Pikeville plans community forum to discuss electric rates
By Laura Collins
Published in News on January 17, 2010 1:50 AM
Town of Pikeville officials are holding two meetings Tuesday night to discuss electric rates, recycling and drainage.
At the special meeting about electric rates, at 5 p.m. in the Community Building, board members will discuss "different avenues of how to handle the revenue bond and whether to raise electrical rates," Town Administrator Kathie Fields said.
She said the town has not met its revenue bond requirements. It needed to have 120 percent of the payment, about $81,000, but the town fell short. The town was able to make the loan payment of $67,500, but is on track not to meet the revenue bond for June 2010.
"We have to pay the loan amount of $67,500. We know we have that in our reserves, but right now we are losing money in our electrical fund," she said.
At 6 p.m., the town will also have a brainstorming work session. This is the first of what Mayor Johnny Weaver hopes is a quarterly meeting.
"We're trying to get an open forum where there is no formal procedures and the board members can't criticize or critique ideas," he said.
He said the quarterly meetings will have topics of discussion, the first being recycling and drainage. Weaver said the town is required to start recycling by the state, but added that officials are trying to figure out the best way to begin that process.
"It's easy to set up a plan and charge people," he said. "But if the citizens have ideas, then maybe we can do something that works better for them."
Now, Onslow Container Service collects town garbage once a week. Weaver said it's possible officials can ask the company to also provide a separate container for recycling, which would likely be an extra cost to the town.
Ms. Fields said the town could also set up its own recycling bin, although town hall is only open during business hours, so it would be hard for people with jobs to drop off their recycling.
"Our gates are closed anytime after 5 p.m., so it's hard for them to get their plastics in a gate that's closed," she said.
Drainage will also be discussed at the work session.
"That's been an issue for a while," Ms. Fields said. "When we have 2 to 3 inches of steady rain, the yards and the ditches are full and it doesn't drain as well."
Weaver said people who live in the Collingwood subdivision have expressed concerns about their draining problems.
"When we have heavy rains, the water doesn't disperse," he said. "I want them to come in, and if they have issues, we can talk about that and the problem so everyone can hear about it."