[0:22] If it bill passes, you're going to use you're going to use the higher rate.

[0:28] And if it doesn't pass, you're going to use the higher valuation and the lower

[0:32] rate. Right? You're still just get to 20

[0:35] minutes. Yeah.

[0:39] Sorry, nobody paying up.

[0:42] I think this is I'm surprised this

[0:46] When is your When do you have to sign the budget?

[0:49] » Budget not first. >> It has to pass before.

[0:52] » Yeah. >> Or it doesn't and then you then you If

[0:55] it doesn't If it dies in committee, it says it's in the

[0:59] referred referred to the Committee on State and Local Government

[1:02] Rules and Calendar and Operations of the House.

[1:06] » Okay, welcome to June 8th Town Council regular workshop meeting

[1:10] regarding the budget. Uh meeting come to order.

[1:15] Uh at this point in time,

[1:18] I'll turn things over to Town Manager Harris.

[1:21] » Mr. Mayor, Council, as we were just having a

[1:23] little discussion prior to the meeting on Senate Bill 889.

[1:27] Um the county has adopted their budget as presented. Um as we discussed at

[1:34] previous budget workshop, we've got two different tax rates depending on what

[1:38] this bill does. Um we have talked with some lobbyists

[1:40] and one of their recommendations down there as well as that that any hurricane

[1:46] or tropical storm Helene impacted area uh be excused from this bill

[1:51] um due to especially with Buncombe County what

[1:53] they're saying um in the bill is that it would only

[1:56] delay it by 1 year. But the county's already been on delay by 2 years if they

[2:00] would go that not just one year. Um, so that's one of the reasons that we

[2:03] were pushing for the lobbyists on that aspect. And so right now again it's

[2:08] still moving one side of the floor to the other. Um, it still has not passed.

[2:12] But that was kind of the latest update on it of where we are looking at that.

[2:19] Um, moving along to your proposed budgets

[2:23] um, and for discussion and any type of um, adoption possible adoption we'll go

[2:28] over some of the highlights from it. Um, on your general fund

[2:32] um, 10,932,421

[2:36] um, your fire fund 5,113,557

[2:42] um, the water fund 4,279,970

[2:47] for a total of 20,325,948.

[2:51] Um, again that's with a 32 cent tax rate.

[2:55] Um, reval after the reval process um,

[2:58] some notable added items in in the budget from previous discussions

[3:04] full-time positions were added at one HR position, uh, one part-time finance

[3:09] front office position up front two police officers, one maintenance tech

[3:13] and one of water treatment plant operator.

[3:15] Um, we have a 3% cola cost of living allowance in there. Our health insurance

[3:20] increase of 8%. Vehicles and equipment added um, four patrol vehicles um, two

[3:26] for the police department, two public works vehicles for Ford F-150 um, one

[3:31] swap loader um, message board and arrow board with

[3:35] public works, light tower replacement, security cameras, drone for PD, safety

[3:40] equipment and fire department and rescue equipment. Uh, water meter replacement

[3:45] and the capital funding projects uh, water line replacement, the water

[3:49] treatment plant chloroquine pond installation,

[3:53] backup generator at the High Bluff tank, stormwater improvements, playground

[3:57] resurfacing, uh the fire department salaries for

[4:00] recruit-able wages. Um they would did finalize um our

[4:03] portion of the county's um fire fund from that, and it came in at uh

[4:08] $2,970,755

[4:12] on that aspect. Um PD salaries increased for pay parity,

[4:17] uh retention holiday bonuses, uh public works living wage, Main Street

[4:21] lighted holiday tree, IT services increased,

[4:25] uh water engineering services, policy amendments of 2% 401k contribution with

[4:30] matching up to 6%, increased paid paternity leave uh from 2 weeks to 4

[4:35] weeks, and increased staffing um annual leave from

[4:39] uh 2 weeks to four 2 weeks to three weeks.

[4:44] That is the highlights of um the budget that we reviewed and had a public

[4:48] hearing on in several public discussions. Comments, I'm glad to

[4:51] answer any questions or more detail if you want some more detail on the

[4:55] highlights or talk to you about the water fund aspect and and the fire fund

[4:59] if you need those.

[5:04] » Yes, I I have a comment. Uh I'd like to refer um council to

[5:10] manager's budget memo of April 13th. Uh page nine.

[5:16] Um and and again, these are probably trivial numbers uh to you, but um

[5:23] uh manager Harris uh is uh telling me that

[5:27] the um outside agency stipends that the town

[5:32] is offering uh to the WBA, uh to senior meals in WeDAC, are still

[5:40] in the budget. Um what I'd like to point out is um

[5:47] uh the WBA will see a $1,000 increase from historical.

[5:53] I think senior meals is probably going to see a $1,000

[5:58] increase in theirs, which was I think 5,000 unless higher than that.

[6:03] » It was six last year as well. >> Was it six? Okay. WEDC has been cut

[6:09] from five to two and I'd like to actually make a motion to council that

[6:15] we level those stipends all to 6,000. If that's agreeable to you.

[6:23] The Economic Development Committee basically has two

[6:28] significant projects running now. One is hotel

[6:32] recruit recruitment and evaluation. The other has to do

[6:38] with forming a new newcomers organization

[6:43] that's going to actually draw upon our 10 real estate

[6:49] project approvals. So

[6:53] my request to you basically is that we essentially level those all at six.

[7:00] » So raising WEDC $4,000? >> Correct.

[7:03] » Leaving the others the same. >> Correct.

[7:07] » Because last year you got 5,000, is that right?

[7:11] » Yep. >> Okay.

[7:14] » What was the I Sorry, the the when you first started

[7:18] there was a you said there was a $1,000 increase to the WBA and then also a

[7:24] a cost increase to Meals on Wheels. >> That was to the senior meal side.

[7:28] » Senior meal side. >> So Tanya was WBA 6,000 last year?

[7:32] » It was 5,000. >> Oh, okay.

[7:35] » It's historically been 5,000. >> Yeah.

[7:38] So again, you know, my

[7:41] recommendation to council basically is we just level them all at six.

[7:46] » I'm fine with that. >> So,

[7:48] any discussion about that? >> Do we need to make a motion?

[7:53] » If you want to do that. >> I made I made the motion.

[7:56] » No, you made the motion. >> I made the motion. So, we have a motion

[7:58] on the table. All those in favor say I. >> I.

[8:01] » Opposed? I is carried.

[8:04] » Thank you, council.

[8:20] » Any other discussion on the budget piece?

[8:24] Or water fund or fire fund? >> Maybe walk us through the fire fund and

[8:29] the uniform tax rate and how that affects the town a little bit, just for

[8:33] a refresher. >> All right.

[8:34] Um the county has adopted a single wide tax district, which was I think the tax

[8:39] rate ended up being 11.97. Um previously in the North Buncombe

[8:43] district, we were 12.27. So, that kind of equates it out to um

[8:49] Then you submit your budget to the county. They determine what funding

[8:53] um you receive and every department every department

[8:56] um for and to include our North Buncombe district has to submit to the county

[9:01] itself. Um then they

[9:03] Again this year, the funding came back at two 2,970,755

[9:09] um for a cost share of roughly 57.43 split with the county's portion 57%

[9:17] um and ours is 43% on that aspect. So, moving forward, they're starting to

[9:23] uh formalize some plans with the with the contract and we'll be bringing you a

[9:26] contract at the June 22nd meeting for you to review um with that aspect cuz

[9:32] ours is a little different than the the incorporated boards department for some

[9:37] of the things that they were requiring in the contract as far as insurance with

[9:40] our league insurance. There'll be some different verbage that has to be in

[9:43] there for that aspect. So

[9:47] » Scotty, do we have any idea yet about the capital projects from the county for

[9:52] the fire department? >> Um any capital pro- I mean

[9:57] it'll be just part of the budget process that they will submit every year. Um

[10:01] it'll be a cost share for our our aspect from municipal.

