Aug 3 2021
Clay Town Council
held their regular monthly meeting for August on the 3rd. For
those that don't know, County Clay has but one incorporated
municipality in the entire 342 square miles. It is completely
separate from county agencies like the Clay County Commission.
Each operate independently and the twain shall never meet.
On the third we met a new face , Barry Peyton who replaced resigned Councilperson Denise Holcomb. A second new , returning face, Jason Hubbard, the replacement for Jack Brown, was a no show. He had a previously planned, just before school reopens, a family vacation.
On the third we met a new face , Barry Peyton who replaced resigned Councilperson Denise Holcomb. A second new , returning face, Jason Hubbard, the replacement for Jack Brown, was a no show. He had a previously planned, just before school reopens, a family vacation.
Council person Barry Peyton
Money wise, Council
finished last month with Town finances down $4000; their WaWa
plant account up $15,000; and the Log Factory continuing it's
downward spiral coming up short $1400.
Clay Senior and Community Service Office (CSCS) on Main Street.
Jeff Mullins,
Head Honcho of CSCS updated Council on the dismal state of
sewer service at their complex. Turns out, backed up sewers
have been the mainstay for months. Requests for repairs have
gone unheard. For this meeting, Mullins reported, he had lost
confidence in maintenance man Joey Coleman after the lad told
CSCS there was nothing wrong with the Town's sewer system
under Main Street. According to Mr Mullins, an independent
plumber advised them, instead of the current T joint, it needs
replaced with a Y joint to keep the logs floating on down the
line on Main Street.
Mayor Shamblin was responsive to the problem and said they will fix the problem ASAP and they have been understaffed and apologized to CSCS.
Town workers have been busy smoke testing sewer lines in an attempt to locate (again) all the buildings unlawfully with storm water run off hooked up to the Log Factory sewer system. That's a real no no because the excess wawa fills up the Log Factory and messes everything up.
Smoke testing is not new within the Town. That process has been done several times in the past decades with no, or few, demands for property owners to disconnect their down spouts and other storm drains.
In addition to the CSCS's complaint on floaters at their Senior Center, the smoke testing is filling their building with those fumes and forced them to close down operations more than once.
Senior Councilperson Joyce Gibson told the assembly , there are other places the olfactory stinker can be found, including right beside the Clay County Bank location in downtown.
The Log Factory operator was not present for this meeting. A couple months back we reported the Factory was not working, shut down in need of repairs, and spewing raw (but chopped up) logs directly into the Elk River. At that time, staff reported, parts had been ordered and repairs would be comin soon. That was back in June.
For this meeting, the Mayor told his Council, parts for the clarifyer would be here that week and when put into service, the Log Factory would be operating at 70% efficiency.
So what's happening with the other 30% of the stinky stuff?
Town has been trying to hire new staff but without luck. Turns out no one wants a part time office job. The other positions, one at the wawa plant and a second at the infamous Log Factory, no real takers there either.
Hunter Sizemore was hired on a full part time basis for street clean up. Maintenance man Joey Coleman is now doing double duty as a wawa plant operator on the weekends.
Need a job? Head over to Town Hall.
Councilperson Jerry Stover sought to have the sidewalks swept more often. He said those wittle gravels kept getting stuck in his sneakers.
Mayor Shamblin was responsive to the problem and said they will fix the problem ASAP and they have been understaffed and apologized to CSCS.
Town workers have been busy smoke testing sewer lines in an attempt to locate (again) all the buildings unlawfully with storm water run off hooked up to the Log Factory sewer system. That's a real no no because the excess wawa fills up the Log Factory and messes everything up.
Smoke testing is not new within the Town. That process has been done several times in the past decades with no, or few, demands for property owners to disconnect their down spouts and other storm drains.
In addition to the CSCS's complaint on floaters at their Senior Center, the smoke testing is filling their building with those fumes and forced them to close down operations more than once.
Senior Councilperson Joyce Gibson told the assembly , there are other places the olfactory stinker can be found, including right beside the Clay County Bank location in downtown.
The Log Factory operator was not present for this meeting. A couple months back we reported the Factory was not working, shut down in need of repairs, and spewing raw (but chopped up) logs directly into the Elk River. At that time, staff reported, parts had been ordered and repairs would be comin soon. That was back in June.
For this meeting, the Mayor told his Council, parts for the clarifyer would be here that week and when put into service, the Log Factory would be operating at 70% efficiency.
So what's happening with the other 30% of the stinky stuff?
Town has been trying to hire new staff but without luck. Turns out no one wants a part time office job. The other positions, one at the wawa plant and a second at the infamous Log Factory, no real takers there either.
