Cleveland, NC special called meeting 3-25-2022 - Town board approves spending . . .

 

 

Town board of Cleveland, North Carolina met today Friday 3-25-2022 at 3:30 p.m. for a special called meeting. No one was present other than board members, the town clerk, and this writer from West Rowan News, Events, & Fun. The meeting started at 3:37 and lasted less than 40 minutes.

Items on the agenda included four expenditures which required town board votes. Two were approved unanimously, and two will be held over.

The first item up for vote was $5000 for a line item to the budget for Miller/Davis which is a PR firm out of Salisbury. The company built the town web site to replace the existing one. The $5000 was added to cover training and maintenance. Maintenance would include adding items to the web site or making changes. 

Last February, the board voted to pay $7800 for set up of the web site and $4664 for maintenance at the monthly town board meeting. 

The second item on the agenda was the electronic/digital town board sign which will replace the existing sign. Town board had voted to pay $24,000 at the last board meeting, but Mayor Pat Phifer said that the price had gone "up a smidge." The cost of the sign is now $25,335. The price of a base which would be made of "fake" bricks (some sort of stucco) would be $3700, and Phifer said that was "way too expensive." The town will look at hiring someone to lay bricks or see if the high school masonry class might build the base. 

The new sign will be a little closer to the road, so it will sit a little higher. Phifer said it is hard to see the old sign, and the new location will make the sign more visible. The sign will also be approximately six feet high versus five feet. 

The second two items considered were "in progress" rather than being at the point of approving funds.

Commissioner Gerald Osborne contacted Salisbury First Baptist Church to confirm that Cleveland would like to have their old playground equipment for the Cleveland town parks. The town will have two months to move the equipment which includes a triple slide and two swing-sets. Osborne said that maybe the slide piece can go at the park next to the west branch library, since there are currently no slides at that park. 

Commissioner Richard Taylor said that he had been out to take photos of the First Baptist playground equipment and that the plan was to see about moving and refurbishing the pieces at the same time the equipment at the main town park is done. He is waiting on estimates to bring before the board. 

Phifer said that the town could add six speakers, wires, boxes, mixer and amp for $4900 to the town board meeting room. This would allow the town to broadcast town board meetings on Zoom in the future. The town already purchased microphones and a monitor. Commissioners decided to get more estimates before taking action.  

Following the meeting, other town matters were mentioned.

Two grates for the sidewalk on Main Street will be put in next week. A third grate needs to be custom made and will be in later.

Phifer said that the Catalinas will not be able to perform at Dancing on Depot on June 25, but the Entertainers will take their spot. The Entertainers are out of Matthews/Charlotte, NC and play beach music.

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