[10:05] » So the cost share would be 57%. Is that it?

[10:08] » That is this year's. >> This year's.

[10:10] » Yes. >> So was there money put in that for

[10:13] property for a new fire department? >> Yes and no. Um what we did is we moved

[10:19] it moved it basically for the county it was listed in there as part of the

[10:24] capital projects. We submit them a 10-year capital improvement plan. But on

[10:28] ours it was zeroed out for land purchase because they would be it would be taken

[10:32] on as debt services and no payment would be to a next fiscal year.

[10:36] » I see. >> So that's why I say the yes and no. So

[10:37] it was factored in there but if we do find land to purchase we had already

[10:41] talked with the with the lenders um since we're having to finance the fire

[10:45] trucks and they said that it would payment wouldn't be due to a next fiscal

[10:48] year. >> Okay. So if by chance we were to find

[10:52] some property for a new fire department and we found it in September, just

[10:56] picking a day, then we anticipate the county will help

[11:01] supplement that. >> Yes, I mean that's part of the the

[11:03] process. I mean it's And that's the other reason when they're

[11:06] doing this contract they're looking at um time distance response and putting 22

[11:10] people on the scene cuz they're going to evaluate that as with your mutual aid

[11:14] responses, where does the station placement location need to be and what

[11:17] is the likelihood of staffing and different different metrics in there and

[11:20] that's that's what they're trying to run the data on that aspect.

[11:24] » Okay. Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am.

[11:28] Any other questions on fire fund or water fund?

[11:32] » No. >> Are we ready to

[11:34] » adopt and the only change is the $4,000 additional.

[11:38] I mean, Jennifer can speak more of this, but I believe we could go ahead and

[11:41] adopt based on that one change. It would come out of fund balance, so your fund

[11:45] balance would increase by 4,000 and the governing body

[11:49] um expenditures would increase by 4,000.

[11:53] » There is something I want to change on fee schedule. I don't know if I need to

[11:56] wait for that or if that goes into this discussion, too.

[12:00] » That'll be the next item. >> So, if y'all are ready to vote on that,

[12:05] exactly what Ms. Osgerby said is you can make a motion to adopt um the general

[12:10] fund and fire fund budget with the change with a the add of 4,000

[12:15] to Weed Act, adding that to your fund balance appropriation, and the water

[12:21] fund as presented.

[12:25] » And there is a suggestion or recommended motion. Do you back it up?

[12:30] » Before we get Can I just ask one just real general question in this regarding

[12:34] the the new positions and just um just for my knowledge, is this Are these

[12:40] positions to catch up with like former growth of the town or is it kind of more

[12:46] eyeing towards the future and and looking to just add that capacity

[12:50] sooner rather than later? >> I would say it's a combination of both.

[12:54] I mean, especially with the with the HR position, we're getting close to a 100

[12:58] personnel on staff right now and don't have a true dedicated HR person and

[13:02] three or four people have been picking up that responsibilities. Um as far as

[13:06] the police department side, I mean, it's you we're doing two this

[13:11] um this year or asking for two in there um

[13:14] and basically in police department uh one position

[13:18] what four equates to one, basically, because um what these positions going to

[13:22] do, they're going to start out working traffic and work a split shift, um but

[13:26] technically they would be four positions with four shifts. Um Um, but we're

[13:30] trying to to maintain control of that aspect as far as, um, not going too far

[13:36] into it and still have adequate staffing. So, those two officers

[13:39] initially would work traffic and work a split shift, so they're kind of working

[13:43] with both shifts day and night. They might work out 10:00 to 10:00, 12:00 to

[13:46] 12:00, something like that. So, it's kind of flexed out. Um, your um,

[13:51] part-time position, um, it's needed up front to help

[13:55] distribute some of the workflow uh, with our staff up there like this week, um,

[14:00] one's been on vacation, so you're kind of short. So, if you had a part-time

[14:03] position, it kind of equates to three people being there all the time. Our

[14:07] water treatment plant with the growth and expansion that's occurring there,

[14:11] um, last year we were fortunate to add two positions and still for the safety

[14:15] aspect out there of it being not a totally 24/7 operation, but there are a

[14:20] lot of days that it is 24 hours and it gives that safety aspect of two people

[14:24] uh, assigned to shift out there. >> Okay.

[14:27] » All right. >> Thanks.

[14:29] » So, would anybody like to make a motion to adopt

[14:32] what we've been discussing? >> I'll be glad to make a motion. I move to

[14:35] adopt the fiscal year 2026-2027 budget ordinance for the general fund and

[14:39] special revenue fund with a change of the $4,000 we discussed for weed act and

[14:44] also the budget ordinance for the water and public enterprise fund.

[14:49] » All those in favor, say aye. >> Aye.

[14:51] » Aye. >> Opposed?

[14:53] » I'm opposed and it's because I don't believe in a cola raises and I mentioned

[14:58] that at the beginning of this process, so

[15:01] my I know my vote doesn't matter, but I'm voting no.

[15:06] » Thank you very much.

[15:15] Miss Jackson, you want to do the fee schedules?

[15:20] » Schedules to do what again? again. >> Um, I'm going to do that from here if

[15:23] that's okay, since the lectern is not is not set up. Can you hear me okay?

[15:27] » Yes. >> Okay. Um, I'm not going to spend too

[15:30] much time on this, but but to tell you as part of the budget process every year

[15:35] we do take a look at your fee schedules. That is a is a revenue source, not a

[15:40] very large one, but it is revenue on the general fund and fire fund. It is the

[15:45] revenue source or the primary revenue source on the water fund side. Um, so

[15:50] you've got two two fee schedule ordinances.

[15:54] Uh, the general fund and fire fund. I'm just going to go through real

[15:58] briefly the the changes and they're they're highlighted in your packets so

[16:02] you can kind of it's not word for word, but but the the the changes are the

[16:06] areas where we we made some tweaks or or or

[16:10] highlighted. Uh, we are going to note that the parade entry fees will support

[16:15] community programming and events. We are as you know the the United States

[16:21] has gone away from the penny. That has some fairly significant changes

[16:26] to some of our operations and so this is the first year that we really had to to

[16:31] deal with that. You're going to see general statements in both both of these

[16:36] fee schedule ordinances that talk about rounding. It's a symmetrical rounding.

[16:40] Sometimes it's up, sometimes it's down uh, to get us to

[16:45] either a within a nickel.

[16:48] Um, so that we can can do that. Some places are doing that only for cash

[16:52] transactions. Because of our financial system, we have to do it across the

[16:57] board and we can't say if if cash then this amount.

[17:02] So you're going to see some rounding for the some copying charges. We've also

[17:07] noted some of our our records records requests we had to outsource if it's

[17:12] really large maps and so we've got actual uh covered there.

[17:17] We've had a more detailed hourly um charges noted for public works equipment

[17:23] and an increase in the hourly fee for the public works department personnel

[17:27] from 30 to 35. I think council member Young is actually proposing or maybe

[17:33] proposing to to send that to 45. >> Yes, so I

[17:38] put it at everybody's seat, a copy of the expenses for the WBA events.

[17:44] And I did it per event and it's per police department and the and per public

[17:48] works department. And the total that that the town offered in support of the

[17:53] WBA events were 18,825.86.

[17:58] So, if I look at the public work cost, most of their costs are going to be

[18:02] overtime. So, I don't believe that $35 is going to

[18:06] be enough since it's overtime costs, I'd rather increase the public works fees to

[18:11] $45 instead of $35. And that's on page

[18:16] 18, I believe it is. So, if we could just change that $35 to

[18:21] $45, that would help compensate for the overtime fees that they use

[18:25] for these events. So, I'll make a motion that we change

[18:29] that fee schedule to $45. >> You want to wait You want to wait until

[18:35] do do that in a minute or you want to do that in a separate item?

