Council approves TIGER grant
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on February 21, 2017 9:50 AM
The Goldsboro City Council was divided in its decision Monday to pursue a $5 million grant agreement for downtown development.
The council voted 4-3 to execute the agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation for its second Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, TIGER, grant. The city received its first TIGER grant of $10 million in 2013, which paved the way for streetscape improvements in the downtown area.
The second grant, which includes a 26 percent city match of nearly $1.7 million, allows the city to continue streetscape development along the 300 and 400 blocks of South Center Street, adding of wayfinding signs throughout the city, constructing a shelter at the Goldsboro-Wayne Transportation Authority station and improvements to Cornerstone Commons.
The Cornerstone Commons will more than double in size and directional signs will be added in the city starting in September, with completion expected by June.
GWTA work will start in the fall of 2018 and be finished in March 2019. Center Street improvements, from Spruce to Elm streets, will start in the fall of 2019 and be finished by March 2021.
Mayor Pro Tem Bevan Foster, Councilman Antonio Williams and Councilman Gene Aycock voted against the grant agreement, and have remained opposed to the second TIGER grant due to an interest in focusing city resources on other priorities.
Mayor Chuck Allen, Councilman Bill Broadaway, Councilman Mark Stevens and Councilman David Ham voted in favor of the agreement.
In early 2016, the council voted on the grant twice, after Stevens sought to change his opposition to support, a move that led the city to pursue the second TIGER grant.
The decision Monday wasn't discussed publicly by the council.
"We've got a whole lot of needs but that's a want," Aycock said after the meeting.
The council talked briefly about a pay increase during its work session, held prior to the regular council meeting. A decision was delayed, after the council learned that an increase would not go into effect until the next fiscal year, starting July 1.
Allen suggested the council wait until it starts deliberating the proposed 2017-18 budget in the spring.
At the request of Williams, Kaye Scott, Goldsboro finance director, presented inflation changes since 1996 when the council last approved a pay increase.
During the past 21 years, the cumulative inflation rate increased by 46.1 percent, Scott said.
If the council's pay kept pace with inflation, each member would receive an annual stipend of about $13,929, instead of the current $9,000. Members of the council also receive an additional $3,000 per year for travel expenses.
The mayor receives a $4,800 travel allowance and has declined to accept his $11,400 stipend. The mayor's pay goes toward the city's employee star award program.
Scott also presented council with stipend amounts for about 20 other cities, including several with comparable populations, based on 2015 data collected by the N.C. League of Municipalities. Changes in pay for some cities was not included in the N.C. League of Municipalities report.
According to human resource departments in area cities, the pay varies in cities of comparable size in the region.
Members of the Greenville City Council receive $8,700 per year, the mayor pro tem receives $9,600 and the mayor receives nearly $13,900. Each council member also receives a monthly car allowance of $100.
Wilson council members receive $8,730 and the mayor receives $21,840, said Rebecca Agner, Wilson communications and marketing director. On July 1, council pay will increase to $10,881 and the mayor's pay increases to $26,021, Agner said. The Wilson City Council receives reimbursements for travel-related expenses.
In 2014, the Rocky Mount City Council increased its annual pay to $13,440 and the mayor's pay to $20,000. Council members receive $150 each year for travel costs and the mayor receives $500.
Discussions about increasing the pay for the Goldsboro City Council follow the council's recent approval to add city-funded health insurance as a council member benefit. The decision, which needs to be formalized through a city ordinance, involves the city paying $479 per month for each council member interested in the insurance plan.
Scott said she is uncertain if the benefit can be added this fiscal year or in July.
During the regular meeting, the council approved:
* A $7.6 million loan agreement with the Bank of America Public Capital Corp. to finance the purchase of a $5.3 million automated water meter reading system and $2.17 million in already approved city vehicle purchases.
* A near $4.7 million purchase and installation contract for more than 15,000 Sensus automated meter readers with Ferguson Waterworks. The contract includes $257,000 for professional services and a $352,000 contingency fund.
* A $556,602 change order that increases its contract with Insituform Technologies to $3.4 million for the Stoney Creek sewer outfall installation project.
* An installment financing contract with Wayne County for a 15-year, 1.5 percent increase loan of $3 million for construction of the future multisport complex on Oak Forest Road.
* A N.C. Department of Transportation request to rename U.S. 70 to U.S. 70 Business and the existing U.S. 70 Business to Ash Street inside the city limits.
* Moving the public comment period to precede the council's consent agenda at regular council meetings. The public comment time has previously been held near the start of the meeting, prior to public hearing items.