Beulaville’s newest commissioner gets straight to work

The Beulaville Board of Commissioners bid farewell to longtime Commissioner Kenny Whaley at the regular monthly meeting Dec. 4, and welcomed in new Commissioner Tracy Thomas.

Mayor Hutch Jones presented a plaque of appreciation to Whaley at the start of the meeting, saying, “A plaque does not do you justice, what you’ve done for the town. … At the end of the day, you always had the town’s best interest [at heart]. It was never about Kenny, in my five and a half years on the board. At no time have I felt like you were in it for yourself.”

“We’ve done a lot of good,” Whaley said, before giving some advice to newcomer Thomas: “My daddy always said, ‘leave stuff in better shape than you found it.’ … To my replacement, I wish you the best, and always remember, it’s not your money; it’s somebody else’s.”

After Thomas and fellow Commissioners Russ Lanier and Byron Thomas were sworn in, the board elected Commissioner Gene Wickline to serve as mayor pro tem, and got down to business.

Several reports from the Public Works Department took up a majority of the meeting, with the commissioners discussing director Ricky Raynor’s equipment needs and the need for a new warehouse, since the current one has become infested with black mold.

“The roof, we had to repair about three months ago,” Raynor explained. “We were hoping that would fix a couple of big holes we had up there. That did not fix it, and it started to leak bad enough inside that it’s getting underneath the tiles and behind the sheetrock, and now I have black mold growing everywhere.”

Raynor has moved to the town hall in the meantime, and after much discussion, the board decided to have Raynor and Town Manager Lori Williams gather quotes and more information so that the building can have a permanent fix.

Williams also presented the board with a proposed water and sewer tap schedule. Currently, the town only charges a $300 connection fee, which Williams said barely covers the cost of the meter, let alone the other things required to connect to the town’s water and sewer. She and Raynor proposed that the fee be increased to $1,000 for water and $1,000 for sewer, stressing that this would only affect new customers who want to connect to the town’s system. The town only averages three or four a year, she added.

“This would only affect anyone coming to town and requesting permission to tie in to the town’s water and sewer,” Williams said.

The cost is cheaper when compared to comparable towns, and had not been increased in “many moons,” she added.

The commissioners unanimously approved the increase.

In other business, Police Chief Jamie Rogers followed up on two traffic complaints that had been received at last month’s meeting, one at Kennedy Road and the other at Kennedy Street. Upon Rogers’ recommendation, the commissioners voted unanimously to close Kennedy Road to vehicular traffic. The closure will require a public hearing, which should be held next month, Williams said. He will continue to study the Kennedy Street issue, and work with property owners at the adjacent Jackson’s IGA, Rogers said.

The commissioners also appointed Lanier to continue to serve on the Eastern Carolina Council, and rescheduled the January regular meeting for Jan. 8, due to the New Year’s holiday.

In closing, the mayor pointed out a table he and his wife Kendra donated to the town. The table was made entirely from a pecan tree that used to sit on the town hall property, and took four or five years.

“I hope it stays here,” Jones said. “Everything that’s there is from that pecan tree. It turned out great.”