commissioner Bellamy was she present on the call or present at Town Hall? Then there was no mention ifs she gave notice of her reasoning for not being at the meeting and that is always indicated in minutes. Which would need to be added to minutes. The other errors are typographica that can be corrected, and she will provide a copy to Ms. Williams for those to be corrected. She knows she was not the only Commissioner that read the minutes and notice  the errors.    Commissioner Taylor agreed with Commissioner Howington that she noticed the Mayor Pitt made mention to Commissioner Howington that it was errors on Commissioner Howington stated she wanted to make sure that she was not the only one that was pointing the errors out. She did not want Ms. Williams to think she was the only one that was pointing out her errors, that not her goal. The minutes will need tol be corrected because it is a part of history. These minutes are reviewed by Auditors that come into the Town for all the Town's Grants and Commissioner Hopkins asked were the minutes taped by the town or were they written down? Ifthey were written down, then the mistakes were made during Commissioner Howington asked Commissioner Hopkins for clarification during Commissioner Hopkins asked during the. July meeting did someone write down Commissioner Howington answered it was taped, and that the content of the minutes is fine. There is nothing wrong with the content of the minutes. Commissioner Hopkins asked was that omitted, just like Mrs. Bellamy said she was not there during the meeting? Was it ont the paperwork and written down, because if it was not on the paperwork written down then that should be Commissioner Howington stated to Commissioner Hopkins that she was not questioning the content oft the minutes that part fine, everything that could be covered she felt was covered in the minutes. There are typographical errors and misspellings. That is what lam questioning. Not the content but the Commissioner Hopkins asked could not this have taken care of in advance? Commissioner Howington stated we just received the minutes on Monday to review them, the meeting was set for Monday but was cancelled. Commissioner Hopkins stated the meeting was cancelled that gave us almost two days to review the minutes and to check for errors. Ifthere were some errors, we. should have call somebody and let them know we saw a lot of problems. This could have been corrected before tonight. Commissioner Howington asked Commissioner Hopkins did he not see the errors Commissioner Hopkins stated to Commissioner Howington that he read the minutes. All he was saying tol her was there were a lot of errors made, but there  errors also.  every page, grammatical errors.  they must be correct.  the writing. what?  notes or was the meeting recorded by tape?  omitted?  typographical errors and misspellings.  as well? Could he not have called?  was time to correct the errors before tonight.    Commissioner Howington stated to Commissioner Hopkins that the minutes could have been correct if they were sent in advance not the day of the meeting. she read the minutes and made her corrections as she could. He knows she also works from home, sO she has other things to do. Unlike him, he is retired, and he  could have read them and submitted his corrections.  Mayor Pitt interjected asking Commissioner Howington for her vote. No further Discussion.  Commissioners vote as follow: Commissioner Howington "Yes" Commissioner Taylor "Yes" Commissioner Lindsey "Yes" Commissioner Hopkins "No" Commissioner Bellamy "No" Motion carried minutes Approved  6. Public Hearing - Consideration of Ordinances Ordering thel Demolition of Structures  Located at the Following Addresses: Attorney Brian Pridgen letter sent to owner about demolition  Address 106 N. New Street 107 S. White Street 206S. Cutchin Street 207 S. Cutchin Street 207 Porter Street 208 South Street  PIN# 3876-2090-3546 3875-0899-5494 3885-0940-5800 3885-0960-1500 3885-1803-9100 3886-1066-0900  Owner(s) ofl Record  Steven Carey Moore and Ivan F.I Moore,] Jr. Revil Sykes and Ruth Sykes Jerry Lee Powell, Jr., and Brenda) J. Canty Jerry Lee Powell, Jr., and Brenda J.Canty Robert C. Wrightand Maggie C. Wright  Evelyn Smith  Attorney Pridgen stated this is a combination process the Town started a year ago. We had a number of properties that were targeted due to their conditions. This is the last step in that procedure. The Town have to conduct al Public Hearing, take any public comments on the specific issues. Then the Town would need to accept any written comments for the next 24 hours. At the next meeting consider adoption of Ordinances that permit the Town to demolish the home on those properties. We have on this list 106 N. New Street, 107 S. White Street, 206 and 207 S. Cutchin Street, 207 Porter Street, and 208 South Street. A month    ago, he took the extra steps, and sent a letter to these property owners. To remind them of the cases and telling them the next step the Town will take. He did hear back from two of the property owners. He heard from Mr. Jerry Lee Powell regarding 206 and 207 S. Cutchin Street, he previous provided him with some demolition contractors, Mr. Powell stated that he did not have any: success and asked if possible ifi it could be a controlled burn by the Fire Department. He told Mr. Powell that pass on the request, but he could not make any promises. He was contacted by Mr. Ivan Moore regarding 106 N. New Street, Mr. Moore stated he had every intention to tare that house down. He gave Mr. Moore the demolition contractor Bridgeview information. Mr. Moore said that he would be backi in contact with Attorney Pridgen in ai few days. There were at few other properties identified by the demolition committee that need attention, and warning letters were sent out. Attorney Pridgen did hear from one oft the property owners, Mrs. Barbara Sutton, he believes she was on the call. She indicated the willingness to act on her own properties. He appreciates that, she was the only one out the list that he heard from. If the Town adopts these Demolition Ordinances, it gives the Town the opportunity to demolish those homes, it does not require it to demolish them. Hopefully, the Fire Department will be able to assist with some if not all of them. The demolition is certainly a costly affair, sO this is not requiring that the Town to take that action, but it gives the Town the option if the funding is available. At some point some Grant opportunities could be tied into this. The Town will have completed their process, ift this Grant opportunity arise, we can move straight ahead toa demolition. He will entertain any questions. He thinks we will certainly see some Commissioner Taylor asked Attorney Pridgen what was the address for Barbara Mrs. Sutton asked could she address a question to the Board at this time or do Attorney Pridgen asked isi it pertaining to the properties that he listed fori the Mrs. Sutton stated she does not think: she was listed for the properties for the Attorney Pridgen answered because the Public Hearing can only pertain to the addresses he listed. If she could hold her question or concern until the Public Commissioner Taylor asked when and if the Town adopts the Demolition Ordinance will Rocky Mount come doi the Asbestos inspection?  success. Sutton residence?  Attorney Pridgen answered stating it is 220 Spring Street.  she need to hold her question? Public Hearing? Public Hearing.  comments section later ini the agenda.    Attorney Pridgen stated he would recommend The Town Administrator reach out to Rocky Mount; he can provide the Administrator with the contact information that Linda Bonnette used. Last year Rocky Mount was willing to assist because they had staff that needed the training hours, but he was not sure Commissioner Taylor responded ok, that will actually be after the adoption of the Demolition Ordinance is done, whenever we, get to that point? Attorney Pridgen answered yes ma'am, that was one thing that they required. They will need a copy of the Demolition Ordinance to get access to the homes. Mayor Pitt asked was there anything else from Attorney Pridgen? Attorney Pridgen asked for public comments from anyone on the call on this Attorney Pridgen stated as he mentioned before at the Board's next meets whether a special meeting or regular meeting, one of the agenda items will be adoption oft the Demolition Ordinances. One other thing to point out tot the Board we Record those with the Register of Deeds, so it put at final stamp on that process. Should anybody inherit the property or purchase the propertyi it is public crecords, it will come up ini the title search. He asked to have the Public Mayor Pitt stated we are now Closing the Public Hearing of the Ordinance for  ift the option is still out there.  