The City of Stamps held its monthly council meeting on February 26^th with all members present except for Anthony Sterling. Notable items from the committee reports included the placement of two benches by the Stamps Rotary Club at the Dr. Maya Angelou Memorial Park and asphalt overlays being completed on West Street. She visited the Lilly park and noticed it needed some maintenance. There were 34 tickets written and 12 warrants served. Ticket writing is an item of discussion at most every council meeting since a few members of the council do not feel the city writes enough tickets to area residents or those traveling through. 

City of Stamps police clerk, Brenda Force
addressing the city council regarding ticket breakdown and why tickets are not being written.

Brenda Force, the city’s police clerk, reported that $2,195 has been collected under the amnesty program. The program runs through April 30, 2024. Individuals with old fines and/or warrants are encouraged to take advantage of this program. Through the amnesty program individuals could have their warrants lifted and some fees waived to make payment of the fine more affordable. You can only take advantage of the amnesty program prior to being arrested. If you are arrested on the old ticket/fine/warrant, you may be subjected to paying the entire balance before being released. Force attempted to breakdown how proceeds of tickets were distributed. She used a $205 ticket as an example, stating $10 went to police equipment, $20 to city jail feet, $20 to the county and the remaining goes to the State

Force also reported the city has not had a working radar since the cars with a radar have been out of service for several months and the hand radar has not been calibrated for nearly a year. Force indicated she would contact the technician to set up an appointment. It is unclear why the city is not on a routine schedule for this service or why Force has not arranged to have this appointment scheduled before now. The city hopes to get the title for the donated Dodge Charger squad car it received more than a year ago. Without the title, the city is unable to put the vehicle in service.

Moving beyond committee reports, the mayor reported both roof leaks at the city hall and the library had been fixed at a cost of $3,500. Councilperson Dickson noted they were not told of the leaks or fixed until after it was completed. The leak at the city hall is a known issue as it has been repaired on several occasions by another local contractor. The library leak was also publicly discussed in several meetings, mostly recently when the Mayor insisted in lieu of employee bonuses the council might consider using city construction funds for repair of the library roof. The council ignored this request and instead voted for employee Christmas bonuses. The Mayor noted that despite having several days of rain since the repair was carried out by the latest contractor, there was no evidence of leaks. Not letting it rest, Councilperson Phillips asked if the Mayor had obtained the license and insurance of the selected contractor. This is something that the Mayor has discussed with the council before but at each occasion the council was reluctant to enforce this requirement. The Mayor reminded the council they cannot be selective in their enforcement. She turned to Councilperson Satterwhite to ask if he had paperwork on file indicating he was licensed and bonded for the contracted lawn care work he provides to the city. Satterwhite stated he did not and if required he would terminate the contract.

A request was made by the Mayor to open accounts to receive monies from the state for recently awarded grants from the Youth Job Readiness Program and the Park Improvement as Dr. Maya Angelou Memorial Park. Reluctantly, the council agreed to open an account for the Youth Job Readiness Program. The council did not agree to open an account for the Park Improvement, under the disguise they did not have plans for the intended work. If the council refuses to open an account to receive the grant dollars, the council would in essence be rejecting $160K awarded to improve the very same park that Dickson has earlier said needed some maintenance.

The council, after some discussion over the technology upgrade, agreed to approve allocations it had discussed in the special meeting on February 22^nd. The City would spend $88K on new water pumps, $25K for a new mosquito sprayer and up to $20K for technology upgrade. The City has $224,374.00 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) or COVID dollars it has yet to spend, and these allocations will be pulled from this fund. The council will reconvene in May to discuss any unallocated ARPA dollars. You can refer to the previous meeting here: ARPA Allocation Meeting Feb 22, 2024. It does not appear these costs were based on any multiple bids or quotes or whether the city will require three competitive quotes before purchase of any of these items.  

Jake Potter, the City’s attorney, was asked but could not provide an update on the approval of the new ward maps. He only stated at last contact, he was advised the clerk’s office was working on it. No date was given when the last contact was made.

The City approved two events on the Triangle. The Stamps High School Alumni would host the “Taste of Stamps” on April 20^th from 12pm to 6pm. Proceeds would support the scholarship fund. Takumi Nishiuchi will host the annual 5K run for the SMA foundation on March 16^th. Proceeds will support spinal muscular atrophy (SMA research and the Living Hope Disability Ministry. The event will be kicked off with breakfast that morning at the city hall.  

Appearing to still be reeling from the Mayor’s decision to hire a contractor unknown to the council, Councilperson Phillips made a motion to place a $1K spending limit on the Mayor’s expense authority. She also wants to place travel limitations on the Mayor. The motion passed. The Mayor vetoed the matter stating more discussion was needed since this was just brought forth. Phillips stated it was necessary to lower the spending authority since the budget was tight. The 2024 budget has already been approved over the course of 4 meetings and as earlier stated the Mayor asked the council to set aside these funds for construction projects. Again, against advice the council insisted on employee bonuses after having given some employees bonuses just 5 months earlier. Phillips’ reasoning for restricting the Mayor’s expense authority contradicted her earlier actions. Just an hour prior in this very same meeting, she was poised to reject $160k in grant funding. Under Phillips’ watch, the City has also failed to spend COVID dollars it first awarded more than three years ago. The city has operated in a budget deficit for each of the past five years, notwithstanding dollars pulled from ARPA dollars. No mention of reduced expense authority was discussed during this timeframe. The council has also not been open to finding ways to generate revenue for the city that are not punitive (i.e tickets and/or nuisance fines) in nature to its residents.  

The council went into executive session and once it ended, they voted to take no action.   There was a public comment section and then the meeting was adjourned. 

To view the meeting in its entirety please click here. https://www.facebook.com/100090024278517/videos/7162380533830244

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