June 14, 2022 Regular Meeting Minutes  HAMLET CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING COUNCIL CHAMBERS ROOM 201 MAIN STREET, HAMLET, NC28345 TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2022 6:001 PM MINUTES  Governing Body Present: Mayor Mayor Pro Tem Council Member Council Member Council Member Staff Present: City Attorney City Manager Police Chief  Bill Bayless Jesse McQueen Eddie Martin Oscar Sellers Abbie Covington TCI Morphis Matthew Christian Dennis brown  Executive Assistant Ashleigh Sligh  Others Present: Howard' Wallace, Margaret Williams, Jo Wallace, Carolyn David, and Cynthia Battle  1. Call to Order 2. Invocation  Mayor Bayless called the meeting to ordera at 6:01 pm.  A Moment of Silence was observed. 3. Adoption of Agenda  Council Member Covington motioned to adopt the Agenda with the removal ofl Item #15, Budget Amendments. Council Member Sellers provided the second. The vote was 4-0.  4. Approvai of Minutes Covington. The vote was 4-0. 5. Comments from Attendees  Minutes from the May 24, 2022 Meeting were approved by motions of Council Members Sellers and  Ms. Cynthia Battle presented Council to discuss 2 issues. Her first concern was speeding on Charlotte St. at the lowerend, toward Food Lion. She felt a speed bump was needed. Her second issue was regarding her water account which she has set on draft. She was out of town. June 1st-J June 10th. When she returned, her water was off. Her bank had not made her payment. Mayor Bayless advised the City! has procedures in place for water payments and suggested she speak with the Cityl Manager. He advised the  City will looki into the speeding on Charlotte St. 6. Manager's Presentation of the Budget Message  New Business Message.  City Manager Matt Christian presented the recommended FY 2022 - 2023 Budget and read the Budget  1    June 14, 2022 Regular Meeting Minutes  7. Public Hearing #1 -F Fiscal Year 2022-23 Budget  Mayor Bayless opened the floor to the Public Hearing. No one presented. The Mayor closed the Public  Hearing.  8. Adoption of the Fiscal Year 2022-23 Budget Ordinance No. 2022-02  Council Member Sellers motioned to adopt the Ordinance. The second was offered by Council Member  Martin. The vote was 4-0.  9. Adoption of Fee Schedule - Resolution 2022-06  The City Manager advised the Fee Schedule is attached to the Budget Ordinance. There are no increases in garbage, water and: sewer rates or taxes. Council Member McQueen inquired ift the increase from $25.00 to $50.00 for cutting water on after 4 pm covered the City'sexpenses for the service. Mr. Christian responded for a normal water cut on, it would cover the wages for the employee; for other issues it may not. Council Member Covington motioned to adopt the Fee Schedule. The second was  offered by Council Member Sellers. The vote was 4-0. 10. Public Hearing #2 - Rezoning Moratorium  Mayor Bayless opened the floor to the Public Hearing. He stated Council has decided to implement a moratorium on all rezonings at this time. City Manager Matt Christian reported the moratorium would expire December 31, 2022. With no further comments or questions, the Mayor closed the Public  Hearing.  11. Consideration of Ordinance 2022-03 - Rezoning Moratorium  Council Member Sellers motioned to adopt the Ordinance. Council Member McQueen provided the second. Council Member Covington inquired when the moratorium would be effective. Mr. Christian responded immediately, but the City has received one rezoning applicationi that isi in the process and will be heard. Mr. Morphis added the moratorium is for amendments tot the zoning map only, not text  amendments ori the Subdivision Division Ordinance. The vote was 4-0. 12. Appointments to Hamlet Senior Center Advisory Board  Councit Member Covington motioned to make the 4 appointments: Pete Wheeler, Joyce Santos, Imogene Thomas, and Barbara Brown. Council Member Sellers provided the second. The vote was 4-0. Council Member Covington motioned to appointment Jonathon Lewis to the Depot Board. Council  13. Appointments to Hamlet Depot Board  Member Sellers provided the second. The vote was 4-0. 14. Nomination for LRCOG Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC)  Mayor Bayless reported for the last 6 years hel has served as the County'sMunicipal Representative on the Transportation Advisory Committee. Council needs to make another appointment that will gol before the County Commissioners. Council Member Sellers motioned to nominate Mayor Bayless as the County's Representative for the TAC. Council Member Martin provided the second. The vote was 4-0.  15. Budget Amendments 16. Approval of Tax Releases  Council removed Item #15, Budget Amendments, from the Agenda.  