matter?  Hearing closed.  Demolition Structure oft the properties that are listed.  7. Discussion of the LGC Letter: James Overton and Attorney Pridgen  Attorney Pridgen stated everyone has received a copy oft the letter from the Local Government Commission and the State Treasurer regarding. your 2018 and 2019 audit. He sent some correspondence to the Board last week. As pointed outi in the letter there was some material deficiencies identified by the audit and to make clear iti is for your fiscal year 2018 and 2019, SO that is the year that ended June 30, 2019 over a year ago. Ini regard to the issues that was identified, the most critical issues related to the Town's Water Sewer fund. Theyi identified 2, one is the sustainability oft that funds, in regard to what the Town expenditures in the fund verse what the Town revenues are. The other is tied directly to that the Town has a revenue bond going back to 2008 for a' Water Sewer project, he does not know the details of but the Water Sewer project the Town took on. The Town has certain debt requirements under that agreement that the' Town has to comply with. It gets right back to are your funds sustainable in regard to the rates and fees in your expenditures. Ini the Town's auditor's opinion based on your financial records the Town is not compliant with the bond agreement. and that has to be addressed very quickly. In regard to why, by looking at the audit the Water Sewer fund took a big dip between revenue and expenses between just 2018 and 2019. Not entirely sure what happened, buta    review of your financial records will need to be done to figure out what happened and how to correct that going forward. There were: some otheri item issues listed in the letter, some retirement payments that needed tol bej paid, Board meeting minutes being unavailable to the Auditor, Utility billing record availability and segregation of duties. Some of the Administrative function oft the Town Hall in regard to finance. In Last year audit your bonds for your Finance Officer was $40,000 it should be $50,000. He thinks the Board was under the understanding: a year ago that had been addressed, but he maybe mistaken. Most oft the Town getting al letter of some sort. The issues are relatively minor, sometimes they are: major. There are some important ones in here that are going to need some careful attention. One of the things this letter requests is that the' Town respond with a plan to address those issues within 45 days of receiving the letter. The letter is dated July 24th not sure what the receipt date was for the Town, but the Town is looking at 45 days from July 24th. Iti is rapidlya approaching. The LGC is certainly not to be ignored. In his opinion the most critical issues facing this Board and Town is addressing the response to this letter in your Town finances. The LGC is overly punitive especially right now because of Covid, that does not mean they will forgive everything they want to see things corrected. There is a number of things in my experience that they arel looking for right out of the gate, one oft those is contact. They want to hear from the' Town, they want tol know that the Board is engaged and taking it seriously and they are focus on fixing the problem. They do not like it when board get combative with them, they want to see cooperation. They want to see boards working together continuing to get it done and respond to their correspondence. There is a lot ofwork tol be done on this and it goes al little further than just a response to this letter. The Town is going to have to identify not only how you got here in the Water in Sewer part ofit but how to address it going forward. One thing they might look for do you need to adjust your rates, this a terrible time to talk about rate: increase. Maybe that iss something that you do not have to do ifyoul looked at your expenditures. All things have to be on the table because you want to make sure the LGC and your Bond Holder are confident thaty you have identified a solution to your issues. You have to look at how you, got here and where you are as oftoday, that means making sure your finances from lasty year are as current as possible. And that you have a good update ofv where you stand from what you have in the bank verses what you have budgeted this year and where you are going. It is al bigger period of time that you are looking at. The other thing is you have an audit coming up. You need tol hire an Auditor as you do every. year. Fortunately, you have time on that they extended that deadline until the end oft this calendar year due to Covid, normally that deadline isi in October. But still there is al lot of work tol be done. When we received the letter, he was trying to pull some correspondence from Linda Bonnette trying to find your old audit reports. He came across some correspondence from her about a year ago were she was having some trouble closing the books out for your Auditor last and was puti in touch with a gentleman by the name of] James Overton with the    accounting firm. Int the email she said she contacted him and got the issue fixed Attorney Pridgen stated that hel had spoken with the Mayor and suggested that we should reach out to Mr. Overton to see ifl he had any interest to speaking with the Board and giving. you all an option for assistance. Hei is on the call tonight and hei is going to turn it over tol him and let! him introduce himself. Just to give you a little background on him, he works for the. Accounting firm Carl, Riggs & Ingram and hei is a certified Governmental Accountant, he thinks they used to do a lot of Municipal Mr. Overton stated his name is James Overton, hei is a certified Public Accountant, also a certified Finance Officer. Hel has been doing Governmental Audits for 40 years. he: serves as the Financial Officer for Roxboro and Knightdale for 17: years. He will be glad to assist the Town with whatever they need. We can help the Town write this letter to the Local Government Commission to address some of these issues. We can also help with some of your internal controls but we: need to update your books before we look at what we need to do with the Water: and Sewer rates, we need to know where you stand. In the Water Fund you had about $272,000 last year ify you lose $100,000 this year and another $100,000 next year, you willl be out of or just about out of Water and Sewer fund by the end of next year. So, we really need to look at your Water and Sewer rates, but first we need to gety your books up to date sO we see where you stand. We can also help you with drafting. your financial statements SO that your books will be correct or up to date. We can write the statements for you and the note then your. Auditor can come in and audit and they will not have to make all the adjustments and just do their audit. We can also recommend a couple of firms that may be able to do your audit this year. We will be Attorney Pridgen ask thel Mayor and the Commissioners did they have any questions Commissioner Taylor had a question about the work that was done with Linda Bonnette last summer what fascial year ending was that done on? Was it 2017- Mr. Overton stated yes, whati it was she when she tried to post the Audit Adjustments the fund was out of balance, SO he went in and helped her post the adjustments for the previous year's audit. he thinks your books are noti in bad shape  within one. hour.  Mr. Overton stated he corrected itreally quickly.  Audits.  glad tol help the Town in anyway we can.  for Mr. Overton? 2018?  he just thinks they need a little correction. Mr. Overton answered yes ma'am  Commissioner Taylor asked was it fiscal year 2017-2018?  