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Two New Tourism Board Members
March 3, 2010

O

riental’s Town Board met Tuesday night March 2 and filled two seats on the Tourism Board, accepted a hike in medical insurance premium rates to cover town employees, but left open the door to having the employees shoulder some of that increase, and crossed some ‘t’s and dotted some ‘i’s in the Artificial Reef project.

Present for the meeting were Mayor Bill Sage and Board members Barbara Venturi, Warren Johnson, Sherrill Styron and Candy Bohmert. Jennifer Roe was absent.

In the audience were four former town board members, several of whom spoke out regarding a Tourism Board appointment.

Two Appointed to Tourism Board

The Town Board voted to fill two of the three vacant seats on the Tourism Board, one with a resident and the other with a non-resident.

Commissioner Candy Bohmert spoke in favor of Missy Baskervill’s appointment, saying that she had been involved with tourism related events for 30 years and that she owns a condotel unit at the Oriental Marina. Baskervill, who runs a real estate company in Oriental, lives in Arapahoe. The Tourism Board allows non-residents to serve.

Long-time Oriental resident, Grace Evans also applied to serve and her application led to more discussion. Commissioner Bohmert said that it was Tourism Board policy for prospective appointees to attend at least two recent meetings prior to joining the board. Evans had not.

Former Commissioner Al Herlands appealed to the board to appoint Evans, noting that she had over the years attended many meetings of the Town Board. Evans, he said, is one of “the most effective volunteers in this town. It would be foolish not to have her involved.”

Two other former town commissioners in the audience cited Evans’ long involvement in town affairs as reason for her to serve on the Tourism Board at a time when it was down so many members. When current commissioner Sherrill Styron suggested the board wait two more months to appoint her, former commissioner Kathy Kellam said that it would be “really insulting.” Former commissioner Nancy Inger echoed that, saying it would be “an insult.” Mayor Bill Sage then moved that the board appoint Evans and dispense with the two-meeting preview rule. The board agreed to do so.

The Town Board later said that it concluded that the town’s regulations did not stipulate that would-be appointees first attend two meetings. Candy Bohmert said the Tourism Board’s second-to-last chair, Katy Pugh, had suggested the two-meeting rule there because appointees to the board were not staying for long. Bohmert said the Tourism Board would be working on making the two-meeting rule a written policy.

In the meantime, the tourism board now has four members. It still needs a fifth.

The Parks and Rec board also needs members to serve.

Town’s Medical Premiums For Employees Up More Than 18%

The Town Board agreed to pay an 18% hike — an additional $500 a month — for Blue Cross Blue Shield medical insurance premiums that the town pays for its employees.

Town Manager Randy Cahoon said that the insurance agency the town deals with, Stallings Independent Group of New Bern, notified the town in recent days that it had until this coming Friday to agree the premium hike, which would then take effect April 1. At the meeting Tuesday night Commissioner Warren Johnson expressed concern and some exasperation about the short notice which left few options for the town.

The Town Manager said he’d researched some alternatives, one of which would involve a smaller monthly hike — of $250 rather than $500 — in exchange for a cutback in benefits to employees. Another alternative could have employees paying for some of their premium. Currently, the town pays for the entire premium. The Town Manager told the Town Board that a number of other small towns in the region are faced with similar medical insurance premium hikes, and are considering making their employees pay for some of the cost of their premiums.

With little time and a deadline looming, the Town Board voted to accept the 18% hike and pay the $500 more each month for the policies. The board did leave open the possibility of charging employees for that when the town draws up the budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. Warren Johnson noted that the town could make that change even before then. “There’s only so much money we can spend,” said Johnson. Mayor Sage concurred that the board could take up the matter “at any time” and added that the town could at some point decide that “we’re not going to provide insurance anymore.”

Oriental spends a total of $3,400 a month on health insurance for 6 full-time and 2 part-time employees. While some are on individual policies, most are on a group plan that currently costs $2,700 a month, says the Town Manager. Cahoon says that according to the NC League of Municipalities, most towns under 2,000 residents provide health care coverage only to full town employees. Oriental is among the minority that pays for medical insurance for town employees who work a 30-hour week.

