The McCaysville City Council unanimously approved both the Vendor Ordinance Amendment and the Broadband Ordinance following their second readings during a meeting Tuesday, April 14.
A previously tabled spending resolution, which would allow the city’s police department, clerk’s office and mayor to operate within their budgets without city council approval for all general department materials, equipment and items with the cost of $499.99 or less as long as it is within their budget for the operating year, was tabled again to allow for more discussion at a future workshop meeting.
“I would like us, hopefully we get back on track by the first of the month, to have a workshop meeting and hash this all out and get it right one time,” Mayor Thomas Seabolt said.
Councilmember Gilita Carter explained that the resolution was “very lenient” and said, “Y’all made this motion in 2017, and it was tabled and overlooked. It’s nothing new. This is what y’all thought you were abiding by for the past three years.”
Following a discussion where City Attorney Cortney Stuart reiterated that the spending would have to be within the department’s budget, Seabolt pushed for a “face-to-face roundtable meeting” with department heads and asked for a motion to table it.
Carter made the motion asking that “everyone continue operating as they have been under this same notion of $500 or less.” The motion was seconded by Council member Jason Woody seconded the motion and asked for department heads to get a “graph budget” together for the council to look at in order to have the budget planned by the June 30 deadline.
Council member Sue Beaver asked Police Chief Michael Earley who authorized the covering of the sinkhole near Burra Burra Seafood Restaurant.
Earley explained that restaurant owner Mike Galinski asked to cover it.
“Mike Galinksi called me, right after the state come down about three weeks ago, and they told me that it could be another couple of months before they would even consider to look at that hole and even repair it, if they deemed that it was on them and not us,” Earley said. “So Mike Galinski called me and said, ‘Hey look, can I get one of my carpenters to build a pressure treated platform over that hole and that way we can open the sidewalk back up?’ and I saw no problem with that because it was no expense to the city.”
Seabolt took the time to let the council know he was doing well after testing positive for COVID-19.
“I went through this thing,” he said. “I had the lick, so I want everyone to know that I’m okay.”
The council also agreed to tentatively plan for the city’s Fourth of July festivities to happen July 3 at the request of Earley.