Mr. Patton asked Mr. Overton what part when you say looking at the Utility funds Expenditures and Revenue, on the Revenue would you bel looking att the rate of  collections as well?    Mr. Overton responded Yes Sir, first we have to figure out what is causing thel loss. Is itexpenses that were, greater than the previous year, he only has one of the Town's statements, so he does not have anything to compare it to? Isi ity your expenses going upand your revenue going down? Ora a combination of both? Al lot of small town because ofj jobs people are moving to the large cities like Raleigh, they are. losing population and they are: seeing their water revenue gradually decline. With the Water and Sewer lines Iheard you say: you have. some Lift Station that need repairing, you can apply for some Grants and Loan to help you with that. Until you gety your cash flowi in your Water Fund to be positive, The LGC probably will not approve those loans. Your do not have the cash to fix those things without a Loan or a Grant one or the other or both. We just have to look at this year and prior years to Mr. Patton stated base on Brian'ss summary notes in comparison between the previous years and the 18-19 fascial year, the revenue went down. The only source ofrevenue is the utilities bills being paid. Thati is why he was asking that question, because that needs to be looked ata as well. Because it is down a sizable amount, as he mentions to some people it is the cross over period where the previous Administrator left, and a new Administrator came on board. Four months later, he Mr. Overton stated well they are probably not going to be great this year either because for the past for months you have not be able to turn anybody's water off and youl have not been able to charge anybody a late free. Now starting Monday,you are allowed to start turning people offi if they do not pay their current bill. You can not turn them off for their past due bills, but you can set them up on a payment plan where they have to catch it up by December or 6 months. Today is August by January or the 1st of February,youl have to set them up on installment plan where they pay their current bill every month and thel back] portion ofi it some thati it is paid offl by the end of] January. That is going to cause a cash flow problem to this year just it did last year. The other thing is you can turn stuff over to Debt Set Off and hopefully collect some pass due accounts. Ifyoul have resident that no longer live there some oft those accounts might have to written off and you may never collect on Commissioner Howington asked Mr. Overton seeing as how we have been losing funds in our Water and Sewer account would the amount of funding, we had to pay Rocky Mount because of the water that is being collect and sent back to Rocky Mount. Wel have been paying them extra because all oft the water that has been collecting in our: sewer system. Once we, get that cleared up will that help us in our Mr. Overton stated yes ma'am you are not like al lot of other towns that have problems with rainwater getting into their water and sewer lines. You are basically paying Rocky Mount to treat rainwater verses sewage the only way to solve thati is to patch the holes and that is expensive. But you can get Grants to fix that, but it may  see where the losti in income is coming from.  thinks the collections started going downhill from there.  them.  Water and Sewer Fund?    take a while to get those lines fixed. You have to apply for the Grant, get it approved, then hire a contractor to go out and fix them. You may bel looking at least a year to Commissioner Howington stated well we got the Grant we are just waiting on the Attorney Pridgen stated he thinks thati is something that will certainly be identified in the response letter to the LGC, that the' Town has been proactive and seeking that Grant to address that issue. Its should be: some relief on your bill once that work is complete but short term you are not going to see and relief from it because itis going to take some time to get that work done to see some financial Mr. Overton stated the USDA Debt Service Payment is but $30,000 a year. Ift the Town can do: something to cut a few expenses like whatever you paying to Rocky Mount, you can possibly increase your revenues. Its should not be to difficult base off your rate it where iti is supposed tol be, because you are noti in a huge negative cash flow. What he would suggest you do as far as the USDA, they have the right ify you do not make that Loan Covenant, they can make entire loan payable tomorrow: and make you pay all ofit back and you do not have the money to do that. As long as you make that annual payment, they are not going to do that but what you need isa letter writing from the USDA saying we are not going to call your loan. Have that ready for the Auditor SO we can send thati in to the LGC. You are not the only town in this situation and the USDA their goal is to help you not bankrupt you. They are not Commissioner Howington asked whom could the letter be obtained from? Mr. Overton informed that the letter can be obtain from the Regional USDA Located ink Henderson or Kinston depending on what county you are in. Commissioner Howington asked is the Town Administrator, thel Mayor or the Town Attorney Responsible for obtaining that letter from the USDA? Mr. Overton replied saying anyone of those people can call and ask for that letter. We could write a request for you ify you wanted us to. Anybody can initiate that and have it ready for your Auditor, since we already dealt with this, they are not going to Commissioner Howington asked you are agreeing to assist us will is be something Commissioner Taylor had a question since she was unable to find it in write was the Town current on Principal and Interest payment with USDA Bond? Mr. Overton stated according to you Audit report. you are. USDA should send out a Loan Statement just like they send out a Mortgage every December to show you weather you are current or not. We call send al letter to confirm the current balance and to make sure they are not going to call the loan. According to your audit you  get it done.  work to get started. Isn'ti that right Mr. Patton? Mr. Patton responded yes ma'am.  going to call thel loan, but you need to get it in writing.  call the loan.  that you will agree to take on for us? Mr. Overton stated he would be glad to.    have made your current year payment and you are not behind as of 2019 he cannot Commissioner Taylor asked to confirm with Mr. Overton, sO you are going to getting All we: need to do is write al letter asking for loan confirmation to your local USDA Attorney Pridgen asked Mr. Overton as far aj proposal to the Board, we discussed that you want tol look at the finances and puti it together unfortunately that did not work out tonight with the closure of1 Town Hall. Would you still need to do that? Mr. Overton stated yes sir, he can see what your immediate needs are, and one thing you: said you need to get your books in ready for this year'saudit. So, he has to see what kind of shape they are in before he can see what needs tol be done for the current year. He will be glad to come up there one day next week ift there is a day you or the Mayor or Administrator could meet: me there, just to look at your Southern Software to see where you stand. He will be glad to do it one afternoon or Mayor Pitt informed Mr. Overton that the Town Hall was being disinfected this week and the earliest will be one day next week buti ifa anything changes, she will call him Mr. Overton stated let him know. He will be in the town of Walnut Creek on Wednesday, but he can come on Monday, Tuesday, or Friday of next week. Mayor Pitt stated that they wait to go ahead and plan to meet on Monday. Mr. Overton informed Mayor Pitt that he will be calling her on Friday to confirm that Mayor Pitt asked if there were any other questions for Mr. Overton? Commissioner Taylor asked what time will the meeting be on Monday? Mr. Overton answered saying he prefer the first thing in the morning or later ini the afternoon, noti in the middle of the day, but he can be there when the Town Hall Mayor Pitti informed Mr. Overton that the Town Hall Opens at 8:30. Mr. Overton stated that he can be there by that time. Mayor Pitt asked ifthere were any other question for Mr. Overton? books and the meaning of closing the books.  