STOKESDALE town council April 13 / MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

as reported by

PATTI STOKES

Mayor Mike Crawford called the monthly council meeting to order at 7 p.m. Mayor pro tem Derek Foy and council members Jimmy Landreth, Tim Jones and Jim Rigsbee were present; also present on behalf of the town were town attorney Chuck Winfree, town clerk Dale Martin, deputy clerk Robbie Wagoner and finance officer Kim Thacker.

 5  0 to adopt the meeting agenda after adding discussion of a proposal by the town’s engineering firm, Hazen & Sawyer, and a closed session.

 4  1 (Jones opposed) to adopt minutes from the Dec. 10, 2020 regular town council meeting. Council member Tim Jones said he didn’t vote to approve the minutes because he wasn’t on the town council when the meeting took place, nor did he attend that meeting.

 4  1 (Jones opposed) to approve minutes from the Dec. 13, 2020 special called meeting.

After Jones twice voted against approving minutes for meetings he hadn’t attended, council member Jimmy Landreth asked the attorney how the council might approve minutes of past meetings in the future, if the majority of council members were newly elected and hadn’t attended and/or participated in the meetings. Attorney Chuck

Winfree said the council members would have to decide individually whether they could approve minutes for meetings they hadn’t attended. If desired, listening to recordings of meetings or watching them on YouTube would be an option for council members to familiarize themselves with what took place.

 5  0 (in two separate votes) to adopt minutes from the regular town council meeting and closed session on Feb. 9, 2023.

 5  0 (in two separate votes) to adopt minutes from the regular council meeting and closed session on March 9, 2023.

Public Safety

On behalf of Stokesdale Fire Department, Mayor Pro Tem Derek Foy reported the department responded to 83 calls for service in March; of these, 42 were medical-related, 14 were firerelated and 27 were miscellaneous.

District 1. The sheriff’s District 1 office provided a written report, noting there were 214 calls for service in Stokesdale in March, resulting in 18 formal case reports. In his report, Sgt. Ryan Seals wrote that the sheriff’s office responded to two incidents in which tools were stolen from outbuildings in the 8500 block of Blackthorne Drive;