Grifton to participate in short term investment fund

The Grifton Board of Commissioners has authorized the town manager to move forward with a short-term investment pool for North Carolina local governments.

In a presentation at its May 14 meeting, K. Lee Carter, president of Capital Management of the Carolinas LLC, provided information about the North Carolina Capital Management Trust.

Carter said the fund is in its 42nd year and authorized by state law to pull together money from local governments and invest it in treasuries and short-term funds.

“We are certified by the Local Government Commission, and that’s required for this to be an eligible investment,” said Carter. “We have AAA ratings from Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, and we follow a series of rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission on how to operate a fund like this that’s designed to protect your principal.”

Carter said investments are designed to be very safe and funds remain accessible to the town. He said 766 governments in North Carolina participate including Pitt and Lenoir county government, Ayden, Winterville, Greenville Utilities Commission and local school boards.

“We pay a market rate of interest, whatever that is, and so right now the one-day rate is 5.22%,” said Carter. “You earn interest every day, it compounds monthly, so that gets you up to a 5.35%, and that’s the rate everybody gets.”

There’s no extra charge to open multiple accounts, and Carter suggested that the town might want to have a general fund account, a water and sewer fund account, and a power bill account.

“What that does is help keep the money separate where you can see what it is, and it also helps allocate the interest to the accounts,” said Carter.

The board unanimously voted to move forward and directed Town Manager Oryan Lowry to begin the process of establishing an account.

Rezoning

Commissioners amended a motion denying a petition to rezone land on N.C. 118 near the Grifton Baseball field from residential to highway commercial that would allow for construction of a Dollar General store. On the advice of attorneys Cliff Parson and Dakota M. Lipscombe the board incorporated a consistency and reasonableness statement.

Commissioner Claude Kennedy moved to amend the motion adopted at the April meeting to clarify that the board determined the request was inconsistent with the town’s land use plan and was not reasonable. It was unanimously approved.

“Based on the information presented to the Planning Board and the Board of Commissioners, the proposed rezoning is inconsistent with the town’s Land Use Plan, which contemplates agricultural use of the property,” the statement says. “Further, based on the information provided to the town, the proposed rezoning is unreasonable, detrimental to the surrounding area, and not in the public interest based on the usage allowed in B1 zoning being inconsistent with and adjacent to agricultural, residential, and recreational uses, with increased traffic, noise, sanitation, safety and related issues inherent in a business use.”

Other Business

Town Manager Lowry said staff has submented a letter to the North Carolina Department of Information Technology in support of a $2,706,000 grant for HarvestBeam to complete further internet service upgrades in Grifton, Lenoir County and Ayden.

Staff also sent a letter of support for the Pitt County Community Waste and Recycling Grant, he said. The county will disperse $50,000 for agencies that offer a letter of support.

Lowry also gave the following updates:

An audit was completed on participants in the town’s BackFlow Device program, and certified letters were mailed out to participants in the program on May 9.

Brent Harris has continued to move forward with his renovation of the property at 587 Wall St. and should have it rental-worthy within the next few monthsValerie Diaz has been awarded a power of attorney for a burned property on Saint Joseph Street and will take over negotiations with an insurance company and with intentions of renovating that property.

Grifton’s Chief of Police Derek Dennis completed his first semester in college finishing with a 3.9 GPA.

Town employee Christina Ellis completed the Local Government Finance course through Central Piedmont Community College.

Following up on comments made at the April Meeting, Lowry said that they sent a public works crew to Arlease Newton’s home to assess her increased water bill and found that she had done some pressure washing on her property over concrete.

Staff also has a quote to complete the work on the Jones property addressed at the April meeting. Staff has a quote to put a French drain in, and a quote to do the curb and gutter across the street.

During Public comments, on behalf of the Shad Festival Committee, Tommy Sugg thanked the town manager, the utilities department and police department for their assistance with the festival.

“Our police department did a great job of helping us save money and running the Shad Festival, and with the help of Oryan Lowry and the utilities department, the town looked great before and after the festival,” said Sugg.

Thomas Coltrain of 6399 N. Highland Blvd. addressed concerns to the board about the new subdivision on Sam McLaughlin Road, now known as Harris Landing.

“After riding through and looking at the work that has been done, I do not see any plans for curbs, gutters, sidewalks, or stormwater retention and runoff other than running into the state right away ditches,” said Coltrain.

Mayor Billy Ray Jackson asked Lowry to schedule a meeting with Coltrain to discuss his concerns with the new subdivision.