By Miles Layton

HERTFORD — Hertford Town Council voted without opposition Monday to advance a $724,796 contract with DownEast Preservation for the first phase of renovating the State Theatre, along with a rezoning of a Dobbs Street property. Both items go to the council’s regular meeting at 6 p.m. Oct. 12 for final approval.

Members also spent much of the work session, held at Horace Reid Community Center, on speeding near a busy intersection and on the town’s struggle to fill public works and finance jobs.

During council reports, Councilman Keith Rouse renewed his concerns about speeding on Dobbs Street. He said the limit was lowered from 35 mph to 25 mph but that drivers have not slowed, and he worried about school buses and children who cross the street to reach a park. He said a flashing caution light at the intersection is gone and that closing the cemetery pathway has pushed more traffic onto Dobbs and King streets. He suggested asking the sheriff’s office to station a vehicle there.

Town Manager Doris Walton said the state owns Dobbs Street and that she would ask the Department of Transportation about a crosswalk or four-way stop. Mayor Ashley Hodges said he would speak with the sheriff and the school superintendent about the buses.

Walton said a state transportation official had advised her that speed bumps are costly and ineffective. Hodges said the town could revisit them on King Street, but he said enforcement matters most.

“Tickets are better than bumps,” Hodges said.

In other business, the State Theatre contract is with DownEast Preservation, the only firm to bid on the project. Council previously accepted the company’s bid, and Walton said the firm has now submitted a contract spelling out the scope of work for the first phase. Town staff recommended approval, and Mayor Pro Tem Connie Brothers made the motion.

Hodges said the price uses up what remains of the project’s grant money after architect fees. The contract sets the work at 150 calendar days from commencement, or about five months.

Councilwoman Sara Winslow asked about a $6,300 allowance in the contract for dehumidifiers and fans. Walton said the money would be spent only as needed and that temporary electric service could make it unnecessary.

Walton said that once the contract is signed, a pre-construction meeting will be scheduled and a notice to proceed issued. She will notify council when the notice is in hand and post the start date on Facebook and the town website, she said, because scaffolding will go up on the sidewalk right away. Hodges said the scaffolding will “look like New York City.”

Walton cautioned that the schedule could slip. She said the Hyde Park culvert project needed an extension and that weather and other problems can hold up work even when the town is not at fault.

“If they say five months, it just might go maybe five and a half or six,” Walton said.

In Walton’s manager’s update, she said work paused on a recently started construction project after the state Coastal Area Management Act office called to say a pre-construction meeting was required. She said the engineers would contact CAMA to schedule a site visit and that work would resume after the meeting.

Walton also said the town received three bids for rehabilitation of the wastewater treatment plant, a project funded by about $4.5 million in Community Development Block Grant and State Revolving Fund money. She said the turnout shows companies are noticing activity in Hertford. She will bring the bids to council at its first meeting in November.

Councilman Evan Copeland said debris and overgrowth need to be cleared from town-controlled sidewalks in the 300 block of Market Street. Hodges added that a pavement cut for a water repair has left gravel missing and pushed cars into the opposite lane. Walton said crews would look at it Tuesday.

Brothers said the town should consider cameras to deter illegal dumping, saying Hertford is becoming “a dumping ground.” Walton said code enforcement hearings on the worst Market Street properties are being moved up, and she asked for patience because the town is “extremely understaffed.”

Brothers also asked that a vacant house at Perry and Club streets be boarded up because children are entering it. Walton agreed. She said the town’s goal is to demolish the condemned house and that the matter would return to council within a couple of weeks, pending word from the town’s attorneys.

Hodges asked for an update on hiring. Walton said the public works search has drawn almost no qualified applicants, partly because the job requires state certifications. She said finding a finance director for a small municipality is also difficult. The positions are advertised on the town website, the League of Municipalities, NC Works, Indeed and Facebook.

“It’s not a lack of funding; it’s a lack of person,” Walton said of the budget, which still includes money for both a public works director and a superintendent.

Other news: The rezoning of 226 Dobbs St. from C-3 to R-8 follows a Planning Board recommendation. Why rezone? Town Manager Doris Walton said individual who bought the property would like to build a house on the parcel. Therefore it needed to be rezoned from commercial to residential.

The Planning Board took the request up again at its meeting last week, Walton said. The resident did not attend. She said board members went over some of his concerns, but none changed the board’s recommendation, which went back to council as it was before. Council voted without discussion or opposition to advance the rezoning.

Hodges said he will attend a League of Municipalities legislative policy committee meeting Wednesday, where a possible cap on property tax rates is expected to be a top concern. He will miss a ribbon-cutting for COA that Winslow plans to attend.

Winslow said the Open Door Walk for Hunger raised close to $18,000. Brothers announced that the first interest meeting of the Hertford Rising Star Initiative, a youth program, will be Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.

Council also advanced two special-event street closures on the consent agenda: one for a Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 11 and one for the Grand Illumination on Dec. 4.