Hope Mills board argues over fire contracts, museum sale

Despite claims of conflict of interest and disagreements among town staff, the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners on Monday approved in separate 3-2 votes two contracts with local fire departments.

Because the town limits of Hope Mills are growing due to annexations, the town needs to expand its fire coverage, according to Town Manager Scott Meszaros. It would be too costly for the town to build its own substations, especially when other fire stations already exist nearby.

As a result, Meszaros proposed two contracts with Pearce’s Mill Fire Department for $15,000 per year for five years and with Cotton Fire Department for $23,000 per year for five years. He said he has been working on these contracts since his hiring in June.

The town board discussed the contracts at its meeting Monday, which was broadcast on the town's YouTube channel.

Commissioners Jerry Legge, Bryan Marley and Grilley Mitchell supported the contracts, while Mayor Pro Tem Kenjuana McCray and Commissioner Joanne Scarola opposed them because of concerns by Fire Chief Chuck Hodges.

“The full responder contract would be beneficial to the town, but it needs to be beneficial to the fire department,” Hodges said.

Scarola asked when Hodges became involved with the contract. Hodges replied that he was only shown the proposed contract.

Meszaros said Hodges was involved in previous meetings. “The chief is one of my employees, and the chief has been invited,” he said. “And — not to be offensive — the council I was hired under initiated this process.”

Scarola was not on the Board of Commissioners when Meszaros became town manager. She was elected in November.

Mitchell said that according to “business 101,” the subject matter expert, in this case, Hodges, should be at the table during contract negotiations.

Scarola then said that Commissioner Marley was a part of those meetings. She claimed it was a conflict of interest. Marley works with Pearce Mill’s Fire Department.

“You have two fire chiefs. They should’ve been involved, not a commissioner. We stay in our lane; you should stay in your lane,” she said to Meszaros.

"By the council that hired me, I was directed to ..." Meszaros began.

“I do believe this is inappropriate now. You’ve had your speech,” Mayor Jackie Warner interrupted.

“That doesn’t matter. Point of order, madam mayor,” Scarola replied.

Then Marley got involved, claiming there was no conflict of interest. He said that since he was a salaried employee of the Fire Department, he does not directly benefit from the contract.

“What I would suggest is you back up and do a little investigation of your own since you know so much,” he said to Scarola.

Marley also said that the Cumberland County district attorney had investigated him for similar allegations in 2015 and had previously decided there was no conflict of interest.

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Scarola and Marley then proceeded to talk over one another. Warner slammed her gavel to interrupt them.

"That's enough," Warner said.

Warner then advocated for the contracts. “Our fire department is still in charge. It’s just our fire department needs those arms to help us because we’re growing so fast,” she said.

Warner said that contracting with these departments will improve the town's fire safety ratings, which will help reduce the cost of home insurance for residents.

Museum sold

In addition, the board accepted an offer of $35,000 to purchase the Hope Mills museum building museum on Trade Street in a 3-2 vote.

Commissioners Marley, McCray and Mitchell supported the sale, while commissioners Legge and Scarola opposed it. Legge and Scarola had also opposed putting the building up for sale in a sealed bid in March.

More: Hope Mills museum on Trade Street now for sale

The sealed bid, which means that only the highest bidder is made public, came from LMC, Financial Services for $35,000. Meszaros called it “a reasonable offer.”

The request for bids, which was available on the town’s website, includes information about the building. Built in 1920, it is almost 1,000 square feet on 0.11 acres. The total value of the land and building is around $33,300.

The document says that the structure has a new metal roof (done in 2019); rot-resistant windows; Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant sidewalk and rear access ramp (done in June for $15,000); and a compressor within a recently serviced HVAC unit.

Meszaros said that overall, the town has invested around $110,000 in the building.

“That’s a considerable loss for the citizens of the town,” Legge said.

Mitchell made the motion to accept the bid, “so we can move on,” he said.

In other news from the meeting, the board went into closed session to discuss alleged criminal misconduct, personnel matters and attorney-client privilege with no action taken.

Budget meeting

On Tuesday, the board held a special meeting about its budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

However, the meeting was not livestreamed or posted on the town's YouTube channel. Other meetings, including the budget retreat in March, have been livestreamed, and their recordings are available online.

Meszaros said Wednesday that work sessions, like this budget meeting, aren't broadcast live.

The recommended budget presented May 2 includes:

• More than $5 million in revenues from the state.

• Almost $521,000 in unreserved fund balance, also known as a savings account, for one-time capital items.

• Two new positions in the sanitation and the parks and recreation departments.

• Cost of living adjustment of 1.75% for employees, effective January 2023.

• Increase in employee health insurance cost by 4.7%.

• No appropriation from the Powell Bill fund.

• More than $169,000 for a new bucket truck for the stormwater department.

Meszaros said that during the budget meeting Tuesday, the board added $800 for the sunshine committee, which is for the seniors of Hope Mills. It also wanted to add a bus route, but the town didn't have an exact number at this time.

Meszaros said that the budget was balanced.

“We will continue to work with town commissioners, staff and citizens to establish our goals and objectives as the town vigilantly works to provide (the) level of services our constituents expect,” Meszaros wrote in the budget proposal.

The board will host a public hearing on the budget during the regular board meeting June 6.

Reporter Ivey Schofield can be reached at ischofield@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Hope Mills board argues over fire contracts, museum sale