Lake Discusses Budget and Improvements
The town of Lake Waccamaw wasted no time in decision making at the 15-minute meeting Tuesday evening. There was no public comment, and the board got right down to business discussing the budget retreat.
Town Clerk Meredith Parker expects to have the budget ready to present to town leaders by May, and the first retreat was scheduled for March 23 at 9 a.m. at Oakland Plantation in Council. The new fiscal year begins on July 1 for the municipality.
Damon Kempski, Town Manager, will be putting together a “hot sheet” for commissioners to help combat some expenditures due to inflation.
In other business, Lake Waccamaw is on schedule with tax collection. About 84 percent of the property taxes have been collected so far and 100 percent of the vehicle taxes have come pouring in. The collection rate for automobiles indicates that there may have been more cars purchased over the last year at the Lake.
EMS off to a great start
There was appreciation and praise from the board for the startup of EMS services at Lake Waccamaw. The first week proved to be a successful one, and Chief Jerry Gore thanked everyone who helped get the program off the ground and running in during the 30-day delay.
"Anytime I ran into a problem, which was fairly often, I had a lot of help figuring it out," said Gore.
He went on to thank everyone for their efforts, including Ron Sasser, and credited the team and the town for their hard work.
Closed session
The board went into closed session Tuesday evening to discuss a possible expansion to Town Hall and the fire department and to update a contract with the Cape Fear Council of Governments (COG).
After the closed session, Commissioners authorized Mayor Matt Wilson to execute an agreement with Wooten Company, a Raleigh based real estate and property management firm, for a needs-based study of town facilities.
Parker said in an email that the study will take 35 days to complete and will entail the firm meeting with staff and viewing the facilities. The step is a necessary component to find funding for the project.
The second action taken after the closed session was a modification for an existing contract with the COG and a budget amendment for the modification. Originally, $7,500 was budgeted for the current contract. The zoning needs of the town have exceeded the contract in place, so Lake Waccamaw is extending an additional $5,000 to cover those added costs.