By Joy Warren
During the Monday noon work session, Elizabethtown Town Council members heard an initial report from Scott Sigmon with W.K. Dickson and Associates. Sigmon is a Special Projects Engineer and he presented his preliminary findings on the cemetery.
During the evening meeting, Council approved the scope of work for Sigmon so an in-depth investigation and engineering process can continue.
Mark Potratz with GeoTechnologies Inc. also submitted a proposal to perform soil boring and subsurface investigation on the cemetery site. His information will be provided to the Town’s engineer for design and engineering purposes. The contract amount is $6,825.
Once Sigmon receives the report he will formulate a report for the Council to consider. The report will include engineering options to include siting of a new cemetery if necessary. The fee for his work will be $16,948.
A proposal was also approved from Land Surveyor Lloyd Walker for survey work at the current site to survey benchmark points to determine if there are any shift changes occurring. In addition, he will also survey the proposed new cemetery property development. His contract is for $9,500.
Eddie Madden, Town Manager, indicated that the Town has had trouble getting technical assistance for this project because very few municipalities have experienced this type of geological problem and there are even fewer with any experience to give advice and directions. It has been noted that the cemetery land was previously used as a waste/dump site which may indicate ground settling from shifting debris from the extensive rain from Hurricane Florence.
“This will be a tremendously expensive project,” Madden said. “The Town is taking every step to cause the least amount of disruption possible to the cemetery. It could run into the millions of dollars.” Madden projected that the report from the engineer would probably take 60 to 90 days.
Several resolutions were approved by Council. The Town’s Water Shortage Response Plan was adopted by resolution and will be sent to the Division of Water Resources office.
Ann Garrett with NC Works office requested and received a resolution designating November 12-16 as “Hire A Vet Week.” The Elizabethtown Optimist Club requested and received a resolution designating the second week of November as “Youth Appreciation Week.”
In other administrative matters, Council designated Jay Leatherman and Pat DeVane as Applicants Agents for State Disaster Assistance Agreement; approved surplus of Police vehicle damaged by Florence flooding; approved change order for Industrial Park project; approved donation of park bench to Bladen’s Bloomin’ Incubator Project on Broad Street; approved amended agreement with Voice Data Solutions; approved Tax Releases ($6,330.34) and budget amendments; and approved lease-purchase agreement with Caterpillar Financial Services.
In observance of Thanksgiving Holiday, the Town offices will be closed Nov. 22-23.
The Elizabethtown Christmas Parade is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 25 at 3 p.m.
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