FAITH — All five members of the Faith Board of Aldermen were sworn in during the town’s Tuesday meeting, including new members Dale Peeler and Laura Evans.

Alderman Randall Barger was sworn in as mayor and Peeler was sworn in as mayor pro-tem. The board followed historical precedent in electing the town’s top two vote-getters, with Barger and Peeler being one and two, respectively.

The board also appointed representatives and liaisons to various regional organizations. Barger and Peeler were appointed as the town’s representatives to the Cabarrus-Rowan Metropolitan Planning Organization. Town Clerk Karen Fink said that the board has typically chosen the mayor and mayor pro-tem as its representatives.

Peeler and Alderwoman Jayne Lingle were appointed as the town’s delegates to the Centralina Council of Governments. Centralina helps smaller towns work around holes that may come from having smaller staffs, such as helping the town with receiving grant funding. Lingle previously served as the town’s delegate and said that she wanted to stay in the role to continue her work with the town’s American Rescue Plan Act funding.

“I am very much in favor of going after grants and that was one goal that I had when I came to this board. I’m just trying to research what we can do to better our infrastructure,” said Peeler in his successful bid to be named a delegate to Centralina. 

Peeler also said that he has already spent time doing his own research into grants the town was potentially eligible for and what the board would need to do to receive the funding.

In other business from the aldermen meeting, the board discussed a contract that would allow the Faith Academy Charter School to lease the ballpark located on Jaycee Street for up to 10 years. The board also discussed selling the town’s property on Brown Street, located behind the F&M Bank property.