Faces questions on Hayes Plantation annexation transparency

BY MILES LAYTON

After a solid kayak trip in the bay Tuesday, I popped my head into an Edenton Town Council meeting to see if anything was going on — a lot of stuff came up. 

Though damp from my travels to the last channel marker, I started taking notes on my phone about Hal Murray’s concerns, a salary study and a few other matters.  

First, business — any time the government spends money, it will be toward the top of the story. 

Town Council approved plans to hire Management Personnel Services Group (MAPS) to conduct a salary study that will make recommendations as to what Town employees should be paid based on comparisons to other towns, among other metrics.  

The fee for the study is $22,500.  In addition, the Town will be billed for actual itemized expenses for mileage, meals, lodging, printing and supplies (not to exceed $2,000) and actual travel time at $25 per hour.

Town Hall hired MAPS before — 2017 — to conduct a similar study for the 2018 budget cycle. Why? You don’t want qualified, good employees jumping ship because the pay is much better as a cashier at a grocery store.

According to Town documents, the primary purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive pay and classification study and update the personnel policy for the Town of Edenton to include the following work study objectives:

• To study and evaluate all positions covered by the NCLGERS within the Town for the purpose of determining the proper position classification and salary for each employee.
• To conduct a comprehensive salary survey of appropriate public and private sector organizations to determine that the Town’s salaries, benefits and wages are competitive within the applicable job market.
• To prepare or update class specifications for each position class based upon current job duties and requirements, outlining appropriate ADA information.
• To prepare a pay plan for the Town as required to maintain a competitive system of salaries and wages. To identify those classes of positions that are “exempt” and “non-exempt” in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (F.L.S.A.) of 1983 as amended in 1985. 
• To review and make recommendations concerning the effectiveness of the Town’s overall compensation system including compression issues.
• To update the personnel policy to reflect modern and effective staff management and most recent laws, regulations and court cases.

Next up, Town Manager Corey Gooden answered questions about Hayes Plantation submitted by Hal Murray of West Queen Street during September’s council meeting. 

Let’s back up a minute to recap: During the public comments portion of the Sept. 10 meeting, Murray asked the Town Council to provide the public information about the annexation of the Hayes Plantation property.

According to documents Murray supplied during the September meeting, Rep. Ed Goodwin introduced House Bill 904, the Town of Edenton/Hayes Farm Annexation, on April 24, 2024. The annexation was discussed as early as Jan. 15, 2024, when Goodwin attended the Town Council’s planning retreat, according to Murray.

A document listing the council’s possible priorities for 2024 from that time included Hayes Farm and finalizing the annexation of the site to assist with city services and future town use of space for an “equestrian retirement program and mounted patrol.”

According to current law, Edenton must provide, or contract to provide, basic services — police and fire protection, solid waste collection, and the extension of water and sewer lines to the area.

Published below are the questions Murray asked and the answers (non-redacted) from Gooden:  

•    Why has the Town Council of Edenton not been transparent with the public about the annexing of Hayes? 

Answer: The Town does not and did not have the regulatory authority to annex Hayes into the Town, this annexation was handled by the State of North Carolina and required a local bill from the NC legislators to become law.

•    Now that Hayes is part of the town, what accounting numbers will be used for all funding and transactions between Hayes and the Town of Edenton?

Answer: Currently there are no accounting because there are no official agreements between the Town, the State, or the Lessee of the property.  What separate chart of accounts will be used/created to track town expenditures on Hayes?  If agreements were approved and executed by the State of NC & the Lessee with the Town, the property expenses would be accounted for as with any other passive park in Edenton. 

• How will the public be informed of these expenses? 

Answer: By public information request or by reviewing the Towns audits. The residents of the town of Edenton deserve to know what additional cost Hayes is to the community! At this time, other than being part of any Town wide planning expenses there are none.

•    Will the Town of Edenton be financially responsible for planning and executing additional “parking, walking trails, public beaches, roads, equestrian retirement program & mounted patrol” as published in the 2024 Council packet for the Town Council Planning Retreat held Jan. 15, 2024 at Hayes?

Answer: No, these were part of a larger plan for the grounds of the site and no discussion has been made over the cost of implementing or upkeeping these.

•    Over the next three years, what specific projects, initiatives, improvements, etc. are planned or anticipated for Hayes involving Town of Edenton financial support or funding? 

Answer: At this time only conversations around grass walking trails and the public beach access has been mentioned.  What are the associated costs? We do not know; no official plan has been approved or priced.

•    Will the Town of Edenton be responsible for providing, maintaining, or upgrading the following at Hayes?  What is the anticipated cost of each of the following services?

