MikeMooreMedia

Neville Hall, Mayor of Eden 06.28.24

June City Council meeting, special recognition of individuals involved in water rescue of two-year old child, 2024-25 budget approved, upcoming events in July.
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Duration:: 16m
Broadcast on:: 28 Jun 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Mike Moore Media. It's the fourth Friday in the month, and that means we'll check in on the Mayor of Eden Neville Hall, who's sounding better than me. Hopefully, hey, Mayor, how are you? Hey, Mike, I'm doing okay. Well, it's- Well, it's- It's- it's moving forward slowly, yeah. So I'm going to just say, "Here's the Mayor, you take it, take over." Um, but I know we want to talk about, uh, this month's City Council meeting a lot, uh, happening there, and let's start with that special recognition that, uh, you know, I get chill bumps, and, um, I know you do, too, when you just kind of think about that whole situation, and-and just bring us up to date on that. For those that weren't there, I haven't seen the video. Yeah, um, back on May the 21st, uh, 9-1-1 got a call about a toddler that had fallen into the river, and, uh, took the police officers, responded to that scene, Josh Robertson, Timothy Knight, and they got there and saw the baby actually face down in the water. Say, "Baby, toddler, three years old," and, uh, basically lifeless in the water, and the water was higher than normal because of the rain in the previous days, but they didn't- they didn't hesitate at all in their full police gear, which weighs about 30 pounds. They went into the river and got the kid and brought it to the bank, and, uh, passed them to Andy Johnson and Lieutenant Johnson, and he started the CPR process, and they had to physically run up the hill to where the ambulance couldn't get down the bank, so they-they passed the kid along a couple of times, Mike Farmer from the fire department, who was doing EMS, and, uh, they got him to the hospital, and, uh, thankfully, the-the child, um, had recovered and had no, uh, no effect from the-from the situation, and was probably a second from, um, just having no chance to live. Yeah. Yeah, we-we definitely are proud of all those, uh, all those people in, uh, the EMS department and, uh, the 911 operators, everything had to happen kind of perfectly for this situation to end like you did, and-and they were-and we-we recognized them at this council meeting, and then, uh, this past Wednesday, we went out to, uh, Raleigh, where the Senate and the House, both-both sides-both chambers recognized this group. We had a pretty nice side, continuing to see, uh, parking in county folks that were there, and Senator Burger, uh, read a proclamation, and as well as, uh, House Member Purdle. So, uh, we felt like that was, uh, a worthy thing was, uh, to recognize them on the state level that was that big of an accomplishment, to-to make all those pieces come together perfectly, to save a life. Sure, yeah, and, uh, and that trip to Raleigh, and that photo has, um, been posted on social media this morning. So, uh, that's out there for everyone to see and-and, uh, recognize those, um, everyone involved. Yeah, that's, um, all came together, um, that was-that's just a great, um, uh, life-saving effort all along the line there, and how cool it was to have that little boy and that meeting and his mother. Yeah, that, uh, that was-that was great to have him and his family there, and, uh, they just hug on the officers and, you know, you can tell that there's a bond there now. Mm-hmm, sure, yeah. So, uh, thanks to everyone, um, involved in-in that rescue operation. Okay, well, that was, um, the highlight, uh, the budget very important, of course, too, but to have that special recognition right at the start of the meeting. But, uh, yeah, uh, July 1, on Monday, the, um, budget, uh, officially becomes, um, you know, uh, is official for, uh, 24/25. Um, anything, um, any highlights, anything you need to mention in that, Mayor? Well, I think everybody's pretty well aware that, uh, real estate values by the county were assessed, and, uh, were significantly, in most cases, higher. Then they had been, uh, mostly because it had not been valued since 2019, and we've had some, uh, pretty good growth since then, and values has increased, and, um, the county appraised the properties and-and raised values, uh, we were able to decrease the tax rate, um, by 8 cents, a little over 8, almost 9 cents, down to 52 cents, um, to make our budget be balanced, and, you know, try to be as easy as we can with the taxes, so we-we decreased our tax rate to 52 cents, based on the new values of the county at a time. Uh, so, yeah, the budget's balanced, which