tell you about 2020. But as ofl last year, you were current. thati in writing and whatever else you asked for sO we can have it?  Mr. Overton replies yes ma'am  office.  one morning next week. tol let him know.  meeting on Monday.  open.  Commissioner Bellamy had a question for Mr. Overton referring to the closing of the Mr. Overtoninformed Commissioner Bellamy that each month you have the receipt and disbursements, there are certain adjustment that you do once a year, like depreciations on your fixed assets. You adjust your Law Enforcement pension, and your Local Government pension. You have to record your accrued vacation pay at the end oft the year. You also adjust your allowance: for doubtful accounts,, you look at your past due and how much you may need to write off. These are: all adjustment that are done once a year at the end of the year. And al lotofthem are usually done    by your. Auditor. The rule has changed where the Auditori is not supposed to do al lot ofa adjustment, you are supposed to do them yourself, or get someone else to do them. Ifthe Auditor is making all ofy your bookkeeping adjustments, then they might not be independent. It is all the yearend adjustment that you have to do. Your financial statements you see every month on your budget verses actual, that is what we call a modified accrual basis ofaccounting. Your financial statement for your auditi is a full accrual, which is a completely different set ofaccounting rules. So,you will have to convert your budget statement that you use on a day to day basis from modified accrual to full accrual. You have to adjust your notes and pension. There are: several entries that are done at the end oft the year once ay year. Thati is what we Mayor Pitt ask is there anything else for Mr. Overton? Ifnot, Mr. Overton we thank you, ifnothing else wel look forward to seeing you on Monday morning. Mr. Overton responded say: yes ma'am, he will see you 8:30 Monday morning. Attorney Pridgen inform the Board of the next step, that Mr. Overton was going to look at thel books and put together a proposal to provide to the Board. Then we can discuss when the Board can meet to discuss the proposal to see ifiti is something the Board wants to do and ifiti is something that the Town can afford.. After the proposal comes in and ift the Board accepts then Mr. Overton can help with is as well. Suggesting that the' Town seek more time with the LGC on the response letter with the' Town Hall closure and everything that is going on thatl had delayed the Town more in their response. The LGC: should be agreeable in a short extension and it does Mayor Pitt agreed to touch basis with Ms. Sharon on tomorrow tol let her know that Town Hall had to shut down because oft the situation just to keep her abreast. Attorney Pridgen agreed and stated that communication is thel key. Mayor Pitt stated that she would send Ms. Sharon a email in the morning, that way when the Town ask for the extension it will not be a surprise because the Mayor has Attorney Pridgen suggested copying the Board on all correspondence with Ms. Mayor Pitt stated she will copy the Board and Mr. Overton in the emails. Mayor Pittasked Mr. Patton did hel have something to say?  mean by closing the books.  notl hurt to ask.  already informed her of what was going on.  Sharon.  Mr. Patton asked looking on the letter how much more time should the Town ask for on the extension, should 30 days on top oft the 15 days remaining be enough? Attorney Pridgen answered saying we should ask for 45 additional days to give the Mr. Patton stated that they are looking for Budget Ordinances amendments and final Mayor Pitt asked for clarification will the town be asking for an additional 45 days? Mr. Patton answered in addition to the time left, yes ask for the additional 45 days. Mayor Pitt stated she just wanted to be clear on the amount of days.  town enough breathing room as possible. close out for 2019 and 2020.    8. CDBG-Neighborhood Revitalization grant items - presented by Dennis Patton  A. Reporton! Status  Mr. Patton stated after reviewing 17 owner occupied house, they select 6 homes, 5 homes for replacements with 41 being selected for demolitions to Modular, 1 home being a repair only. With the selection and the Administrative cost, the application will include the full amount $750,000. Thel homes have not been selected, a draft has been prepared for the Housing Committee to select and decide on the finall homes. The Citizen Advisory/ Housing Selection Committee was schedule to meet tonight, buti it will be rescheduled to tomorrow. Tomorrow meeting will basically an orientation. Among the house there were a several that did not meet the CDBG hub requirements. Mr. Patton reached out to the North Carolina Housing Finance office and they stated they have plenty of funding for Rehab and urgent repairs. Also reached out to Edgecombe and Nash County, Edgecombe stated that they were not using the program this year and Nash County has already closed their application intake on July 10th. This a reminder that we need to stay in contact with the counties so that we can stay on the radar for when there is some funding available in the  county, we can get assist with our needs.  B. Consideration ofadditional Citizen Advisory committee/Housing Mr. Patton stated the Committee will meet tomorrow night the first oft two meetings. Mr. Patton stated a notice for the 2nd Public Hearing has been sent to The' Telegram. Are there any additional Citizen Advisory Committee/Housing Selection Committee nominees to add to the three that are already on the committee? Are there any questions or comments? The earliest date the 2nd Public Hearing can be is on the Mayor Pitt asked Mr. Patton what time would hel like to have the meeting? Mr. Patton stated thati it would be a call meeting sO what ever time the Board would be available and ifthe Board was going tol have a regular meeting after the hearing. Mayor Pittasked Attorney Pridgen did he want to have the finalization on the Attorney Pridgen responded saying. yes, there will be al handful ofi items that need to be addressed. Including an update on the LGC response, aj presentation of Mr. Overton's agreement. Suggesting the meeting be a couple of weeks out to discuss Mayor Pitt asked should the meeting bel left for the date oft the 18th or should itl be  Selection Committee C.S Schedule 2nd Public Hearing D. meeting agenda toi include publicl hearing  18th.  Demolition Ordinance that night?  items to take place. pushed out?    Mr. Patton stated hel has to consult with his colleagues to see ifthe Hearing minutes have to be approved before the application is submitted. He: suggested that everyone submit a script on there talking points for the meeting, soi it do not take as Mayor Pitt stated that the meeting with Mr. Overton will be on Monday the 10th at 8:30.The Public Hearing needs to be on the 18th. Is 7:00 a good time for everyone? Mr. Patton stated as far as he was concerned the meeting can be on the 19th.  long tol have the minutes typed. Mr. Patton stated it can be the 19th.  Mayor Pitt asked can the meeting be moved to the 19th? Mr. Overton stated he will be available that evening. Commissioner Taylor informed she will be available  Mayor Pitt asked can the meeting be on the 19th at 7:00 PM SO that everything can be wrapped up at that time?. At that time, we should be able to geti into Town Hall. Commissioners Howington, Hopkins and Bellamy stated that the date and time was Attorney Pridgen asked did everyone need to wait until 7 or could it be earlier? Commissioners Taylor, Hopkins and Bellamy stated they will be available at 6:00 Commissioner Howington stated she has an appointment that morning she was unsure. how longi it was going to take, and she would be back, but she will say 6: she Mr. Patton suggested 6:30 PM to allow Commissioner Howington time to make the Attorney Pridgen suggested thel Mayor entertain a motion to have. a Special Call Meeting on August 19that 6:00 PM with an agenda prepared and include a Public  okay with them.  Mayor Pitt ask was anyone available at 6:00PM?  PM.  maybe late. meeting. Hearing.  