BY MILES LAYTON
HERTFORD — Hertford Town Council was busy during Monday’s work session.
And yes, we’ll begin reporting on Hertford Town Council. Worth noting, Monday’s meeting lasted about 53 minutes — a far cry from the days when council meetings lasted hours and ended well after midnight. WOW — what a difference, a welcome and positive change!
Anyway, Council approved a series of budget amendments:
- Around $3,601 for administration salaries were not paid during one quarter of 2021, so that was rectified. Mayor Ashley Hodges said the oversight was due to the fact that Town Hall did not have a finance director at that time.
- An employment claim of $1,853 from a past employee was charged to the Town Hall, so that was rectified. As to that, Interim Town Manager Doris Walton said when a former employee left their most recent job but he hadn’t worked there long enough to accrue unemployment benefit payout from that job, the state goes back to where that individual was previously employed longer because that person paid more into unemployment insurance.
- A payment of $2,571 for property insurance for the new fire truck was more than budgeted, so that was rectified.
- SEI fire dues of $825 were more than budgeted because the fire department’s membership has increased, so that was rectified.
During Walton’s council report, she noted that citizens expressed concern regarding the Post Office’s late delivery of mail. She said Town Hall contacted the Post Office which said two new mail carriers have been hired.
Moving forward, Walton talked about infrastructure repairs and improvements – road repairs – will begin in March with affected residents to be notified with paper door hangers among other means of alerting folks such as the town’s web page and via Facebook blasts as to when street repairs will commence. Worth noting, the money to pay for the road repairs comes from grant funding.
Council member Connie Brothers asked about the wooden pallets next to the fire station.
Walton answered that there are plans to get the state fire marshal and a building inspector to check into the stacks of wood pallets which she described as an “eyesore there that poses a bigger danger to the town.”
“We don’t want to be menacing or threaten the business, but at the same time we need to take care of what we have in that space,” she said.
In other news, join the Perquimans County NAACP to celebrate Black History Month between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. February 8 at First Baptist Missionary Church in Hertford. Motorcade will line up at 11 a.m. at Perquimans Middle School – 312 W. Main Street, Hertford.
Mayor Hodges said Town Hall plans to meet with Harbor Towns’s leaders to talk about the $2 million that the group has set aside for infrastructure related to that project. Hodges shared an example about how a Virginia town renovated a theater much like one in Hertford – a project that could improve Hertford’s historic district.
Council appointed a trio of folks to the Planning and Zoning Board of Adjustments:
- Sara Winslow-to serve December 2024 to December 2027
- Milton Long-to serve February 2025 to February 2028
- Andrew Almodova-to serve December 2024 to December 2027.
