Mayor gets to break two tied votes

Mayor Vivian Jones had not one but two unusual opportunities to break tied votes Tuesday night because Commissioner Brian Pate was absent. The last time she got to vote was in June 2014 when Commissioners Anne Reeve and Margaret Stinnett voted for the $56.4 million budget and Commissioners Greg Harrington and Zachary Donahue voted against. Before that, she recalled, she has only been able to vote three or four times.

The first tied vote was over the participation agreement for the Wake County Transit Plan presented by Planning Director Chip Russell, who is also the current chairman of the transit plan authority board. Stinnett and Commissioner Jim Thompson voted no while Commissioners Greg Harrington and Anne Reeve voted yes. Stinnett continued to ask about the funding benefits to the town as she has in other meetings, and Thompson stated his objection to the use of buses as opposed to commuter rail during the board meeting on May 16. Jones voted yes.

The second tied vote was over the added benefits in the town’s personnel policy which include a floating holiday, six weeks of parental leave and elder care leave, an additional 120 days sick leave at the fifteenth and twenty-fifth year of service and management leave. Stinnett and Thompson voted no; Harrington and Reeve voted yes; and the mayor voted yes.

“Nothing is free and it’s going to cost something” for these benefits, Stinnett said. “If we are having a problem with hiring, it may be the pay scale.

Thompson said the town does not have a problem retaining employees. “We just approved a budget that has performance measures attached to it.” (The budget vote was unanimous.) He said he thought the new benefits should have been discussed at a retreat, not at a budget session and suggested waiting a year on the plan while having conversations with the department heads.

Reeve noted that the planning department recently lost three staff members. “We are truly truly blessed to have wonderful employees and supervisors. I like the idea of additional incentives.”

Harrington recalled his 16 years with the town as police chief. (He retired at the end of 2009.) After praising former town manager Mark Williams for his conservative fiscal policy and noting the good evaluation the board recently gave Padgett, he said, “I wouldn’t vote for it if I didn’t think the town could afford it. I think it’s a great idea and I certainly support it.” Harrington also said the board members complained during last year’s retreat that they were not being paid enough and their pay was later raised. The mayor’s salary is now $10,000 and each commissioner is paid $8,000.

The board also approved Padgett’s proposed $43 million budget for 2017-2018 which keeps the property tax rates (52 cents per $100 valuation) and electric rates the same as the current year. There was no discussion. The budget was outlined in the May 3 issue of the Gazette.

Mark Hatchel with Kimley & Horn Associates gave the board an update on the Holding Park Pool project which will see the project go out for bids in July and have the winning bid awarded in August. The projected cost is $3.1 million with an opening date in May 2018.

(The town will not be entirely bereft of water play opportunities this summer because Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Director Ruben Wall said this week the completion date for the sprayground in the Taylor Street Park is July 15.)

Hatchel said the plan is “multi-generational,” with a six-lane 25-yard lap pool, two water slides with the plunge pool and a children’s pool with water play features. There will be more seating with tables and chairs, a new fence that will be easier to see through, new lighting and outlets for phone charging.

The date for the board’s July work session had been moved to July 11 because of the July 4 holiday, but Padgett said there are no items for the agenda and the board agreed to cancel the meeting.