Mayor Pitt asked to Entertain a Motion to call a Special Call Public Hearing Meeting for August 19th at 6:00 PM with the agenda toi include a Public Hearing. Commissioners Howington moved the motion. Commissioner Bellamy second the motion. No further  Discussion. The Commissioners: vote as follow: Commissioner Howington "Yes" Commissioner Lindsey "Yes" Commissioner Taylor "Yes" Commissioner Hopkins "Yes" Commissioner Bellamy "Yes" Motion carried.    9. CDBG-I grant project items - Presented by Dennis Patton  A. Monthly report on Community Development Block Grant- Infrastructure Mr. Patton stated with thel help of the Mayor and the Board approval oft the June first minutes. The Town received al letter from the CDBG-Is stating the Fair Housing plan was approved. The revived Citizen participation plan was approved by the Board and submitted. A monitoring visit by the Grant Repl has been arranged for September 2nd, Ai note on the Dunns Number registration effort by the Town Administrator, remains a high priority because the lack oft this registration will cut the flow ofthese funds. The. Administrator and himself on a high alert for whatever  for July 2020  the next step will be.  B. Consideration of appointing Citizen Advisory Committee  Mr. Patton stated during thel last meeting it was discussed about the possibility of nominating and appointing Citizen Advisory Committee members that are relevant Commissioner Taylor informed Mr. Patton the two nominees she provided from Porter Street, that she has not been unable to contact but she will continue to try to Mr. Patton responded okay. He asked had any reached out to the Gibbs. He will email them they are on the Planning Board. Hel believes that they reside on Cutchin  tot the CDBG-I project area. Are there any nominations?  geti in contact with them.  Street.  Mayor Pitt confirmed the Gibbs resides on Cutchin Street. 10. Clean Water State Revolving Fund ($650,000) project items  A. Report on Status  Mr. Patton stated that a draft oft the Engineering Report has been submitted to the Clear Water staff Engineers to review. An Environment review has to be complete but himself, the COG and some of! his colleagues and Mr. Ford with some of! his information. The response to the LGC letter with the financial issues is important with all the grants buti its starts with this Loan. The loan is $150,000 free money. With the Clean Water State Revolving Fund one oft the steps ini their loan program is to check with thel LGC to see if they think you are capable of! handling that loan. He believes that putting together a comprehensive response and following up on it will be great. In your package was the Administration contract from the Upper Coastal Plain Council Government to administer the Clear Water State Revolving Fund. This agreement requires action it can come in form ofa motion that will authorize the Mayor to execute the contract with the Upper Coastal Plain Government to  Administer this project. Any questions or comments? Mayor Pitt Asked Mr. Patton was the contract four pages? Mayor Pitt asked was the date correct Fall 2019 application cycle?  Mr. Patton responded yes.    Mr. Patton responded saying that was when the application was submitted, thati is how theyi identify the application by the time they were: submitted. It was awarded in February of2020, butt they made reference to when the application was Mayor Pitt asked ift there was any discussion from the Board?  submitted.  Mayor Pitt asked to Entertain a Motion. Commissioner Taylor made the motion to accept the contract for Administration of services with Upper Coastal Council Government for the Administration of Clean Water State Revolving Fund project and Approval of authorization of Mayor to execute the contract with the Upper Coastal Plain Council Government to provide Administrational. Services. Commissioner Bellamy second the motion. No further Discussion.  The Commissioners: vote as follow: Commissioner Howington "Yes" Commissioner Lindsey' "Yes" Commissioner Taylor "Yes" Commissioner Hopkins "Yes" Commissioner Bellamy "Yes" Motion carried.  B. Selection of Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments (COG) for the administration oft the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Project and approval of Authorization of Mayor to Execute contract with Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments (COG) to provide administration services for  CWSRF project  Mayor Pittinformed Mr. Patton that she signed the contract and she will email it to Mr. Patton stated that emailing it will be fine, he will pick up the original one-day 11. Drinking Water State Revolving Fund application ($750,000) scored well - presented by  him. next week. Dennis Patton  A. Report on Status  Mr. Patton stated the construction activities for this project is to replace small diameter water lines. The activities will mirror those of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund including project on location meeting with the Town Administrator, the Mayor and he will be involved and anyone else that want to sit in most likely will be a conference call. The engineering services and procurement will be an item that will be added to the agenda  for the 19th.    B.  Consideration of approval of Project Budget  The Project Budget Ordinance was included in your package iti is a two-page document that is similar to the Clean Water one that you approved. The Project Budget Ordinance that outlines what the Financial officer does and responsibilities. Revenue in section 3 will bet the $750,000 free money that you will received from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. It will include a 2% closing fee $15,000. Replacing the: small diameter lines will help and there will be some automatic flushing hydrants added to help with the stale water issues and get rid of some of the corroded iron in that part of the system. There is some expense for the crossing oft the Railroad unfortunately in this project it may not be in other projects. On the expense side you will see all the items including the Town fee of $15,000 will add up and balance out to $750,000. The largest item on the expense side is construction amount of $590,500. Is there any question on the Budget Ordinance?lfnot,  he asked to entertain a motion to approve it.  Mayor Pitt asked to entertain a Motion to approve the Project Budget Ordinance. Commissioner Howington made a motion to approve. Commissioner Taylor second the motion.  No further Discussion. The Commissioners vote as follow:  Commissioner Howington "Yes" Commissioner Lindsey "Yes" Commissioner Taylor "Yes" Commissioner Hopkins "Yes" Commissioner Bellamy "Yes" Motion carried.  12. Additional Supplemental Appropriation for Disaster Relief Act 2019 B. ASADRA Loan/ Mr. Patton stated there is a resolution since we are reapplying because there were some deficiencies in the application back when we applied in April. This ist the application that has the $1,459,000 to relocate the Porter Street Lift Station from the present location to the vicinity of the intersection of Porter Street and Watson Street. Neither of the Sewer Funding the Town received would work on the Porter Street Lift Station in its present location. Since the ASADRA is make infrastructure resilient and safe from disasters like flooding. This funding is tailored to resolving this problem. This relocation will prevent flood water from entering the sewer system and being treat by Rocky Mount which the Town is paying for. Any questions about this resolution? Mayor Pitt asked Mr. Patton was it the Lift Station on Porter Street? Mayor Pitt asked Mr. Patton how many Lift Stations were on Porter Street?  Grant resolution approval  Mr. Patton replied yes ma'am.    