Council recognizes new members, honors retirees

Nov. 15—HENDERSON — The Henderson City Council met Monday night and discussed just a few items.

Outgoing Mayor Eddie Ellington recognized Mayor-Elect Melissa Elliott and later did the same for incoming council members Tami Walker, Geraldine Champion and Michael Venable, who will be sworn in alongside Sam Seifert at the next council meeting in December.

The council first honored two retirees, Battalion Chief Doug Owen and Henderson Police Department Lieutenant Angela Feingold.

"I can't think of a time that I didn't know Chief Owen," said Ellington. He wished Owen and his family well. The firefighter was the center of a celebration at the fire station on Dabney Drive in late October.

As with all retirees, City Manager Terrell Blackmon presented Owen with a clock — "Your time is up," he joked. He and Ellington also gave him a throw blanket. Owen received a standing ovation from the crowd packed into the council chamber.

Feingold has been with the city since 1994, starting in the Drug Unit. The mere statement of that fact earned a round of applause. Blackmon thanked one of HPD's best for her service. Ellington jokingly told the old family friend that he hopes she'll stay on call. Police Chief Marcus Barrow mirrored his sentiment, and praised Feingold's talent and expertise in law enforcement.

The chief presented her with a plaque of all the — many — service badges she has worn throughout her 29 years. Under General Statute, the city presented her with her service firearm as well.

Moments like those are "bittersweet," the mayor said.

On to business, the council accepted a revolving loan of $2,542,533, at a 0% interest rate, from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The same department offered $5 million in grant funding as well. That total of $7.5 million will fund the rehabilitation of the Sandy Creek Basin sewer, a project that seeks to fix collapsed lines among other issues that have contributed to spills in the city's sewer system.

Hot on the heels of that sewer project was another. City staff applied for $500,000 in grant funding from the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission to construct a series of low pressure pumps in North Henderson. Neighborhoods in the area can't access city sewer due to topography. Rainfall tends to create standing water high in fecal matter. Building those pump stations would grant 60 lots access to city sewer and ameliorate the issue.

That grant requires a 20% match, so the city is responsible for $100,000. They received twice as much from the state budget last month.

Lastly, in order to curtail trespassing at the Red Bud Lift Station on Vance Academy Road, the council accepted an offer from Allen Boyd to construct a hog wire fence at his nearby property.

With no other business, Ellington adjourned one of his last meetings, and that of council members outgoing Jason Spriggs, Marion Cooper and Mike Rainey.