In a joint meeting of the Henderson City Council and the Vance County Board of Commissioners, the main topic of discussion was the need for discussion between the city and the county.
The meeting took place in the Silo Restaurant on Graham Avenue in Henderson, North Carolina. No members of the public were in attendance. Participants included all seven members of the county commission, and all members of the Henderson City Council except for Bernard Alston. The city and county clerks were also in attendance, along with County Manager Jerry Ayscue, City Manager Ray Griffin, and County Attorney Jonathan Care.
The agenda for the meeting, which was received by Home in Henderson at the close of business on Tuesday, included only one business item, a presentation by Julia Reid of the Kerr-Tar Council of Governments on a neighborhood stabilization program grant.
After hearing that presentation, comments from elected officials were solicited. Every elected member who spoke talked in glowing terms of the opportunity for city and county officials to come together to discuss issues. Henderson Mayor Pete O’Geary and Henderson City Council member Mike Inscoe both inveighed for joint meetings such as last night’s to be held quarterly.
Henderson council member Lonnie Davis erroneously remarked that the last such meeting had been held four years ago at the Silo Restaurant. He said it was “good to talk about things, not argue about things.” It was later pointed out by County Commissioner Scott Hughes that the last meeting was held about two years ago in the conference room of the Bank of America on Garnett Street.
Hughes also asked for the city’s help in establishing a water system in Vance County. He expressed the hope that the negotiation of the water rate not have any other concerns attached to it.
Griffin called the cooperation between the city and the county a “a model for other communities”.
Henderson council member Mary Emma Evans said that she is concerned about “the spirit of murder” in the city and the county. She told those gathered that she is helping to conduct a funeral “each week”. She asked members of the council and the commission if a committee could be set up to address the issue.
Griffin commented that Monday’s Henderson City Council work session would also be a meeting of the city’s Public Safety Committee, and that Henderson Police Chief Keith Sidwell would be present.