[18:39] » You're driving the boat, I'll do whatever you

[18:40] » Okay. Um hold that thought.

[18:43] We've got some amendments to the fire code violation section just to to fully

[18:48] comply with North Carolina law on tampering.

[18:51] Uh that's a whole hour discussion that I won't take up your time tonight, but

[18:55] that's very complicated. Um we've got some notes on that fees for

[19:01] the zoning map amendments and text amendments are for citizen initiated or

[19:04] requested amendments. Um that would not be

[19:08] You're not going to charge yourself if if you decide that you want an

[19:12] amendment, we wanted to make sure that that that clarification is in there. Uh

[19:16] we have made a note that subdivision fees must comply with North Carolina

[19:20] law. They do. Uh the law though does uh require you actually in a couple

[19:26] instances, if you're going to make changes, you've got to have public

[19:29] comment periods and public hearings. There were no changes to in the

[19:33] subdivision area this this year. Um so so that didn't get triggered, but we

[19:38] want to make a note so we remember that we've got some procedure to to handle if

[19:45] if we do talk start talking about that. Um Kirby Curbside Management uh is your

[19:51] recycling uh contractor, and that's a pass-through, and you've got a contract

[19:57] in place right now uh that does call for a CPI increase, uh which was uh 2.1, I

[20:04] think, percent. And so it went from $3.65

[20:07] per month to $3.73. That's been very very typical. And then

[20:13] the symmetrical rounding that I talked about a minute ago,

[20:16] um and then on the water side, um we did uh

[20:22] um some increases to your seasonal

[20:24] disconnect and reconnect fees. Those are the citizen requested. Those are

[20:29] our summer homes or winter homes um uh to to disconnect. Uh we've got some

[20:34] notes that meter rechecks and reread fees are only going to apply if the

[20:39] meter is operational, meaning a citizen calls and and they say, "I've got a

[20:44] crazy water bill. It It can you come check my meter?" If that meter is

[20:49] operating, then they're going to be charged the operating correctly, they're

[20:53] going to be charged the meter fee. If the meter is not operating correctly,

[20:57] that means there's a a mechanical failure, and so they will not be charged

[21:01] that meter fee. That uh re- re- recheck fee.

[21:04] Uh Uh got some increases to some flow test fees on the fire system. We've got

[21:09] some renaming um of disconnect reconnect fees to

[21:13] non-payment processing fee. Um we've got the the same ads that we

[21:20] did in the the general fund and fire fund, we've got in the water fund as

[21:25] well for the public works equipment and personnel.

[21:28] So, this we will need to make sure that we add that we increase uh there as

[21:32] well. >> Before you turn the page, just out of

[21:36] curiosity, um

[21:39] so, when we go check a meter, how much how much does it actually ta- cost the

[21:42] town to do? >> Um

[21:58] » Well, I don't I don't know how you do it. So, the question is this is So, I

[22:02] I doubt 25's enough. Why would we Go ahead.

[22:06] » We do a lot of rereads anyway, upwards of 40 to 50 each month.

[22:11] So, if if the customer's water bill is extremely large, we look what it were

[22:16] the prior month, if something catches our eye, we'll send them out anyway. So,

[22:20] this would be if a customer if we didn't flag it,

[22:23] » Right. >> and and we couldn't explain it to the

[22:26] customer and they insisted and they wanted it anyway, this is a way for us

[22:29] to charge. >> No, I'm in favor of charging.

[22:33] By the time I get in my truck, I drive to the house and do it. So, you're we're

[22:38] saying there's nothing wrong, the customer's saying, "Nah, we want instant

[22:41] video replay." And you lose your time out if you're

[22:44] wrong. So, that's all. I mean, >> It's just adding one more

[22:48] » Yeah, I mean, I'd charge 50 bucks for it minimum, but I'd I'd I'd want to know

[22:52] what it costs. What would it cost us in gas, time? Does one guy go? Does two guy

[22:56] go? But >> I think this was this was an area where

[23:00] public works actually advocated for a higher change than what's reflected, but

[23:05] it was going to jump from jump really to a really much higher. And so we felt

[23:12] like maybe doing that incrementally might be a better better play.

[23:15] » I bet you it cost you 100 bucks to go do one.

[23:18] » At least. >> Right. Because it's not just their

[23:21] hourly rate. It's what they call what they what do we pay for?

[23:24] So, sure. All right. Leave it alone.

[23:27] » that one again. >> Yeah.

[23:28] » Maybe we should set it to 50. >> No, I I'm fine with them doing what they

[23:32] want, but I I'm in favor of setting it to what it cost the town to do.

[23:36] But you you know, if they're driving around doing them anyways, but if

[23:39] somebody says Yeah, or they go come out today, darn

[23:42] it, stop everything you're doing. Okay, we'll do that and if we're wrong,

[23:48] you don't pay anything, right? If it's our fault, they don't pay anything is

[23:50] what I heard, right? But if you're filling your pool and you

[23:55] forgot you were filling your pool and you wasted our money, then you should

[23:59] pay what what it costs. So, I'm not I don't I'm saying what

[24:04] I couldn't say jump to 50. Until I know what it costs.

[24:09] That's all that's my only recommendation is charge when something like that just

[24:12] charge what it costs, but you're already down the road pretty far.

[24:15] Maybe consider that for next year. I'm in favor of user taxes.

[24:22] » We will We will certainly make that note.

[24:24] Um we've got some changes to the meter tampering charges to

[24:30] changing the name of that to interfering with water appliances or meters and also

[24:35] making some other amendments in order to comply with North Carolina law. Uh we've

[24:39] got a negligent reckless damage to water system. This is your frontier

[24:46] um hit hitting doing their work and hitting our lines. Uh we try to work

[24:51] with them, but when it's repetitive, um that's a that becomes a problem. So So

[24:56] we want to make sure that that's in the fee schedule to to handle those.

[25:00] » Okay. >> Uh we've got we've simplified the bulk

[25:02] water purchase um

[25:04] down to uh uh

[25:08] essentially $50 per What is it?

[25:13] » 25.

[25:16] » Is it 25 per 500 or what?

[25:20] Yeah, 50. Before it was a little more complicated uh than that. So, we've got

[25:24] that. Yeah, $25 per 500 500 gallons and and making a making a note that we're

[25:30] only going to be selling in 500 gallon increments.

[25:33] Um >> Mhm.

[25:39] Mhm. >> So, in all the locations we have to

[25:42] determined is that just based on the incident and

[25:46] not so much a a flat fee that we're establishing for this?

[25:51] » For the negligent reckless damage

[25:54] » Yep. >> Yeah, that's based on a cost basis.

[25:58] » Mhm. >> So, it we can't really it's not it's not

[26:01] effective to put a put a fee in there. So, we just cuz it just depends.

[26:06] Uh there's a widely varying uh

[26:11] uh cost. >> Sure. Yeah, it could what written

[26:15] very much greatly so. Okay, thank you. >> So, they just go to a cost cost plus 10.

[26:20] » Mhm. Yeah.

[26:24] » Um under your emergency water rate, we do uh

[26:27] that is that is cost of production plus 10% and um

[26:32] Randall has calculated that the the current cost of production is $6.75

[26:38] per thousand gallons. And so, when you add that 10% on on you get the emergency

[26:44] water rate in in there. Um that is available to essentially

[26:50] right now Marcel and they were to have an emergency, that's how we would sell

[26:54] sell them water. 10% really is more of of an administrative type type fee to

[27:00] get that started, but but we felt like that was a a reasonable way

[27:04] to to sell water to our neighbors. Um, it adds a relocation of an existing

[27:10] tap. It adds some sidewalk cut cut and repair fees. It amends the application

[27:16] fee to capture some administrative time and handling those requests.