Mr. Patton informed that Mayor that it is only one Lift Station on Porter Street. There is Mayor Pitt asked Mr. Everett what was wrong with the Lift Station on Porter Street. Mr. Patton stated that the Lift Stations on Porter Street, Bell Street, and S. E Railroad Mayor Pitt asked Mr. Everett what happened to the Lift Station on Porter Street see Mr. Everett replied that the Lift Station is in really bad shape. The brackets are broken by rust, it is hanging on by a string. Whenever it rains or the Lift Station it not pumping correctly iti is on the boarder line of overheating and exploding. The bottom line is itisin Mr. Gorham from Suez stated that he has expressed concerns to Mr. Everett. Apparently, that Lift Station is having some costly electrical issues, it is not automatically pumping, you have to manually pump that Lift Station. The automatic functions are not working on that one. With the relocation of the Lift Station what would be the time Mr. Patton stated that last application was submitted on April 30. They ruled in it around the first week of July, it was around two months and al half to three months to Mr. Gorham asked int the event that the Town had to go forward with the repairs with Mr. Patton responded saying no for two reason you cannot spend any money before hand and the purpose is to move the Lift Station and not spend any money on it in that bad location. James could only work with that he had; the Town will just have to Mr. Gorham stated that is he'su understanding, the Walnut Grove and Porter Street Lift Mr. Patton informed Mr. Gorham that the way the Project is set up those Lift Station are Mr. Patton stated that Rich Moore has already started in the deficiencies, if all the deficiencies are corrected the Town will be at a 99% fundable Project.  al Lift Station on Bell Street and another one on S. E Railroad Street. Street are outdated, that are barely meeting State regulations.  send a check for over $4800.  really bad shape.  fame?  get the approved. But it will be about a year. the Grant reimburse the Town?  continue to patch up the Lift Station.  Station need more attention than Railroad and Bell. within that 10-block projected for Grant. Mayor Pitt asked was there anything from Mr. Patton?  13. ASADRA Resolution of the Boards intent to Apply  Mayor Pitt asked to Entertain a Motion. Commissioner Howington made a motion that the Board approves the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Application resubmittal for the Town of Whitakers. Commissioner Taylor second the motion. No further Discussion. The  Commissioners: vote as follow: Commissioner Howington "Yes"    Commissioner Lindsey "Yes" Commissioner Taylor' "Yes" Commissioner Hopkins "Yes" Commissioner Bellamy "Yes" Motion carried.  Commissioner Howington asked if Mr. Patton remember some time ago Cummins used to assist with some if not of the Lift Stations, she was not sure which ones and if he was Mr. Patton stated he heard about it, buti it was before his time. He believes that James or Linda told him that Cummins would provide a portable generator for the Lift Stations. Mr. Patton stated that the Lift Station takes in a lot of water ini that area. He thinks that itn mayl have been a permanent thing. They all need backup generators. Mr. Gorham stated when the upgrade the Lift Station they will have al backup generator, the generators will be stationary designed for that one Lift Station. Mayor Pitt informed Mr. Patton she signed the resolution and will email it to him. 14. Water Meters (18) Replacement proposal from Suez - presented by Dennis Patton Mr. Patton stated itl has been brought to the Town's attention that 181 identifiable water: meter are malfunctioning or do not work at all. Those that understand the billing system can understand how much a headache it can be. We have Tony from Mr. Gorham informed that while working they found meters that were broken or aged. Mr. Roy Decker also did an assessment and he is a little more experience with the water meter. With aged water meter it reads inaccurate, sometimes it could work and sometimes it will not. The assessment of the meters was done by Suez and thei information was provided to Mr. Everett or the Mayor. Suez is prepared to install Census meters, iti isl like the one the town already has, but this one. has 3 upgradable capabilities. For additional money: you can upgrade it to a touch and read meaning. you have a device that you can walk pass the meter and point the device toward the meter and it will provide you the reading. You upgrade it to an auto read that means you can go by with al laptop and it will read the meter for you. Then you can upgrade to an AMRI system and it will automatically send the monthly reading to whomever handles that at the Town Hall and no one will have to go out. Those capabilities come with added funds. The price that was presented was lock and key with the exception of the backhoe, you will need a machine to dig up the  working with the Town on the Lift Stations?  Mayor Pitt stated it was the Lift Station by the cemetery.  Suez on the call to explain the findings.  current meter to replace them.  Mr. Patton asked ift the Town owned a Backhoe?  Mr. Everett informed the one that the Town owns is not operational.    Mr. Gorham stated thati is something that can be rented or sometimes you can Mr. Patton stated in a package hej provided to the Board was a proposal from Gary Stanbak to replace the 18 meters. Mr. Decker identified with a meter that could be for updated to automatic read ata a later date, then later replacing other meters. Mr. Decker indicated thatt the meter had different settings. Tony can you tell the Board because Mr. Stanbak stated settings was necessary for cut off vial issues. Mr. Gorham informed that some of the vials are corroded because of the age and they are hard to cut off. The settings in addition to new vails is set the meter up because some oft the meter are really deep in the ground and we have to 20 of3 feet ofdirt before we can get to the meter. The setter set the meter up off the ground. Mr. Patton stated that the proposal is toj provide the new equipment for the 18 maltunctioning meters ata a later date be auto read capable. The setter will have the vial connection ad the duelj jets vials. Including the cost ofl labor peri install. We were counting on the Town tol have a functionable backhoe. Maybe Enfield will loan the Town a backhoe for this project. Thisi is a readable proposal. Grant will replace lines and vial but is up to the town to replace the water meters and the town should replace at the minimum 10% of the water system meters per year. Mr. Gorham informed that the new meteri is easy to calibrate because the water Commissioner Lindsey asked Mr. Patton for clarity is the recommendation that we Mr. Patton answered yes, hel believes SO. Tony said al lot of your meter were low and the cut vials were not working. The Setter gives you the ability to cut vails off when Mr. Gorham stated you have al lot ofv vacancies and with the meters you turn the vial off and lock sO there is nothing there toj prevent anyone from going over thing and turn the water on and using it. Then you have unbilled consumption. We are reading Commissioner Taylor asked with the Water: and Sewer fund being the way iti is and the Town in debit how will the Town pay for the meter replacementi is it supposed to come out the Water Sewer fund ori isi it other funding for this to be paid for? Mr. Patton answered say the time he checked about six months ago the Enterprise Account which is the Water and Sewer. Account had funding available in it. Commissioner Taylor asked howi isi in the Water Sewer Fund Mr. Everett stated the Account labeled Water Services $34,000 in that account. Mayor Pitt asked to Entertain a Motion. Commissioner Taylor made the motion to table this discussion until a later date. Commissioner Bellamy second the motion. No further Discussion.  barrow one from the neighboring Town.  meters require calibration after aj period of time.  should have the setters  need be and make the meters easier to access.  al loto ofvacancies with water consumptions.  The Commissioners vote as follow: Commissioner Howington "Yes"    Commissioner Lindsey "Yes" Commissioner Taylor "Yes" Commissioner Hopkins "Yes" Commissioner Bellamy "Yes" Motion carried.  