Spring Lake board to discuss staff positions that have been eliminated

SPRING LAKE — The Spring Lake Board of Aldermen is expected to discuss jobs that have been eliminated when it meets Monday night.

The board will meet in the Grady Howard Conference Room at Town Hall at 6 p.m. Monday.

The town cut positions such as tax collector, planning department inspector, code enforcement officer, finance director and others.

The N.C. Local Government Commission took over management of the town’s finances in October 2021 amid concerns about budget deficits, fiscal disarray and possible missing money.

Currently, David Erwin, the accounting and financial management adviser for the N.C. Department of State Treasurer, serves as Spring Lake’s finance director. Tiffany Anderson and Susan McCullen serve as deputy finance officers.

Anderson and McCullen were appointed after the town terminated interim Town Manager and Deputy Finance Officer Samantha Wullenwaber. The termination, which occurred outside an open meeting, left the town without a secondary check signer and came on the heels of the release of a state audit report on March 17, 2022.

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The town has been contracting with accounting firm Greg W. Isley CPA and will be reviewing recent invoices.

The board also will discuss topics from its February retreat.

The retreat was held Feb. 18 at the Spring Lake campus of Fayetteville Technical Community College. The board followed up on goals set at a retreat in September as well as discussed new goals.

Those include communicating a new mission and vision for Spring Lake to residents and developing a list of tasks or frameworks that can be measured.

Facilitator Paul Meyer, CEO of Meyer Innovative Solutions and former executive director and legal counsel for the North Carolina League of Municipalities, said the planning session was part of fulfilling a fiscal accountability agreement between the Local Government Commission and the town. The agreement required a written action plan with specific tasks and due dates.

“This is nuts-and-bolts for making the town better,” said Meyer.

The draft strategic plan includes the following:

• Manager and staff: Build a competent, qualified and ethical workforce that is committed to achieving goals and objectives.
• Governance: Continue to understand and respect roles and responsibilities in the council-manager form of government.
• Finance: Create a financial management system and workplace that meet mandates as well as create a culture of transparency and accountability.
• Operating policies: Update and create policies, practices and procedures that are consistent with the law and best practices.
• Relationships: Create a network of partners and stakeholders committed to working together.
• Economic development: Create the necessary infrastructure and develop opportunities to expand the tax base and generate jobs.

The board also will hearing informational presentations by representatives of Carvers Creek State Park and the Child Advocacy Center as well as a sales presentation for a staff “mental fitness” program.

The board is expected to go into closed session for matters of attorney-client privilege and personnel.