Stokesdale, North Carolina
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Stokesdale, North Carolina
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TOWN OF STOKESDALE PO Box 465 STOKESDALE, NORTH CAROLINA
The regular meeting of the Stokesdale Town Council was held in the Town Hall at 8416 US Highway 158 on Thursday, March 15, 2007.
Mayor Randle L. Jones called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. The following members of Council were present: Mayor Randle L. Jones, Mayor Pro Tem John W. Flynt, Mickie Halbrook, Bobby Richardson and Powell Shelton.
Others present included: Steve Christman, Guilford County Sheriff’s Department; and Carolyn Joyner, Town Clerk/Finance Officer.
After the Pledge of Allegiance, Council considered the proposed agenda. The Clerk asked for the addition of the Northwest Triad Merchants Map Presentation as New Business, #4. Mr. Shelton made a motion to approve the agenda as presented with the suggested change. Ms. Richardson seconded the motion. All Council members voted aye and the agenda was adopted.
Mr. Flynt made a motion to suspend with the reading of the minutes and approved them as presented. Mr. Richardson seconded the motion. All Council members voted aye and the minutes of the regular Council meeting of February 15, 2007 were adopted.
NEW BUSINESS: Report from Guilford County Sheriff’s Department: Deputy Christman indicated that only one Part 1 theft had occurred since the last meeting. Most activity resulted from traffic stops. Two fire arms have been seized and there was a DWI and approximately three narcotic violations. A traffic fatality has occurred in Town since the previous meeting. Deputy Christman said that he has focused more on speed and increasing citations since people are speeding more than ever. He also noted that calls have increased for suspicious persons who are going door to door selling items. There is no ordinance that prevents this activity but anything suspicious should be reported. Mr. Shelton noted that he lives on NC 68 and that a number of twin trailers seem to be using it. Deputy Christman said that he has stopped a few but it may be increasing.
Vulcan Material Community Day: Corey Viers, Plant Manger: Mr. Viers invited Council to the Community Day at Vulcan Materials which is being held to educate citizens and allow them to see the quarry and to have a fun day. Live music, a moonwalk for the kids, free food, and a car/truck show will be a part of the event.
Mr. Flynt expressed appreciation on behalf of the Town and all of the citizens for all of the community work that Vulcan does such as the walking trail, and the Veterans Memorial. He said that Vulcan is a good corporate citizen in the Town. Mr. Shelton indicated that Congressman Howard Coble would be attending the event.
Stokesdale Youth Football: David Homol: Mr. Homol, president of the Stokesdale Youth Football Association (SYFA), expressed what he felt was a need for a Youth Football program in Stokesdale. He made a presentation to Council about the Association. Clay Walker is Vice President of SYFA. Alan Welch, treasurer and co-founder of the group and co-founder Jennifer Homol was present. He said that they hope to partner with Stokesdale Parks & Recreation. He indicated that the program is an attempt to give kids in Stokesdale the opportunity to play football. He noted that he would appreciate Council’s support in obtaining the use of Stokesdale Elementary as a practice facility. SYFA had conducted a survey and found that parents and youth are interested in youth football. He said that Oak Book 9, Page 1471
Level Church and Academy is the only football organization in Town. The Church was founded in 1884. He has traveled to Baltimore, New Jersey, Charlotte and has established a strong network with the Panthers Youth Football, USA Football, American Youth Football, and Coastal Carolina American Football. They have incorporated and have invested their time, effort and personal finances in this non-profit corporation which has been established in North Carolina. By incorporating Youth Football associations, it allows them to focus on development of a quality football organization which would be in the best interest of Stokesdale and allows them to focus on safety, risk management, player health and player issues like dehydration. SYFA was incorporated on March 12, 2007 and is applying for a subordinate 501c3 under American Youth Football and SYFA has a website at www.ayfnet.net/syfa_nc.
