By Blake Proctor
Mayor Perry Blanks called the December 14th meeting of East Arcadia’s Town Council to order at 7:07pm,
with all Board members but Rhonda Hall present; Ms Hall, who had been ill, joined the Council at the table several minutes later.
Following the Mayor’s invocation, and quickly dispensing with the normal housekeeping chores approval of the November minutes and Finance statement, Mayor Blanks turned to the first order of business of allowing individuals to address the Board.
This reporter had reviewed all his previous stories, and was curious to know the status of several of the projects and programs he had reported on.
He first queried the Board as to the status of the $300,000 water line improvements loan, specifically the phase to purchase the 248+ automatic reading meter (AMR) devices.
As for those devices, Ivey Cauley from engineering firm McDavid $ Associates out of Farmville has still not scheduled another meeting since he last appeared before the Council at its June meeting; he had stated at that time that a follow-up informational meeting would be held later in June, but that never happened.
On the possible rental of the Fire House for use as a business, the investors who inquired never proceeded. The same can be said of the feelers put out by an informal education group led by a Tyrone Tucker to lease an unused portion of the Town Hall for a Charter School; this may, however, yet prove fruitful down the road.
Lastly, the matter had been broached by the Board that, with so many nuisance violations around Town,
there was a need for a Planning Board. A suggestion was made to adopt an ordinance to empower the
Recreation Committee with Planning Board authority; as yet, no such ordinance has been drafted.
Thanking the Council, this reporter sat.
Turning to Council Reports, the Mayor asked if there was anything from the Finance Committee, and was
told by Committee member Lillian Graham that there was nothing. A like question to the Streets & Roads Committee got a shake of the head from Council member Horace Munn.
Council member Pamela Graham of the Parks & Recreation Committee informed those present that the
$360,000 grant application to rehabilitate the historic gymnasium was still being reviewed at the Federal level. A secondary intention of this grant is to lay the groundwork for placing the gym on the National Register of Historic Places.
She has, however, been pursuing bids from fencing companies to erect a fence encircling the gym, has
reviewed the proposals, and has brought a recommendation to the Council for consideration.
This bid from J&J Fence, Inc, of Wilmington, NC, is to erect a six-foot-high fence with double gates in both the front and rear of the property. The front 547 feet, costing $7,950, will be 11.5-gauge chain link, while the property behind the gym will be protected by a 636-foot 9-gauge fence costing $9,150. The entire project cost will be $17,100.
Ms. Graham then moved that the Town contract with J&J Fence, Inc. to provide the fencing as specified; with a second by Mr. Munn, the motion was adopted unanimously.
As an added bonus, Ms. Graham informed the Council that the Town had received a $3,000 grant from International Paper; these funds will be used to purchase portable seating at the East Arcadia Park.
In the Water portion of Council Reports, Mr. Munn notified the Board that many residents have not been
paying any of their water bills at all during the period Governor Coopers Executive Order provided abeyance due to the Covid19 pandemic.
People aren’t realizing that “abeyance” means a temporary suspension of payments, not complete forgiveness of bills. Therefore, beginning Tuesday, December 15th , the Town will begin turning off the water to all customers who are behind on their bills and have made no arrangements with Town Hall for making catch-up installments.
Mr. Munn also said that the sanitization machine purchased with the County’s Covid19 grant has been
working well. A question was asked about private citizens using the machine in their homes. It was noted that if it broke, the repair cost would be on the Town; also, the sanitizing fluid is extremely expensive.
He did agree that public and quasi-public buildings such as public meeting facilities and churches might be able to make use of the equipment, under certain circumstances and rigid guidelines.
Prior to a call for adjournment, Councilmember Lillian Graham presented Mayor Blanks with a plaque from
the Lumber River Council of Governments (LRCOG) to the entire East Arcadia Council for their exemplary
leadership in guiding the Town through this period of worldwide pandemic. The plaque will hang
prominently.
There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 7:45pm.
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