Lake Santeetlah – An ongoing, front-entrance project took a step forward, with the approval of a contract with Aldridge Brothers Construction to build the structure.
The contract was approved after Town of Lake Santeetlah Councilman Keith Predmore presented it at the Nov. 18 meeting and is not to exceed $72,000. The town has collected approximately $30,000 in contributions toward the project.
The contract approved will not include the electric vehicle charging station previously discussed, nor
the planned front-entrance landscaping. The contract also includes a COVID-19 protocol, especially in regard to the increased lead times on building materials.
However, town homeowner Jack Gross expressed concerns about the legality of the agreement, citing N.C. G.S. 143-128, which states that all contracts were required to be bid out.
However, board attorney Brian Gulden said it only applied to public contracts greater than or equal to $500,000, or public projects greater than or equal to $90,000.
“This is not the kind of project that falls under those limitations,” Gulden said.
The recent town election in which write-in candidates received more votes than all members of the council – sans council member Diana Simon – also came up, with council member Roger Carlton asking the board if they wanted to take an official position on the election.
However, Gulden advised against it, saying that he did not believe it was the proper venue.
“I would err on the side of not doing this,” Gulden said.
Lake Santeetlah resident Tina Emerson also expressed concerns about the election and the reaction from some members of the council, going as far as asking the council to vote to censure Carlton and Predmore.
She claimed that some in the community had insulted her, using the term “QAnon,” among others in regards to the election.
“There should be apologies issued,” Emerson said.
Emerson and Carlton briefly clashed, prior to Gulden stepping in and urging a stop.
“This is not the forum for this back-and-forth debate,” Gulden said.