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Tuesday
night Sprint – which is still
technically known as Carolina Telephone
& Telegraph – donated two-tenths of an
acre at the intersection of Harris Road,
Wall Road and Oak Street to the town for
green space. Part of the land will be
used as a conservation easement during
the restoration of Richland Creek.
Donovan Merritt, a lawyer
with the Raleigh firm of Wyrick Robbins
Yates & Ponton, said the Clean Water
Management Trust Fund grant the town
received in 2004 for work along Richland
Creek did not include money for the
property easements needed. “The grant
was to cover surveying cost, legal cost,
environmental evaluation.”
The town asked Sprint to
donate a small strip, a 50-foot buffer,
and Sprint agreed to donate the entire
property. The town will give the company
an easement for workers to reach a small
switch box.
“We’re just pleased to do
it,” John Weldon, a real estate
negotiator with Sprint, said as he
handed the deed to Town Clerk Joyce
Wilson. John Barnes, Sprint’s public
affairs manager, was also at the
meeting. (The town’s attorneys, Eric
Vernon for the town board and Roger
Knight for the planning board, are
employed by Wyrick Robbins Yates &
Ponton.)
Town Manager Mark Williams
has been elected to a three-year term on
the board of directors of ElectriCities,
the association of towns and cities
owning their electric systems.
Tuesday night Williams said
he would need to have approval from the
commissioners to accept the $1,000 a
month in compensation ElectriCities pays
the directors.
The work load will include
at least one meeting a month, usually in
Raleigh but sometimes in the western
part of the state. There may be more
meetings, Williams said, estimating he
would spend between 10 and 15 hours a
month on ElectriCities work.
The commissioners explored
whether this would distract Williams
from town work or whether there would be
a conflict of interest.
No, he said to both. “My
feeling is that if we make decisions
good for ElectriCities which in turn are
good for individual towns.”
“I would almost feel better
if the town gave you an extra thousand a
month,” Commissioner Stephen Barrington
said.
“I think it’s very good for
the town to have somebody from town on
the ElectriCities board,” Mayor Vivian
Jones said.
“If he tells me he’s not
going to get in my wallet or on my
timesheet, I’m OK with that,”
Commissioner Frank Drake said.
Williams was given a 6
percent raise a year ago, bringing his
salary to $101,694.75. The board is
scheduled to evaluate his performance
within the next month and may adjust his
salary at that time.
The vote to allow Williams
to accept the $1,000 per month was
unanimous.
The board approved
resolutions of appreciation for all the
retiring advisory board members and will
present the signed resolutions at a
dinner Feb. 6 at The Forks Cafeteria
honoring all advisory board members.
Those retiring board members and their
boards are Margaret Jones Stinnett,
cemetery; Linda Cruetzburg, human
relations; Michael Berry, Frank Drake
and Sue Holding, planning board; Jan
Ammons and Barbara Avery, recreation;
and Rand Matthews, urban forestry.
Jones asked for a moment of
silence for the Johnson family at the
start of the meeting.
At the close of the regular
agenda, the commissioners went into a
closed session to discuss the costs for
the two possible town hall sites with
their appraiser. |
