Mondays night’s City Council meeting was well worth the cost of the admission. Some 30 – 35 people were in attendance for the meeting including a NC State Representative, a district court judge, and a county commissioner. Generally, something in the agenda will alert the peanut gallery to expect a large number of attendees to watch elected officials to do their work. Last night’s meeting agenda excluded awarding of any special recognition, retirement announcement, or water rate increase, all the sorts of items that draw the public to government meetings. No one signed up to make a public comment on agenda items so the reason for such an august gathering of citizens needed to await the public comment period on non-agenda items.
Old Business
Mr. John H. Zollicoffer, former city attorney, informed the council that Oxford and Henderson have settled their legal dispute over the sale of drinking water. Four years ago Henderson agreed to sell drinking water to Granville County under an agreement called Utility Sales Agreement. At the time Granville County intended to re-sell the water to future tenants of the Triangle North Industrial Park. A couple years later Oxford claims the agreement between Henderson and Granville County is a breach of the Kerr Lake Regional Water System’s 4th Amendment. In fewer words than Mr. Zollicoffer used, Oxford proved they had the right to sell the water that Granville County wanted to sell. Henderson agreed to refund “roughly” $1,853,000 to Granville County in allocation fees paid for reserving two million gallons of water. Additionally, the entities of the Regional Water System, Granville and Warren Counties and the cities of Henderson and Oxford, agreed to move forward by twenty-two years the date they can each sell water within their respective entity’s boundaries. I think this means that Vance County can only buy water from Henderson. Granville County won the opportunity to pay the legal fees of defending the law suit.
New Business
There were six items for consideration by the council under the heading new business. All were approved with limited or no discussion. For those who like to fish the NC Wildlife Resources Commission intends to build a fishing pier at Fox Pond and to stock the pond with catfish. Project will include a fish feeder that will cost the city between $600 and $800 a year to operate. With minimal clarification the council approved ramp and lane closures in conjunction with NCDOT’s planned renovations of I 85 through the city. Council wisely agreed with the Henderson City Council Land Planning Commission to respectfully decline accepting four parcels of land offered for free; the property is not beneficial to the city. The council did approve Resolution 14-60, endorsing the concept of the formation of the Henderson NC Preservation Committee in relation to the Bennett Perry Memorial Museum. Mr. Tommy Roberson is leading the charge to convert the Bennett Perry home to a museum and he is in need for willing volunteers.
Public Comment Non-agenda Items
Ms. Sara Baskerville had signed-up to speak on non-agenda items. Ms. Baskerville said she and her family live outside of the city proper. She added that she taught school in Vance County for 30 years. Then Ms. Baskerville started her presentation saying she wants to speak about an article printed in the paper. Mayor O’Geary cut her off warning Ms. Baskerville that she and the council cannot discuss personnel matters in open session. Ms. Baskerville resumed saying “Ok. I would like you to consider”. The mayor stopped Ms. Baskerville deferring to the city’s attorney. Mr. D. Rix Edwards, the city’s new attorney, said state statues prohibit discussing personnel matters in an open session. Mr. Edwards’ comments only added fuel into the engine of descent. Council member Rainey said after confirming he understood his limits that City Council itself can only hire and fire the city attorney, city manager, and city clerk all other personnel matters are the purview of the city manager. Council members Coffey, Daeke, Kearny, Simmons all said basically the same thing that a citizen should be allowed to speak on matters printed in the news paper. When Ms. Baskerville attempted to resume she said, “you can shoot me down if you want.” This triggered the mayor’s quick response saying he “wasn’t shooting anyone down”. Adding the law prohibits discussing personnel matters in open session. NC State Representative Baskerville, son of Ms. Baskerville, stepped to the podium. Note, only Ms. Baskerville had signed up to speak. Mr. Baskerville asked the city attorney what statue prohibits citizens from discussing something that has been printed in the paper. Mr. Edwards did not know and Mr. Baskerville did. Mr. Baskerville quickly schooled Mr. Edwards on the law. Even those in the peanut gallery understood Mr. Edwards appears to lack an understanding of open meeting law. Mayor O’Geary retook control of the meeting saying the council would take an unscheduled recess and when the meeting resumed Ms. Baskerville or another person could speak to the council about the article in the paper. After a twenty minute very open recess the meeting resumed with first Ms. Baskerville speaking followed by five other speakers; so much for the a single spokesman. After the public comment period ended all 30 – 35 people left and the council took no action. Apparently the paper reported the removal of the newly appointed Recreations & Parks manager. The library was closed today and the on-line version of the paper is absent any such news story.
Post Closed Meeting
The council approved a resolution 14-90 to allow the Mayor to sign in place of the City Manager some agreement with Wilco Holdings LLC, MR Williams Inc. and the City of Henderson. Mr. Stuart Litvin, Director of EDC, spoke immediately following the approval of the resolution thanking everyone for their assistance. Mr. Livtin offered no explanation except to say he wanted his board to know first.