22 Aug August 22nd, 2011 Minutes

THE THREE HUNDRED-NINETY EIGHTH SESSION OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMAN

VILLAGE OF ALAMANCE
August 22, 2011 – 7:00 PM

Present: Mayor Bundren, Mayor Pro-Tem Sharpe, Alderman Crouse, Alderman Tichy, Alderman Clemmons, Alderman Jones, Alderman Slaughter, Clerk York.

Absent:

Alderman Clemmons gave the invocation.

Alderman Tichy moved to approve the June 27, 2011 meeting minutes and Alderman Crouse seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS

Plaid Day

Clerk York reported that there is a lot of excitement about Plaid Day this year. Plaid Day will be on September 24, 2011, the fourth Saturday in September, on the ball field behind the Lutheran Church. An X-Box 360 will be raffled. This is similar to a Wii, where a person can play a game with motion, such as bowling. The Big Time Party Band, recently appearing in Graham, will perform at Plaid Day. The Old Holmes Boys, a group which includes residents of Heritage Glen, is a good bluegrass band that will also be performing at Plaid Day. Mr. Fogleman and the Alamance County Line Dancers will also be featured entertainment.

Clerk York said that everything is coming together for Plaid Day, with eleven booths so far. Alderman Clemmons asked about the kinds of booths. Clerk York replied that the Alamance County Republican Party will have a booth. He has talked with Josh Johnson about an educational booth with information about Jordan Lake. Other booths include homemade handbags, jewelry, and the kinds of booths you usually see at fairs and craft shows. Mayor Pro Tem Sharpe commented that she will have a booth with potato jewelry and Christmas crafts. Clerk York said that Alamance Civitans will have a booth at Plaid Day again this year.

Mayor Pro Tem Sharpe noted that there will be a reenactor at Plaid Day. Clerk York said there will not be a historical walking tour this year; however, the reenactor will be along the path of the hayride. Horse rides will be part of Plaid Day again this year. Inflatables for children will also be a part of Plaid Day—a total of 4 inflatables, including the Big Tiger. Food will include hamburgers and hot dogs, Smitty’s Ice Cream, and snowcones. Alderman Tichy commented on the high temperatures at Plaid Day last year. Clerk York requested that all the Board members volunteer to help work at Plaid Day. Peggy May added that there was a need for door prizes, asking that Board members think of contributing in this way. Mayor Bundren said the Committee would like to be able to give away a prize every hour during Plaid Day. She said the lady that did this last year, Janet, is not able to do it this year. Mayor Bundren said that Peggy will be bringing one of her cakes. Mayor Bundren also said that Arnold could sell tickets; Naydine would be happy to provide him with 50 tickets to sell. Alderman Slaughter said that she had a basket of soaps that could be raffled off, too. Mayor Bundren asked if there was any other Plaid Day information that needed to be shared. Clerk York summarized that the X-Box 360 is the grand prize. If someone wins a door prize, their name will still be put back in the drawing for the X-Box. Mayor Bundren added that tickets will be sold at the gate. She also pointed out that last year there was some concern about children getting up on the inflatables. She suggested that some volunteers work at the top, to make sure that the bigger children go down at the right time. Alderman Clemmons clarified that the problem was the attraction where the children go around and hit each other. Clerk York said that attraction would not be at Plaid Day this year.

CDBG PROJECT – Public Hearing

Alderman Clemmons moved to open the public hearing. Alderman Slaughter seconded. Mayor Bundren then called for discussion of the CDBG Project. Clerk York stated that the purpose of the public hearing was to close out the CDBG Project. There is a requirement of a public hearing at the beginning of the project and a public hearing at the end. Clerk York noted that most everything has been completed. Mark Reich stated that, to his knowledge, everything has been completed. Alderman Clemmons moved to close the public hearing. Alderman Tichy seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Report on Cabin Pump Station Project

Mark Reich said he is still trying to get everything put together; not everything is yet finalized. He said he hoped to get things wrapped up soon and get this information to the Board. Mark said he has been tied up with some other contracts and construction and hasn’t been able to finish up the design work. Alderman Clemmons asked Mark Reich if he had heard anything about the rock. Mark Reich replied that he has not heard. He said his recollection is that the plan is to get the preliminary engineering report first, before looking into the rock. Mayor Bundren asked if, the PER would contain some preliminary information about the rock. Mark Reich said that the PER would contain information about rock. The Mayor asked Mark Reich if he could have some concrete information by the next Board meeting.

ORC Report

Arnold Allred reported on the collection system. He said everything has been running smoothly for the last couple of months. Regarding the Birch Station, the generator, tested every month, is doing fine. There has been a lot of grease at the Cabin Station; degreaser has been poured in. Mr. Allred pointed out that a couple of notices have already been sent out about grease. He doesn’t know exactly where the grease is coming from. The NC 62 Station is working well, after all the work that has been done there.

