Town Council Meeting Minutes - September 11, 2023

The Gilbert Town Council met on Monday, September 11, 2023, with Mayor John Reeder and Councilmembers Pat Carson, Nancy Harmon, Cory Rish, and Mark Sanders present. Guests present were Deputy Joshua Boozer, Mr. Donnie Cason, and Mr. & Mrs. Fred Taylor.

Mayor Reeder welcomed everyone and asked Councilman Sanders to lead in prayer. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.

COMMUNITY INPUT – Mrs. Louise Taylor expressed concern with the angle of the new sign as she stated it cannot be seen as you are coming up Lewie.

MINUTES – Councilmember Harmon asked about the letters that were to be sent regarding abandoned cars and boats. These have not been sent. After some discussion, these will be sent this month.

Councilmember Harmon stated she had mentioned having the blue trash dumpster moved from the flower boxes on Main Street and this has been done. She also asked if it could be noted that Mr. Miller and she had talked in her yard last month. She also asked about a text message regarding the lot size and Mayor Reeder stated Attorney Snell is still working on this. Councilmember Harmon made a motion to approve the minutes as distributed with the location correction of her talking with Mr. Miller. Councilman Sanders seconded the motion and it carried.

FINANCIAL REPORT – Mrs. Derrick distributed the financial report and indicated this is not a complete report as the financial records are still at the accountants and a complete report will be distributed after these records are returned. This was received as information.

UPDATES:

ROADS – Councilman Carson stated he had reported many potholes in town. He also asked that all intersections be marked and asked that the culvert on Main Street be repaired. It was noted the stop sign on Hampton at Main is leaning. Mr. Fred Taylor asked if he could mention that the directional sign on Two Notch was knocked down recently and has not been replaced. There was discussion on the speed limit on Peachtree and the fact that it is 45. Mr. Cason stated he had contacted SCDOT when he was Mayor and was told that speed limit cannot be lowered. Mayor Reeder stated he talked with someone at the Municipal Association and she indicated the 25% rule may be the way we need to address annexation.

UTILITIES – Councilman Rish stated the same three lights are still out (2 on Juniper Springs and 1 on Main at the faculty parking lot). All of these are Mid-Carolina lights.

BEAUTIFICATION/LANDSCAPING - Councilmember Harmon stated it is approaching mid-September and time to put up the fall flags. She did check with the high school art teacher and they can do the welcome boards for the flower boxes if the town provides the materials. Mayor Reeder did donate some boards for this. This is a project that will be done by the art club and they will submit drawings of their proposal. She also noted that Mr. Harold Taylor is doing a good job around town and the flowerbeds at the town hall look good. We need to order new American flags and Mr. Harold Taylor will get the number to Mrs. Derrick.

MAINTENANCE – Councilman Sanders stated Mr. Ben Anderson is still working very good and he would like to go into Executive Session to discuss fulltime work for him. He also stated Mr. Harold Taylor will be getting stain for the deck at the depot. There is a couch by the road on Wire Road and a letter will be written to ask that this be removed.

ZONING & PLANNING – No one was present to discuss anything in this area.

RESIDENT DEPUTY – Deputy Boozer stated the old elementary school has been vandalized again. It is not the same group as before. Councilmember Harmon stated she had seen 4 young people on a golf cart and they were running in and out of the building Deputy Boozer mentioned. He stated no one should be in this building and asked that dispatch be called at 803 785 2521 if anyone sees anyone in the building.

DEPOT – Councilmember Harmon stated the Depot was open the first Sunday but she had nothing to report.

OLD BUSINESS:

TOWN SIGN UPDATE: Mayor Reeder reported the new sign is up and we need to get Wi-Fi in the town hall. Mrs. Derrick will check on this. The training will be done between 9 and 5 and will take about 1 hour.

BANK BUILDING UPDATE: Mayor Reeder stated the electrical, HVAC, and plumbing have all been roughed in. Once the inspection is complete, we can move ahead on this. Councilman Carson stated he will get his guy to work on the Wi-Fi in that building. Councilmember Harmon read an article from the Chronicle that had some incorrect information in it.

NEW BUSINESS:

ELECTION ISSUES: Mrs. Derrick stated we received an email from the Lexington County Election Commission to reiterate that the majority rule will cause us to need two elections most of the time now.

This was just given as information. It was noted that the lot size issue is still on hold for the ballot.

OTHER BUSINESS:

Councilman Sanders asked what we could do to apply for a stop sign at the intersection of Hampton and Main. Councilman Carson will check on this.

Councilmember Harmon shared the Ruritan book with Council and invited them to attend the meetings and thanked Mayor Reeder for speaking at their last meeting.

Councilmember Harmon stated October 25 th will be the Student Council Rally at GHS and they thanked Council for the donation.

Councilman Sanders stated the Afternoon Nest will not be moving to Joeys.

Councilman Carson stated the Community Watch meetings are on hold for the present time.

After returning from Executive Session Councilman Sanders made a motion to employ Mr. Ben Anderson fulltime effective September 18, 2023 at a salary of $24,960. Councilman Rish seconded the motion and it carried.

There being no further business, Councilman Rish made a motion to adjourn.

Respectfully submitted,

JoAnn Derrick, Clerk/Treasurer