2    June 14, 2022 Regular Meeting Minutes  Council Member Covington inquired on the City's loss of $4,000.00 in taxes for properties the County foreclosed on. Attorney Morphis confirmed when real property is sold at foreclosure, the liens are cancelled. He advised in recent foreclosures by the County, he has been contacted by the Foreclosure Attorney and provided the tax amount owed to the City. In those cases, the City's taxes have been paid, minus the Attorney fee of $250.00. He will check on the $4,000.00 property listed on the Taxl Releases. Council Member Sellers motioned to approve the Tax Releases. The second was provided by Council  Member Martin. The vote was 4-0. Other Business 17. City Manager's Reports  City Manager Matthew Christian reported upcoming events as Yoga in the Park. June 16", al blood drive June 16th at the Ballroom, the next food truck event. June 24th, the Box Car Concert Series on. June 26th, and the. July 4th fireworks. There willl be some children activities at the Depot on. July 4th. More information is available on the City'swebsite and the City and Depot Facebook pages.  18. Comments of Council  Council Member Covington expressed appreciation to all the volunteers that worked to bring American Council Member Martin reiterated Mrs. Covington's positive comments regarding the American Legion Games. He inquired on the replacement oft the playground equipment at South Hamlet Park that was destroyed. Mr. Christian advised there are no current plans to replace due to issues int the area. Itis believed the destruction of the equipment was arson and a recently installed fence was torn down again. Council discussed the need to have the playground for the children and the possibility of placing cameras for security. The City Manager responded he will get quotes and order the equipment with the money received from the insurance. Police Chief Brown reported the Police Department plans to utilize Mayor Bayless reported to the Chief vandalism issues he was advised of on Hamlet Avenue at the Soup Kitchen where tires had been cut. He suggested possibly installing a camera in that area. Council Member Covington advised it was not a problem with vandalism; it was ani issue between the landlord and tenant. The tenant was evicted, and the landlord thought it was retaliation. Council Member Sellers agreed withi the others on the need fori the playground equipment. He thanked the attendees for coming to the meeting and encouraged all to come to the. July 4th activities. Council Member McQueen asked Council for clarity oni issues with people putting building materials and furniture out for the City to pick up. He stated it is clearly against the policy. He has ridden around town and the debris is everywhere, including materials that may contain asbestos. Mr. McQueen added there must be consequences for the violations. The City Manager responded he plans to meet with Public Works Director Billy Stubbs and put together a letter that will be mailed to all residents to educate them on the City's services. Once the citizens are educated, if the expectations are not met, code enforcement willl have a recourse to follow up. Mr. McQueen stated he had inquired before ift the City could cut off services for violations. Mr. Christian answered he and the Attorney would looki into it. Mr. Morphis advised the City can have a policy with consequences. Council Member McQueen thanked everyone that participated in the budget process. He said it has been a challenging 3 years; the City has worked well with what they have. This year, the City had to make some purchases. He said there is still not an equitable distribution of sales taxi that comes from Richmond County to the City of Hamlet. He added  Legion Baseball back to Hamlet. She encouraged everyone to attend the games.  cameras in the area.  3    June 14, 2022 Regular Meeting Minutes  the City hasi increased its employee pay, but with money the County has kept from the City, the County can increase their employees' salaries. Council Member Covington added she went to the Town of Ellerbe's Meeting and saw the impact the change in sales tax distribution had ont them; iti is devastating.  She said the issue needs tol be fixed.  19. Mayor's Comments  Mayor Bayless reminded Council several years ago the City required citizens to get a permit and paya fee to have items picked up. Several complained and Council changedi it back; now we pick up everything. The Manager explained the ones picking upi the garbage are also the ones that clean the streets. It may be difficult to determine ifwood placed for pick up are flooring or at table. He said the City needs to address the system and educate employees on the process of picking up. He also added when storms occur, resulting in large amounts of debris, the employees will get behind in picking up. Mayor Bayless wished everyone a Happy 4th of July and thanked the Hamlet Fire Department for their  assistance in the. JP Stevens Fire. 20. Motion to Adjourn meeting. The vote was 4-0. Respectfully: submitted, dKElak Gail M. Strickland, City Clerk  At 6:39 pm, Council Members Sellers and Covington provided the motion and second to adjourn the  .   SEAN ORTH C  4