Town of Maggie Valley
Phone 828-926-0866/Fax 926-3576 3987 Soco Road Maggie Valley, NC 28751
Town of Maggie Valley
Meeting of the Board of Aldermen
Maggie Valley Town Hall
3987 Soco Road
Thursday December 12, 2013
6:00 pm
1) Meeting Called to Order
2) Consent Agenda
a. Approval Minutes: September 24, 2013
b. Tax Releases
c. Ad Valrem Taxes
3) Public Comment
4) Presentation of the 2013 June Johnson Beautification Award
5) Town of Maggie Valley Audit Presentation: Erica Brown, CPA Martin & Starnes
6) Maggie Valley ABC Board Audit Presentation: Joe Moody, Chairman
7) Haywood County TDA Annual Update: Lynn Collins, Executive Director
8) 28751 1% Subcommittee of the Haywood County TDA Recommendations
9) Consideration of purchasing ad space in the 2014 Haywood County TDA/Smoky Mountain News Visitors Guide
10) Public Works Department & Police Department staffing requests
11) Other Business
12) Manager’s Report
13) Closed Session: NCGS 143-318.11(a)(5), Discussion of Acquiring Real Property
14) Closed Session: NCGS 143-318.11(a)(6), Town Manager’s Contract
Presentation of the 2013 June Johnson Beautification Award
This award his usually handed out in the late summer early fall but wasn’t because of a number of factors. The recipient of the first two awards were chosen by staff. However this year, it seems appropriate to allow June Johnson herself to pick the recipient. She has chosen Jack Mehaffey (Town of Maggie Valley Public Works Department) because of his attention to detail and his craftsmanship skills that he uses everyday to make Maggie Valley a more beautiful place. Staff had identified Beth Brown as a possible recipient because of her litter reduction efforts along the Moody Farm Road Sidewalk Loop. Dawn Sieffert (Alamo Motel) also drew interest from some because of the amount of landscaping that she installed during the last couple of years. I think it is wonderful, that June would pick Jack to receive her award; her selection is a testament to his work ethic and love of the Town. I would like to get your approval on this item at the agenda setting meeting on Friday December 6, so that we can make plans to “secretly” get Jack to the meeting so June can surprise him with the award herself.
If the board does not want to honor June’s wishes and award Jack Mehaffey with the award that is entirely in your purview, if this is the case you may go into closed session at the tail end of the meeting to discuss nominations amongst yourself under NCGS 143-318.11(a)(2)—as to prevent the premature disclosure of an honorary award or scholarship
It is my recommendation to honor Ms. Johnson’s request and make Jack Mehaffey, the 2013 recipient of the June Johnson Beautification Award.
Town of Maggie Valley Audit Presentation:
Erica Brown, CPA Martin & Starnes
During the last quarter of year, our auditor Erica Brown, CPA from the Hickory based accounting firm Martin & Starnes presents our annual audit report. I supplied the Board of Aldermen hard copies of the audit at the October 28, 2013 meeting so you could familiarize yourselves with the audit. Previously these audit reports were passed out after the official audit presentation which did not allow the Board to properly digest the material in advance. Mike and Janet will receive a copy of the audit on Friday. Please review and feel free to ask any questions to me or Shayne concerning the contents of the audit anytime next week. Of course there is a Q&A period built into Erica’s presentation as well.
This agenda item requires to action.
Maggie Valley ABC Board Audit Presentation: Joe Moody, Chairman
Joe Moody, Chairman of the Maggie Valley ABC Board will present their annual audit, as required by law, to the Town of Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen.
This agenda item requires to action.
Haywood County TDA Annual Update: Lynn Collins, Executive Director
Lynn Collins, Executive Director of the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority will be presenting her annual report to the Town Board of Aldermen. This report could be considered “the state of tourism report in HayCo and Maggie Valley.” Lynn will be available for questions afterwards.
This agenda item requires to action.
28751 1% Subcommittee of the Haywood County TDA Recommendations
The Town of Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen need to select 5 residents of the 28751 zip code for nomination to the Haywood County Board of Commissions to serve as members of the 1% subcommittee.
· All five of the 28751 subcommittee seats serve two year terms.
o The terms of all these appointments shall last from January 2014 to December 2016
The 28751’s current membership is comprised of
· Tammy Wight—ineligible for reappointment because of term limits
· Lydia Freyeisen- ineligible for reappointment because of term limits
· Jay Manner- Would like to continue to serve and has reapplied
· Mandy Hartline-has declined to reapply
· Joanne Martin-has not indicated her intentions
The Town Has received the following applications.
