By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
LANDIS ó In a called meeting Monday, the Board of Aldermen quickly put the finishing touches on a proposed contract with McGavran Engineering for utililty pole attachment work.
A couple of months ago, the board had been looking at two firms ó McGavran Engineering and Southeastern Consulting, both based in Charlotte ó but chose to go with McGavran for $30,000. ElectriCities was familiar with the company’s reputation and was happy with its previous work with other ElectriCities members.
The town is a member of ElectriCities of North Carolina, which receives power through the Catawba Nuclear Station in York County, S.C.
Aldermen discussed a couple of issues they needed to clear up before finalizing the contract.
McGavran began work without a signed contract. The town received a bill for early work done. Board members said they’d agreed that they would not be billed until July 1. McGavran initially said it would work within the original $30,000 price. In the first work week, McGavran completed 182 poles out of about 4,000 and billed the town $5,000.
Town Attorney Rick Locklear went through the initial contract and made some modifications. The major issue he wanted addressed in the amended version was the cost.
Locklear said he would advise the board not to pay the entire lump sum at once, but instead divide the cost. He suggested that 60 percent of the $30,000 come from mapping the poles and the remaining work be paid in increments.
The redrafted contract also covered Global Positioning System mapping and inventory of the poles.
Public Works Director Steve Rowland also suggested the board add an expected deadline to the contract.
Locklear said he would work on a few items and have the board review the contract before it’s completed.
In other business, the board:
– Briefly discussed adult softball rates for the town’s recreation department. The board tabled any final decision.
Recreation Director Julie Noblett is on vacation, so the board could not talk about specifics, opting to wait until her return.
At the July meeting, Noblett said she contacted neighboring leagues to see how many games they play and the costs involved. She said the $1,000 fee per team the board set was too high based on surrounding recreation costs. She said Bakers Creek was looking to restart its league since Landis seemed to be in limbo. She said it was charging $450 per team.
Mayor Dennis Brown said he spoke with Noblett last week and she agreed that $650 was a more reasonable charge.
Alderman Roger Safrit at first said the cost should be no lower than $600, but later said he could fathom teams paying $650.
Alderman James Furr said the board should stick to the $1,000 they unanimously agreed upon.
“If we change this, it will show the lack of resolve on this board,” Furr said.
He added that Noblett should have figured out a way to work the budget within the $1,000, which could include cuts.
Town Administrator Reed Linn said he requested that Noblett provide the cuts she was willing to make but had not received any information.
– Approved changes to street names in the Oaks of Landis subdivision.
Linn said there is a conflict with some of the names because they already exist somewhere else in the county.
Linn said the duplicate names would be confusing to the county’s 911 system.
The changes are Greenleaf Drive to Durmast Oak Lane; Creekside Drive to Sawtooth Oak Drive; Chestnut Drive to English Oak Lane; Twin Oaks Drive to Landis Oak Way; and Water Oak Lane to Georgia Oak Lane.