[27:21] Um, it does note that the the irrigation and fire line connections are exempt

[27:26] from water system development fees. We've got had some questions

[27:30] um, over the last year. Last year was the first year we

[27:34] implemented irrigation um, irrigation line connections and those those uh,

[27:39] fees and found that we really needed some clarification on that to to not cuz

[27:45] those those system development fees are

[27:47] expensive. They're $2,750 per residential tap and so that's a lot

[27:54] of money to to pay on top of a domestic domestic line.

[27:59] Um, increase this is the big one the the

[28:04] domestic water rates 5% increase and this is per the water

[28:09] study that was done 2 years ago.

[28:13] Um, keeping trying to keep on track with that. It's possible

[28:19] um, Tanya, you may remember. I don't know that we did the full 5% 2 years

[28:24] ago. I know we did it last year. So, we're we may be just a little bit behind

[28:29] where they where they thought we would be, but we're we're pretty close.

[28:34] Um, it does consolidate irrigation rates into one rate. Last year we did a a

[28:38] residential rate and a commercial rate and decided that that didn't really make

[28:43] make sense and so that's that's now one rate. It does increase some fireline

[28:47] testing, and then it it notes that consumption off of a water line, I'm

[28:52] sorry, off of a fireline that is as a result of a

[28:57] a leak, as long as they get it fixed quickly

[29:00] within 30 days, they're not going to be charged that thousand dollar consumption

[29:05] consumption fee. Uh for me, I'm going to come to you here

[29:08] just a second. Fire meters are different, I've I've learned. They don't

[29:13] they they're not volumetric. They're they're not they're they're not

[29:17] calculating how much water is passing through a fireline.

[29:21] All they're all they're doing is it's a detection meter. It's detecting flow.

[29:27] And so when you've got when you we we learned that this is a a risk of

[29:33] folks um stealing water. Um most of the time that's not an issue,

[29:38] but we have had some some folks cuz it's not metered, we can't say we we you now

[29:44] owe us this amount of money because you've used X amount of gallons of water

[29:48] cuz we can't calculate that. And so that fee is actually we want that that flow

[29:53] to be available for emergency purposes and not

[29:57] not somebody trying to get sneaky with things.

[30:00] Yes, sir. >> Yeah, I was just curious uh with respect

[30:04] to irrigation taps, uh it is you know in in comparison to our subscriber base,

[30:12] uh it it is that um is it really low or is it growing

[30:18] uh or are more people requesting irrigation than than in the past?

[30:24] » Well, yes, because we haven't had them in the past. So, this is kind of a new

[30:29] program. It's it's something that we have in in the past said we don't have

[30:33] irrigation meters, you're going to have to connect to your your hose your

[30:36] domestic uh domestic meter. So, it is growing um

[30:41] uh and I would I would absolutely expect

[30:45] that it will continue to grow. The nice thing about the irrigation meters are

[30:50] that, um, when you get into a drought situation and you're into your your

[30:56] your water shortage, uh, response plan, it does distinguish between the first

[31:01] thing that's cut off is irrigation. >> Uh, okay.

[31:04] » So, so having those having knowing who's got irrigation meters is very helpful to

[31:10] us because we can then communicate with them to say, uh, to make sure that that

[31:14] they're complying with the water shortage

[31:17] um, plan. >> Thank you.

[31:22] » Uh, last last thing I'll note, it just like with the general, uh, the general

[31:26] fee schedule is the the penny shortage.

[31:35] If there are no questions, then one of the motion that the motion, if you wish

[31:40] to entertain it, is to adopt both of these both of these fee schedule

[31:45] ordinances with the amendment to increase the, uh, public works hourly

[31:50] rate to $45. >> Yes.

[31:54] I've got a just a question regarding, um, on page 17,

[32:00] in the like in the permit fees, there's a

[32:03] it says town sponsored event. And then on page 18,

[32:08] uh, the hourly charges for equipment

[32:11] personnel, um,

[32:13] uh, hourly charges are for special event

[32:16] permits unless town sponsored or supported.

[32:20] So, is is town sponsored and town supported, are those two different

[32:24] classifications? >> For for clarification on that, what what

[32:27] you're referring to like the fire fees and air supervisors, different things.

[32:32] Um, if somebody wanted a have a fireworks

[32:34] show at a wedding, um, they would have to provide we would

[32:38] provide service there for be an apparatus or personnel on standby. So,

[32:42] that's now a town not a town sponsored event. So, they would basically be

[32:45] contracting to provide personnel staff for that.

[32:48] » Right. But, I guess I'm seeing two terms for sponsored or supported and I'm

[32:53] wondering if those are two different classifications.

[32:55] » Yeah, I think that they are they are I think that

[32:59] we've got to we've got our own events that we put on.

[33:03] So, we've got we sometimes do special event permits.

[33:07] We did one for the music in the park. We do one for 4th of July. Um so, those

[33:12] we're not going to charge ourselves for 4th of July. Now, WBA events, those we

[33:18] we have in the past considered those town supported, not sponsored. And so,

[33:24] there's a little bit of a if y'all have um

[33:28] uh we we sort of taken town council's lead and if you want us to to to help

[33:33] with some of these events that the WBA is putting on for the community, we have

[33:38] uh considered our our staff time as support supporting.

[33:44] » Okay. No, that's that's help- that's helpful.

[33:46] That's the kind of I was leading into that the WBA discussion we've been

[33:49] having regarding that is if if if that would fall under this sponsored or

[33:55] supported category. I just yeah, advocate for just uh you

[34:00] know, clarity in language or whatever

[34:05] » And I think town council is in a great position to have some of those

[34:08] conversations and if there are there are events that we are supporting

[34:13] in with our man hours that you don't wish us to, you just need to be clear

[34:18] with us what those expectations are or or any limitations that you want

[34:24] » So, with WBA events for example, we uh sponsored 18,000 825.

[34:31] » Well, that's see that's that's under the the rate fee

[34:34] » So, we're not charging them >> does not support it.

[34:36] » So, we're not charging them for this, but this is how much we supported them

[34:41] with man hours. >> Well,

[34:43] that that rate is how much if we if it was not a town supported

[34:48] project, how much we would have billed them.

[34:51] But, the actual cost is less than the personnel cost of a non-supported event.

[34:59] » I'm not following. >> The actual rate, like in Angela's

[35:03] breakdown, she had what the actual actual costs were.

[35:07] » Mhm. >> And

[35:08] » Which is this is your actual cost.

[35:11] » It was less than the the 65 for a police and 35 for the

[35:17] » Well, it's it's probably more than 35 because most of this was overtime.

[35:22] So, that's why I want to increase the fee schedule for public works because

[35:25] most of these hours that public works put into this these events were overtime

[35:30] charges, and that's why I'd like to see it increased to $45 instead of $35.

[35:34] Now, >> But, this fee but that wouldn't apply to

[35:37] this. >> Well, it would.

[35:38] » The the increase wouldn't because this these WTBA events are are town

[35:42] sponsored. >> Correct. So,

[35:44] one thing that I'm thinking is we're already giving them $6,000 in the stop

[35:49] end. And we're providing $18,800

[35:53] in support for an event. But, do we need to cap the amount that

[35:58] we are supporting them? I mean, put it at $20,000, and if they

[36:02] go over $20,000, then they have to pay for it.

[36:05] » I think that's a discussion for a later date. We're talking about

[36:08] » I think we're I think we've gone we're way off the rails. We were talking about

[36:11] water rates. >> Yeah.

[36:13] » All right. >> And we're talking about fee schedule.

[36:15] » Well, we're talking about fee schedule, but we were talking about whether there

[36:18] was a motion going to be on the floor about whether we were going to do the

[36:22] two separate motions. One for uh the fee um

[36:29] Let's see, for the general fund and one for the fire fund.

[36:33] » So, we already did that one. >> We already did that one.

[36:38] » Right? >> I don't recall that we did that.

