In a three to one vote Tuesday, Chadbourn Town council voted to remove consideration of adding the Chadbourn Christmas festival to the town’s umbrella insurance.
The item was part of the consent portion of the agenda, which is usually comprised of routine items that do not require additional discussion and are generally approved in a single motion.
Other consent items included approving the Aug. 3 meeting minutes, accepting the proceeds for the sale of 608 N. Brown Street, a budget amendment for National Night Out, and an amended motion to clarify a previous action allowing a home-based business. Councilman Danny Clewis made the motion to approve the agenda, including the consent items. Councilman Tony Jordan seconded the motion.
Councilwoman Avala Nealy said she wanted to be sure the council was approving the items on the consent agenda.
“Once we approve this consent agenda, we’re approving everything that’s on that paper,” she said.
Mayor Phillip Britt said the items would be approved en masse if the consent agenda received a positive vote.
“I want to ask a second question,” she said. “I just want to ask the second question, I mean, I just want to make it known that we can prove this,” she said. “I want to be consistent in what we have done, Attorney.
“That item…about the Chadbourn festivities, and we are approving the request for the town to provide the umbrella insurance, which has been done in the past for community events.”
“Yes ma’am, if it passes it will be approved,” Britt said. He then asked if Nealy wanted to move the insurance coverage to the action agenda for more discussion.
“I just wanted to be clear to all in the community, you’re going to pay for their insurance, and back in June you denied another one. That’s all. I just wanted to make that clear.” In June, the town council refused to provide insurance coverage for another event. Private individuals paid for that policy.
Clewis then asked that his motion be amended to remove the Christmas event from the consent agenda. Nealy seconded the motion. Nealy, Jordan and Clewis voted to remove the Christmas insurance coverage from the agenda. Colene Faulk cast the sole opposing vote. No mention was made of including the discussion elsewhere in the meeting.
“I didn’t ask to take this off,” Nealy said. “I just brought it to the light for consistency of what we had done.”
“I was just making sure we that we were documenting it correctly,” Britt said.
The request could be put back on the agenda at the November meeting. Town manager Dvaid Wise noted that Police Chief Ken Elliot and Barbara Yates were working with the town to organize the Christmas event.
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