03/29/2024
Bladenboro Town Hall
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By Blake Proctor

The regular Bladenboro Commission meeting began at 7pm sharp on November 9th with a rapped gavel by Mayor Rufus Duckworth. With no open forum following the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance the Consent Agenda was quickly dispatched.

Dr. David Richardson, Executive Director of the Lumber River Council of Governments (LRCOG), was on hand to present a Certificate of Appreciation to the Commission in recognition of their service to the Town’s citizens in this time of the worldwide Covid19 pandemic. The Certificate was dated October 15 th and was signed by new LRCOG Chairman, Rufus Duckworth.

The first item of Old Business was considering the purchase of a golf cart for the utility department, tabled from October. After some discussion, it was decided to not purchase this item.

Also tabled last moth were quotes for painting the south wall of the Medicine Shoppe where the old Hester Building had recently been taken down. It was determined that merely painting the wall would not be sufficient, so this item was again tabled for further study.

Two years ago, the Town was awarded a $250,000 grant for the installation of five emergency generators; however, the funds available would cover only four. Therefore, a supplementary grant request was submitted for a fifth generator that was subsequently approved by the State. The ordinance to accept the grant funds and merge them with the funds for the previous four generators was unanimously adopted.

In New Business, the Board gave consideration of the purchase of financial software from the firm Invoice Cloud that would enable the Town’s billing customers to pay their utility bills, property taxes, and other debits online via their credit cards.

Southern Software, the provider of the Town’s financial program package, has highly recommended Invoice Cloud software; and, the Commission unanimously approved this purchase.

At the request of the Town, Ms. Stevie Craig, Executive Director of the Bladen Housing Authority (BHA), has offered the old Housing Authority building on South Main Street in a Deed of Gift to the Town for a price of $10.00, plus the Town absorbing all the costs of the transaction. This purchase was quickly approved.

This property acquisition is a vital and integral step in the joint Bladenboro/Bladen’s Bloomin’ project to undertake economic development in Bladenboro’s downtown: Besides the BHA building, Bridger Pharmacy and the Hickman Insurance building will also be demolished with funds already provided for the purpose.

During his Administrator’s Report, Town Administrator Oryan Lowry first demonstrated the updated website, showing the user-friendly Invoice Cloud bill-paying software.

He then advised the Commission that the Cypress Street paving activity that had been removed at the last meeting, would remain so until sometime in 2021; he has, however, sent a proposal to Sykes Paving for $51,704 to pave Vine Street, the eastern-most portion of Poplar Street, and all of Edwards Avenue. He is awaiting their response.

The softball field project at McLean Park is scheduled for completion by the end of November, including addressing the drainage issues at the Little League field already built.

He has spoken with Bill Lester of LKC Engineering regarding the first four generators. Mr. Lester informed him that, due to the pandemic, some components are still on backorder, and LKC does not want to start until everything is on hand. The Town should have a definite start date by the December meeting.

The I-Pads from the County Covid19 grant are now are order to implement Social Distancing measures among the Board members. These measures are hoped to be implemented in January, 2021.

During Matters of Interest to Commissioners. Commissioner Rodney Hester, presumed to be a County
Commissioner-elect, thanked the Bladenboro voters for allowing him to serve the people for the last three years. He promised to serve the public in District 2 as he has done in the past for the Town. He then thanked the Board for their cooperation during his tenure.

The Board then went into Closed Session at 7:30pm for the discussion of Personnel. Upon reconvening in
open session, Mayor Duckworth announced the hiring of retired Sewer Plant operator Lynn Brisson as the part-time Operator in Responsible Charge (ORC) for the Town’s sewer plant. He will be back for an indefinite time following the departure of ORC Sherry Lanier, whose resignation was effective November 3rd.

At 8:15pm, with no more business on their plate, the Board followed its traditional November practice of, rather than adjourning the meeting, continuing it to Monday, December 7th at the Historical Building to enjoy the annual Town Employee Christmas Party.

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