[36:41] » We just >> There was there was

[36:43] There was somebody that said, "I'd like to start this." And then we got off on

[36:46] track. So, I'd like to go back and revisit this. Do we want to do this

[36:51] and do them both at the same time, which we can do. Right, uh Jennifer?

[36:57] » Uh yes. So, if you're you're talking about the motion for this fee schedule,

[37:01] it could you could take them separately or you could take them together. Both I

[37:05] think both changes that that Council Member Young had had suggested, they're

[37:11] they would be equally in both fee schedules. And so, you could do one

[37:16] motion to um to adopt the fee schedule ordinances with the the change from of

[37:22] the public works uh from 35 to 45. You could do that as one motion.

[37:28] » Okay. I would I would like to get this off the table if we could. If somebody

[37:31] would make that motion. >> Okay.

[37:33] » All right. I'll I'll make that. >> Okay. We have a motion

[37:37] uh for the fee schedules for general and fire fund to

[37:40] bind those together. >> And and water.

[37:43] » And water. >> And water.

[37:44] » And water. So, all in favor?

[37:46] » Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. >> Opposed?

[37:49] Motion carries. Thank you very much.

[37:54] » Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Mayor. I just had to clarify on the

[37:59] ordinance adoption of the water fund. Council Member Nagle, were you a

[38:04] negative or a Were you for that?

[38:08] » That's one motion. That was one motion and I did note that

[38:12] Council Member Nagle was a no. >> for the

[38:16] water fund? Yes. Is that correct? >> I was a no for the budget.

[38:20] » For the bud- for the budget ordinance. >> Yeah.

[38:23] » For general fund and fire fund, you are a nay.

[38:25] » Right. >> And then for the water fund, you

[38:27] » Yes. Sorry. >> Thank you.

[38:30] » Thank you. I wasn't clear.

[38:33] » It was one It was one motion. Are you >> Yeah.

[38:37] Trying to group things together. Sound like Washington D.C.

[38:46] » All right, back to you, Mr. Harris. >> All right, on your pay plan um

[38:51] we we don't have it ready tonight for adoption, so we'll go over some

[38:54] highlights. Um on your pay plan uh for a

[39:00] they're still under under development, not quite ready. I'm looking at the base

[39:04] markets um and based off of town council's

[39:06] consensus and direction with the living wage, the recruit wages and pay parity,

[39:12] uh the 3% cola, and the newly created HR position added in there, so we had to

[39:16] get some um comparisons from other HR positions and

[39:21] municipalities alike. Um we're separating out the pay plans from fire

[39:25] and police departments um as they would be most impacted by job competition. Um

[39:30] and when you make increases at the entry-level, um trying to separate out

[39:34] so we don't create so much compression. Um

[39:37] so we're looking at our mid-range and our top end on those as we do the the

[39:41] adjustments for our entry levels. Um we just want to ensure that we're creating

[39:44] a career ladder in there um with the some organizational structure looking at

[39:49] that. Um so one example on that is adjusting a

[39:52] supervisor position um out of the water treatment plant to accommodate positions

[39:56] um that were anticipated out there over the last 2 years. Um so again, we'll be

[40:00] reviewing those for market adjustments, and we'll have that to you at your June

[40:04] 22nd meeting for your pay plan to be adopted that night.

[40:13] Moving along to your policy adjustments.

[40:20] When you go through this, if you're following along, when you notice that

[40:23] the end of it, you know, on each policy that I talk about where it says policy

[40:27] page 29, I know it can get a little confusing, but that is the the page

[40:31] number out of the policy itself, not the policy number and or the page number for

[40:36] your packet. But some changes that were made to the

[40:40] to the policies in itself, personnel policy, minor changes to workplace

[40:44] violence prevention section, which is on the policy page 29, increase

[40:49] annual leave to a minimum of 3 weeks for all employees,

[40:53] clarifies annual leave provision regarding negative leave balance and

[40:56] payment upon separation, clarifies sick leave provisions regarding negative

[41:01] leave balance and notices of use of sick leave, modifies provisions concerning

[41:06] maternity and paternity leave and increased paid sick leave,

[41:11] modified Let me get the 4 weeks there, expanding

[41:14] that. Adds automatic 401K contributions and

[41:19] funded with the budgets. Adds definition of retaliation to the harassment policy,

[41:24] makes minor changes in harassment complaint procedures, clarifies the

[41:29] disciplinary action that can be taken based on the severity of situation.

[41:33] Harassment policy procedures that adds definition of retaliation, makes minor

[41:37] changes in that complaint procedures, and clarifies the disciplinary action

[41:42] for our workplace violence policy. Adds a definition of retaliation, notes that

[41:47] disciplinary action should be congruent and the severity of violation,

[41:53] requires that all complaints must be submitted to the human resource officer,

[41:58] grievance policy procedures up states the manager's name as a contact with

[42:01] general grievances on the policy. The attached proposed amendments have

[42:05] been drafted and are proposed for adoption. A resolution for the purpose

[42:09] is attached for your consideration and action.

[42:14] We can get a motion for um a resolution to adopt it. No one has questions on the

[42:19] policies or attachments. >> Scotty, quick quick question. Um

[42:23] with with adoption of these policy changes or or amendments, how is that

[42:31] communicated to everybody? Is that through department heads or

[42:35] » Yeah, it goes back out and then they have to they'll get a copy of what

[42:38] changes have been made and each employee has to sign off acknowledging they've

[42:42] read the changes to the policy. >> Got it.

[42:45] No, I you know, I think I think everything that I read is fine.

[42:49] Um and you know, my name is not Eustace. So

[42:54] uh I I thought that was a good choice, too.

[42:58] » How does somebody get a You've highlighted employees are

[43:01] expected to keep track of their leave balance and are allowed to not allowed

[43:04] to have a negative sick leave balance. How would somebody get a negative sick

[43:09] leave? >> For example, if a brand new employee

[43:12] started um and hasn't accumulated or acquired enough sick hours and you for

[43:16] that first month they were called out sick, then they haven't

[43:20] accumulated the base off the hours that they accumulate through the process of

[43:25] the payroll. I'm still confused. >> So for me, maybe government works

[43:29] different than private industry. >> You don't get your balance up front.

[43:32] It's automatically accumulated as you go through the process. So if you're

[43:35] accumulating 3.62 hours per pay period and I'm at the fire department and I

[43:40] take off 24 hours on my second or third week or even that first month and call

[43:45] out sick, I haven't accumulated enough hours yet. So it would be a they they

[43:49] would have to get approval from the manager to go on leave or take on leave

[43:52] unpaid leave. >> So Scotty, what happens because I mean

[43:56] Andrew and my example or where we work

[44:01] if somebody were to be discharged because of absenteeism and they had a

[44:04] negative sick leave, they actually owe us the money back.

[44:08] They have to pay it back. Is Is that the same here?

[44:11] » Yeah, I mean it would basically you put the two-week notice. I mean we pay we

[44:14] pay out a maximum of 240 hours. So, if they don't have any of that then it you

[44:19] know >> So, what then happens? Do they have to

[44:22] go into their pocket or do they just do they just

[44:24] » They leave leave without pay. Is it Is there

[44:27] » We don't pay out any sick leave. We pay out annually and holiday leave. So, if

[44:30] someone were to leave we would withhold it from there.

[44:33] » That's what I'm asking. That's what I'm asking.

[44:35] » And it all has to do with state benefits.

[44:38] Correct. It's all tied to state benefits. I'm still confused. Maybe I'm

[44:41] not asking my question right. And maybe it has nothing to do with

[44:45] anything. Somebody starts and I start. So, on day one how much

[44:50] sick days do I get? >> Zero.

[44:51] » Right. So, if I don't show up for work tomorrow and I work 32 hours this week,

[44:56] how many hours are on my paycheck? >> If you work 32 it should be 32.

[45:01] » Well >> Right?

[45:03] » No, I want to see I know what I do. I want to see what they do.

[45:06] » I mean they can request to go go into a negative leave balance.

