Back at Woodstock Town Hall for their meeting this week, the Woodstock Town Council took care of ordinary business expeditiously with all members in attendance. After approving the minutes of the previous meeting as well as March and April financial statements, they went on to approve invoices to be paid of $2,105 for sewer system work to the Kelley Group (engineering services), and to Gamble Plumbing of $564 for “field maintenance” for the Park and Recreation department.

The Council also approved Resolution 2020-5-1 which adopts the State’s Sales Tax Holiday, scheduled for July 17 to July 19, 2020.

New Municipal Court procedures due to COVID-19 were also reviewed by Court Clerk Dorinda Smith. Effective June 1, these rules – intended to keep everyone as safe as possible – from the virus are laid out in the Administrative Order pictured here from Municipal Court Judge Dennis Steverson. (Click image for larger view.)

After all of the regular business was handled, the floor was opened to public comment.

RV Parks and Subdivision Road Maintenance

Mr. Jeff Wilkes brought a petition to the Council from 20 fellow residents at Hunters Point, requesting that the development’s owner not be allowed to install a RV park within or adjacent to their neighborhood. Mayor Jeff Dodson explained that there was already a zoning ordinance in place that would prevent this from happening, and if the developer had plans for such, they would have to address it with local government first.

Mr. Wilkes also expressed concern over the poor condition of the roads within the subdivision, stating that he had addressed the problems with the developer years prior, with promises made to make repairs. These repairs were never done, and residents asked if the Town could intervene and repair the roads. An additional question came from Kathy Leatherwood, asking if developers could be required to build roads with curbs and gutters.

Mayor Dodson addressed both of these concerns, stating that developers have guidelines in place that they must adhere to when building roads within their subdivision developments. It seems that the subdivision in question was built prior to the current rules being adopted.

Dodson added that the Town could not take over roads within a development, and they were the owner’s responsibility. While he sympathized with their situation, he said there was nothing the Town could do at this time. He also commented that the Town could quickly go broke if developers were able to go build roads and then just turn them over to the Town for maintenance.