City of Reidsville City Council Meeting Monday April 13, 2020 Draft Copy- Not approved by Council until May 11th. 2020 The regularly scheduled meeting of the Reidsville City Council was held on Monday, April 13th, 2020 at 5:00 pm. Members of Council present: Verdie Williams Carolyn Crume- Blackshear Bruce Conner Donald Prestage Jim Waters City Attorney DuAnn Cowart-Davis was present. The meeting was brought to order by Mayor Sydney Clifton at 5:00 pm. The Mayor called roll during the teleconference to verify attendance of each Council Member. The prayer was given by Council Member Bruce Conner, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. At this time, the meeting was opened for public comments. There were no public comments requested in writing prior to the teleconference. The Mayor stated the City Attorney nor himself received an inquiry. The Mayor advised the meeting minutes from last month's meeting were provided to the Council for review. If there are no questions and/or corrections recommended, a motion is needed to accept as written. A motion was made to accept the minutes as written. Motion made by: Jim Waters 2nd by: Carolyn Crume-Blackshear Vote: Approved - Unanimous The Department Supervisors were asked to present their monthly activitylstatistics to the Council. Each Department turned in their reports to the Clerk. Mayor Sydney Clifton presented each report. There were no comments or discussion at this time. Under Old Business, the dilapidated buildings were the next item on the agenda. City Attorney Duann Cowart-Davis presented to the Council a list with the status and address of all dilapidated properties. Attorney Davis reviewed all properties listed with the Council. Council Member Jim Waters advised the Mayor, Council and Attorney regarding Mr. Jimmy Burns property. Councilman Waters stated that Mr. Burns was making progress over the past weekend and that movement was being made in regards to clean up. Council Member Carolyn Crume- Blackshear asked ifMr. Timmy Butler had received a letter regarding one ofhis properties. City Attorney, DuAnn Cowart-Davis explained that no letter was sent to Mr. Butler because the exact location and property cannot be identified. The Attorney and the Mayor stated they would ride to the exact location next week. Council Member Carolyn Crume- Blackshear asked to be notified when the exact location was identified and when the letter will be sent to Mr. Butler. The Mayor is going to speak with Mr. Butler as well. There were no further comments or questions regarding Mr. Butler or dilapidated buildings. The next item with regard to Old Business is the Motorized Cart Permit. The Council agreed on a yellow4 x 3.5 size sticker that can be easily identified by police when patrolling. A motion was made to purchase the yellow, 4 X 3.5 size stickers. Motion made by: Jim Waters 2nd by: Carolyn Crume - Blackshear Vote: Approved- Unanimous Mayor Clifton advised each Council Member that he would be personally delivering all checks to each Council Member this evening or Tuesday morning. With no further Old Business to discuss at this time the Mayor addressed New Business with the Council. Council Member Jim Waters advised that under Governor Kemp's New Executive Order, the shelter in place was extended and is to remain in effect until June gth, 9 2020. Council Member Jim Waters made a motion to cancel the planning and council meeting for the month of May, unless the shelter in place was lifted. Councilman Waters also advised that an emergency meeting could take place, with 24-hour advance notice, if an issue arose and needed to be addressed. A motion was made to cancel the May planning and council meeting, only ifthe shelter in place was still in effect at that time. Motion made by: Jim Waters 2nd by: Carolyn Crume = Blackshear Upon discussion, Council Member Donald Prestage stated that because the Council can cancel the meeting, does not mean that the Council should in fact cancel the May meetings. Councilman Prestage was opposed to canceling both meetings and added that citizens were not able to see the Facebook Live meeting last week. Councilman Prestage requested that the meeting be available on the City of Reidsville website for all citizens to view. Council Member Bruce Conner was not in favor of canceling the May council meeting, but was in favor of canceling the planning meeting. Council Member Verdie Williams was not in favor of canceling the May council meeting, but was in favor of canceling the planning meeting. With no further discussion, Mayor Clifton called for an individual vote to clarify. Vote: Jim Waters and Carolyn Crume Blackshear- In favor of canceling the both meetings for the month of May. Donald Prestage, Verdie Williams, Bruce Conner- OPPOSED to canceling the May Council meeting. With a 2-3 vote, the motion did not carry. A second motion was made to cancel the May planning session, but not the May Council Meeting. Mayor Clifton called for individual votes at this time. A motion was made to cancel the May planning meeting, but not the May Council Meeting. Motion made by: Bruce Conner 2nd by: Jim Waters Vote: 4-1 with Council Member Donald Prestage opposing The motion did carry. This time was then taken for each Council Member to express comments and/or concerns. Council Member Jim Waters had no comment or discussion. Council Member Carolyn Crume-Blackshear inquired about the status oft the evidence room project at the Reidsville Police Dept. Mayor Clifton advised that he would address this concern in Executive Session. Councilwomen Blackshear asked ifthe Census 2020 committee was formed and Mayor Clifton advised that forming that committee was postponed at this time due to COVID 19. Mayor Clifton also explained to Mrs. Blackshear that the Public Works Dept. had already received their new uniform shirts that she expressed interest in. Council Member Verdie Williams asked when she would receive the monthly packets that are given to Mayor and Council prior to each month's meetings. Mayor Clifton advised that each Council Member would receive their packet one week prior to the May Council Meeting. Council Member Bruce Conner advised that he had received a call about the drainage issue on Dogwood Drive. Mr. Conner advised that when he called, Rodney DeLoach, Public Works Director, he was already in route to access the drainage problem. Council Member Bruce Conner added that he and others in the community were very appreciative of Rodney and his team and they should be recognized for their hard work, dedication, and all that they do each day. Council Member Donald Prestage asked that he receive a list of all city streets that are to be paved. Mayor Clifton advised Councilman Prestage that he would get him a spreadsheet oft the roads to be paved. Mr. Prestage addressed the fact that the prior Council had requested and approved for Darien Renfroe or a member of the Recreation Board be present at all City Council meetings. Council Member Donald Prestage went on to explain that all other Department Supervisors are also busy and they come to the meetings and that the Reidsville Rec. Dept. Director is to do the same and report to the meetings. At 5:31pm the Council was called into Executive Session regarding personnel issue and litigation. Motion made by: Verdie Williams 2nd by: Bruce Conner Vote: Approved = Unanimous At 5:32pm, Executive Session was turned over to Attorney DuAnn Cowart-Davis. The Facebook Live Steaming was paused at this time. At 5:41pm, a motion was made to come out of Executive Session. Motion made by: Carolyn Crume-Blackshear 2nd by: Verdie Williams Vote: Approved- Unanimous The Council was called back into Regular Session at 5:42pm. With no further business to discuss a motion was made to adjourn this meeting at 5:44pm. Motion made by: Jim Waters 2nd by: Bruce Conner Vote: Approved- Unanimous