Mr. Allred next reported on the distribution system. He addressed THM first. There are now requirements for two separate THM samples. One of the samples was done at the Town Hall, the other one at 4208 NC 62, across from the Post Office. That’s where the two systems meet. Both of the samples were high, as expected. These samples were done before chloramine started—this is what is supposed to help. Samples will be taken again during the next quarter.

Arnold reported that the chloramine switchover went pretty smoothly. The start date was July 25, 2011. Every end point of the system was flushed to get everything moving in. It took a few days to get some good samples. The City of Burlington sent some people over to do some sampling in the Village of Alamance. They did not do any flushing, though this had been discussed. Clerk York said some flushing was done where the fire hydrant is, near the Town Hall, behind Dr. Patterson’s office. Mr. Allred said that an automatic flusher has been put on the Town Hall building. It runs about 200 gallons per day. This gives Clerk York a really good sample every day. This has worked out very well. It did take several days to get some good samples, and there were several conversations with Eric Davis of the City of Burlington. Eric Davis said it went very smoothly in their area too. Mr. Allred asked the Board if there were any questions. Mayor Bundren asked if there had been any complaints, relating to the change. Clerk York responded that he had received a telephone call today about fish, from a lady who wasn’t sure about what to do. The lady was going to call the pet store. Mr. Allred said the water would need to be treated. Alderman Tichy said the pet store would have what was needed.

Mr. Allred added that, along with the chloramines, they have done lead and copper testing. He thanked Clerk York for sending out letters and telephoning residents to obtain 20 samples. This sampling will have to be done every 6 months for two years. If there are no high results, this will only have to be done every 3 years. After two years, the Village will send in a request for extended monitoring, which should put the Village of Alamance on the 3 year testing/monitoring plan. He said there is some concern about chloramines causing the lead to come out of the water more. This is why the testing must be done. Alderman Crouse asked Arnold if weed killer could be applied around the NC 62 Pump Station. Mr. Allred asked if the mowing service would do this. Alderman Crouse said the weed problems were inside and could be seen from the highway. Clerk York said that Bobby doesn’t go inside the fenced area. Mr. Allred said he would address this. The Mayor commented there was also a weed stalk near the sign, too, that needed pulling up.

Alderman Clemmons asked Clerk York if letters would need to be sent out on the THM testing. Clerk York replied that letters would not be required this time, because it is a yearly average. There have been low samples for the last three quarters. With this last sample, the results fall below the MCL. If the sample is high again next quarter, a letter will need to be sent out. Mr. Allred said the hope is that the chloramine will bring this down. Clerk York pointed out that this latest sample was taken before the chloramine switchover. Alderman Clemmons said he read in the newspaper that people in Haw River were real upset about high THM samples. Mayor Bundren commented that when you buy water from Burlington, there’s not much choice. She said it was good that there was no need to notify at this point.

Mayor Bundren asked if there was any other Old Business. There was no other Old Business addressed.

NEW BUSINESS

Cardinal Lane Storm Drain Repair

Mark Reich said that Clerk York, Alderman Crouse, and Arnold Allred went to look at the repair issue related to the Cardinal Lane storm drain, following the June Board meeting. They have obtained three prices—from Boone Masonry, C & J Utilities, and McPherson Grading Company. Mark stated that the recommendation is to award the work to Boone Masonry, Inc. for $3200.00. This was the lowest responsive bid to add the junction box and add some pipe to fix that area. Mark Reich asked if all the Board members had seen the pictures relating to the needed repair. Alderman Crouse moved to award the repair work to Boone Masonry. Alderman Clemmons seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Cost Estimates for Hydraulic Study

Mark Reich stated that Alderman Jones had requested, at the last Board meeting, that estimates be obtained for studies about the chemicals, HTMs, and things of this nature. Mr. Reich said he had conversations with others, and because the system is tied into Burlington’s water system, there is a need for the analysis for Burlington’s water system. Mark said that he has talked with Hazen and Sawyer who does the City of Burlington monitoring and hydraulic analysis. They could take the Village of Alamance system and “piggyback” it onto theirs, and then do the analysis for the Village of Alamance. Mr. Reich stated that he was offering this as information. The Board does not have to award this; this is information presented as a result of the earlier request. Clerk York added that this was something to be considered, having been brought up at a previous meeting. (Alderman Jones had just arrived at the meeting but was in the hallway.) Mayor Bundren said Alderman Jones might wish to speak to this matter. The Mayor decided to come back to this issue and move forward to the Budget Amendment.