There are other local youth football organizations such as Rockingham County Youth Football League, Kernersville Raiders, and the Oak Ridge Colts. The SYFA Mission Statement says their objective is to offer the youth of Stokesdale the opportunity to play competitive full contact football in an organized and supervised environment. The football program will teach the fundamentals of football, enhance physical conditioning, and promote sportsmanship. Benefits includes showing that Stokesdale supports and encourages entrepreneurial services and youth athletic programs and support of charitable activities for youth. Economic benefits may result from visiting teams spending money at local businesses for gas, food and shopping.
Mr. Homol said that gang activity is growing. Rockingham County received a $75,000 grant from the State of NC to combat gang involvement. Elizabeth Dole, a NC senator has introduced a bill to seek funds from the Federal Government to inhibit gang activities for kids. SYFA is now a charter member of American Youth Football and Cheer which was established in 1996 and is the largest youth football and cheer organization and they partner with the national football league. They estimated the cost to play will be about $100. Their total budget will be about $10,071.00 for 15 youth or up to about $11,996.0 for 26 youth for the first year and should decline after the first season.
Mr. Homol said that the future of SYFA depends on local leadership, participants, volunteer support to help with the startup costs of SYF. It will promote town athletic loyalty among families since they will not have to go elsewhere for athletics. He encouraged involvement and asked for consideration of facilities development. He noted that Jennifer had a community grant application from the Federal government. Jennifer said that the grant could be from $150 to $5,450,000. She said that she had looked at thousands of grants before finding the one that would help the Town pay for up to 50% of the proposed public park facilities for the Town. She said that it was different from the State grant and that the Town could get State money to help pay for the Parks. The SYFA asks for the assistance of the Town of Stokesdale and the Stokesdale Town Council. The children are depending on the support of their hometown to develop a quality youth football program. Mr. Homol noted that there is a brochure regarding sponsorship. He noted that on Feb 7, 2007 they had met with Guilford Co Schools and principal Mary Williams and negotiations have begun with equipment suppliers.
Mr. Flynt noted that the Parks and Recreation has 200- 300 children in the soccer program and with costs being high, he asked how a selection of children to play would be handled. Mr. Homol noted that the Kernersville team goes up to 36 kids per team. He says that they will have to cut off at a certain limit. They will have to find additional funding or do fund raisers.
Mayor Jones asked for the criteria and application process for the federal grant. Jennifer said that the criterion is that the facility has to be a public use facility that anyone can use. She said that the application is not open to individuals or private organizations. A city or town could apply for it. She said that there was not an application deadline and the turn around time was 20 to 60 days they would tell you.
Mayor Jones noted that the Town Attorney was not at the meeting, and he would need to review the matter. He indicated that some grants were only available to Town sponsored athletic program that is operated by the Town itself. Jennifer said that the money to build the facility would be given to the Town but the maintenance of the facility would have to done by the Town. Mr. Homol indicated that it was being planned in a fall timeframe. Book 9, Page 1472 Mr. Homol said that an immediate need would be if Council could lend their influence to the Guilford County Schools. He had met with Mr. Bailey and Mr. Greeson who is the director of eminence, but efforts to extract a contract from them is being stalled. He has submitted a facility use request for using the Stokesdale Elementary as a practice facility perhaps starting in May to have a camp. Mayor Jones asked for the keys points that that the group would like to have addressed and in order that the letter goes to the correct people. Mr. Flynt noted that a letter might could be sent to Foundations or the Cone family y to see if they would provide seed money. Mayor Jones asked for a draft of the key points that SYFA needed to be addressed and he made a motion to write a letter to the school to assist the organization. Mr. Flynt seconded the motion. All Council members voted aye and the motion was approved.
Mr. Flynt suggested that they may want to send a letter to all of the churches in Town to see if they may want to support SYFA. Mr. Homol said that he and his children have visited churches and left flyers with them and have visited Stokesdale Elementary. Mr. Welch thought that a letter addressed to each church is a good idea. Mayor Jones noted that their hard work on the project shows and is commendable and the benefits speak for themselves.
