27 Nov November 27th, 2017 Minutes

THE FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY SIXTH SESSION OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMAN

VILLAGE OF ALAMANCE
November 27, 2017 – 7:00 PM

Present: Mayor Tichy, Mayor Pro Tem Sharpe, Alderman Andrews, Alderman Tichy, Alderman Crouse, Alderman Isley, and Clerk York.

Alderman Crouse gave the invocation.

Alderman Tichy moved to approve the October 23, 2017 meeting minutes. Alderman Crouse seconded the motion. The motion passed 6-0.

A motion was made by Alderman Andrews to go into a public hearing to consider the Annexation of 4522 Ashe Dr. seconded by Alderman Crouse. Clerk York explained that Mr. and Mrs. Smith of 4522 Ashe Dr. have asked to be annexed into the Village and completed all necessary documentation for the process. There were no questions or comments regarding the annexation. A motion was made by Alderman Tichy to close the public hearing, seconded by Alderman Crouse. Motion carries 6-0

A motion was made by Alderman Tichy seconded by Alderman Crouse to accept the voluntary annexation of 4522 Ashe Dr. into the Village, motion passed 6-0.

OLD BUSINESS

Village Website

Clerk York stated that he had prepared a preliminary RFP which was shared with Alderman Tichy. Alderman Tichy stated that there would be access on the new town website to meeting minutes, town ordinances, all public documents, town history, information for new residents, an area for FAQ’s and a place to take online payments. Clerk York stated he would email the RFP to all Board members for review.

Engineer Report

Mr. Reich informed the Board that the sidewalk project had begun and the road work would begin in the spring.

Mr. Reich stated that the general assembly session in 2017, passed a law that regulates the fees that municipalities charge developers. This new law most specifically deals with impact fees. Before July 1st of 2018 municipalities will have to go through the process outlined in the new law to to justify the fees they charge. It would not affect the cost items such as setting water meters. It is geared toward capital improvement projects. Mr. Reich stated he would gather more information on this and share it with Clerk York. If the Board decides to go through this new process it may be beneficial to have Clerk York look at the money collected from impact fees`- over the last few years and see if it’s worth the expense to do it.

Mr. Reich stated that the Village may want to review assessments when going over the budget to make sure the water and sewer costs are accurate to today’s cost.

Food Trucks and Restaurants as a Special Use

Clerk York stated that currently, food trucks are not listed in the schedule of permitted uses in the zoning ordinance. An amendment to the scheduled permitted uses would need to be established to make it legal to operate a food truck in the Village. If it is made a permitted use, then any food truck could operate as long as they obtained a permit from the Town Clerk. permit. If it is a special use, then every time someone wanted to operate one they would need to get approval from the Board of Alderman. There are several considerations in amending the zoning ordinance for these types of things such as fees, time limitations, location for use. Clerk York will continue to work towards an amendment for the Board to consider.

ORC Report

Mr. Allred stated that all the pump and collection systems were working well. Jerry Warren came out in November to clean some of the sewer lines. The Village is required clean at least 10% of our sewer lines each year. The THM and bacterial testing both passed with no problems. There was extra flushing done before those tests were taken, which cost an extra $900.00.

NEW BUSINESS

Audit and Financial Statements

Becky Loy; Cobb, Ezekiel, Loy
Mrs. Loy stated that the Town was receiving an unmodified opinion. This means there were no issues discovered to give cause to believe that the system used to accumulate data did not produce accurate information. Total General Fund cash is almost 1.7 million, an increase from last year of almost $300,00.00. Mrs. Loy next spoke about Fund Balance. The unassigned amount is $1,180,974.00. This is a decrease from last year because the Board has opted to earmark $504,000.00 for Capital Improvements. The assigned amount can be changed any time by the board. The total cash assets come to just under 2 million dollars. The original budget for the General Fund was $466,000.00. The Village took in $547,000.00, which means that the Village took in $81,000.00 more than it budgeted. The expenditures were budgeted at $466,000.00. Only $245,000.00 was spent from the general fund. There was an excess in the fund balance of $307,000.00.

The water and sewer fund, on page 18, should be a break-even fund, meaning the revenues should cover the expenditures. There was a negative $43,000.00 in the operating balance, because more was spent on expenditures than was brought in in cash. Clerk York stated that the loss was due to the implementing of new automatic read meters. The meters cost approximately $113,000. Without this project, the water fund would have had a surplus of about $70,000.

