January 6 2011

New Navassa Board Members Take Oath of Office, and Begin Addressing
Continuing Issues

Mayor Eulis Willis administered the oath of office to two newly elected commissioners and one re-elected Commissioner at the Town of Navassa’s December 15 commissioner’s meeting. Frank Willis and Athelston (Bunn) Bethel were sworn in as new commissioners, while Milton Burns was sworn in as a returning commissioner.
As soon as the new board was seated, a motion was introduced by Commissioner Milton Burns to restore the mayoral powers previously removed by the council. The motion passed by 3 to 2 margin. Commissioner Frank Willis was then elected Mayor Pro Tem. At the request of Mayor Willis, Commissioner Willis agreed to be responsible for the police department.
Mayor Willis noted there were outgoing commissioners who were approved to sign town checks, and that they needed to be replaced by current board members. Commissioner Tony Burgess agreed to have signatory power for town checks. Willis also asked Commissioner Milton Burns to be a signatory, but Burns refused, stating that “he just resigned that position and did not want to take it back until some of the financial issues are straightened out.”
Willis then asked Commissioner (Bunn) Bethel if he would accept the position of signatory, and he agreed. Willis then asked for a meeting of the financial team, of which he is the budget officer, stating the team does not have a lot of financial information on the table it needs to take care. Willis then appointed himself town representative to the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization, Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).
Willis then opened the floor for commissioners to be heard. Burns was first to speak, regarding a contract that was passed (re: Claudia Bray) at the last meeting. Burns noted, “I was the only one against the contract. So I went back and did some research and I would like the town attorney to read the information that come out of our policy manual and give me your input on this information.”
Navassa town attorney Norwood Blanchard then explained that, according to section two of the employee policy manual, the town of Navassa is an “at will” employer. Blanchard noted “The Town of Navassa is an at will employer. Nothing in this policy creates an employment contract or term between the town and its employees. No person has authority to grant any contractual right of employment.”
According to Blanchard, this is a standard policy from the League of Municipalities, and under North Carolina law, all employees are presumed to be “at will” employees unless they have a contract setting out a specific term of employment for them, or unless they are state employees, like school teachers, which have tenure provisions and specific reasons for termination of employment. “This policy removes any doubt from the employees that they are at will employees. This is a defensive policy and is a great idea for town to use a policy like this,” Blanchard said.
Commissioner Barnes then asked, “Can we resend everything we did last month if we are not satisfied with it? Don’t we have 45 days to resend?” Blanchard then responded that, yes, the board can. “For example, the contract with Ms. Bray, I’m not saying that wouldn’t be pen to a breach of contract claim later, but what I am saying is if you wanted to vote and say we no longer wanted to have this, you could.”
Commissioner Willis made the motion that the town freeze all hiring “from this moment on until we can sort out some of these problems that we have.” The motion passed on a 3 to 2 vote.
Mayor Willis then commented for the benefit of the media and said “I do not load all or approve anything as should be obvious to anyone who is watching and paying attention to things going on in this meeting. For the media to put me on the front page saying that I had approved something is a lie, okay. I want that pretty much well understood.”
Editor’s note: Mayor Willis was referring to an article on the front page of the December 16, 2011 edition of the Local News Review.
Navassa Commissioners Resume Recessed Meeting on December 22
“Sweeping decisions that will the effect the town for years to come,” that’s what Navassa Councilman Jerry Merrick said in a phone interview with LNR on January 1. Merrick said that hasty decisions the board made at its recessed meeting could have lasting effects on the town for years to come, in that hasty decisions could have unfavorable impacts on the town. According to Merrick, inexperienced council members should take care in making decisions on issues and not base their decisions on political promises. He does not have problems with the majority of the board making these decisions, but they should think things through more thoroughly and give the taxpayers to voice concerns before the council makes decisions.
Merrick said the board voted on items that were not on the agenda at the recessed meeting on December 22. A recessed meeting was called by the mayor because all agenda items were not covered or completed at the December 15 meeting. Those items included re-instatement of Charlena Alston, including her back pay. Merrick asked, “Does this mean we have two clerks to the board? And what about the hiring freeze the council adopted at its regular meeting?
Town clerk Michelin Alston was sworn in as the clerk to the Board at its November meeting. Merrick said that this re-hiring contradicts the decision of the board due to the hiring freeze that went into effect at the December 15 meeting. He said he will look into the validity of this decision by calling the Institute of Government and Navassa’s attorney to see if the board’s action is valid.  Merrick also feels the board made a decision that will allow Alston to “double dip,” in that she has already received some of her vacation pay. Alston was fired in November by Town Administrator Claudia Bray for reportedly unsatisfactory performance.
The council also voted to give back to the mayor the power of hiring and firing. This, in essence, takes hiring and firing duties from Bray. It is reported that the council will again have authority to hire and fire its employees with the mayor being the person who carries out the wishes of the board.
In a telephone interview January 2, City of Northwest Chief of Police Copeland Taylor explained that he decided not to accept the police chief’s job in Navassa. Several weeks ago, the former town council under the direction of Councilman Jerry Merrick drafted a three year contract with Taylor. This contract was similar to the one offered to Town Administrator Claudia Bray, but was not acted on by the old or current council. Taylor also noted the action taken by the current council in not approving one of the town police officer’s requests to advance some vacation pay was also a deciding factor in his decision not to accept the position. As described by Taylor, the police officer in question was facing some medical issues and needed some financial assistance by advancing some of his vacation pay.
At the recessed meeting, Navassa attorney Norwood Blanchard reported he researched the issue and advised that this type action is not covered in the town’s current personnel policies, but that it could be made a policy if the board chooses to do so. The council voted down the police officer’s request.  Taylor concluded that the political climate is such that his decision not to accept the position is the right decision for him at this time. He went on to say that second time interim chief (Sergeant) Wendell Graham is a very good police officer and administrator, so the council should make him its permanent chief.