Northwest Triad Merchants Map Presentation: Tammy Welborn, President: Ms Tammy Welborn, President of the NW Triad Merchants handed out samples of maps to show the type of map that the group is planning to have printed. She said that the Northwest Triad Merchants is made up of about sixty businesses from Summerfield, Stokesdale, and Oak Ridge and they are very community service oriented. They recently sponsored the Angel Tree at Countryside Village. The have wanted to do a map for northwest Guilford County. Village Profiles, the map publisher, came to Keller-Williams where she is a realtor and asked if they wanted to purchase an ad on one of their maps. They did and the published map became a great tool for them. She sold ads to the merchants group first and now they are offering it to others. The map is special because it will have all special interest points for each town. It will have schools, parks, etc on the maps. It will include Stokesdale, Summerfield and Oak Ridge and will extend into Rockingham County. The backside of the map will have mapping for all of the towns and the surrounding area. She wanted to let Council know that they are preparing the map. The map is more than a paper map. Village Profiles generally work with chambers of commerce information will be placed on the internet with links to information about the Town and the Town website. The sale of the ads will end in mid-April and it will take about four moths to have the maps printed. The map will not be printed again for 2 to 3 years depending on the changes that occur. If the ad is paid for now, there will be an additional 5% discount. Additional maps can be purchased at $1.50 each.
She said that it will be four color printing done at the black and white price. She indicated that maps may be sold for $2.00 with the profit going to groups such as the Summerfield Youth Council or Summerfield Recreation. She said that Todd Harmon is the Vice President from Stokesdale.
Request For Proposals – Operators for the Town Water System: Mayor Jones noted that three proposals has been received but Council had not had the opportunity to review the information. Mayor Jones suggested that Council could review the proposals with the idea voting on the matter at the next regular Council meeting. Council could conduct interviews with the applicants and they could be scheduled when Mr. Trevorrow could be present. Mr. Flynt noted that he and the clerk had done a spreadsheet to compare the costs of the contracts based on the current number of customers. He noted that there is a wide variation and he would like to have some time to study the proposals.
Mayor Jones recognized Mr. Holt at this time. Mr. Rodney Holt indicated that he had presented the RMH, Inc. contract proposal. He has been a contractor in water and sewer for 35 years. Initially he started out doing water and sewer line work for municipalities. In the last several years he has gone more into maintenance and operations. Presently he is ORC for one small system. He has maintenance experience and has equipment to do the work that is outline in the proposal.
Book 9, Page 1473
Mayor Jones made a motion to allow staff and Mr. Flynt get some information together and prepare for a vote at the next regular meeting and in the meantime, schedule interviews at appropriate times when the Town attorney can be present. Mr. Shelton seconded the motion. All Council members voted aye and the motion carried. Mayor Jones thanked Mr. Holt for coming.
COMMITTEE AND BOARD REPORTS: Stokesdale Community Park Board Report: Vicki White-Lawrence reported for the Park due to Mr. Eisel being involved in coaching. She reported that basketball season ended in late February and it went well. She thanked the School and the principal for their help during the season. They have just finished baseball registration with over 230 children signing up for baseball and softball. This included girls’ softball as well. The opening day for the park has not been set. She asked if any of Council would be willing to throw out the first ball. Ms. Halbrook volunteered. She will be contracted as soon opening day is set.
Land Use Plan Review Committee: Mr. Flint noted that the Committee had met on the previous Thursday and will be meeting on the on the second and fourth Wednesday each month. The committee will be looking at the long range plan, updating and making recommendations for ordinance changes to be incorporated into the ordinance. The Committee will report back to Council in June.
Long Range Financial Planning: Mayor Jones indicated that he has checked with the architects and they have various proposals for new elevations and have been working diligently on them since the last meeting.
