St. Helena Council Meeting Notes

Thursday November 16, 2023

St. Helena Town Hall

6:30 p.m.

Attending the meeting were Mayor Robert Barnhill, Mayor Pro-Tem William Hunter (who arrived late because he was working), Councilman Neil Benton, Councilwoman Kaye Knowles, Councilwoman Judy Katalinic, Building Inspector Louis T. Hesse, and Village Clerk Mary D. Bakan. Absent was Councilwoman Nancy Jones.

In the audience were Alice Southerland and Carey Childress.

Robert called the meeting to order.

Allegiance to the U.S. Flag and a salute to the N.C. Flag were said by all.

Kaye led the prayer.

On motion by Judy, and seconded by Kaye, the motion to approve the October 19, 2023 minutes was unanimously approved.

On motion by Judy, and seconded by Neil, the financial report of October 2023 was approved unanimously.

Robert made the announcement that he will be stepping down as mayor effective in January 2024. Discussion was held on who will replace him. Judy asked how long he has been mayor. He stated that the town was incorporated in 1988 and George Spisak was mayor then. Robert stated he became mayor in 1990 and he has been mayor for thirty-three years.

Robert asked about old business. Judy brought up the ladies bathroom. Judy would like the petition be taken down and new flooring put in. The petition is keeping people in wheelchairs from using the toilet. William arrived. Judy mentioned that at one of the parties, a man in the wheelchair didn’t have access to the toilet because of that petition. Judy pointed out that Ms. Mill’s father actually built a ramp to make it easier for people in wheelchairs to go into the building when his daughter rented the hall. Neil said that he thought we were going to deal with the septic system first. Judy responded that people in wheelchairs should be able go to the restroom. Alice Southerland said that if the town takes down the petition, there should be a lock on the door. No one had a problem with it. The girl’s bathroom (as well as the boy’s bathroom) will now be unisex bathrooms with the formally girl’s bathroom will be wheelchair accessible. Neil will look into it.

Neil was next. He brought up the curtain panels that the town is planning to put on the windows to dampen the echo in the building. He reported that he got the swatches. The swatches were looked at and it was determined that the swatch that most people liked was the beige one that matched the benches on the side. The majority thought that color will not stand out since most people like to decorate in certain colors so it was approved that Neil will order two sets of curtains (4 panels) for the back windows to see how they look and if it helps dampen the noise a bit. If the back windows look fine and do help cut down on the echo, he will order curtains for the side windows. If more is needed to dampen the echo, the town can look into petitions. On motion by William, and seconded by Neil, the motion to order the curtains was approved unanimously.

Neil also gave an overview of what has been done about the septic system. He had been to the health department to try to get a perk test. He talked about various aspects of “repairing” the septic system.

Robert asked if we were going to have a party after December’s meeting. Everyone agreed that it is a good idea. Louis was asked to bring his sausage mixture that is served in a Crockpot. Robert said he will get a tree as soon as they start selling them. Alice asked about the lights and Robert said that they should be in the kitchen cabinets.

Robert said that we should now look at the resume’s for the planner, clerk, and attorney.

Robert then turned to the candidates’ resume’ for clerk, planner, and attorney (Judy gave out copies of the resume’s, the ads used, and any e-mail correspondence to the council and Mayor with their agenda packets that previous Monday).

There were four people who want to be our attorney. Pay was mentioned and Judy pointed out that she listed the pay (which was $500) as well as the requirements. After reviewing the four candidates resume’s, it was determined that two lived in Raleigh (and would do it by zoom). Neil pointed out one of the two remaining candidates, one has a 919 area code and she did not list where she practiced. The last one was a young attorney who had a very good resume’ with a background in planning and his practice is in Wilmington. Judy had been exchanging e-mails with him. It was decided that the council should interview him for the position.

The next section of candidates was for planner. One was located in New Bern which seems like a long distance away and Judy wouldn’t be surprised if she would want to do zoom a least part time. The other is a town planner for a town that is 45 miles away but lives in Willard. Louis pointed out that she worked for the town of Burgaw for four years as planner technician before taking her current job. Louis spoke highly of her abilities.

The last set of candidates was for St. Helena Town Clerk. Judy pointed out that both are good but not an “ideal” candidate since neither has been a town/county/state clerk before. They decided to let Ms. Bakan interview them and let her choose one since she was St. Helena’s clerk for 33+ years. The other candidates for the positions of planner and attorney will be interviewed by the town council on November 30^th.

Robert asked if there was anything else. Carey raised his hand. Robert said to go ahead. Carey said he would like to resign from the planning board since he will be sworn in on Council next month. Carey’s verbal resignation was accepted.

On motion by Judy, and seconded by Kaye, the St. Helena Council voted unanimously to adjourn.