· Myra Glover-Maggie Mountain Vacations
· Jan Pressley-Homes & Land
· Michael Patel-Best Western, Comfort, Microtel, Ramada, Travelowes
· Caroline Greene- Peppertree Resort
· Jay Manner-Maggie Valley Club
Application Advertisement asked that all interested persons should submit an application to the Town by 12/5/13 5PM. See attached applications.
ACTION REQUIRED: The Board of Aldermen have interviewed candidates in the past for these board vacancies—you are not required to do so. The County needs your five recommended candidates by Friday December 13 so they can take action at their December 16, 2013 meeting.
Consideration of purchasing ad space in the 2014 Haywood County TDA/Smoky Mountain News Visitors Guide
The Town of Maggie Valley has been approached by Whitney Burton of the Smoky Mountain News about purchasing advertisement space in the 2014 Haywood County TDA/Smoky Mountain News Visitors Guide. The Town has purchased ad space in this publication over the last few years. The Town chose to run the typical “rent the Festival Grounds for free” ad that the former Festival Director submitted to publications regardless of intended audience. See attached
My feeling on the ad, which costs $850 for a ¼ of a page is a good value that reaches a target visitor audience however I feel that running the “rent me I’m free ad” is not appropriate for this publication and audience. A couple of suggested ads we could run would be.
· A message from the Mayor and Board of Aldermen inviting people to come to town.
· An Festival Ground ad that highlighted certain calendar dates
· An ad highlighting the Town as a four season destination
ACTION REQUIRED: To receive the $850 price we must purchase before the “early bird discount” expires on December 20. If you do decide to buy, please provide me with direction on what type of ad you are looking for and I will keep you up in the design loop, very similar to our last Southern Living ad change.
Public Works Department & Police Department staffing requests
This issue is coming before the Board because of a hiring freeze that was placed on the Town Manager in 2012. As you all know, in the Manager/Council form of government the Elected Board hires the Town Manager, Town Attorney and in some rare cases the Town Clerk. All other employee hires are handled directly and exclusively by the Manager. Due to budgetary concerns, the Town Board in 2012, passed a resolution that prohibited the Manager from hiring any new employee without board approval---including replacement hires. Currently the Town is faced with employee hiring emergencies.
Below you will find the excerpt from that meeting on 3/13/12
Consideration of a policy to review all position vacancies with Town Board before filling
The Town Board expressed an interest in reviewing any staff positions that become vacant for any reason, to assess whether that position needs to be refilled.
The policy would be something like:
Any time a vacancy is created in one of the current budgeted positions, before that vacancy can be filled, the Town Board must review the position and approve its being filled.
ALDERMAN WIGHT MADE A MOTION THAT THE MANAGER IS TO BRING INFORMATION TO THE ALDERMAN REGARDING VACANT POSITIONS BEFORE HIRING.
MAYOR DESIMONE, ALDERMEN ALDRIDGE, MATTHEWS VOTED IN THE AFFIRMATIVE.
ALDERMAN PRICE OPPOSED.
MOTION CARRIED BY MAJORITY.
Public Works: On November 20, 2013 Jared Shuler resigned his position with the Town of Maggie Valley to pursue his lifelong passion of emergency medical rescue and now is employed with Maggie Valley Fire & Rescue. Jared was an exceptional worker and his full time presence is definitely missed in Public Works especially this time of year. Late Fall/Early Winter is one of Public Works’ busiest seasons with brush pickups, Winter Lighting, Snow Plowing and “fix-it” projects that are preformed this time of year without the burden of regular mowing and Festival Grounds related jobs.
ACTION Recommended: To continue to deliver Maggie Valley Residents and Business Owners the level of service they have come not only to expect but demand from our Public Works Department, the hiring freeze (in this individual case) needs to be lifted so the position can be advertised for the remainder of the month, interviews conducted in January so a late January/Early February start date can occur. I along with the Public Works Director will work within current budget constraints so this new hire will not negatively impact the budget.
Police Department: The Police Department’s dilemma is slightly different in that it doesn’t involve full time employees but part time officers that are essential in providing police man hours during the Town’s busiest seasons. There are a number of part time employees who are choosing not to work as much as they once did and a number of officers from intra-county agencies that would like the opportunity to become part of our part time pool. Essentially, Chief Sutton is looking to shed from his part-time roster those that do not want to work in favor of a new crop of part-time officers who do---making the Town Police Force act more efficiently and effectively. If these staffing changes are made, there will be no impact to the budget.
ACTION Recommended: Temporarily lift the hiring freeze so that the Police Chief can make the necessary changes to his department’s part time roster in order to make it as nimble as possible.