15. Departmental Reports for July 2020  A. Police Department - Lynette Clements, Chief of Police  Chief Clement stated in the essence oft time you have the number on hand she is going to move alone. Three Town Ordinances, two were paid. Four interviews scheduled one a no call no show, three interviewed, one) job off he came back the next declined the offer stating he was offered a position with a higher pay. The JRI Police academy was a huge success. Having the radar and computer stand installed in the Patrol car. Spoken with educators in Enfield and Rocky Mount everyone is doing remote learning. With speaking the citizens, al lot of them have WiFi but the student do not have computers. Wanted to figure outa a way to gett the computers set up at' Town Hall SO thel kids will still be able to do their schoolwork. There are Educators that we willing to come and help students with their work and to tutor, ifanyone was interested in helping just let Chief know. Commissioner Taylor stated that she heard from a young lady named Desire Goldberry today that isi interested in Coming to Whitakers and setting up an Internet Café for kids. Suggested that Chief reach out tol Ms. Goldberry because she was looking for somewhere to set computers up for children to do there work. She will send Chiefl Ms. Goldberry contact information via email. Chief Clement stated she just wanted to make sure everyone had Commissioner Taylor asked about the radar being installed and do Chief Clements stated that she was attempting tol hire officer and he or she will be going tol Radar training, it would defect the propose ofhaving them train and not have the radara already Commissioner Howington asked if Chief has received any reports  access to a computer.  the' Town have a Radar certified Officer yet?  installed.  about a bear in Whitakers    Chief Clements responded that she received calls about the bear Wildlife was called but unable to locate the bear. Spoke with citizen they already knew provided them with safety information.  B. Public Works - Thomas Everett, Maintenance Supervisor  The maintenance team completed 32 work orders. There were 3 major projects. He thanked Commissioners Lindsey, Taylor, and Hopkins for identifying three areas that needed improvements. One Project was complete, another onei ini isi in process and thel last may need to seek assistance for the State. The Projects were resettling the foundation for the drainage in the driveways. Any question about maintenance?  Mayor Pitt asked to Entertain al Motion. Commissioner Taylor made a motion to approve the Public Works Report for. July 2020. Commissioner Hopkins second the motion. No further  Discussion. The Commissioners vote as follow: Commissioner Howington "Yes" Commissioner Lindsey "Yes" Commissioner Taylor "Yes" Commissioner Hopkins "Yes" Commissioner Bellamy "Yes" Motion carried.  C.A Administration Financial Reports for Month of) July 2020- Thomas Mr. Everett stated the GL balance reports were putted from the Southern Software.  Everett, Town Administrator General Fund = $470,214.74 Liability = $470,214.74 Water & Sewer = $4,000,244.77 Liability = $4,000,244.77 Cash Report (August 3rd) = $744,618.35 Any questions?  Other Cash Balance Report Qanuary 1s) = $875,923.64  Mayor Pitt asked the period ending on the GL was 6/30/2020 instead of Mr. Everett informed the ending period should be 6/30/2021. Commissioner Howington asked was the year 2020 or 2021  6/30/2021?  Mr. Everett answer, year 2021. end of next fiscal year?  Commissioner Howington asked should it be the end of the current fiscal not the    Mr. Everett stated we are no longer in that fascial year. This is where we are as of Attorney Pridgen stated correct mei ifIcorrect me iflam wrong Mr. Everett but wheny you print something from the General Ledger in Southern Software in automatically puti in the end date oft the current Budget Year. Mr. Everett agreed with Attorney Pridgen stating he was correct. Any more  right now.  Questions? Thank you. 16. Approval ofl Bills for) July 2020  Mr. Everett stated we wrote a total of 33 checks in the amount of $96,356.52.Any Commissioner Howington has a question about check # 1981 Coastal Plain Council Mr. Everettinformed it was for a Grant that] himself: and Mr. Patton was working on. Mr. Patton stated it was a pass through from the CDBG-I. It came in electronically Commissioner Taylor had Concerns about checks #1984, 1985 & 1987 they are: for Edgecombe County Sheriff Deputy prior to we were paying $125 these are $150  questions?  Government $30,000.00 What was it for?  and we. are working to, geti iti in a Special CDBG-IA Account. have their rates gone up or did they work. longer? Mr. Everett answered that their rates went up. Mayor Pitt asked when did the rates change?  Commissioner Howington stated the Board did not approve a rate increase. Mr. Everett stated he thought thel board wanted 24-hour coverage and this was step Chiefo Clement answered As of) July 1st the rate changed across the Board no matter Mayor Pitt stated the Board did not get notification of that, the Board would have Chief Clements stated that was something that was approved when they first signed Mayor Pitt has a question about check #2003 for Walnut Grove Lift Station, what Mr. Everett answered that the Walnut Grove Lift Station is pumping really slow and they have to have someone go out to manually pump that Lift Station. Mayor Pitt asked was it flood because itl had items in it.? Mr. Everett answered no iti isj just an area that floods.  towards that coverage.  Attorney Pridgen asked did they Officers rate change?  where they work to $30 per hour. like to know that the rates had changed. on to have the additional coverage. happened to the Lift Station?  Mayor Pitt stated that she asked because in the past that has issues with the Mr. Everett stated thati it was not the case this time. They have added need blades on  residents stopping it up.  the motor to the Lift Station and it had done well since. Mayor Pitt asked if there are any further questions?    Commissioner Howington had a question about check #2003 Tar River Mr. Everett stated that was thej pumping of Railroad Lift Station and portion of Commissioner Howington asked about checks payable to Officer J. Cofield, Officer K. Vaughn, and Officer R. Jones, checks were: $125, was there pay from June? Mr. Everett responded yesi it was from the month of) June before the rate increase. Mayor Pitt asked what happened with Railroad Lift Station Mr. Everett informed it need tol be manually pumped. Mr. Patton stated he thought they replaced that pump. Mr. Everett stated he was not sure about the pump being replace. Mr. Patton stated it was before his time.  Environmental Walnut Grove.  Commissioner Hopkins stated about 2 months ago the City of Rocky Mount had come and helped with al blockage. Was that what he was talking about? Mr. Patton responded no, he thought that they had a pumpreplaced.  Mayor Pitt ask are there and further questions  Mayor Pitt asked to Entertain a Motion. Commissioner Howington made a motion to pay our bills 33 check totaling $96,356.52. Commissioner Taylor second the motion. No further  Discussion. The Commissioners vote as follow: Commissioner Howington "Yes" Commissioner Lindsey "Yes" Commissioner Taylor "Yes" Commissioner Hopkins "Yes" Commissioner Bellamy "Yes" Motion carried.  17.Citizen Comments or Concerns  Mrs. Barbara Sutton stated she has properties on Spring Street, Bell Street, White Street and' Taylor Street. She received a letter from Attorney Pridgen about her property on Spring Street, her and her son are working on doing something about that property. She wanted the information for Bridgeview to see about demolition. She reached out to Nash Community College to see about a control burn, but shei is still waiting to hear back from them. Butifthe town is willing to do the control burn then she would allow them to do that. She wanted to know what the criteria for the Attorney Pridgen provided Mrs. Sutton with the contractor's phone number  grant are and how can she go about getting a grant.  2528833013.    Mrs. Sutton asked ift the' Town demolished the property would the Town bill her, or Attorney Pridgen stated the Town has al lot inj process so he was not sure ifit would be a large number ofhomes at one time and the town would have to charge ai fee. So, it would be cheaper and quicker for her to havei it done herself. In regard to the Fire Department feel free to contact them directly to see oft they would help with the Mrs. Sutton asked ifi it was another number to contact the Fire Department because shei is having difficulties contacting them, thati is why she contacted Nash Mayor Pitt asked was its she trying to contact the Fire. Department?  ifs she would be better off dealing with the contractor on her own?  control burn. Community.  