At the Spring Lake Board of Aldermen’s work session scheduled for Monday, town officials will vote for a second time on police and fire pay increases and declare a road closure for the unveiling of a second art mural on Main Street.
Board members will also discuss a procedure to evaluate the performances of board-supervised positions including town attorney, clerk and manager.
The board will meet at 6 p.m. in the Grady Howard conference room at the Spring Lake Town Hall. Here’s a look at what’s ahead:
Pay raises for police and fire
At the board’s last meeting March 11, the board voted unanimously to increase police salaries by 20% and eliminate sleep pay for the fire department, which would increase their pay.
Interim Town Manager Jason Williams is asking that the board re-vote on both items, saying the motions were vaguely worded and needed to be restated officially for the record.
Staff performance evaluations
Mayor Pro Tem Sona Cooper is bringing new evaluation forms and/or schedules for the board to examine as board members plan to assess the performance of key town officials such as the manager, town clerk and attorney. All three positions are hired by the board of aldermen.
Cooper said this week they were attempting to create policies and procedures that would last well into the future, and that this is one more step in that direction.
Art mural on Main Street
One more item that the board will consider is to close a portion of Main Street between Spring Avenue and Johnson Street on May 4, for the unveiling of a new wall art mural.
The wall mural will be located at 108 N. Main St.
Out of four other artists, Karoll Kuri has been selected by the Spring Lake Appearance and Sustainability Committee to paint the next mural in Spring Lake, according to Alderman Raul Palacios, who serves as the ex-officio board member of the committee.
“All of the funds of this project will be used for the project and will not pass through the town,” Palacios said.
He said the project was given a $15,000 creative placemaking grant from the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, which will cover Kuri’s expenses and additional project-related costs.
Kuri, 37, is the owner of Meraki Creative Agency and the director of communications at Village Baptist Church. Best known for her professional balloon displays and party decor, Kuri also created the “Umbrellas” exhibit in downtown Fayetteville next to the former Tap House.
Kuri said she hopes the new mural in Spring Lake, the second in a series for the Spring Lake Art Trail, will bring joy to Main Street with color and vibrance.
“Color is usually the easiest way to bring in a sense of belonging in a town,” she said.
The project is described as having “pops of colors and intended to highlight the diverse cultures and generations of our town,” according to Palacios.
“One section of the mural will have handprints of our residents to broadcast our generational unity that's woven throughout the history of our small town,” Palacios said. “Another section will highlight our town's common love for each citizen and remind all that they are loved and not forgotten.”
Kuri said she hopes to begin work in mid-April and have community members come out to help, similar to the process for the first mural, which was unveiled last November on Veterans Day. The first mural was painted by Max Dowdle, who said “it was a powerful symbol of American patriotism and support for the military” when he began the project in October.
Palacios also said that the Appearance Committee was working on two other locations for future art and that a third mural is expected to be completed by Veterans Day this year.
Jami McLaughlin covers Spring Lake for CityView Today. She can be reached at jmclaughlin@cityviewnc.com or at 910-391-4870.