July 8 2011

Mayor Still Not Given Powers Back/ Lack of a 2^nd Motion Fails

Town Council meeting June 16

Councilman Milton Burns made a motion to re-instate Mayor Willis powers because “he was not charged with a crime.” The motion failed due to a lack of a 2^nd. As reported in LNR’s October 8 issue, the town council of Navassa re-assigned the duties of Mayor Eulis Willis after someone other than the property owners signed an alleged deed of easement. At the September 16 Navassa town council meeting, the council voted to remove the mayor’s authority to sign town documents and grant it to the mayor pro-tem. Authority to sign any document not requiring an elected official’s signature was given to Claudia Bray, Navassa’s town administrator. The council also assigned check-writing authority to some town council members. In essence, and according to council member Jerry Merrick, the action recognizes the mayor’s authority, but only as a “figurehead.”

During the public comment period a member of the public stating that he was concerned that he has noticed groups and organization coming to the board wanting money and seemingly the board has approved these requests without question. Mayor Willis stated that these request were reviewed by the council previously prior to the approval. The mayor turned to Travis Barnes Navassa’s planner to see if the planning board can put together a policy or procedure about these request.

Other issues that were discussed or approved:

*The CDBG Water extension improvements are complete. The residents in this area can start connecting to the water system. Council discussed pressure issues in that older home may need to have pressure reducing devices installed.

*The Davis Creek park improvements will be starting soon. The contractor has requested that the park be closed some of the days due to the pavement of the parking lot and driveway.

* The council tabled the advertisement for a Planner and Sr. Public Tech until July but announced the position is available effective July 1. Travis Barnes, current Navassa’s planner, submitted his resignation effective sometime in August. Barnes has been with the town for more than two years. Barnes said that he will stay on with the town to help train the new planner when hired.

* Approved interlocal agreement with Brunswick County to have animals picked up for a cost to the public of $50. The requester will be charged this fee to pick up a dog but not charged for an investigation regarding vicious animals or a dog that had been involved in a dog bite said Navassa’s Police Chief Copeland.

*Mayor Willis reported that the Estech General Chemicals Superfund site clean-up has been completed. Willis noted that the USEPA and NC DENR had overseen the clean-up. Willis mentioned that he had heard that around $15 million had been spent in the clean-up of the site. The site will be monitored through 2016 for ground water contaminants and soil cover stabilization and it can be used for commercial or industrial development.

Correction: Charlena Alston Town Clerk, announced that she had not resign as originally reported by the Mayor (and reported by the LNR) at a previous meeting. Ms Alston reported that she “had not resigned as town financial officer and that this position was taken from me before the meeting.”

By John Crowder  john@theLNR.com