that's the testament to our staff and finance department, city manager and department head. Um, they all go through, and it starts in January at the budget retreat at the council, and we listen to a whole day's worth of, uh, budget requests, and then, uh, we challenge the city manager with taking those and doing what he can with the amount of income that we have, and, uh, so we-he-he matched the expenses with the income, so that's-that's where we are, and, like I said, it's been going such January, and-and this public hearing was just the last thing, yeah, by a log you have to have a public hearing and a frozen budget, so we got that taken care of. Well, you just-you just mentioned some of the people involved in-in the finance department and all of that, uh, but, uh, it was covered a little more extensively, um, with our city manager, John Mendenhall, but, uh, and you just said, uh, January is when basically all of this started. It's a long, long process. I'm not-math was always my poor subject in, uh, school, um, but there are so many pieces to this puzzle to make it all work, and so many people involved, uh, and-and you-you mentioned some of that at the meeting, the-the expenses and, you know, the services, the equipment, the personnel, and what it takes to get water from, um, point A to point B, we turn on our spigot, and there it is. Yeah, it's, uh, you know, I-I try to break it down a little bit and just say, you know, that the things with the three things that we have to pay for are services that we provide. We have to provide the equipment or machines to do those services, and we have to pay the people that do-that do the work, and, uh, everybody has experienced inflation recently, and, uh, this year we have some increases in salary in the budget to try to retain people. I think everybody knows the-that everywhere in the country is hiring, so, uh, you have to work about-you have to be concerned about retention, and-and the possibility of losing employees or more pay to a neighboring city, um, so that's always confirmed, but, you know, those are the things that we do, and whatever they cost is what we have to collect, um, and citizens definitely don't want to cut services, and then, uh, if you're going to keep services, you've got to keep the equipment to do it, and to pay the people that, that do the job, so that-those are the things that we had to cover, and so, you know, taxes went up, everybody did, but, uh, the city's not immune to inflation. We have, uh, we pay more for gas, and more for tires, and more for insurance, everything else that-sure-everybody in the country is feeling, the city feels it's much harder because we're a bigger operation than a household, so, uh, yeah, things are more expensive than they were in 2019, so-oh my, yes. You have to, uh, keep up with it, and that was-that was-that was the hardest choice in, uh, setting the rate, you know, you'd like to set it at zero, or revenue neutral, but if you're revenue neutral from 2019, you're going behind, and we're the lowest tax rate in the county, and we're proud of that, and we try to-I don't remind everybody of that, that, uh, we're doing as much as we can with as little as we have to. Yeah, but it does cost, of course, more to get, um, get those services to residents, and I-I'm linking back in my notes from that meeting, and you mentioned, um, Duke Energy and cost there. I did talk to, um, Summer Woodard, Regional City Manager yesterday, and she said that Duke Energy is charging them, uh, it's gone up $100,000 in this coming year. Yeah, so- We got a lot of facilities, and a lot of things that use a lot of power, so I-yeah, I'd build-I don't know it off the top of my head, but I'm sure I was hurting too, but, uh, you know, Duke, I-I saw in the news a while back, they were trying to get an 18% increase, but I'm not sure where it failed with the, uh, the regulations from the federal level or state level, but yeah, an increase, a little increase from them, is a huge extent for us. That's exactly right, yeah. Okay, well, uh, that's done. The budget is, um, um, officially, um, in place for July 1. Now, um, anything else, we need to mention that meeting, or- I know you-you clicked off, um, list of a lot of events coming up, uh, do we need to go right to that? It-it's your-your program, so what's next? No, I-I mean, yeah, I-I like to mention the event. I actually don't have that paper with me from the meeting, but, uh, yeah, I know we got a-a, uh, a, uh, concert that's gonna be going on at the farmhouse Saturday night. Oh, yeah, tomorrow night. Oh, yeah, tomorrow night, yeah, tomorrow night, isn't it? Probably already. Right. Then, uh, there's a cruise in that-that afternoon too, right? Mm-hmm. And that's the one. Yes, that's it. You can't be unprepared. Well, I've got-I've got that right here. So, yeah. So, we've got, uh, yeah, that's the, uh, the last, um, part of the last, um, uh, Saturday in the month, I guess. So, that's at Freedom Park. So, that's tomorrow. Yeah. And it's, um, Carolina Cool and yeah, Jeeps and Cruise In and all of that. So, that's always a fun thing. Right. And you mentioned, uh, and I was arriving, of course, July 4th and all of the, um, old-fashioned 4th, uh, even Kiwanis. Uh, and you-you mentioned, um, Fair Funeral Home, of course. That's many, many years for that fun family event. 