Robbinsville – The exterior of Town Hall will be undergoing a major facelift over the next few months.
The motivation? A mold issue, exacerbated by heavy rainfall over the last year.
At the Sept. 2 meeting of the Robbinsville Board of Aldermen, a budget amendment to cover expenses related to the first preventive steps in the removal of the spores was unanimously approved 2-0 by Aldermen Brian Johnson and Debbie Beasley. Alderman Shaun Adams was not present for the meeting.
Cox Roofing will replace the roof at a cost of $22,900, and also remove the old chimney at a cost of $3,750. Additionally, Cliff Hall will pressure-wash the exterior and replace two windows at the basement level, with an estimated cost of $1,300.
Mayor Steve Hooper later described new issues that have been discovered during the process, including rotted doors, a telephone pole with an antenna attached that will need to be removed and a drainage issue that town maintenance crews can fix after new gutters are installed. Finance director Sonya Webster will reach out to Hall about working on the newly discovered issues.
Also at the meeting:
* A lease was approved on the old Town Hall, which will go to Amber L. and Brian T. Benton of Big Green Chair LLC. A public hearing concerning the lease will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Robbinsville Town Hall.
* The board approved a motion to revert all unused requested Coronavirus Relief Funds back to Graham County. So far, the town has received $463.81 for COVID-related costs and will be asking for an additional $1,500.
* Webster presented the financial report, noting that the town recorded an increase of $417.38 in fuel costs from August 2019 to August 2020. Webster added that since the price of gas has decreased 20 cents since August 2019, the board should look into the additional cost.