Mount Olive town board continues to work to address issues

MOUNT OLIVE — The Mount Olive Board of Commissioners is looking to start fresh in the New Year, after a contentious town board meeting in December, during which several citizens took the town to task for problems with water quality and transparency of town government. Citizen input was at a minimum at the Jan. 6 meeting, but the meeting was not without its controversies.

To start, Mayor Jerome Newton stated that there had been accusations by one town commissioner that he had secretly taped meetings, which he said wasn’t true. The mayor said all meetings are open to the public, and that there have been “no private meetings,” except closed sessions as required by law to discuss personnel or attorney-client issues.

“I don’t know about good, but I think we’re getting better,” Newton said later in the meeting. “I do hope we have a prosperous year, with real progress.”

In related business, the commissioners scheduled a closed session for Jan. 15 at 6 p.m. to discuss or consider the qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness, conditions of appointment or conditions of initial employment of an individual public officer or employee or to hear or investigate a complaint, charge or grievance against a public officer or employee. The scheduling of the meeting passed 4-1, with Commissioner Deltreese Simmons opposed, because he will not be available on that day.

There has been some talk amongst commissioners that Town Manager Jammie Royall be replaced. Simmons said earlier in the meeting that he had joked with Mayor Pro Tem Barbara Kornegay that maybe he would apply for the position.

“She said, ‘They’re going to string you up,’” Simmons said. “To ‘string you up’ in my race means a whole situation. She was joking, but we don’t joke like that. Maybe it’s her area that she lived in. I don’t know. I took it serious. I laughed about it, but then I thought about it.”

Later in the meeting, Kornegay apologized for the statement, saying that she was joking and did not mean any offense. “He was joking, and I, too, was joking,” she stated. “I used a very poor choice of words and I do apologize.”

One citizen said she was “not upset,” but the comment made her “feel some kind of way” and had to leave the room momentarily. “I’m glad you apologized,” she said. “I think something should be said. It’s all about unity, and everybody getting along.”

During his monthly report, Royall praised town employees, especially those who worked overtime during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to repair water and sewer issues.

Commissioner Danny Keel also praised town employees for their work. Iron that was reportedly contaminating the water supply is being removed and taken care of, he said.

Commissioner Vicky Darden announced that a Black History Month parade is planned for Feb. 22, with a rain date of March 1. Participation is free. “Anyone that wants to join in, please do,” she said. “Anyone can be in the parade. It’s not just for Black people. It’s for everybody.”

The mayor also shared information on a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration on Jan. 19 at 3 p.m. at Holy Ghost Cathedral.

In other business at the Jan. 6 meeting, Town Attorney Carroll Turner was scheduled to update the board on a minimum housing code/boarding rooms ordinance. He said he and his team have been working diligently, and will get that information to the board before the next meeting. “We’re attempting to address a serious problem that has been mentioned numerous times, and that’s that residences here that have a large number of people staying under arrangements that they’re basically renting out separate rooms,” Turner said. “We’re working to come up with something that can address that.”

The board also voted unanimously to:

• Adopt a resolution readopting the community development block grant for infrastructure (CDBG-I) policies and guidelines.

• Approve a budget ordinance amendment of $10,000 to fund overtime salaries for public works and water and sewer collections. The money came from the capital reserve fund.

• Approve a budget ordinance for the $24,941.76 in revenue from Wayne County for the airport.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Mount Olive Board of Commissioners will be Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 114 E. James St.