Roachdale town council quickly approves agenda

Despite having an agenda of 10 items, the Roachdale Town Council quickly approved the many agenda items and finished its meeting in roughly 20 minutes on Tuesday.

The most pressing issue for the board and the town was the final deadline for residents to sign the agreement to fix existing gas lines in town. The board decided that all of the new letters must be signed by May 31, or the work will not be done on the home and the property owner will have to pay for the work themselves if they choose to fix the line in the future.

Several Roachdale citizens attended the town council meeting two months ago requesting that the language in the original agreement be changed. Many felt that the language gave the state too much power over the land and was far too vague in other areas. The newly revised agreement will be mailed to Roachdale residents over the next few days.

Barbara Scott, town council member, said roughly 80 people have not signed the original agreement yet, and she said she hopes they sign the new one.

The board also rescinded its original decision to hire Arnold's to install a new roof on the town hall building. Board president William Long said Arnold's cannot come out to the town in the near future, and so the board chose to use Pell's instead.

The board is also considering increasing thereimbursement rate for fuel costs. Long recommended the board change its rate to the current federal rate, which is currently 51 cents per mile for business miles. The board will create an ordinance to read at the next monthly meeting before voting for its approval two months from now.

New utilities manager Jason Woodall also asked for a new ammonia system for the water supply. The state requires that the town has such a device, and the board approved the cost of $6,722.28 from Hulk to get the job done.