28 years, 28 years, 28 years of that parade. And, uh, it is a very, uh, community. Uh, it's really enjoyed by members of the community. They come out in a short parade, but it's always very well attended and, uh, the fans do a great job organizing that. And, uh, it's a fun thing to start off walking July 4th. Yeah. You also mentioned, and I didn't even have this on mine, calendar until you mention it. Movies on Monroe coming up July 12th, Greece. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they're gonna, uh, we're just, you know, always looking and trying new things. If we can, uh, see people and kids entertained and stuff. So, uh, we're trying that in July 12th down on Monroe Street. And then of course, uh, Chagginon Fieldcraft is always a big, well attended event. Yeah. And, uh, Jacob Villas, it's gonna be on the other end of the Fieldcraft this year, kind of flipping the stage with the audience and move more down towards Main Street. But, uh, vendors and things will still be on, uh, Fieldcraft as well. So, yeah. Okay. Yeah. So, Chagginon Fieldcraft, but, uh, near location there, Main Street, Saturday, July 20th, and, uh, three bands, uh, at that. So, uh, yeah. That's always, always great. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, weather holds out. Yeah. Well, you know, um, there's nothing planned for Sunday. You know, we get through Shannon Dua tomorrow at the farmhouse and everything at Freedom Park. And, uh, there is a slight chance of showers Sunday. So, uh, let's hope that increases and helps our yards, helps our lawns. Yeah. Okay. Well, anything else, Mayor? Well, that's all Mike. Um, summertime, we had a couple council members that were, uh, unavailable for the meeting. So, we, you know, anything that we could hold off, we do, uh, do we have everybody there? But, uh, yeah, that it was, uh, short meeting, you know, the, the fun part was the recognition of those heroes. And, uh, of course, the budget was not fun, but it has to be done. Yeah. Mm-hmm. All right. Well, uh, then we'll wrap it up there and let me wish you and, of course, uh, city offices will be closed July 4th, but, uh, happy, um, happy Independence Day, Mayor. Hey, you too, Mike. Hope you have a great one and, uh, maybe I'll sit here around and firework. I'll, I'll catch you somewhere along the way, for sure. All right. Thanks a lot. Always a pleasure. Bye-bye. That's Neville Hall. He is the Mayor of Eden. Uh, please excuse my voice. Still not quite where it needs to be, but the Mayor sounding good there. Uh, a reminder too, always like to, uh, include this in our podcast here with the city shop, local support, our Eden businesses. And that brings me right to Kings Inn Pizza Parlor on NC 14, a hometown favorite since 1970. Daily lunch specials for takeout called Kings Inn Pizza Parlor. 336-627-1706. And then, uh, we have Uptown Pharmacy. Corin Brooks, uh, right there in Uptown, Eden, on the corner of Washington and Hamilton Street. She has 35, over 35 years of experience and, um, glad to be providing hometown service, big selection. Um, and of course, um, for all of your prescription needs and immunizations and all of that convenient drive through, open money through Friday, 9 to 6, Saturday, 9 to 3 at Uptown Pharmacy. Also, want to mention, uh, Turner Furniture Company, there's a company that's been around a long time since 1952 on Meadow Road with, uh, always a great selection of living room, bedroom furniture, uh, recliners, lift chairs, betting in, um, all comfort levels. Those great Ashley power recliners, people love those. And, um, at Turner Furniture, um, you can get delivery and financing available. Always a good selection. So, thanks to these sponsors, uh, Kings Inn Pizza Parlor, yep, they've been around since 1970. I think I mentioned that, but some longtime businesses and, uh, Corin Brooks at Uptown Pharmacy, uh, lots of experience in the pharmacy business, but her Uptown Pharmacy, um, not open that long, but she's doing a great job for residents. Thank you for listening, shop local, shop Eden. Thanks for your support. [BLANK_AUDIO]