Budget Amendment

Clerk York presented the Budget Amendment. He said the amount budgeted for the Animal Shelter is $2000.00. The cost for the Village of Alamance this year is $4603.00. This is because of the change in the population; it is based on per capita. Before, the population of the Village of Alamance was listed as 370 plus. According to the U.S. Census, the population of the Village of Alamance is 951. At $4.84 times 951, this brings the total to $4603.00. The budget needs to be amended to reflect this change. Two different expense items are being changed. Most of the other budget amendments have been to change one expense item. This is not spending new money, rather spending less in one area and more in another. Mayor Pro Tem Sharpe moved to approve the Budget Amendment. Alderman Clemmons seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

At this point in the meeting, Alderman Jones had entered the meeting. Mayor Bundren asked that Mark Reich present the information about the Cost Estimates for Hydraulic Study again, for Alderman Jones to hear. Mr. Reich said that he had talked with others about doing the analysis. In order to do the analysis correctly, they would have to have Burlington’s system, because everything operates off their system, with the tanks, and things of this nature relative to do the testing for HTM or how much water is in the lines for lengths of time. It’s a fairly extensive analysis. It would not be done very cheaply, certainly not for $3000.00, which is what Hazen and Sawyer has indicated they could do. They monitor this for Burlington, so they can simply take the Village of Alamance system and add it on to theirs. They could do the monitoring for approximately $3000.00. Mr. Reich restated that he is bringing the information to the Board. It is up to the Board as to what they would like to do with the information. Mayor Bundren then asked the Board what they would like to do. Alderman Clemmons said he would like to give it some thought. He said it sounds like a good thing, but it is a $3000.00 estimate. Alderman Crouse pointed out the estimate said it would not exceed $3000.00, this could be less. Alderman Crouse said he agreed with Alderman Clemmons, he didn’t wish to jump prematurely on this. Alderman Jones asked who did the original model, asking if it couldn’t be updated. Mark Reich said that Withers and Ravenel did the original hydraulic study. Mark Reich said information would need to be obtained from Withers and Ravenel, but that they probably made a fair number of assumptions in order to do the model they did. He consulted with others plan Withers and Ravenel put together and he believes they made some assumptions in order to reach their conclusions.

Mark Reich said he thought it would be better to use Hazen and Sawyer. He said they do an excellent job in water quality monitoring. Alderman Clemmons asked about other purchasers, such as Haw River. Mr. Reich said that Elon uses Hazen and Sawyer. He said he thinks Mebane also uses Hazen and Sawyer, along with Graham. Alderman Clemmons asked about the ones who purchase water from Burlington. Mr. Reich said he could try to get more information.

Alderman Clemmons said he would like to know what the benefit was to these other places. Alderman Jones said he was thinking the first time this was done, it was “piggybacked” on Burlington. He remembered that it would be less expensive for Alamance to be added on to the Burlington study. Alderman Jones asked if Rivers and Ravenel did the Burlington study originally. Mr. Reich said that, to his knowledge, Rivers and Ravenel had never done the Burlington study. The Mayor asked if Hazen and Sawyer had always done the Burlington study. Mr. Reich said that Hazen and Sawyer bought out the company that used to do the Hydraulic study for Burlington. This goes back to 1980, when Mark Reich first started working.

Mr. Allred said that he saw a map, at the chloramine training in Burlington. He said that Hazen and Sawyer were at the meeting. They have it on a model for each system. They said it would take so many hours to get in the Village of Alamance system, so many hours for another system. They projected two hours to get into the Alamance system, and it took 2 days. Alderman Jones said he was thinking there was already a hydraulic model for the whole Alamance distribution system, and when the extra water line was added, all that was needed was to update it. He asked if this was updating it, or if this is a whole new study. Mr. Reich said that this would be an addition to Burlington’s system, but that it would be new. Alderman Jones said that he was still not sure he sees the benefit of using Hazen and Sawyer if there are two sources. Mr. Reich said he was very leery of using them because of some of the assumptions they may have made; the data may not be as good, nor the results, as you would have with Hazen and Sawyer. Alderman Jones asked if Mark was referring to assumptions about the second connection. Mr. Reich responded that if you wanted to know how long the water quality was taking, there are some differences. Alderman Jones asked if Mark Reich thought the model wasn’t as good as Hazen and Sawyer. Mayor Bundren commented this was the point, exactly. The consensus was that more information was needed, before moving forward on this.

