Pikeville board OKs library funding
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on December 7, 2016 10:32 AM
PIKEVILLE -- The Pikeville Town Board approved additional funding for a new library security system at its meeting Monday night, adding $910 to the previously approved $2,000 security budget to account for extra surveillance both inside and outside the building.
The original plan was approved in July, but town administrator Michael Hunt said that when he went to the library in September to make sure that the plans were correct, library staff told him that they wanted additional security. Commissioner Charles Hooks questioned Hunt as to why the project had taken that long, and Hunt said that difficulties getting in touch with the contractor had delayed the project.
The board unanimously approved the extra funding, after assurances from Hunt that the town had the money stored away for the project.
The board also swore in Akina Corder, assistant clerk, as the interim town clerk after previous clerk Connie Witherspoon resigned from the position. Ms. Witherspoon, who is moving away from Pikeville, had her last day as clerk on Nov. 18.
Ms. Corder will receive an increase in pay from $12.30 per hour to $14.35 per hour.
The town will interview four candidates for the clerk position Tuesday, Dec. 13, after they narrowed down the 11-applicant field during a closed session.
The board ended by approving an amended letter of conditions between the USDA and the town regarding grant money used to fix the town's sanitary sewer system. The amended agreement grants the town an additional approximately $500,000, bringing the total grant to around $3 million. Hunt said that the money will be used, among other things, to purchase land for a new spray field and repair the town's wastewater treatment plant.