Special Project Ordinance For Artificial Reef

The Board voted to set up a Special Project Ordinance for the artificial reef that is being installed on 10 acres of riverbed off of Dolphin Point. While there has been a fund raising effort underway in the past few years, there’s been no official 501.c3 non-profit organization in place. Instead, the town had been filling that organizational role, applying for grants for the project and putting the money raised — more than $19,000 — in the town’s bank account. Designating this a Special Project codifies that, and sets the reef funds apart from the rest of the Town’s fund. All but about $2,000 will soon be used to pay for installing mounds of marl and “reef balls” off of Dolphin Point.

Former commissioner Nancy Inger asked if the town would be responsible for the reef it the components being installed there slid out of place. “I just want to be sure the town is not taking on any responsibility,” said Inger.

Ron Zielinski, an Oriental resident and avid fishermen who has led the effort to build up the reef, said that in talking with a state official, he was told that once the material is deployed on the river bottom, it is state owned. Zielinski did add that a rule written years ago indicated that if a navigation marker delineating the edge of the reef were to disappear and a fishing boat were to inadvertently tangle its net on the reef, the fisherman may be able to sue the state and the town. At the Town Board table, it was mentioned that the state had deeper pockets than the town.

South Avenue Update

With the Town Attorney absent, Mayor Bill Sage asked former commissioner Dave Cox for an update on the South Avenue lawsuit. Cox confirmed that Superior Court Judge Ken Crow has signed papers that, in accordance with an appeals court ruling, determine that the Town of Oriental has control over the harborfront end of South Avenue.

As for the fence that an adjacent property owner erected 15 years ago, it will remain in place a while longer. Town Manager Cahoon said that the fence is providing a place for an Army Corps of Engineers sign to be posted regarding its ongoing work at the Oriental breakwater.

Update on Bay River Sewer Board

The Board heard a report from Nancy Inger, the town’s representative on the Bay River Metropolitan Sewer Authority. Inger said that with lagoons in the area were reaching their limits, and that Bay River “may have to allow more spraying.”

Inger also noted that the town had been tardy in sending Bay River its share of the water bill collections that the town processes The town typically sends $20,000 a month to Bay River after collecting the sewer fees. Warren Johnson reported that he’d made a special delivery this week of $59,000 to Bay River for the January, February and March payments.

Inger noted that this happened as the town had begun to charge Bay River a higher processing fee — $1.50, up from $1.00 — for each water/sewer bill.

Dogs, Trees

The Board voted to approve the use of Lou-Mac Park on March 27th for the PAWS Pet Parade.
Tree Board Chairman Bob Miller reported that the magnolia that fell in a storm in Lupton Park last month would be replaced at an Arbor Day tree planting on March 20 at 11a. A workshop on pruning will precede it at 9:30a. Miller also reported that the town would be paying Pamlico Tree Service to remove a tree on town property near the LeDuc’s home on Mildred Street, because the tree had rotted. Miller said the Tree Board was doing a preliminary survey on other risky trees in town, ones that he said had been “mismanaged” and so might be prone to coming down in a storm.

Budget Meetings Scheduled

The board scheduled meetings for early April to begin going over the FY 2011 budget. The first two meetings will be held on April 13 and April 20 at 8am at Town Hall. The public is welcome to attend.

Where there’s smoke…

Commissioners spoke briefly about receiving a letter from resident Joe Valinoti who inquired about the town’s policy on open fires outdoors. Warren Johnson said that while those who burn outdoors are supposed to have a permit, “no one checks”. Not, he said, the police nor the fire department. Commissioner Bohmert said the forestry service had jurisdiction. (A copy of the letter, obtained after the meeting, is here.)

Closed Door Session To Discuss Personnel Matter To Be Continued

The Board went in to a closed door session to discuss a personnel matter. The board has held many such sessions in recent months. When the board let the public back in to the meeting room Tuesday night, it said it would be continuing the meeting next Monday, March 8 at 4p, when it would again discuss a personnel matter in closed session.

Posted Wednesday March 3, 2010 by Melinda Penkava