Hunter Sizemore was hired on a full part time basis for street clean up. Maintenance man Joey Coleman is now doing double duty as a wawa plant operator on the weekends.
Need a job? Head over to Town Hall.
Councilperson Jerry Stover sought to have the sidewalks swept more often. He said those wittle gravels kept getting stuck in his sneakers.
Donated property
Readers,
there's another problem.
Months ago, Mitch Deboard came to a Council meeting and asked the Town to donate property to the Elk River Trail Foundation to be used as the ERT State Park Headquarters and maintenance center. Sounds like a great idea and something we really need in this county... jobs come to mind first.
Why down at Pisgah instead of the original idea of using the Newt Bragg house site? Answer: At that Pisgah site, the municipal sewer system is in place. At Bragg's, there is no municipal sewer service.
Back then DeBoard told Council, you need to act soon on the donation request because the State wants to get the building up and in use ASAP.
One month later, DeBoard came back and told the elected body, everything had changed and instead of the Foundation seeking property, it would now be the State Parks System making the request. Great! That's even better!
Last month, Mayor Shamblin said all the paperwork had been signed and everything appeared to be a go. In July, AEEI Contracting donated time and equipment to cut out the brush around the building. See picture. Sure sounded like everything was moving along quite nicely.
Wrong.
During the Aug 3rd meeting, the Mayor said there was a confusing problem, something about someone, not wanting to pay prevailing wages to build the complex. There was a bunch of head scratching around the conference table. Shamblin said he too was confused over what was going on behind the scenes.
Councilperson Rene Moore was firm: that's not what we agreed on!
When asked, Mayor Shamblin offered, he had NEVER actually talked to anyone with State Parks, that, the only info he had came and continues to come from, Mitch DeBoard.
Somewhere in the mix, someone advanced: that new State Park headquarters will NOT have a public restroom. Think about it. All the hikers, bikers, horseback riders on the trail and no place to take an indoor dump.
One of the reasons why the much larger Newt Bragg property was not being considered for the Park headquarters was because, there's no municipal sewer service there. If, no restrooms will be provided at the Pisgah site, why not move the complex to the much larger, Bragg property that the Foundation already owns?
After some feeble thought and not trusting much of anybody, maybe there's some back room negotiating going on. Something doesn't smell right readers.
Maybe, speculation on our part, the Elk River Trail Foundation wants to own the new complex and then rent space back to State Parks. Just a guess but someone always has their hands out in Clayberry.
Confusing? Ain't it always the case in the Land of Little.
AW
Months ago, Mitch Deboard came to a Council meeting and asked the Town to donate property to the Elk River Trail Foundation to be used as the ERT State Park Headquarters and maintenance center. Sounds like a great idea and something we really need in this county... jobs come to mind first.
Why down at Pisgah instead of the original idea of using the Newt Bragg house site? Answer: At that Pisgah site, the municipal sewer system is in place. At Bragg's, there is no municipal sewer service.
Back then DeBoard told Council, you need to act soon on the donation request because the State wants to get the building up and in use ASAP.
One month later, DeBoard came back and told the elected body, everything had changed and instead of the Foundation seeking property, it would now be the State Parks System making the request. Great! That's even better!
Last month, Mayor Shamblin said all the paperwork had been signed and everything appeared to be a go. In July, AEEI Contracting donated time and equipment to cut out the brush around the building. See picture. Sure sounded like everything was moving along quite nicely.
Wrong.
During the Aug 3rd meeting, the Mayor said there was a confusing problem, something about someone, not wanting to pay prevailing wages to build the complex. There was a bunch of head scratching around the conference table. Shamblin said he too was confused over what was going on behind the scenes.
Councilperson Rene Moore was firm: that's not what we agreed on!
When asked, Mayor Shamblin offered, he had NEVER actually talked to anyone with State Parks, that, the only info he had came and continues to come from, Mitch DeBoard.
Somewhere in the mix, someone advanced: that new State Park headquarters will NOT have a public restroom. Think about it. All the hikers, bikers, horseback riders on the trail and no place to take an indoor dump.
One of the reasons why the much larger Newt Bragg property was not being considered for the Park headquarters was because, there's no municipal sewer service there. If, no restrooms will be provided at the Pisgah site, why not move the complex to the much larger, Bragg property that the Foundation already owns?
After some feeble thought and not trusting much of anybody, maybe there's some back room negotiating going on. Something doesn't smell right readers.
Maybe, speculation on our part, the Elk River Trail Foundation wants to own the new complex and then rent space back to State Parks. Just a guess but someone always has their hands out in Clayberry.
Confusing? Ain't it always the case in the Land of Little.
AW