[45:10] » But yes, so they got to get paid for 40 and owe us eight.

[45:13] » And it's depending upon the circumstances

[45:15] in that aspect. >> Never tried that.

[45:19] Huh? Okay. >> But then once that is that is

[45:22] accumulated in there >> Sure.

[45:24] » they get back to it. So >> Right. You would Yeah.

[45:27] Okay. >> You try it and let us know how it works

[45:29] out. >> It wouldn't.

[45:31] If it doesn't work out in the real world.

[45:34] » get abused. >> Yeah. Yes. So, you just start

[45:38] and you go I want to dip into my reuse PTO cuz we don't have it.

[45:42] » for someone that just started now. It has to be justified has to be approved

[45:45] by town manager. And really it has to be a good reason for it.

[45:48] » Sure. >> Someone that's been at work for a while

[45:50] working hard they get COVID or they're >> Right.

[45:53] » have surgery or something. >> It just sound like when you were

[45:57] highlighting I'm like has this been Is that the rule? Like or why are you

[46:01] highlighting it? >> Is there an option to do like leave

[46:04] without pay? Like, let's say they do get sick and they got to take a week.

[46:08] » Yeah, if the manager doesn't approve them to go into a negative leave

[46:11] balance, then they have to take leave without pay.

[46:13] » So, quick question. Do we have a

[46:18] what what I would call an accounting portal

[46:21] where individuals can sort of look at you know, here are the hours that I put

[46:26] in my time card, here's the hours that I classified as vacation, here's what I

[46:31] have >> We're in the process.

[46:33] » Who? >> our upgrades. One of our upgrades.

[46:35] » One of their hiring an HR person. >> Yeah, yeah, no, that's great.

[46:38] » We're implementing it's called TimeClock Plus where all your leave is is tracked.

[46:43] You can see your leave balances. You request your leave out of there, so you

[46:47] can't request leave you don't have. >> And

[46:50] And Tony, what system is that going to be?

[46:52] » TimeClock Plus. >> Okay, super. Yeah.

[46:57] » If they want to print a pay stub again, they can do that on their own.

[47:00] Right, they get their W-2. >> They get a link to log into it.

[47:02] » That's a separate portal, but yes. >> Oh, that makes a lot of sense.

[47:06] » Thank you.

[47:09] » Well, I'll I'll make the motion to move the the adoption of the proposed

[47:14] resolution which amends the town's personnel policy, harassment policy and

[47:17] procedures, workplace violence prevention policy, and ratifies an

[47:21] amendment to the grievance policy and procedures made on May 18th, 2026.

[47:26] Just to clarify, are we voting on one thing or two things?

[47:30] Cuz I'm confused. >> I'm doing the the suggested motion.

[47:36] » So, the res- the resolution that's in your packet does all of those things.

[47:40] » On 32, it's it's all encompassing on page 32.

[47:44] » Did we talk about all that yet? Did I Did I jump Did I jump the gun?

[47:47] » No, I've been an >> He was referring to his earlier

[47:51] » I I was referring to myself voting no on something I didn't know what I was

[47:54] voting. You do two >> Just wanted to be clear if I'm bottom.

[47:58] » All right, so we have a resolution of amending the town's personnel policy.

[48:03] To be approved. All in favor say aye.

[48:05] » Aye. >> Opposed?

[48:09] Motion carried. Thank you.

[48:24] » So, Mayor, we're at number seven.

[48:31] » Number seven is further discussion and direction.

[48:38] » So, I would like to make a a motion. >> Okay.

[48:42] » Um whenever we offer our services for town events,

[48:47] be it sponsored or supported whatever the term may be,

[48:51] we have not historically given an accounting to the organization of which

[48:56] we are supporting as to the cost of those events.

[48:59] So, for example, this um spreadsheet that I did for you

[49:03] guys, um musical main event was a cost of 2,000

[49:07] or 5,221. And I would just like for us to give a

[49:12] statement of what is projected while we're planning these events,

[49:18] and then another statement as to what the actual cost of these events are.

[49:22] It's It's hard for an organization to know how much

[49:26] something costs if we don't tell them how much we're putting into it.

[49:30] And for the sake of transparency, I think we need to give them a statement

[49:33] of the cost for each event for the man hours

[49:37] and or equipment that are used. >> It's a brilliant idea because, again,

[49:42] you relate things back to the private world. If you're going to give away free

[49:45] things, typically we would give them an invoice and then

[49:48] » And then no charge it. >> Right.

[49:50] » Right. You >> something that I want to charge them

[49:52] for. >> No, I get it. No. No. It's a brilliant

[49:54] idea. >> To understand what the value is.

[49:56] » Exactly. >> Right. It's great. And we

[49:58] » validated. >> I want to be validated.

[50:00] » Okay. >> Yeah, I get it.

[50:02] » I mean, we do we do this at work all the time where we have an invoice and then

[50:07] there is an overage, so we just do professional discount and get it back in

[50:10] line where it needs to be and then they can see the full

[50:13] » That's correct. >> value of what was done on that project.

[50:19] » Why don't we think of this sooner?

[50:23] » Sir, did you make that in the form of a motion?

[50:25] » I'll make a motion that we give a statement of accounting of the

[50:30] anticipated charges up front during the planning time and then an actual

[50:34] accounting after the event as to the actual cost that the town has provided

[50:39] support for. >> Before we vote, may I ask one quick

[50:43] follow-up question? >> Tanya, how and

[50:46] how how much time would this add to your job?

[50:51] » It's not just me, it's the department heads.

[50:53] » Yeah. Okay. >> So, there definitely would be an admin

[50:56] cost. Just like preparing all these costs for you, like so far, it costs all

[51:01] of our time. So, yeah, we would want to be mindful of how much time we spend,

[51:05] but I think we could we could definitely come up with an estimate. We don't have

[51:09] to have actual, we could do an estimate. We could have a

[51:12] » You could base it on what you did last year.

[51:13] » Yes. And take an an average salary, maybe not every Look

[51:18] to see who's working which events. We could We could have an average public

[51:21] works salary >> Or you got a fee schedule to go by.

[51:23] » So, you can use that fee schedule. >> We can use the fee schedule.

[51:27] » So, it is So, it is a reasonable thing for staff or for you to manage that.

[51:32] » Okay. >> Okay.

[51:34] » Okay. >> And I guess is there a need the need for

[51:36] both the estimate and the actual or is it really when you can have the actual?

[51:41] » I think as events are being planned, there may not be an awareness that oh,

[51:46] we you charge for police protection for this event and it could be a wedding. It

[51:51] could be the fireworks. It could be whatever.

[51:53] And I think it's only fair as we are supporting these organizations or

[51:58] weddings or whatever we're doing, that this is how much we think it's going to

[52:01] cost. And so they have an idea, oh, I don't

[52:04] want to spend $5,000 on a fire truck and firemen to be there for fireworks at my

[52:08] wedding. But then you're going to get another

[52:10] statement that says this is how much it actually cost.

[52:13] » Mhm. >> Well, that would be the bill from the

[52:15] from the town. >> Yes.

[52:16] » Yeah, but for WBA events, what you're saying is, okay, so you're going to

[52:20] estimate out but it needs to be very clear that this

[52:23] is not a bill. >> Right, it's not a bill. It's just It's

[52:26] just for them to be able to understand the cost it is for their event.

[52:32] » Yeah. >> That they have to have an accounting of

[52:34] all the costs in there. >> And with Time Card Plus,

[52:38] Tanya's going to give me a code and I'm going to use it

[52:42] to to book my hours and then she just pushes

[52:45] » Right, summary. Yeah. I did

[52:48] » Fill that in. >> Yeah.

[52:50] » You can do that simple. >> So I I understand the there's probably a

[52:55] simplicity of just using the fee schedule

[52:58] um opposed to differentiating between sponsored not sponsored

[53:04] for the both the estimate and the act and the actual cost.