Other Business

Peggy May addressed the Community Pride Award. She said that she has heard a lot of comments about it. Alderman Crouse asked if the comments were good or bad. Mrs. May replied that the comments were not good. Mayor Bundren asked what was wrong. Mrs. May said a lot of people don’t understand why a Community Pride Award is given, thinking it is just for the beauty of the house and yard. She told Clerk York he should put a description in the newsletter regarding what it takes for the Community Pride Award. Mrs. May referred to the brick house up from Naydine Sharpe’s house, saying no one could understand how that property received the Community Pride Award. Mayor Bundren commented that they won because they had cleaned the whole property up. Mrs. May said many people think the Award involves pretty flowers and pretty trees. She thinks something should be put in the newsletter about the Community Pride Award, or that the Award should be discontinued. Mayor Pro Tem Sharpe said she thought the award should be discontinued. She said it has served its purpose for a long time; but there are problems with finding someone to give it to. Then, people don’t want it. Mayor Pro Tem Sharpe stated that she thought discontinuing the Community Pride Award should be considered. Mayor Bundren suggested not doing the Award on a monthly basis, but still having the Award in place, as special situations arise. For instance, if someone redoes a complete property, the Award could be given. She said this was up to the Board. Mayor Pro Tem Sharpe said it was a problem figuring out whom to give the Award to. Mrs. May said some people didn’t want the Community Pride Award sign in their yards; they would take the sign down. Mayor Bundren asked the Board members to think about this; it will be discussed at the next Board meeting. Clerk York said there would need to be standards for the Community Pride Award, if something was put in the newsletter. He said Mr. Cartassi did the Award when Clerk York first began working at the Village of Alamance. Mayor Bundren said there were written guidelines at one point. She asked Clerk York to review meeting minutes regarding this. Alderman Tichy suggested that Mr. Cartassi may still have the guidelines. Mayor Pro Tem Sharpe said that Mrs. Ida Stephens and Mr. Gary Rutledge were the first ones to do the Community Pride Award, and then Mr. Cartassi started helping them. Mayor Bundren asked Clerk York to contact Mrs. Stephens about the guidelines.

Mayor Pro Tem Sharpe asked that a notice be put in the next water bill about making payments electronically. She said she had heard someone say the water bill is the only bill they couldn’t pay electronically. Clerk York said this could give people the impression that there is some place on the Village website for payment. Mayor Pro Tem Sharpe asked that Clerk York explain that payments can be made by electronic checks from the bank. These checks are then mailed to the Town Hall. Mayor Bundren noted people should realize they cannot pay with debit cards. Alderman Jones asked if checks or cash were the only means of payment. Clerk York affirmed that this is correct. There was some discussion about online banking, and making sure people realized they did not have to come to the Town Hall to make their payments. Mayor Bundren clarified that the Village Town Hall does not take electronic transfers but will accept electronic payments via the bank. Alderman Jones said it was not an electronic payment, it is still a check. Mayor Bundren said the payment was not automatically transferred to the Village; it had to be done by check. She asked Clerk York to call the bank and ask them about this. Alderman Clemmons said the confusion for some people is that they might wait until the day before it is due, thinking that an electronic payment will be immediately made and that is not the case. Clerk York said it can take 7-10 days before he receives some of the electronic checks. Mayor Bundren suggested that Clerk York state that people with questions about electronic payments could contact him for information.

Alderman Clemmons expressed his thanks to Michael Walser and Mark Reich for the CDBG. He said this helped out a lot of people in the Village and that it worked well. He said some people may have a problem with the Village using stimulus funds for a project, but it was there to use to benefit people and it worked. Alderman Crouse stated that the project turned out good, too.

Mayor Bundren asked if there would be another Board meeting before Plaid Day. Clerk York said there would not be another meeting of the Board before Plaid Day. Mayor Pro Tem Sharpe suggested everyone should be urged to come out and help at Plaid Day. Alderman Tichy suggested an informal meeting a couple of days before Plaid Day, so the Board could know what needed to be done.

Peggy May raised the question about having information in the newsletter, before the next election, about Davis Gregory being a write-in candidate. Clerk York said this would be using the Town resources to advocate in an election. He said this would be considered campaign advertisement by the Town. Mayor Bundren suggested that this be “talked up” to let people know.

Mayor Bundren congratulated Charles Bateman on being Interim Attorney for the City of Burlington.

Public Comment

Alderman Crouse announced that Triangle Grading and Paving has downsized. He asked if anybody knows of anyone who is hiring, to please give him a call. He said his whole department received the notice of the downsizing.

Clerk York mentioned the assessments. The Board had mentioned before about going to Small Claims Court for Mr. Saunders. Clerk York said he misspoke, looking at the wrong number. He had said Mr. Saunders owed $3912. That was actually the principal. The total, with interest, is $5710.60 which falls outside the parameters of the Small Claims Court. Clerk York said the Village could still sue, but could not sue in Small Claims Court, unless the Board decided to only sue for $5000.00. He wanted to point this out, since this had been requested by the Board. The consensus of the Board was to reduce the amount to $5000.00.

Clerk York announced that there is a court date set for Ms. Moon. The court date is September 1, 2011; this will be arbitration. Mayor Bundren asked Clerk York to report on the outcome at the next meeting.

Alderman Crouse moved to adjourn. Alderman Clemmons seconded. The motion to adjourn passed unanimously.