By Miles Layton

PLYMOUTH — A deeply divided Plymouth Town Council voted 3-2 Monday night to approve a one-year lease allowing United Full Gospel Revival Center to use the former food pantry building at 811 Washington Street, following a contentious debate marked by accusations of premeditation, concerns over nonprofit accountability, and sharp disagreements over how town property should be leased.

The vote came after a discussion under new business, during which the council considered a resolution authorizing execution of the lease for the town-owned building. When the vote was finally called, the council split evenly, with two members voting in favor — Donsenia Teal and Kim Williams — and two opposed — Micah Weathersbee and Jerry Rhodes. Mayor Crystal Davis broke the tie in favor of the lease agreement.

As we all know, council voted to close the Plymouth Food Pantry in November — see our story here.

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Fast forward to January, where we’ll start at the beginning of Monday’s discussion — United Gospel Food Pantry does not work with the Albemarle Food Pantry, a regional organization, but instead partners with another organization to provide food.

“What I have found out is that they’re not with the Albemarle Food Pantry,” Council member Weathersbee asked. “So what food pantry are they with to be able to get their resources?”

Mayor Davis answered, “They actually do business with a company out of Washington that does food distribution,” she said. “They’re Agape.” 

Agape Health Services provides food assistance, primarily through fresh produce giveaways in partnership with organizations such as Goodwill Industries. 

Davis said the town’s involvement is limited to leasing the building and not to overseeing food distribution practices.

“The town has no contract with the town as far as how they receive and distribute food,” she said. “The contract with the town is just on the lease of the property… We don’t control how they get their food, we just make sure they operate legally.”

Still, some council members said that how the organization operates matters when leasing public property.

“What I am saying is that if it has been presented in a way that indicates they have not done business properly before, we, as the council, trying to lease out one of our buildings, have the right to question how they will run their organization. We have the ability to ask questions, ” Weathersbee said. “It’s our building.”

Davis agreed that “we’re supposed to” — accountability matters — but warned that the town’s own conduct sends a message.

“How we take care of people who come in and do business is how we present ourself,” she said.

As the discussion intensified, Davis suggested the concerns raised about the church’s food distribution were not coincidental.

“We have no business having pictures of this,” Davis said. “This was premeditated. I have emails to prove it.”

Weathersbee pushed back.

“It’s not premeditated,” the member said. “We as council trying to lease out one of our buildings have the right to question how they are going to run their organization. We have the ability to ask questions.”

Several council members questioned why representatives of United Full Gospel Revival Center were not present.

“Why isn’t anybody here from Full Gospel to address this?” Council member Rhodes asked.

“They weren’t invited,” Davis replied.

Another council member expressed frustration.

“I can’t believe we’re going to turn over town property to an organization that even fails to show up,” Rhodes said. “I have questions and I’d like to ask them directly.”

Davis countered that the organization had no notice the issue would be debated.

“They don’t even know what we’re talking about this evening,” she said. “If we wanted them here and present, it is our due diligence to contact them and invite them out.”

A proposal to table the matter until a future meeting was raised but rejected. 

Rhodes asked why “there was a rush to get this done.” 

Davis said moving forward was necessary.

“To open the food pantry,” she said when asked why there was urgency. Adding — “That’s not relevant. I’m saying, what’s the big deal of not getting it done?”

Rhodes asked — “Who put this on the agenda.” 

Davis answered, “Who… It doesn’t matter?”

Rhodes fired back, “Because it does matter.” 

Davis responded, “So we’re not gonna do this. So here’s the thing. So I’m asking- 

Rhodes interjected, “Can you answer my question?” 

Davis answered, “Who put it on the agenda is when the town attorney and the town manager comes and does the agenda. I didn’t do the agenda, but I would love to talk about it.” 

Rhodes said, “I didn’t get my agenda packet til yesterday (Sunday). I just wanted to take my time and look at it.”

Davis took aim at Rhodes for not reading the agenda — “So hey, that’s your fault again. So here’s the thing.” 

Davis fired back — “I just want council to be mindful of this, because I’m not gonna do a song and dance with Councilman Rhodes tonight. If we open the door to — we’re going to be fair as fair because that’s what we’re going to talk about. We’re talking about fair, we’re talking about transparency. So if we want to talk about United Full Gospel Church and bring them in here and ask them a bunch of questions, hey, let’s bring them all in.” 

The debate then expanded into a broader argument over the town’s long-standing practice of leasing buildings to nonprofit organizations for nominal amounts.

Rhodes cited a separate lease on West Water Street.

“That lease was for 10 years for $1 a year,” the member said. “Comparable rent runs anywhere from $300 to $400 a month. Over 120 months, that’s $42,000 that has been gifted to this organization.”

Rhodes said the town also paid for renovations and received no taxes or fees in return.

“The citizens in the town of Plymouth are the ones that are on the hook for this,” the member said.

Turning back to the Washington Street building, Rhodes questioned why the town would subsidize a church organization.

“Over 12 months, that’s a $4,200 benefit to one church organization,” Rhodes said. “No other entities in the Town of Plymouth have the opportunity to have access or use of these buildings. I think that’s unfortunate because you’re taking really valuable properties that people in this town could utilize and give them to particular organizations that I don’t think this town should be in the business of dealing with.” 

Mayor Pro Tem Teal responded forcefully, saying the criticism ignored decades of precedent.

“This is not the beginning of the town leasing buildings for a dollar a year,” she said. “There have been 30-year leases for a dollar a year. This is not new.”

Teal added that town funds have long been used to maintain buildings leased to nonprofits.

“It’s the town’s building,” she said. “But all of a sudden it’s not good because it’s quality of life; it’s United Full Gospel.”

Teal and Davis went back and forth with Rhodes about the issue—an exchange that showed there is no love lost between council members.

Moving forward, Weathersbee stressed that the questions were not personal or targeted.

“It’s not because it’s United Gospel,” the member said. “It would be anybody going in there as a food pantry. Let’s get that straight first. The second thing is, some of the things that were brought were reasons that, like having thermometers in all cold storage, accurate temp logs, things of this nature. And if you’re not with, and I asked, is why they were not with the Albemarle Food Pantry? “

Weathersbee continued, “Who were they with? I asked the questions for clarity, not for accusation. Because when you’re passing out food to people that need it, we need to make sure, and it is a concern of mine, that things are being maintained properly and that there is some level of accountability to it, and if so, who is theirs? And that’s a valid question to ask, and that’s why I asked it.”

Davis responded — “Well, definitely there’s another question, but I also want to say that it was ironic. I want you to just think about that, whether the coincidence did that fell across that information fell across you, was the coincidence. Which I’m privy to this, I knew that. And also, we didn’t question or have any concern or anything prior to the prior food pantry. If you look at that building, it’s pretty rough. And then we also can say for the other town buildings that are being leased currently, because there’s some distractions and some non-compliance that we have never even talked, discussed it ever.” 

Town Manager Joanne Floyd later clarified the legal requirements for the lease, noting that because the agreement is for one year or less, no public notice was required.

“If the term of a lease is more than a year, it has to be publicly noticed for 30 days,” staff explained. “If it’s a year or less, it does not.”

Floyd confirmed that all town leases must be approved by resolution and that the $1 lease amount is consistent with past practice.

“The Maritime Museum leases that property from the town for a dollar,” she said. “All the leases have been consistent in past years.”

Teal gets the last word — approving the lease on a trial basis.

“Let’s give them a chance rather than see the building sitting there empty,” the member said. “Let’s see if it is beneficial to the residents of the town of Plymouth.”