[53:07] » is fine. >> Right.

[53:08] » So we anticipate it's going to be five employees at this many hours and then

[53:13] you have a cost. >> Yeah.

[53:14] Okay, I was just thinking through if there's any benefit to having more of a

[53:19] closer to an actual cost for the sponsored events.

[53:22] Um and that's for any any sponsored event.

[53:26] Um cuz like for like 4th of July, will we estimate

[53:30] the cost of that based upon the fee schedule?

[53:32] » We're not doing that, that's our event. >> That's our event.

[53:34] » But we're still going to we're summarizing these costs.

[53:39] That I don't believe that's That's Jennifer's talking about. I think this

[53:41] is for third-party. I mean, you could do that, sure. You could say

[53:46] so we as town council know what a July 4th costs if you want that. But

[53:51] you know, what >> Yeah.

[53:52] » What And And you know, they do it. The fireworks going to cost

[53:56] X and >> Yeah, I I think it's like you get a

[53:59] quote. The quote is the estimated cost.

[54:04] » Right. >> And then you can compare that to what

[54:06] your actual cost was >> Yeah.

[54:08] » how good your estimates were. >> Well, I think it's

[54:10] » Well, so >> Agree. Totally agree.

[54:12] » For example, like I asked Scotty when we're having this discussion with WBA of

[54:16] like, "What's What are the costs of the the other town events that are like the

[54:20] 4th of July?" And so, if we were going to receive that estimate

[54:25] would it would we use the would we use the the

[54:29] the fee schedule for that or would we try to calculate the actual?

[54:34] Just for comparison. >> Yeah, I I think that's one of those

[54:36] things that you get to kind of get to pick and choose what you want to do

[54:39] given on what that particular event might be.

[54:42] » Mhm. >> Is are you going to Is an estimate close

[54:44] enough? Or do we actually need to know what

[54:47] actual is? And we're not going to know actual until it's done.

[54:50] » Yeah, so what it's for us. It's What Jennifer said is correct. But they're

[54:55] getting it free anyway, so they're going to go

[54:57] » Right. >> I don't really care that you say it's

[54:59] costing 80 grand. >> Right.

[55:01] » Thank you for doing it. >> Yeah.

[55:03] » And then we're going to go, "Wow, we're spending a quarter million dollars of

[55:06] town revenue to do free things that we like

[55:10] and free things that we like that other people ask for." They're still the same

[55:14] thing. Nobody You know, the town people have said, "Do a July 4th." Okay. "Do a

[55:18] Christmas parade." Okay. And then WBA saying, "Do a Musical Main." At the end

[55:22] of the day, Scotty and his department head should know what these

[55:27] free things for the town cost. >> Right.

[55:30] » Okay, quarter million bucks. Great. >> Yeah.

[55:32] » We go, "All right, we're spending uh 8% of our budget on stuff to make

[55:38] Weaverville a great place for people to come to. And there is it no benefit, you

[55:43] know, you can't drive it to the economy and sales tax and all that. You just go,

[55:47] "How much are we spending on having parties in the town of Weaverville?"

[55:51] Quarter million bucks. Great. Is that good or bad? I don't know. This

[55:55] is what it is, and I think that to your point, I already said earlier, it's a

[55:58] great idea to tell the customer, which in this case is WBA, what it's costing

[56:03] the town. And to mark point, maybe we should know

[56:06] what we're spending, too. >> Yeah.

[56:08] » Well, it's just for transparency's sake. >> I think it's great.

[56:10] » And my my point is just more the clarification of what it actually costs

[56:14] to what >> I'd love to know what it actually costs.

[56:16] » builds in builds in extra to where it's above our actual cost.

[56:21] » So, for example, and Chief Oberlin can speak to this if if you have a question,

[56:26] any employer in the county that a police officer goes to work other than their

[56:31] regular scheduled days, let's say they pick up time to do security at the

[56:35] church. The cost of that

[56:38] costs the county $65. Is that right? Okay.

[56:42] So, they charge $65 an hour. Well, that's not the salary of that

[56:46] police officer, but that's the cost of the service.

[56:49] So, that's where the fee schedule comes into play.

[56:53] For us doing an event for the town, it should be an actual event cost.

[56:58] We're not I don't care what everybody else costs. That's how much it actually

[57:01] costs the town to do it. >> So, I would advocate then since WBA or

[57:06] town-sponsored events are in a similar vein, that that should be the that

[57:10] should be the number then as well. Not a fee schedule that is never filled.

[57:16] » I think it should be fee schedule.

[57:23] » Maybe we should have >> May I ask a question as well while we're

[57:26] talking? >> Please, ma'am.

[57:28] » Um for clarity, I like that that's what you're going for, Mr. Embry.

[57:33] What do we classify as events? Would be my next question. So, today

[57:40] the third graders walked down Yost, crossed Merriman, as we know, there's no

[57:46] sidewalks to get to the lake. So, we had to post officers

[57:52] to get them down Yost safely on both sides of Merriman to shut the traffic

[57:57] down on Lake Louise Drive to keep cars from leaving the park and running them

[58:02] over. That we did that to get them there. We did that to get them back. We

[58:07] serve meals at the schools. So, in these cases, those events can be

[58:14] handled by people that are on duty barring some kind of call.

[58:19] But, things like 4th of July are overtime and folks that are working on a

[58:24] day that they would normally be off or working during the day when they would

[58:27] normally be on at night. If If you could, and I don't expect an

[58:31] answer right now, but you're asking for some of these things in the police as

[58:36] you've seen I've put presentations out of the events that we do everything from

[58:40] going to churches and and whatnot, Rotary Club meetings and

[58:46] things. Are you know, is that an event or is that a courtesy?

[58:49] Is >> Mhm.

[58:51] » the police department working for the school

[58:54] a service or a billable hour? >> I think if it

[59:00] causes an additional staff and hours outside their normal work duties, then I

[59:06] think it's an event.

[59:12] » I What I What I hear between the two of you is a debate between

[59:18] uh you know, actual cost versus cost plus

[59:22] uh you know, a premium of of you know, what what we would call structural costs

[59:27] that we may not be able to account for. So, the fee schedule basically is an

[59:34] estimate of rates that will cover uh not not only our actual

[59:41] hard dollar costs, but also an estimate of the soft things that we're not

[59:45] accounting for that are still basically in the structure.

[59:50] So, I think the reason Jennifer is basically

[59:53] saying use fee schedule is that gives the town basically some free board over

[59:59] and above, you know, hard dollar actual penny costs.

[1:00:04] Uh you know, that will will essentially

[1:00:06] keep the town whole, uh

[1:00:09] you know, versus having to account for, you know, down down to the minute and

[1:00:14] » Mhm. So, so no money's changing hands. All right, so we're we're

[1:00:20] Yeah, we we talk about for next hour cuz I got nowhere to go.

[1:00:24] Um It's it's good. So, again, go back to

[1:00:27] the real world.

[1:00:30] We're going to add margin to what it costs us to make a patch when

[1:00:34] I'm giving it away for free. And I'm going to say to the guy, "It's 250 bucks

[1:00:39] and it's a free because we like you." And then I say to the purchasing

[1:00:43] department, "Make Andrew Nagel 100 of those patches for me so I can hand them

[1:00:48] out when I come to town council and Jennifer Jackson always can have her

[1:00:52] space patch." I want to know

[1:00:56] I want to know what it cost us to make it.

[1:00:58] » Mhm. >> So, I do this all all the time. I go,

[1:01:01] "What did it cost us?" >> Mhm.

[1:01:04] » Cuz I'm going to donate it. Or and if I'm going to and then we'll

[1:01:09] you know, we're I'm going to show them the margin. If you had to buy it, what

[1:01:11] would you pay? So, July 4th in my mind is a town event. I'd

[1:01:15] like to know what it cost us. WVA events, I'm in total agreement with

[1:01:19] Jennifer. What would we sell it for? >> Mhm.

