Robbinsville – The town will no longer provide benefits to part-time town employees, the Robbinsville Board of Aldermen decided in a 3-0 vote at its meeting at its March 2 meeting.
Benefits packages had included health, dental and life insurance. The decision will affect newly hired part-time employees and is not retroactive.
In other matters:
* Public hearing: The board held a public hearing to establish rules governing the sale and service of beer and wine at special events. The rules apply to businesses that already have licenses to sell beer and wine in Robbinsville that want to hold special events on their property or city property. Beer and wine sales were approved by voters in November, but at present,
no licenses have been issued. Ingles Supermarket is the farthest along in the process to obtain a license.
To qualify for a special event permit, a business would have to be violation-free for three years or more. Special event sales would have to be in a confined area with no sales or consumption allowed to go beyond that boundary. The rules give the town the ability to control such events.
Just a couple of people spoke during the hearing, and complained about beer and wine sales in general.
Said Alderman Kenneth Hyde, “It was already voted in. We’re just trying to keep it under control and regulated. … Without it, they could do whatever they want to do. We need this ordinance to keep it in check.”
Under the ordinance, a licensed business could hold an event on public property, such as a street or sidewalk, but would need approval from the Board of Aldermen first.
The board approved the ordinance, 3-0.
* Speed humps: The board received two petitions from residents along Atoah Street to install speed humps to discourage speeding drivers. One petition was rejected and the other accepted, and the board agreed on a 3-0 vote to approve the installation. Judging from when the board made a similar decision affecting Ford Street, it should take about $1,200 for three speed humps and signage, and about a month for installation to be completed.
* Laura Street: A business owner complained about speeders on Laura Street, which intersects North Main Street, and said that heavy traffic is causing the street to fail and undermining his business. The board said it would look into it.
* Code Red: The town agreed to renew a one-year agreement with Code Red, a warning system that sends alerts to citizens about issues such as boil water alerts. They agreed that the system may be underused and would look at ways to make the system more effective and increase awareness that the service is available.
* Water tank maintenance: The town has been paying more than $500,000 for a company to inspect, wash and disinfect its water tank. Two local men, whose names were not immediately available, said they do the same work for a fraction of the price and wondered why the work wasn’t put out to bid. The town will look into it.
* Sweetwater Road sidewalk: As part of a highway expansion project on Sweetwater Road (N.C. Highway 143), a sidewalk will also be installed. The Town of Robbinsville will be required to contribute $2,677 of the $53,540 cost of the sidewalk installation.
* Lawnmower: The board chose a $9,885 bid for a new lawnmower for the town. The make and model of the new lawnmower is Z-Master 4000.