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By Joy Warren
Elizabethtown Town Council conducted general business matters during the rescheduled Town Board meeting on Monday night.
Rod Fritz, Parks and Recreation Director presented bids for the playground equipment at Tory Hole Park. The low bid was for $82,421.55 from Cunningham Recreation. Council approved the low bid award. The equipment is part of an ongoing renovation project at Tory Hole and the playground equipment is funded through the NC Parks and Recreation Trust Fund.
A parcel of property that stands vacant on West Broad Street located beside Southern Professional Counseling was declared surplus property and will be advertised by sealed bids.
Jay Leatherman, Finance Director recommended a Merit Pay Proposal for the Council to implement. According to Leatherman, the 2017-18 budget included a 1.5% COLA which appears to be lower than that of other towns and counties in our region. To supplement employee salaries, Leatherman proposed that funds equivalent to .5% of budgeted salaries be set aside within the FY2018-19 budget to be distributed to employees of the town based on their work performance. Council approved the plan as presented effective immediately.
Pat DeVane, Public Works Director made a recommendation to Council regarding the cancellation of the contracts with Utility Service Company for the Water Tank Maintenance. DeVane stated, “We pay Utility Service Company an annual fee for tank maintenance, which was $49,062.90 for 2017. I feel that we can get better service/pricing through a third-party engineering company that bids out each of the various tasks needed to keep the tanks in good shape.” DeVane recommended a one-year contract ($4,500) with AECOM who will assist the town with the ongoing evaluation of the water tanks and will supervise any work that is performed on the tanks. Council approved cancelling the Utility Service Company contract and accepted the recommendation to contract with AECOM Technical Services.
In administrative matters, Council approved Tax Releases, Utility Right-offs, budget amendments, and the monthly financial report as presented.
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