June 2020 - Town Council Meeting Minutes

The Gilbert Town Council met on Monday, June 8, 2020, with Mayor Donnie Cason and Councilmembers Monti Caughman, Nancy Harmon, John Reeder, and Mark Sanders present.  Guests present were County Councilman Larry Brigham, Mr. Mike London, Ms. Jennifer Seawright, and Zoning Administrator Fred Taylor.  

Mayor Cason welcomed everyone, Councilman Sanders led in prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.

COMMUNITY INPUT:   Councilman Brigham stated he wanted to talk about through trucks on Hampton and Broad Streets.  He stated Ms. Seawright had called about truck traffic through Summit and Gilbert.  He understood that Gilbert and Summit had ordinances regarding no through truck traffic.  He stated he will meet with SCDOT and up as far as Vulcan to assist in this issue.  Ms. Seawright stated an average of 8 to 10 go past her house every day.  He is asking for assistance from the towns and he is willing to go as far as he needs to for this to be addressed.

Councilman Brigham also discussed COVID19 and said he is sent updates on a daily basis.  There are 879 cases in Lexington County now.

Councilman Brigham also stated the public safety complex is still moving forward.  They are waiting for the water connection now and you have probably noticed the blue water pipe stacked up near Dixieland Trail so they are working on this.

Councilman Brigham also stated that Peach Festival Road resurfacing has finally started.  Resurfacing will be done in three phases and with Peach Festival Road being the first.  The next phase will Peach Festival Road/Main Street to Two Notch Road and the final stage will be down Two Notch Road.  

Councilman Brigham said Sheriff Koon is meeting with Summit to discuss vandalism in the area.  They are looking for speeders as well.  Sheriff Koon is asking for four additional Deputies for this area.  

Councilman Brigham also reported County Council is working on an ordinance regarding the number of houses allowed per acre.  There must be 25 feet frontage and 10 feet for each house from property line for each (20) total between houses.  In a residential area with 200 houses there must be two entrances.

Councilman Brigham also stated they are looking at the cat program for the area and trying to make this more user friendly.  Both he and Ms. Seawright left the meeting and both were thanked for their attendance.

Mr. London thanked Council for working with them on the Peach Festival Road property and they hope to have this completely gone soon.    

MINUTES:  Councilman Sanders made a motion to approve the May minutes as distributed.  Councilmember Harmon seconded the motion and it carried. 

FINANCIAL REPORT:  The financial report was given by Mrs. Derrick.  She reported an accounts balance of $479,582.32.  

UPDATES:

ROADS:  Mayor Cason stated they are resurfacing Peach Festival as we heard from Councilman Brigham.  

UTILITIES:    Nothing to report.      

BEAUTIFICATION:  Nothing to report.    

MAINTENANCE:  Mayor Cason stated he and Councilman Sanders will be doing Mr. Taylor’s review soon.  Mayor Cason is still working on getting the ATVs put on our insurance for road use.   

SPECIAL EVENTS:  Mayor Cason reminded everyone the Peach Festival has been cancelled. 

ZONING AND PLANNING:  Mayor Cason stated Chairman McGinty was out of town but they will be meeting June 11th as they had such a productive meeting recently.          

RESIDENT DEPUTY:  Deputy Gwyn was not present; therefore, no report.     

DEPOT:  Nothing to report.

Councilman Sanders stated someone had stopped at his church to say they are interested in the concrete business.  He asked if anyone had a way to contact the owner and no one did.  He stated the building is being stripped.  It was mentioned that this is a vacant property that needs attention as well as the property beside First Baptist Church cemetery.  

OLD BUSINESS:

OLD BUILDING ON MAIN STREET:   Mayor Cason stated the contractor he had talked with about the roof on the shell building has an engineer he wants to look at the building to be sure he feels the walls can hold the roof.  Councilmember Caughman stated the wall for the “bank building” was not an outside wall before and is now and this may be a real issue.  Mayor Cason said he has also talked with another contractor.  It is felt we really need to do something on this.  There are several people who are interested in renting this if the town decides to rent it.  Mr. Taylor stated he and Councilmember Harmon are still interested in working on this committee.  

BUDGET 2020-2021 – FINAL READING:   It was decided to table this until after the Executive Session to discuss salaries.  

NEW BUSINESS:  None.

OTHER BUSINESS:  

CORRESPONDENCE:  Mayor Cason stated he received an email from Dominion that our franchise check will be coming before June 30th but they will not be able to hand deliver this.  We received thank you notes from the Salon for the rent being waived for the months of April and May.  He also had a request from Ms. Williams asking if the town would be interested in selling her the property.  No decision was reached. 

Councilman Sanders made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss salaries.  Councilmember Caughman seconded the motion.

After returning from Executive Session, Councilman Sanders made a motion to raise the following salaries:  Mr. Harold Taylor - $1,000 year; Mr. Paul Derrick - $.75 per hour; and Mrs. Derrick - $275 year.  Councilman Reeder seconded the motion and it carried.  Councilman Sanders made a motion to give final reading approval for the 2020-21 budget.  Councilman Reeder seconded the motion and it carried.  Mrs. Derrick will distribute a final budget once the salary figures are included.    

Councilmember Harmon stated she received quite a few favorable comments about the banner and lots of pictures were taken there.  She recommended a letter of appreciation be sent to the gentlemen at Dominion for their hanging this.  They will take it down around the first of July.  She also was asked if we will do this in years to come as well. She stated the banner will be delivered to her home when it is taken down.  

There being no further business, Councilmember Harmon motioned to adjourn. 

Respectfully submitted,

JoAnn Derrick, Clerk/Treasurer