Interlocal Agreement
The Interlocal Agreement for Land Acquisition for the Western Wake Regional Wastewater Management
Facilities, dated Jan 26, 2005 called for each of the towns to provide written approval to the lead
agency (Cary) for the land parcels identified for acquisition. Cary provided a letter for each of
the towns to sign and return to Cary. The intent of the letter is to inform Cary that the towns
agree with and concur with the selection of the site of the sewage plant. The Interlocal Agreement
letter can be read here.
The New Hill Community Association believes Mayor Weatherly overstepped his authority and signed this
letter, at the urging of Town Manager Bruce Radford, without the Board of Commissioners discussing or
voting on the site selection. Let’s examine why we believe this.
The Code of Ordinances for the Town of Apex can be read here.
The Code of Ordinances states:
Sec. 2-23. Mayor--Duties.
It shall be the duty of the mayor to:
(1) Preside over the meetings of the board.
(2) Sign all contracts, franchises and other written instruments
authorized by the board.
(3) Appoint such committees as are authorized by the board and
outline their powers and duties as deemed necessary to
properly care for the affairs of the town.
(Code 1973, § 2-32(b), (c), (d))
Charter references: Mayor as official head of town government,
vote of mayor, § 2.2.
State law references: Mayor as official head of town,
G.S. 160A-67; vote of mayor,
G.S. 160A-69.
There are two emails supporting our assertion the Mayor was not authorized to sign and send the letter:
- From: billjensen@nc.rr.com [mailto:billjensen@nc.rr.com]
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2005 6:33 AM
To: Bruce Radford
Subject: Cary decision
Bruce,
Well, Cary made the decision on the waste water site selection
that I certainly hoped they would not. I my opinion, you had a
good part in that decision by having Weatherly sign a letter that went around any decision making process by the Apex Board of Commissioners. This town is supposed to be run by the
commissioners, not the staff, and it appears too often that it
is the other way around. This process needs to stop.
Bill
- From: billjensen@nc.rr.com [mailto:billjensen@nc.rr.com]
Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 10:34 AM
To: Mike Jones
Subject: Re: Apex commissioners and mayor e-mails
Mike,
We need to meet on the waste water partnership agreement, and
I would also like to discuss if and how we might rescind the letter Keith accidentally sent to Cary.....
Thanks,
Bill
Being that the letter was sent in error, it is the
opinion of the New Hill Community Association that the letter should be rescinded, and the Apex
Board of Commissioners should discuss then vote on whether the site in New Hill is the appropriate site.
Commissioner Jensen has stated many times that the
site selection is wrong. He even introduced a resolution at the 9/6/2005 Apex Board Meeting
to ask Cary to continue looking for additional sites. The resolution died for the lack of a “second”.
During the Apex Candidate Forums, Mike Jones stated New Hill was not the correct site for
the sewage plant, however, Commissioner Jones did not provide the "second" to Commissioner
Jensen's resolution.
There is additional evidence that Mayors Weatherly and McAlister know the letter was sent in
error and are doing all they can to cover up the mistake:
- Principal: CN=Kim Fisher/O=Cary
Subject: WWR Site Selection and Other Stuff
SendTo: Leila Goodwin
From: CN=Kim Fisher/O=Cary
INetFromPostedDate: 09/13/2005 09:45:06 AM
As we discussed at the TAC meting last week, the Apex Town Board, at
their last meeting, entertained a motion from Comm. Jensen to revisit
the site selection process for WWR WWMF, but it died for lack of a
second after significant discussion.
Robert K. (Kim) Fisher, P.E.
There is a page 2 to this story.
Yesteday, Bill Coleman filled me in on that page 2. It seems that
Mayor McAlister has been working behind the scenes with Mike Jones
and Keith Weatherly to keep from reopening the site selection
process. To accomplish this, Mayor McAlister has agreed to have Mike
Jones and Keith Weatherly, as well as the Mayor and one other elected
official from each of the other project partners meet with Tommy
Esqueda and Bob DiFiore (my suggestion) to ask them questions about
sites that Mike Jones is interested in and any other sites of
concern.
- Principal: CN=Kim Fisher/O=Cary
Subject: Meeting Next Tuesday Afternoon
SendTo: Bill Coleman
From: CN=Kim Fisher/O=Cary
INetFromPostedDate: 09/14/2005 04:07:12 PM
I have confirmed with Tommy Esqueda that he and Bob DiFiore
from Hazen and Sawyer can be at the 3:30 PM meeting with Mayor McAlister,
et al, to answer questions regarding WRF sites. I will be there, but
Leila will take the meeting with DENR, along with other members of
the consultant team, in order to keep that process on schedule.
Robert K. (Kim) Fisher, P.E.
On September 20, 2005 the above secret meeting was held without notifying or
getting input from anyone in New Hill. You can read the News & Observer
article about the meeting here.
Excerpts from the article:
Mayor McAlister stated he agreed to the meeting “as an accommodation”
to a fellow elected official who had found a piece of land the towns had
not considered before”.
McAlister went on to state, “There was never any serious consideration”
given to moving the plant. Instead, the towns just agreed to evaluate
Jones’ site using the same criteria as the other 29 locations”.
During the Apex Candidate Forums, Mike Jones stated New Hill was not the correct site
for the sewage plant, however, Commissioner Jones did not provide the “second” to Commissioner
Jensen’s resolution.
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