Answer:   

a) extension of sewer services — no, however we have always had sewer utilities that go through this area that the Town has maintained for numerous years; sewer extensions could be possible if there was am request — however we have received none

b) natural gas — No, we do not provide this service.

c) city water — No, this utility is provided by Chowan county and always has been

d) electric grid services — Yes, but these customers have already been town electric customers for years so any expenses would be normal grid maintenance/operations.

e) trash/garbage — No, only if there was a official request would this be considered.

f) mowing/landscaping — No, however we would continue maintaining any utility easement that we have (electric & sewer) — such as the one you shared a picture of where workers were seen — that’s above a main sewer force main for stations in the county

g) construction of walking paths — No, this would require some executed agreement

h) construction of parking area — No, this would require some executed agreement

i) construction of swimming area — No, this would require some executed agreement

j) erosion abatement — No, this would require some executed agreement

k) police protection — No, this would require some executed agreement

l) fire protection — Yes, however we have already provided this service because the FD is a joint venture with the Town and the County due to the fire district.

•     Did the Town of Edenton pay for the new electric gate at the bridge that crosses Queen Anne Creek? No If so, what was the cost? 

Answer: I do not know

•       Will the bridge that crosses Queen Anne Creek from E. Water Street to Hayes, commonly known as Hayes Farm Road, be upgraded, enhanced, replaced, or widened to accommodate anticipated additional traffic from Edenton to Hayes? 

Answer: Not at this time, the only request or information have been shared from NCDOT to make a condition assessment and to share with the Town and the State (because we own the property on one side of the bridge)

•       If so, what will be the cost to The Town of Edenton?

Answer: I do not know of any cost at this time. However, if the bridge/road became part of the Towns street ROW this would be funded like all bridges and roadways with the Powell Bill Funding.

—–

After the meeting, I talked with Murray.

He referred me to an Edenton Town Council Planning Retreat held Jan. 15 at Hayes. 

“Makes it rather clear WHY the Town Council wanted Hayes to be Annexed into the Town of Edenton.  In their own words.

Scroll to documents below that Murray provided: 

See page 1, “Time Period where Senator Sanderson & Representative Goodwin will join”

See page 2,  2024 Council Priorities   Item 3:

Release to the public the Interim Recreation plan for Hayes Outdoor space, which includes parking, walking trails, and public beaches. Finalize annexation of the Hayes site to assist with Town services (Roads, ROW, Trash, etc.) and future Town use of space (Equestrian retirement program & mounted patrol).

Murray said he sought transparency on the issue, but Town Hall did not provide that. 

“The whole point of these questions was centered around transparency,” he said. “Corey’s answer to the first question was not an answer. Although a truthful statement, it didn’t answer the question at all. If you look at the series of events, it was orchestrated and pre-planned as early as January of this year, all in an effort for the Town to be fiscally responsible for some upgrades and development at Hayes — that’s why the Town didn’t object to the legislature annexing Hayes into the town.” 

Murray continued, “When this is all said and done, this annexation could cost the Town a significant amount of money.” 

In other council matters, a few bullet points:

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Wayne Caskey of North Oakum Street spoke about the polarizing nature of politics in a small town. Though only having lived in Edenton (recently) for about two years, Caskey said he has deep roots in the community — born a Hollowell and his mother was an Ambrose. 

“There’s a false narrative that the politics of Edenton has nothing to do with the politics of Washington DC,” he said. “Know that the politics of Washington DC are already in our town. And it’s virtually affecting every city in our country, including Edenton. This is evidenced by the fact that water bottles with the word traitor are being thrown into people’s yards. And I’ve had two of them thrown in my yard within the last two weeks. This is totally unacceptable.”  

Caskey talked about an Appeal to Heaven flag flying in his yard — a woman knocked on his door and asked him about that. 

“She asked me about the flag that I was flying on my property. It’s called Appeal to Heaven. I gave her the same book because I explained that flag and give you a better understanding of the flag and what it represents. It also contains a section in there if you want to search it out on racism, which is one of the best small commentaries on the subject that I have read in a long time. My purpose is to simply inform you that there is a policy of political intimidation going on in this city, and it needs to be looked into and addressed.”

Also, during Mayor Hackney High’s report, he praised Gooden and others who went to Western NC to assist Old Fort, a town of about 800 residents Western NC, bring its water and sewer system back in operation in the wake of Hurricane Helene.   

“Over the weekend, I received a call by a gentleman named Harlan Culvers, And Harlan is with the Forsyth County Incident Management Team. He was operations chief there in Old Fort. He wanted to thank the council, me, and the citizens for allowing both of our employees to go to Old Fort. And he said quite simply without them, they would not be up and operational right now.”

High continued, “I spoke with Old Fort Mayor Pam Snipes yesterday. She expressed the same thing. She said they were back 95% operational. Once Corey got there, they basically made him the operations chief for water and sewer. She indicated that Eric (Hollins) and Corey hit the ground running immediately, identified the problem areas, and immediately came up with a solution … We’re to make sure that the citizens in town council knew and Corey and Eric Hollins that they appreciate you guys being there.”

Almost done, Council’s administrative committee will review the Town’s golf cart ordinance to see if any changes are needed. 

Lastly, Murray spoke about South Moseley Street and Blount Street — how the curb has been removed between 119 and 201 Blount Street — thus blocking the vista and access to Pembroke Creek — more on that in a future story.