Palmer
named
interim
manager

By NICOLE CARTRETTE

Doug Palmer, finance director for the City of Whiteville, was appointed temporary interim city manager at Tuesday’s night’s city council meeting. The appointment comes close to a month after former City Manager Susan Rhodes gave her resignation June 15, effective on June 30.

The motion to appoint Palmer was made by Councilman Robert Leder, seconded by Councilman Howard Jones and passed unanimously.

City Attorney Carlton Williamson told council it was authorized to appoint an interim and within that scope it could also appoint a temporary interim.

“The interim would have the same powers as a manager,” Williamson said.

Council received only one name from the N.C. League of Municipalities as a possible candidate for interim manager. It was not clear if the council would look into contacting the individual, nor was it clear how long Palmer would serve as interim manager.

On Wednesday – his first day as interim – Palmer was focused on unfinished business.

Palmer will meet with a representative from Waste Management today to discuss contract renewal. Waste Management agreed to extend the current contract 60 days at the budget hearing held June 27 and come back to the city with additional proposals.

Council was wary of fuel surcharges, cost of living increases, and yard waste provisions in the proposed five-year contract.

Palmer said Wednesday morning that John Cook was named the new fire chief. Cook has been interim fire chief for more than nine months.

Palmer plans to publish an advertisement for the vacant firefighter and serveral public works positions soon.

Background

Palmer is a 1969 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill with a B.A. in political science. He has been city finance director for nine and a half years. Prior to that, he was employed with United Carolina Bank.

During his employment with the city he has worked under three full-time city managers and two interims.

Palmer indicated the advertisement for a full-time city manager has been drafted and council members are now working “to arrive at a single ad agreeable to all.”

“The manager ad is a work in progress,” Palmer said.

Palmer said council members are likely to place more preferences on what they would like to see in a manager than requirements. This was also the suggestion of N.C. League of Municipalities representative Hartwell Wright at his meeting with city council in late June.

“I would like to suggest you strongly consider someone who wants to serve this city –that the citizens be treated respectfully and given a level of service beyond what we have been receiving,” Hamp Avant urged city council during the public comments section of the July 11 meeting.

Vacancies

The city manager position is just one of eight vacant city positions.

Public Utilities Director Mike Sasser said the five vacancies in the utility and street departments have been difficult to fill.

Four of the positions had been filled, but the new hires just did not work out, he said.

“You have to have a certain type of attitude,” Sasser explained. “When you put the uniform on you are representing the City of Whiteville.”

Unfortunately, he said, most new hires come into the job not aware of the hard work involved in all weather conditions.

“Public works is basically a small scale construction company,” Sasser said.

Three of the vacancies are in the utility department and two are in the street department.

In other action:

Parks and Recreation Director Tim Collier asked council to appropriate additional funds for repairing the tennis courts at West Park near Central Middle School, basketball courts and lights at Nolan Park.

There was confusion over what the $65,000 appropriation already in the budget would cover. Collier indicated he could only afford to repair courts at East Park and the basketball courts at Nolan Park with the funds.

A representative from Tennico, a Columbia, S.C. ,company that builds courts, said the tennis courts at Nolan Park were beyond their life expectancy. He said repaving the tennis courts would be “putting good money on bad.”

He suggested the city consider hiring an engineer to assist in completely rebuilding the tennis courts at Nolan Park that sit on wet, low-lying areas.

K-9 program

Council authorized Police Chief Jerry Britt to use up to $20,000 of the $30,000 Substance Tax Expenditure fund to purchase an SUV-type vehicle for K-9 transportation.

A dog was donated by John and Rebecca Ryan of Fly Away Farms in Chadbourn and will complete training in the next four to five weeks, Britt said.

Money in the fund comes from government rewards on drug seizures, Britt said.

Sister city

Council voted to allow the Kiwanis Club to begin negotiations over becoming a sister city with Dej, Romania. Kiwanis Club President Ed Worley told council the symbolic relationship between the cities would be beneficial to both.

Once the official relationship is established the N.C. Department of Transportation will erect signs noting the relationship.