Tempers flare at town meeting

Monday night’s town meeting was one of the most contentious ones this year. Within the first three minutes Commissioner Alfred Cooke took the board to task for a motion credited to him regarding the town’s Website at last month’s meeting. 

Cooke contends he did not make the motion for the town to develop its own web site. This led to him objecting to the approval of last month’s minutes for the September meeting. After a few comments the mayor stated that the town clerk would check the tapes to verify the accuracy of the minutes.

Cooke wanted the tapes checked immediately, during the meeting, the Mayor said that was not possible, but they would be checked.

The next outburst came minutes later when Commissioner Betty Willis made a correction on a bill submitted to the town for work done for the water department.

Cooke questioned why Waste Water Treatment Plant Superintendent Keith Hamm, was not at the meeting, why he sometimes signed off on bills and other times did not and whether or not he did any oversight on work that was being done for the town.

Willis replied that Hamm was not required to be at the meeting and when he did come he did so on his own time. She also told Cooke that she, not Hamm, was the one who signed off on the bills from his department. As far as overseeing work done, she replied that it was not part of Hamms’ duties. 

This led to the first argument of the evening when during the discussion Cooke accused Willis of calling off a backhoe driver for the cemetery. She replied that she has never done so and questioned where he got the idea. She told Cooke, “You need to bite your tongue.”

Cooke replied that he was not going to bite his tongue to which Willis said he might want to go to court. After a few more words the mayor stepped in to stop the verbal exchange. 

Cooke then went after the mayor and was adamant that his freedom of speech guarantee in the Constitution was being ignored. The mayor told Cooke that his comments had to pertain to a motion and if they did not that he was out of order. 

The meeting calmed down during the citizens’ concerns portion when Ed Shell of Roanoke Avenue questioned why the town did not notify him when they changed the water bills. He also asked, in an apologetic way, what he could do about the problem of dogs in the neighborhood running wild and messing up his yard. He was told to call the police department and they would take care of it. 

He congratulated the board on the sidewalk improvements on Halifax Street. The sidewalk issue would come up again during the citizens’ portion of the meeting, but these additional comments questioned why the sidewalks did not continue through driveways. At that point Willis informed the meeting that the sidewalks were never intended to continue through the driveways and that was not part of the contract.

Shell also addressed the need to keep yards cut back and making the towns’ yards look better. He also stated, “I think this town needs to be proud of what it’s got.” 

He commented that with the influx of people from the opening of Window Fashion Resources some of the new employees might want to buy a home in town and it makes a house more saleable if the yards look good. He stated that he would hope that people would have an attitude that they can make their yards look better. 

Shell also praised several of those who worked hard to make their yards and others 

look good.  He specifically mentioned the man who cut grass in several areas of the town. It was later learned that he was referring to Jesse Lett, who has been cutting grass with no reimbursement for years.

When it was Sylvia Alston’s turn for comments she asked if it was an oversight that last month’s minutes did not include Commissioner Terry Newsom’s request that Town Attorney Gilbert Chichester look into the nuisance vehicle ordinance. It was a request, not a motion. The mayor agreed with Alston that the discussion should have been mentioned in the minutes.

“As a matter of integrity and honesty, forthrightness, and up front doing things above board,” Alston stated she wanted to provide the town board a timeline of events for the town Website and the board’s vote to rescind its approval.

After proceeding through the time line the mayor informed Alston that the issue had already been settled.  She replied, “No it has not been settled.” She then went on to explain that the issue of perception for her and Diana Parham was one of integrity. She said that it was mean spirited to indicate that citizens of the town were doing something they were not supposed to be doing. 

When Willis interjected that, “our decision is not based on being mean spirited or selfish or anything else, Sylvia,” Alston interrupted that she was Dr. Alston.

Willis went on to explain what UNC School of Government spokesperson Dr. Shannon Howie Schelin had related to her regarding the problems with a citizen doing a Website. 

The heated discussion continued for several more minutes. Alston said she wanted it to go on record that she and Diana did everything up front and that they did nothing underhanded.

In the end Alston told the board that she would be back with more issues the town should consider. 

In other business Betty Willis was designated as a delegate for 2007 Annual League of Municipalities Conference to be held in Fayetteville this year.

The town approved a motion to provide the necessary $14,334 matching funds required for the CDBG Infrastructure Grant for the East end of Littleton.

A scheduled report from town attorney Gilbert Chichester on a change in the nuisance ordinance and the condemned house on Mosby Avenue was not given because Chichester was unable to make the meeting.

The mayor announced that the town population for 2006 had dropped to 673 people. The previous population figure was 692. These figures are used when the state distributes funds to the town according to population.

The board approved a request from Oak Grove Baptist Church for the 2008 Dr. Martin Luther King Parade. The parade will be held on Jan. 21 at 10 a.m.

The board approved a request from the Littleton Beautification Committee for funds to pay for upgrading the electrical outlets needed for the Christmas decorations. Progress Energy has advised the committee that it will allow the wiring to be used this year, but it must be upgraded before the 2008 holiday use. 

The upgrading will cost $1,737.52. The committee plans to seek some funding from the Littleton Lions Club that would lower the amount of money the town would need to pay.

The meeting was then adjourned.