There are $4.5 million in assets. There is about $166,000.00 in debt which is decreasing. There is $262,000.00 in unrestricted net assets. This represents an increase over last year. There was a revenue increase of $31,000.00 the largest part of that coming from an increase in charges of $10,000.00 and an increase of impact fees of $15,000.00. For expenditures, the largest increase came from the $113,000.00 on the new automated meters. Operating income is $189,000.00 and if you take out the depreciation it puts you at almost a break-even place. There was a loss of $67,000.00 for the year, but considering you spent $113,000.00 on meters the Village is doing well. Mrs. Loy wanted to go back over the general fund with the Board. The value of all property in the Village is 100.4million, up by 6% from last year. Tax Revenue has gone up by $14,000.00. Each penny on the tax rate generates about $10,000.00. The other taxes and licenses, local option sales tax, there was an increase of $11,000.00 for a total of $248,000.00. The franchise tax increased from $29,000 to $44,000. Powell bill money increased from $14,000 to $20,000 Mrs. Loy stated the Village was seeing good growth. Mrs. Loy stated that the audit is done by standard governmental auditing procedures. They meet all compliance training.

Bulk Pickup

Clerk York reviewed the proposal from Christopher Howell, who has been collecting yard waste as a sub-contractor with waste industries. If the Village would like to consider bulk pick up the board would need to sign a separate contract with Mr. Howell. He has submitted a proposal to the Board for consideration. He would be willing to pick up one Saturday every other month or as the Board would see fit. He would remove any large items for a charge of $105.00 plus the $42.00 fee to dump, or whatever the current charge may be. He is willing to pick up almost any items set out, except perhaps electronics. Clerk York stated that Mr. Howell could provide a certificate of insurance for the Board. He also said that Mr. Howell has been efficient and has maintained good communication with him regarding any issues he’s had with collecting waste. Clerk York asked the Board if they would be willing to draw up a contract with Mr. Howell for bulk waste pick up based on his submitted proposal. The board agreed to proceed with that.

Local Water Supply Plan

Clerk York stated that he had updated the water supply plan for the Board to review. Each year information about water usage, system updates or improvements are updated and every five years the Board is asked to approve this information.

Termite Warranty

Clerk York stated that the annual moisture check was done earlier this year along with a termite treatment, which was the first in five years. The termite treatment is warrantied for a year. Each year they will come back for a flat fee of $315.00 to do the termite inspection along with the moisture check. Clerk York asked the Board to consider renewing this contract. Alderman Andrews made a motion to approve the contract, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Sharpe. Motion passed 6-0

NC Chamber- Economic Development Fund

Clerk York stated that the Alamance Chamber’s economic development fund, which the Board has contributed to in the past, was inadvertently left off the budget last year. It costs $1 per resident to contribute, or $1002.00 for the Village. It will be included in next year’s budget. A motion was made by Alderman Tichy, seconded by Alderman Isley to approve the money for the Chamber economic development fund. Motion passed 6-0

Finance Report

Clerk York stated that the General fund was at approx 1.3 million. The Water and sewer fund was approx $288,000.00. The syphon project fund still has approx $16,736.00 which Clerk York intends to close out and put those funds back into the General Fund. Powell Bill funds available are approx $226,000.00 with a cash reserve for projects of $504,000.00. Clerk York stated that the Village has $2,351,171.10 altogether. The one CD for $110,000.00 will be renewed on Thursday unless there is a decision to do something different with it. Clerk York stated he would see if there is another place that would offer a better interest rate. The Village takes in approx $22,000.00 in sales tax each month. The utility franchise tax taken in once a quarter is $10,000 or $11,000. There is a solid waste disposal tax collected that averages about $200.00 a quarter The beer and wine tax is approx $5500.00 once a year, paid in May.

OTHER BUSINESS

Alderman Tichy asked if there was any new information for lighting in Heritage Glen. Clerk York stated that he had finally gotten in touch with someone from D.R. Horton and they were going to draw up a contract for the Village.

Motion made to adjourn by Alderman Crouse, seconded by Alderman Tichy. Motion passed 6-0

Public Comment