TOWN OF VANCEBORO BOARD OF ALDERMAN MEETING Held their regular monthly meeting on February 3, 2025, at 7:00 PM 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 Thad Jones, Alderman Hud Jordan, Alderman Russelll Ipock and Alderman Todd McMillen. III. Invocation by Alderman Jordan. IV. Pledge of Allegiance. V. Approval of minutes from last meeting. Alderman Jordan made a motion to approve minutes. Motion was seconded by Alderman Ipock and carried. Vote 5-0. VI. Approval of Cash Receipts and Disbursements. Alderman McMillen made a motion to pay bills. Motion was seconded by Alderman Jordan and carried. Vote 5-0. VII. Public Comment. None. VIII. Police Report was presented by Interim Chief Winnings. Chief Keys resigned his position on January 30th. We have lost our SRO at Farm Life Elementary. Durango is getting worked on, it has water pump leak and the aluminum hose has been replaced. Radars have been calibrated. We are waiting for the evidence room to be audited from an outside agency. The computer in the charger is having issues; we have ordered a new computer to replace it. We have had a few problems with homeless stealing alcohol from the stores. We are focusing on being seen throughout town and making business checks. IX. Mayor's Reports. Chief Keys resigned his position with the police department. We are under contract with Craven County Board of Education to provide an SRO at Vanceboro Farm Life Elementary. All the other schools throughout Craven County go through the Craven County Sheriff's Department to provide the SRO at the school. I would like to see us finish out this school year and then opt out of the contract. Alderman Ipock made a motion to opt out of the contract for the SRO at the Vanceboro Elementary School at the end of this school year. Motion was seconded by Alderman Jones and carried. Vote 5-0. The town clerk will submit a letter to opt out of the contract at the end of the school year. Mr. Nick Lucas is over the SROs and is willing to be a backup if we need it. Birthdays this month include Officer Sean Johnson. Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of Richard Cannon Jr. He was a resident of Vanceboro for 75 years, he was very involved in the community: he taught at the West Craven High School, opened the laundromat, Vanceboro Mill, Rotary, Ruritan and Boy Scouts. We received a quote to fix the jail roof of $8100, we will look at including it in the upcoming budget. The fence at the park will be extended 40 more feet to ensure safety. The library will be getting repainted through a grant. Craven County is planning to replace the roof during the next budget year. The cable should be removed from the front of the library. The Christmas decorations have been taken down, we have received a quote from United Rental to rent the lift boom for $600 less than the current business we use. Jenkins Bushhogging has started the contract for the cemeteries in town. We had our first preconstruction meeting with USG and the installation team with the new water meters. The next Board of Alderman meeting will be held on March 3rd at 7 p.m. The next recycling pickup will be on February 27th. I attended the Parks and Recreation meeting for Craven County. West Craven Park will have disk golf available on March 1st. They will be placing 6 pickle ball courts out at the park as soon as the contractor is available. The county is looking at placing LED lights on the baseball field in the 25-26 fiscal year budget of $390,000. I received a quote on spraying stains on the fence and pressure washing it, it was going to cost around $2600. Alderman Belrose said he sprayed his own, and he is willing to do this for the town. Alderman Jordan stated that he has had a couple of residents interested in joining the Planning and Zoning Board. They are Brandon Bradshaw and Andrew Black. Lou Powell is willing to stay on the board and he will follow up with his Grandad Royce Jordan to see if he still wants to remain on the board. The Board of Alderman will fill the vacancies on the Planning and Zoning board at the next meeting. We are looking into moving money from Wells Fargo to Capital Management Trust to earn more interest for the Town. Alderman Ipock said that he would look into some ways to earn more interest. Barnhilll Contracting will be patching streets throughout town soon. The State has finally repaired the road at the 8100 block of Main Street. The Vanceboro Strawberry Festival held their kickoff meeting last week. We are looking for volunteers to help with the event. We meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 6j p.m. here in the Boardroom at the Town Hall. We will have Mr. Gideon from the East Carolina Council here to present the subdivision ordinance to the board in the next few months. We gave the library $4,000 to help buy books and supplies that they need. Mr. Greg Henry, supervisor of James Cayton Inc., passed away this past Saturday. Our prayers go out to his family. Meeting Minutes February 3, 2025 Public Works Supervisor, Vernon Edwards stated that the company doing our lift station rehab had been disappointing to work with. We were supposed to have a turnkey package, but we ended up having to hire an electrician ourselves. It will take approximately two more weeks before the job is complete. We should see a big difference in our pumps once this is complete. X. Alderman Reports. Alderman Jordan attended the library board meeting. They will be closed from February 2nd through the 9th. They are having the facility painted. They are also having a raffle if anyone is interested in purchasing tickets. The numbers have been down since Christmas and the cold weather has been in place. They are hiring for positions at the library. Alderman Belrose had no comment. Alderman Ipock stated that we may receive some support from area residents to help get the jail upgraded for tours to begin. Alderman Jones asked if the patchwork on the streets this fiscal year was going to include work on the corner of James/Warren streets. Mayor Braxton said that was included in the areas to be patched. Alderman McMillen had no comment. XI. There being no further business we dismissed at 8:00 p.m. Ihereby certify that the above is true and accurate record of said minutes. Oode Boh Bwnly W.Dake CHAD E. BRAXTON BEVERLYW. DRAKE MAYOR TOWN CLERK Meeting Minutes February 3, 2025