Appointment of Budget Officer/Budget Committee: Mr. Flynt suggested that Mr. Richardson should serve on the Budget Committee. Mr. Shelton indicated that he would be willing to work on the committee. Mr. Flynt made a motion to appoint Mr. Shelton and Mr. Richardson to the budget committee and Ms. Joyner as the budget officer. Mayor Jones seconded the motion. All Council members voted aye and the committee was appointed.
Departmental and Administrative Reports: Finance Report: February, 2007: The Finance Officer reported that assets had increased slightly from the month of January. Checking account transactions included payment of $355.00 to Angel Electric Company for the removal of holiday banners, and payment of $17,045.33 to Guilford County Finance Department for Law Enforcement for the 4th quarter. Accounts Payable for the General Fund included invoice from Guilford County Finance Department for $12,500 for planning services and Alliance Mutual Insurance Company had billed the Town for $262.00 for the annual premium for insurance for the generator.
The General Fund Savings Account reflected the deposit of rezoning fees and Greensboro ABC profits of $1,956.08. General Fund Certificate of Deposit #31 matured and had earned $10,655.99 in interest. It was renewed at 5.122% for 6 months. Water Enterprise Certificate of Deposit # 21 also matured. It had earned $3,735.17 in interest and was renewed for 6 months at 5.157% interest. Water Enterprise Checking Account transactions included a payment of $5,991.85 to the City of Winston-Salem for the purchase of water and a payment of $1,634.65 to Yates Construction Company for a new service connection and the installation of meters. Accounts Payable for the Water Enterprise Account includes billing from the News & Record for $63.72 for the ad that was placed for the request for proposals. Deposits were also made to the Water Enterprise savings account for tap fee income.
Mr. Flynt inquired about an update on the collections of delinquent water accounts. Mayor Jones indicated that some of them have begun to pay. He also noted that the attorney that was working on the accounts has changed his practice and the Town will need to seek another attorney. Mayor Jones said that he could make some inquiries and would suggest that Mr. Trevorrow should be consulted.
2010 Census – Local Update of Census Addresses Program (LUCA): Information on the 2010 Census is beginning to be sent out. Maps have already been updated for the census bureau. Next week a Book 9, Page 1474
presentation will be made at the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments. The Census information will be collected from citizens in a survey type of format. Municipalities will work with the Census Bureau to insure that they can reach all citizens.
The Clerk noted that she is attending Solid Waste meetings. There is a recycling group and the full group meets at a different time. Susan Heims, County Environmental Services Coordinator, provides information on recycling and other issues. The Clerk noted the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day as noted in the agenda.
Legislative Action: There was no legislative action coming before Council.
Other Business: There was no other business coming before Council.
ANNOUNCMENTS: Mayor Jones read the announcements listed on the agenda.
COMMENTS FROM THE FLOOR: No one came forward to be heard.
COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL: Mr. Flynt commented that Ms. Halbrook, Mr. Richardson, and the Clerk had visited the new Oak Ridge Town Hall and while studying plans for a new Stokesdale Town Hall, it is nice to see the layout of their Town Hall and determine if there are good ideas that should be incorporated into our plan. Mayor Jones encouraged any comments to be directed to Stewart Cooper Newell so that it can be incorporated into their next presentation.
Ms. Halbrook thanked SYFA for making their presentation to Council. She also thanked Mr. Viers and Vulcan Materials for being a good neighbor. Mr. Shelton noted that he had attended one of the meetings at Vulcan Materials and he felt that their event would do well.
Mr. Flynt made a motion to adjourn. Mayor Jones seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 8:46 pm.
_________________________________________ Carolyn L. Joyner
Approved:
_________________________________________ Randle L. Jones, Mayor
Book 9, Page 1475
APPROVED BY COUNCIL: March 15, 2007 Official Copies of the Town Council minutes are available at Town Hall for a nominal copy fee.
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