Robbinsville – The Town of Robbinsville Board of Aldermen added many important items to Jan. 3’s agenda, including the town’s lift station needing repairs and other town projects.
The self-cleaning bar/filter screen – or lift station – is not operating and needs to be replaced. It was first installed in 2013. The self-cleaning bar removes solids like toilet paper and grease from the waste water. The bar lifts these materials from a screen.
Town maintenance supervisor Chadd Carpenter presented two quotes from Parkson Corporation for $115,650 – for a Parkson technician to rebuild the machine with new parts – or $107,550 for the town to rebuild the machine with new parts and Parkson supervision.
“This is over the budget, by a lot,” said Alderman Debbie Beasley.
Carpenter provided an updated quote to the Star from Parkson on Tuesday, for $134,750. This includes a certified on-site rebuild from Parkson technicians with new parts. The company will also hire a local crane contractor to remove and install the old bar/filter screen.
The town will need to throughly clean, pressure wash and disinfect the unit before Parkson arrives.
“There’s a lot of stuff that gets by going into our two pumps that pump everything to the waste water treatment plant,” said Carpenter. “The longer we wait to get it (lift station) repaired, the more troubles it could cause. Those pumps are $32,000-$35,000 apiece.”
Sewer-plant employees are currently removing the waste manually, using rakes. This has been happening for about 1 ½-2 months, according to Carpenter.
The board voted to hold a special-called meeting to discuss the repairs, which took place after Wednesday’s press deadline.
Drainage project
The board approved a proposal from McGill & Associations for the Ford Street drainage project.
The road is known for flooding caused by rainfall and runoff, exceeding the capacity stormwater system by two inches, according to McGill’s proposal presented to the board.
“Ford Street flooding has been a problem for residents and commuters for many years,” said mayor Shaun Adams in an email. “I would like to attempt to solve this problem by creating a drainage system.”
Adams applied for a grant in 2022 and the town was awarded the Local Assistance for Stormwater Infrastructure Investments Grant – in the amount of $75,000 – from the American Rescue Plan Act for the improvements.
Fence update
Alderwoman Debbie Beasley provided an update on the fence along East Main Street/Veterans Hill.
Franklin Fencing Company almost has all the equipment ready to replace the fence.
The board discussed amending the budget and using funds from the street improvement budget for the work.
Franklin Fence will install a rod-iron fence with solar-powered lights. Town maintenance will remove the existing fence before Franklin Fencing starts construction, which should be completed in an estimated 9-12 day period.
A bid of $63,169 from Franklin Fencing was approved by the board during the Dec. 6 meeting.
“Caleb’s law”
Robbinsville resident Tracey Jones asked for a letter of support from the board of aldermen for “Caleb’s Law,” a felony charge for those who expose children to drugs.
On June 27, 2020, Jones 7-year-old nephew witnessed his father die from a distribution of fentanyl overdose. Jones’ nephew still experiences trauma from the incident.
Jones is trying to get as many support letters so she can send them to senators and any other official to pass the law.
The board of aldermen made a motion to write a support letter. Jones also received the commissioners’ support on Dec. 19, 2023.
Inter-local terms
The aldermen also discussed an inter-local agreement with the Robbinsville Tourism Authority. Many questions were brought up about the issue and confusion ensued during the meeting.
In the past, town employees would perform duties for the tourism authority like setting up for tourism-specific events using town equipment. The town employees were paid by the tourism’s general fund.
It is a muddled situation, since the tourism authority and board of aldermen are separate legal entities – even though town employees have done tourism-related work.
If town employees do work tourism events, an inter-local agreement is needed for it to happen.
“City employees may not perform work for the RTA, which is a separate legal entity from city government, without a formal interlocal agreement between the city and RTA, whereby the RTA pays the city for city employee time,” said Kara Millonzi with the UNC Chapel Hill School of Government, in an email to Adams.
“The same is true with city equipment. It should not be used by the RTA, absent a written agreement and payment by the RTA for the use.”
Town attorney Leo J. Phillips presented what was listed so far for the tourism’s interlocal agreement. Discussion and questions were brought up by the board regarding the agreement. The determination of the agreement was tabled until all concerns are settled.
Alderman Kenneth Hyde asked if the tourism authority had workman’s compensation. If a town employee is injured during a tourism-related job – or if town equipment is used – would it be under the town’s workman’s compensation or the tourism authority’s if they have one?
After the closed session, Hyde made a motion to check with the town’s insurance company to see if the tourism authority is covered under the town’s workman’s comp. If not, see if the authority has a writer on the town’s insurance policy or see if the tourism authority needs a writer.
During the discussion, Beasley made three motions that were approved regarding the issue:
* Put a policy in place that anything to beautify the town is a town function;
* All the equipment that is used to do those functions is under the town’s workman’s comp policy, instead of the authority’s;
* If an event is a town function, the town employees are under the town expenditures or payroll.
An important point for the agreement was to determine what events the Robbinsville Tourism Authority or town are in charge of, which determines part of the future inter-local agreement.
“The (Christmas) tree was provided by the RTA, but they used town employees to perform the actual labor of putting up the tree. The board will need to decide who will pay for the tree in the future, but it appeared that they want to make it a town function now,” said Adams in an email.
The board seemed to agree that tourism-sponsored events were the annual car show, the Cigar Box Guitar Festival and Trunk-or-Treat.
The discussion also noted that the heritage festival is a county event and the tourism authority helps with that event using town employees. Phillips suggested that perhaps an agreement needs to be made with the county for this.
When the agreement is established, a stipulation from the UNC School of Government must be kept in mind.
“A city council member does not have authority to make this decision,” said Millonzi in an email to Adams. “It requires a majority of the board to vote to enter into that agreement.”
New hours
Town hall will now take checks from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., and the office hours will stay the same, closing at 4:30 p.m. A notice will be on water bills.
“Other places – Andrews does it – they stop taking payments at 4 p.m. and close at 4:30,” noted town clerk/utility billing manager Amanda Gyongyos.