After 27 years of receiving town health insurance, the Valdese Town Council voted Monday night to give up the benefit while raising its annual stipend, all as an effort to help balance the budget.
The money that would have been spent on insurance for council members will offset the $69,367 general fund deficit outlined in the town's proposed 2024-25 budget.
Councilman Glenn Harvey made the motion during the June 3 regular meeting. After considerable discussion, the Council voted unanimously to end the insurance coverage and increase its stipends to $8,000 per year for council members and $10,000 per year for the mayor.
Stipends are typically used to cover out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the course of council member's essential duties such as travel costs and constituent services.
Last year, health insurance for the Council and Mayor cost $53,689. Annual stipends last year were $2,800 for council members and $4,300 for the mayor.
The fiscal maneuver — eliminating insurance costs but raising annual stipends — left some observers curious about the net savings.
Assistant Manager/CFO Bo Weichel said he has not done the calculations yet, but it “should not be much of a difference, probably be a wash.”
The change in insurance is effective Jan. 1, 2025, which Harvey said gives council members time to get new personal health insurance policies in place.
“We didn't have to give up our (personal) health insurance,” Harvey said. “We did that voluntarily because we had the opportunity to take the better health insurance coverage that we provide to employees.”
In other motions related to the proposed budget, Harvey asked for three Public Works capital improvement items to be removed from the budget: a tractor ($60,000), a Ford 150 ($45,000), and a roll-off dumpster ($6,000). He asked that the Efficiency Task Force first analyze the necessity of the expenditure. The task force is a committee that provides recommendations to reduce town expenses.
If the task force does not have a recommendation by the June 17 budget hearing, amendments to the budget can enable the purchase of any necessary purchases for Public Works, said Weichel.
Next steps for budget
During the Monday meeting, the council scheduled the budget public hearing for Monday, June 17, at 6 p.m. at Town Hall.
At least 10 days before the hearing, the senior staff will advertise the meeting in local media and online.
Upon completion of the public hearing, the council will vote on the budget. The senior staff will then enter the final numbers into the accounting system to prepare for the new fiscal year 2024-25, which begins July 1.
A copy of the proposed budget is available on the town's website.
Foothills Broadband
After the council removed the Foothills Broadband lease from the consent agenda, Harvey motioned for the council to approve the lease with Foothills Broadband, the internet start-up company bringing 100% fiber optic internet service to the town, with one caveat.
“I move that we approve the 10-year lease that was submitted by a private firm — effective Oct. 31, 2024 — contingent upon Foothills Broadband having repaired all installation damage to the satisfaction of inspection by the N.C. Department of Transportation or an independent engineering firm,” said Harvey.
Harvey outlined two issues that he said made the lease “one-sided.” First, the town did not require a performance bond to assure that any damage would be repaired by the company. Second, the town did not request financial verification from the company.
He also noted that some town streets damaged by Foothills Broadband have not been repaired and that he was dissatisfied with the patchwork on the streets that had been mended.
Public Works Director Allen Hudson told the council that the repairs are held to the NCDOT standards and work on the unrepaired streets is scheduled.
The day before the June 3 meeting, Harvey emailed Bryan Steen to request a “Detailed summary of time, material, and equipment expenses and billing for all of the extra work on the part by our public works department as Foothills Broadband carved up our streets.”
“By the way, we received Allen Hudson’s report that all the patches are good,” he wrote, “yet, the simple driving test indicates that our streets will never be the same. All of the patches on Laurel Street are womp, womp, womp and one of them is as bad as when it was just gravel, before patching. As with all asphalt patches, they will get worse with time.”
Councilwoman Rexanna Lowman made a motion to approve the lease without the conditions in Harvey’s option. The council voted 4-1 to approve. Harvey voted against the motion.
Committees
Harvey presented three new AD HOC committees for consideration — Street Maintenance, Utilities Infrastructure, and Merchants Advisory.
With five members each, the Street Maintenance Committee will focus on street maintenance and paving of the 35 miles of town streets while the Utilities Infrastructure Committee will focus on the maintenance and improvement of town-owned buildings and other assets.
The seven members of the Merchant Advisory Committee will collaborate to attract more visitors to the town and its businesses.
Councilman Paul Mears and Lowman did not agree with these committees since similar committees like the Main Street Committee and the Street Paving Committee are already in place.
“We’re creating all of these committees,” said Mears. “First of all, we’re looking to hire a new manager … Let’s see what the direction would be from our new manager.”
Councilwoman Heather Ward said that these committees give residents more of a voice regarding their town.
“It's just the citizens having a more condensed way to say ‘This is how we feel about things’ because they don't always call us. They don't always send us emails but when they have the committee to report to, they're out there on the ground, getting people's opinions.”
After considering the different committees, the motions for their establishment passed, without the approval of Mears and Lowman.
Other News
The Valdese Economic Development Investment Corporation (VEDIC) board has appointed two members — Rick McClurd and Councilman Gary Ogle.
The council will go into a closed session to discuss the appointment of a new Interim Town Manager, as Bryan Steen’s last day approaches on Friday, June 28, at 5 p.m.
Saydie Bean is a general assignment reporter for The Paper. She may be reached at 828-445-8595, ext. 2011, or saydie@thepaper.media.
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