STOKESDALE town council
July 14 / MEETING HIGHLIGHTS as reported by PATTI STOKES Mayor Mike Crawford called the monthly meeting to order at 7 p.m. and led with the Pledge of Allegiance; Councilman Tim Jones gave the opening prayer, with Mayor Pro Tem Derek Foy, council members Jim Rigsbee and Jimmy Landreth, the town attorney, clerk, finance officer, planner and about 20 citizens also in attendance. Foy introduced Robbie Wagoner, who was in the audience, as the new full-time deputy clerk and said he would begin employment with the town Monday, July 18. Wagoner, who was born and raised in Germanton, North Carolina, brings a “good basis of municipal experience” with much potential to grow, Foy said. The council hopes Wagoner will advance to the town clerk’s position when Dale Martin retires next year.
The meeting agenda was approved after adding two agenda items requested by Jones.
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(in three separate votes) to adopt minutes from the May 5 budget workshop, May 12 regular council meeting and June 28 open and closed session meetings.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Chief Todd Gauldin reported Stokesdale Fire Department responded to 108 calls in June; 63 were medical-related, 14 were fire-related and 31 were “other.” On a safety note, Gauldin urged residents to close their bedroom doors at night, saying 50% of fire-related deaths in homes occur between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., and temperatures from fires can go from 1,000 to 100 degrees
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The Northwest Observer
when a door is closed. Gauldin also noted that fires in homes grow seven times faster now than in previous years due to modern fabrics and building materials.
“Forty years ago, you had 17 minutes to escape a home fire; today, that’s down to three minutes,” Gauldin said. The fire department will hold its annual meeting Tuesday, July 26, 7:30 p.m. at the station in downtown Stokesdale. More info: www.stokesdalefire.com. In response to a Friends of Stokesdale (FOS) member’s request last month for a public correction, Gauldin said after researching meeting notes he confirmed it was not someone speaking as a FOS representative who made a presentation about placing a town clock on the department’s front lawn, rather someone speaking as an individual.
ADMINISTRATIVE
Dale Martin reported that eight water meters were sold in June, 640 water customers were invoiced, there were 68 requests for 811 service (“call before you dig”), 50 new water meters placed on hold for developers and the annual Consumer Confidence Report was submitted. Martin also noted that N.C. demography information was recently released (according to the state’s Office of Budget and Management, Stokesdale’s estimated population based on the July 1, 2020 certified census figures – the latest available – is 5,935). Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to end the State of Emergency issued during the pandemic, effective Aug. 15, which may mean changes to remote meeting participation. The Town of Kernersville will deliver a large vault it is donating to Stokesdale on Sept. 9; the vault will be used for record storage. Foy said GFL’s transition to being the town’s waste and recycling service provider as of July 1 has gone smoothly, but Republic’s “asset retrieval” – i.e., collecting •the Totally localwaste since company’s and1996 recycling carts
– has not gone as smoothly. Republic requested customers leave their carts out on June 29 and hoped to retrieve 98 to 100% of them that day. “That process has taken nearly two weeks,” Foy said, and it is still not complete. After communicating with Republic’s regional general manager, Foy said it appeared the company was “under-sourced.” “It’s been frustrating,” he said. “This has not gone smoothly. But, we are looking forward to a new beginning with GFL.” Regarding the abandoned Coke machine at the concession stand in the park, which has been discussed at several council meetings, Jones said he carried out council’s orders last month and the machine is now unplugged and covered, although no one from the Coca-Cola company has retrieved it.
FINANCIALS
Finance officer Kim Thacker presented monthly finance reports for the general fund, which has $3.28 million in total assets, and the water enterprise account, which has $1.87 million in total assets. Actual income in the general fund for the fiscal year ended June 30 is $95,907 lower than projected for the fiscal year, but that income does not include a fourth quarter receipt of utility franchise taxes expected to arrive within the next several weeks.
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for Thacker to compile a list of four accounting firms eligible to conduct the town’s annual audit.
CITIZEN COMMENTS Summerfield resident Cheri Pikett said she has read seven books which do not belong in elementary and middle school libraries. The books “are not well-written, but similar,” she said, noting that three books in Northwest Middle School’s library describe the main character as a 10- to 12-year-old child with a big dilemma. “The plot is the child’s unhappiness or confusion; the parents are not consulted, and they wouldn’t know what to do anyway,” Pikett said. “The child looks for answers with friends at school or adults who the author has added are a part of the LGBTQ community.