[1:01:21] » You know, we need to make money because even though we're not no money's

[1:01:24] changing hands. For now, maybe one day it will. We don't know. I know you're

[1:01:28] saying this is for transparency, but I'm in favor of, you know, use your taxes.

[1:01:33] So, maybe people should be paying us when

[1:01:36] they want to have an event. >> Mhm. I think it's important that there's

[1:01:39] This would give a sense of proportion for people that when they're planning to

[1:01:43] have an event and come to town, and say, "We'd like you to sponsor this event."

[1:01:48] What's it What is it going to cost? >> Right.

[1:01:51] » Well, we have a fixed place to go now to generate that number.

[1:01:56] And it's it'll be consistent that way. >> Correct.

[1:01:59] » You have to be consistent from one to the next.

[1:02:01] » That's right. >> But it does give a sense of proportion,

[1:02:03] like, you know, right now WBA, this is how much

[1:02:07] the town is contributing. >> Correct.

[1:02:09] » In in services. >> Correct.

[1:02:11] » Right? >> Correct.

[1:02:13] » And they come back with a bigger plan next year, and they expect kind of the

[1:02:17] same thing. >> Correct.

[1:02:18] » Maybe not. >> Right.

[1:02:20] » You know, so I think it's important to to be able to get some metrics around

[1:02:24] it. >> And the other thing is how much will

[1:02:26] they have to go buy that service from someone else?

[1:02:29] » Exactly. >> Which would include margin.

[1:02:32] » Correct. >> Right.

[1:02:33] » So, let's just be clear to Chief Oberlin, we want you to keep the third

[1:02:37] graders safe. Okay? I'm We're on the record. We We

[1:02:41] didn't need to think about it. I know you told us

[1:02:44] we could think about it, but the press does listen to the minutes. We are in

[1:02:48] favor of not charging the third graders to keep them safe.

[1:02:52] » Not charging, but to document. I I guess >> No, you don't need to document it.

[1:02:57] » What what do you want us to document? >> an event. That's keeping third graders

[1:03:00] safe. >> Should Should we let Tonya maybe present

[1:03:06] us with a example plan of

[1:03:10] the the estimated cost model, and then the

[1:03:14] actual cost model that we can study and say, "Is this the information we want or

[1:03:17] not? That is a reasonable for you to put

[1:03:19] together enough in a normal time frame, not an

[1:03:23] exhausting time frame. >> Then we're going to ask you what it will

[1:03:26] cost. You tell us what it's going to cost.

[1:03:29] » Yeah, that was my original question. How much more work does this put on

[1:03:34] I mean, and should we then maybe be charging an admin fee for doing that?

[1:03:38] » Yeah. >> Margin.

[1:03:40] » It's like, "Okay, we're going to give you $18,000 worth of service.

[1:03:45] It's going to cost you $25 for us to do the math."

[1:03:49] That's fine. But I But I'd like to just go on record here also to say that this

[1:03:53] number, thank you for compiling this number, but this number does not fit me.

[1:03:58] I think this is a very reasonable number for what was brought into this town.

[1:04:02] So, that is not something that I am driving toward even with this increase

[1:04:07] in transparency, which sometimes leads to Now we have a basis for which to

[1:04:11] change our policy next year to start charging. I hope that doesn't happen.

[1:04:16] » Right. And this this is not by any means a method for me to charge WBA for these

[1:04:22] events. It's just to make them aware >> of how much the friendship

[1:04:25] » the friendship is.

[1:04:28] And so, with the fee schedule, it's just easier accounting for the staff to say

[1:04:33] it's $65 an hour for police officer and it's $45 an hour for public works, and

[1:04:38] that's easy math. >> Yeah, so I I totally get that. I

[1:04:43] I guess where I was getting back to We just We just adopted this fee schedule,

[1:04:47] and it you know, it it it again it's it talks about sponsored or supported

[1:04:52] um uh and then I just just just trying to

[1:04:56] get clarity and and clear binning of what things are so that we can then come

[1:05:02] up with our numbers and our >> Some things continue to be a work in

[1:05:05] progress. >> Yes.

[1:05:07] » Yes. >> This has been very enlightening. Thank

[1:05:10] you for putting that together. >> So, there is a motion on the table.

[1:05:14] » I was I was getting to that point. >> I'm happy to try to restate it. If

[1:05:18] » Please. >> So, I've got a motion for the town to

[1:05:21] provide statements to the WBA and others for estimates of the cost of support of

[1:05:27] town support of events for transparency purposes and then a post event revision

[1:05:34] with an actual accounting of costs actually incurred so that they

[1:05:38] understand the true cost of events. >> Yes.

[1:05:42] Thank you. >> I have a

[1:05:43] comment. >> Sorry, based on based on an actual

[1:05:47] accounting of costs based on the adopted fee schedule.

[1:05:50] » Correct. >> Okay.

[1:05:52] » Before we make any motion or vote, should we let Tanya come

[1:05:57] back with a couple examples and models on what she think she

[1:06:02] can put together and let us review those and then make a decision?

[1:06:07] » I actually think this is good enough. >> Okay.

[1:06:11] » I do, too. >> All right.

[1:06:12] » All right. >> Okay.

[1:06:13] » I think it's a great start. >> I don't want to oppose tonight.

[1:06:15] » Mhm. >> I don't have enough friends tonight.

[1:06:19] » I might be overthinking it. I don't know.

[1:06:21] » So, so we have motion on the floor. Uh all in favor say I.

[1:06:26] » I. >> I.

[1:06:27] » All opposed? >> He said I. He said I. He did.

[1:06:33] » Thank you. >> I might be overthinking it.

[1:06:34] » Motion carries.

[1:06:38] » Uh let's see. Where are we? >> There's like more documentation to go.

[1:06:42] » I hate to ask this question. Is there any further discussion that we need to

[1:06:45] have about anything we've done this evening?

[1:06:47] » Does everybody know what they're going to pay in taxes?

[1:06:51] Mark, I expect you to come to the next I'll have the answer for you.

[1:06:55] Since it's public record. >> summarize it for everybody?

[1:06:58] » Sure. I did that when you got your revals. I contacted each of you and told

[1:07:02] you which property went up. So, I'm a I'm a I'm a sovereign nation. I don't

[1:07:07] » You're not paying taxes? >> I don't know. I have one quick update.

[1:07:12] The the Urban 3 Consulting company basically has now

[1:07:19] decided to kick off the economic analysis for Weaverville on July 1.

[1:07:26] And you know, I think they have determined I

[1:07:30] think I sent all of you the note. They they've determined that

[1:07:34] that's probably an effective start date with with all the questions coming in

[1:07:38] from appraisals and and basically challenges

[1:07:43] to appraisals. So, they they think they're going to

[1:07:45] have enough

[1:07:48] data to start and they have specifically requested

[1:07:53] a copy of the budget that we have approved this this evening, which will

[1:07:58] also be numerical input to the analysis. The second quick update is the Ball

[1:08:06] Crank

[1:08:09] the Ball Crank Arcade at 115 is

[1:08:14] going strong even without the lift grant that would have covered our

[1:08:20] town-sponsored pavilion. It sounds like the building now is fully

[1:08:27] sold out. And it's going to be substantially directed to

[1:08:32] recreation and entertainment. And

[1:08:36] Council Council member Young basically is connecting investors also to Advent

[1:08:42] Health to explore what I would call collaboration

[1:08:48] ideas with with both the hospital and this now

[1:08:53] new recreation center. So,

[1:08:57] the you know, all of the indicators are still very positive for the town.

[1:09:03] » Thank you, Mayor. >> You're welcome. Thank you very much.

[1:09:06] » Is there any further business to come before council?

[1:09:10] None appearing, the council is adjourned.

Town Council Workshop - Jun 08 2026

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