By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
EAST SPENCER – The town of East Spencer plans to apply for a grant to improve housing and infrastructure, its administrator said.
On Tuesday evening, the Board of Aldermen held the first of two required public hearings in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application process. The second will be held at the board’s next meeting, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 1.
Town Administrator Macon Sammons said the grant project could include sewer service for about 10 homes, urgent home repairs for about 10 homes, drainage improvements at four to six locations, paving of an unpaved street and sidewalks at high-priority locations.
Sammons said one area the town is focusing on is tying residential areas to Royal Giants Park through sidewalks.
“We also hope to fill in the gaps that exist along Long Street and… look at whether or not we can connect sidewalks along Long Street to those that exist along Andrews Street,” he said. “We will also look at areas of public housing, and whether we can connect those to the rest of the community.”
If awarded, the town could be awarded as much as $500,000 for these projects through the CDBG N.C. Catalyst Program.
Sammons said he and Alderman Theodore Gladden have been working to identify the best places to make drainage improvements.
The East Spencer board unanimously voted to allow the town administrator to work with engineers and a surveyor, in order to prepare the application and figure out exact costs. The board held another public hearing Tuesday for an amendment to the town’s personnel ordinance to include a substance abuse policy. Sammons said the town has had such a policy in the past, but it wasn’t formalized in the code of ordinances.
Alderman Tammy Corpening raised questions about the section of the policy calling for random testing of employees.
“Do you have anywhere in here of actions that will be taken if an employee refuses to take a drug test?” she said.
Sammons said such an employee would either be referred for a professional evaluation or dismissed.
Corpening then asked about how the town is notifying employees of the policy. Sammons said new hires would be given a consent form to sign.
“Do we already have a consent form signed by an employee if they were hired in, say, 2009?” Burris said.
Sammons said he doesn’t know if one existed then.
Aldermen agreed that, in addition to new hires, all current employees should be given the form to sign right away. Refusal to sign the consent form would carry the same consequences as refusal to take the test.
After the meeting, Sammons said the formal substance abuse policy was proposed simply because town officials realized they needed one.
“There’s a growing awareness that this has become a part of doing business,” he said.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, aldermen:
• Approved a resolution to name two small streets near the town hall as John L. Rustin Sr. Lane and Town Hall Lane.
• Agreed to support the NAACP annual banquet by reserving a 10-seat table for $600.
• Appointed Tammy Corpening to the Fire Insurance Commission to replace former mayor John Cowan. The town’s other four members include the fire chief, the deputy fire chief and Mayor Pro Tem Phronice Johnson.
• Heard an update from Corpening about Royal Giants Park.
Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.Twitter: twitter.com/postcopolitics
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