Mrs. Sutton stated yes that is who she was trying to call. She was not sure ifit was because of Covid or volunteer status the reason she was not getting an answer when Mrs. Sutton stated it had been a couple of months since she had tried to contact Mayor Pitt asked had she heard from Nash Community because she had a time Mayor Pitt stated usually the gentleman calls you back. She asked Mrs. Sutton for Mrs. Sutton provided Mayor Pitt with her phone number 9193365345 Mr. Patton added when he was talking with the Fire Department and their concerns in doing a control burn was ift the structure still has asbestos in it. You may have to have someone come in to do an asbestos inspection before they will agree to doa a control burn. You can check to see ifN Mr. Cook has anyone that need thel hours, they Mr. Patton stated he is with the Community Development Group in Rocky Mount. Mayor Pitt inform that there is a meeting on the 19tifeverything is not discussed Commissioner Bellamy stated that Commissioners: is a governing body, we all should be able to do something together here ini the town. We should have aj parti in theaffairs in our town. Our citizen rely on us they voted for us. We need to do more than just come to thei meeting and accepting our stipends. Shei is not asking anyone to say that is not our job we were not hired for that. We were. hired to do more than toj just come to a Board meeting. We have to answer to our citizens. Itisal lot going on in our town, she wrote a letter that addressed ten things that concerned her back in April. She never received a response from thel letter. She is still concerned about  she called.  Commissioner Taylor stated iti is usually someone there. them, thel last time she called she got a voicemail.  trying to contact them also. her phone number.  Mrs. Sutton stated she left a message and no response.  may doi it for you, buty you willl have to fora a nominal lab fee. Mrs. Sutton asked what department was Mr. Cook with?  They rather did with owner occupied. 18. Commissioners Comments and Concerns  tonight    those things. Those things are: still pending in the Town of Whitakers and she would love to see them resolved. You should have what goes on in Rocky Mount happen in asmall town like this. Everybody knows everybody in the Town ofWhitakers. We should be united; we should be one body of people trying to work together to organize. We do not have anything in here that would bring people back into Whitakers. We should be at the table trying to find a way to bring thej people back to Whitakers. Something that we are not doing we are not a unified body of people; we are not a unified board. She is praying that they can be a unified board to that they Mayor Pitt stated you are welcome to Commissioner Bellamy. She asked if Attorney Mayor Pitt asked if she needed to address anything that was address to them  can get together to get something done. Thank you. Pridgen had anything else he need to add or say? Attorney Pridgen responded no ma'am.  earlier?  Attorney Pridgen stated not that he was aware of.  Mayor Pitt asked the Board to give her one moment and asked Attorney Pridgen to Commissioner, Howington asked Mayor Pitt about the set of minutes that needed to bec corrected by Mrs. Beale that still needed correcting ifs someone could send hera Mr. Patton stated it was the minutes for July 6th. Itwas the first Public Hearing for the neighborhood Revitalization, but there was no recording oft the meeting, it we put to get our notes, Mr. Everett and Ms. Williams should be about to putt the Mayor Pitti informed the Board that when she called the Board to informed that the Town has a positive case of Covid she told the Board to keep it confidential. She received an unsettling phone call from Mr. Howington. Mr. Howington informed her that one oft the Board members had called different people in the Town of Whitakers and stating that he was infected with Covid. Mr. Howington was extremely upset about it. Ifhe chooses to sue the' Town of Whitakers, he is well within his rights. She had to call Attorney Pridgen to tell him what was going on. The board has to understand as human we have to be mindful of other feelings and we have to remember it could easily be us. Covid has no respectable person and it could be anyone of us. Just like everyone from' Town Hall went to be tested. Everyone ofyour test can come back a certain way, just remember not knowing what your results are and how it would make you feel. We really have to be careful how we: speak to people and how we talk about people because it could have been us or one of our family members. He was upset, and his feelings was hurt about it. We had visitors on the line tonight. The first thing she did when she found out that Commissioners received al letter and she did not, her mail does not come tol herand she changed that, but she emailed Ms. Sharon herselfand explained the situation. She will copy  check his text.  copy, she can correct the missing content.  Mayor Pitt asked Mr. Patton what minutes was hei in need of?  minutes together.    everyone on the email correspondence with Ms. Sharon. The one thing they will be looking ati isi ifwe get along together. Ifwe cannot unite for this then we should just calli it a day, because if we can not pull together to get this letter wrote, ifitis anytime to us to pull together it is now.. Everybody says they love Whitakers, they grew up in Whitakers, Mom and Dad grew up in Whitakers, ifeveryone has al love for Whitakers. Everyone should be coming together and acting like it and stop all of the back biting, iti is sad. We had Visitors on the call tonight, and they had to sit and listen to us go at each otheri instead of pulling together and uniting, Mr. Overton is here tol help us, and we are still going at each of other. Ifiti is ever a time to come together it is now because Covid does notl have a respectable person. Commissioner Hopkins stated when we do not do thing the right way that is when we have a problem. Ifwe have anything wei need to do as a group if we know that there are: mistakes being made when it comes to the public. Ifiti is anyway possible that we can solve those problems without attacking anybody. We cannot allow someone to attack anyone and say we are right. He felt as ifi it were out of order when Ms. Howington to attack and say a lot was wrong, we should have taken and cleared this stuff up before it got to thej public. That way it will notl look so bad by making someone look bad. Ifyou want: somebody to do something for us, then we need to do something for them. The right wayi is to make sure we do not embarrass nobody. When you bringi it to the table, and you start embarrassing somebody this is what you get. Until we: as a board come together and do not criticize nobody on the board, do not criticize the Town Administrator, do not criticize the' Town Clerk, and do not criticize us. Ifwe are able to stop that then we can come together as a board. Commissioner Howington asked Attorney Pridgen when we get the minutes each commissioner has the obligation to review those minutes and report those corrections in those minutes. It was not aj personal attack on any staff member. Each staff member has the responsibility to review his or her work before iti is given to Attorney Pridgen stated yes Commissioner Howington was correct. The suggested that the agenda packets be given out to the Board in advance to they can review and Commissioner Howington stated tol Ms. Williams that she volunteers her time to proofread and send any correction on minutes before they are sent to thel Board. Her purpose was not to embarrass or criticize Ms. Williams tonight, and to not take  Itstarts with us.  the board, is she not correct?  submit corrections before meeting.  itp personally, she was sad that others felt that way. Mr. Patton offered toj proofread the minutes also ifneeded.  19.Adjournment  Mayor Pitt asked to Entertain a Motion. Commissioner Howington made a motion to Adjourn meeting Commissioner Taylor second the motion. No further Discussion. The Commissioners  vote as follow:    Commissioner Howington "Yes" Commissioner Lindsey "Yes" Commissioner Taylor "Yes" Commissioner Hopkins "Yes" Commissioner Bellamy "Yes"  Recorded by and Submitted by Shante Williams, Town Clerk  Sharle (Oilhano