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Town board had busy night |
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| By Maurice Emery Editor Emeritus |
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| The Littleton Town Board had a very busy meeting last week. One of the surprises of the meeting was the revelation that Chief Mike Suggs had to use his taser gun on a suspect that told the chief to shoot him; this is what is known as suicide by cop (See related story, New taser helps avoid shooting.) As a result of this action the town board approved the purchase of three additional taser guns for the police department. Commissioner Terry Newsom thanked the chief for using good judgment and doing an excellent job. Newsom noted that had the chief shot the suspect with his gun it could have led to many problems for the town including loss of the chief’s services while the state investigated the shooting and possible bad publicity. When the mayor continued the meeting after an executive session he announced that the board discussed hiring Beasley Consulting Engineers to prepare plans and designs for converting the old Owen Electrical building into a new town hall. A motion was made and passed to hire Beasley with a bid not to exceed $5,000. The board approved the amended budget for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. The board approved a water shortage response ordinance as required by the state of North Carolina. After comments from a citizen the board agreed to look into correcting a situation where the sidewalks on Harvey Street are broken up and raised making it difficult to navigate. If the problem is corrected local citizens feel it would be easier to keep up and make the street nicer. The board accepted a Century 21/CDBG Infrastructure Grant progress report. It was also announced that there will be two public hearings on July 17 starting at 6 p.m. at the town hall. The hearing will address a storm water grant to correct overflow and a grant for getting water in the east end area of town. Commissioner Billy Matthews reported that after a request from a town citizen the town will put up two children at play signs on College Street. Commissioner Betty Willis reported that they had a bid on replacing the gutter on the backside of the town hall building. After announcing a bid of $495.00 from a local contractor the town agreed to table the issue until other bids could be received. By a unanimous vote the board agreed to increase the present mileage allowance from 30 cents to 40 cents. The IRS presently allows 48.5 cents per mile. The mayor announced a rezoning public hearing for 7 p.m. before the August meeting. The rezoning request is to build a multi-family home on Justice Branch road. This is outside of the town limits, but the town has authority for one mile outside of the town. After a statement from a citizen that an ambulance driver had trouble finding a street because of the condition of the signs, Matthews confirmed that the town is looking into ways to correct the street signs. They do not want to go to standard green signs, so other alternatives are being considered. At the end of the meeting, the mayor asked for a moment of silence for Jesse Pegram and Roger Gupton. They both passed away recently. Both of them served as town commissioners. After the moment of silence the meeting was then adjourned.
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| Jul 11, 2007 | ||
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