What happened? Anything exciting?
Thursday, July 10, 2008
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The place to come to find out what is going on in Brookneal! Let's talk about our great little town and the businesses and people in it!
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- Brookneal, Virginia, United States
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10 comments:
There were a few interesting things.
1) We are now looking at a rental property maintainance code. Seems like there are people upset that the slum lords in town do not take care of their properties or renters. Mrs. Campbell commented that she had been told by some residents that they no longer felt safe living here.
The irony of this is that I have brought this issue up for over three years. When the house next door to me was a crack house with people that would scare the death row inmates of San Quentin, the mayor and town manager didn't care. Renters living in squalor was no big deal.
When I told them that the USDA and other grant giving entities were going to start refusing to issue grants to towns that didn't have maintainance codes on place, they didn't care. I have brought this issue up repeatedly and was ignored. Now it's a problem in our efforts to secure this latest grant, and some of the old guard buddies are feeling threatened, so it's a necessity.
2) The people that manage Smith Mountain Lake think they own all the water that comes through it and that they should have the rights to shut down the Staunton River if they want.
Seems like it could be a bit of a problem during a drought year.
Tracy Meisenbach
www.trinityapp.com
Okay, here goes;
Upon inspection of the towns investment report (and one didn't have to look past the surface of the report) it was discovered that they have $380,472.74 in 6 CD's at Bank of Charlotte, with interest rates running from 3.50% to 4.96%.
The largest CD which was $151,069.42 has the 3.50% lowest rate and yielded the town $5285.00 & change in YTD interest---matures 8/31/08.
(highest rate of 4.96% had $41,099.50 in it--matures 11/20/08)
Now here's where it gets sticky, or sloppy if I may say;
The town has $687,173.03 at Wachovia in a Money Market acct. earning a whopping 1.36% which gave the town a monumental YTD interest return of $5379.24.
*This is only $94 more than the $151,000 CD was yielding!!!
Duh!!!!!!!
Figuring in ones head tells you that the town lost approx. $24,000+ at Wachovia than if they had put this money in the "lowest" rate on a CD at Bank of Charlotte. (although they may not allow that much to be put in one CD, although I could be mistaken. Pending on FDIC coverage???)
(any bankers or perhaps a math genius on this blog?.........independant of any local banks, please)
Someone asks Mr. Adams (a Business Major nonetheless.....LOL) why this was, and his reply was that they wanted to "try to support the local businesses".
Problem is two fold;
1st; Where was the BB&T account on this report? There was none!
The town obviously doesn't feel the need to support every business, but somehow feels obligated to put the majority of the towns money in the bank that pays the worst interest, in fact one that pays slightly over what a Passbook Saving Acct. would return.
2nd; Could it be remotely possible that someone who is supposed to be in charge of the town (wink,wink) or someone else in power has a good friend at the bank and wanted to make sure the town threw a sizeable amount of business their way??? Say it ain't so Mikie, Mayor, Mr. Adams, anybody, say it just ain't so!
Now don't get me wrong, I like to spend money locally, but not to the tune of loosing enough interest in one year to hire a well qualified part-time Town Manager. (which by the way, hasn't been mentioned since Mr. Jean brought it up 2 months ago???)
Folks, this is giving money away.
I wouldn't care if my mother was President of the bank. If I didn't get a competitive rate with other financial institutions, to hell with them. I'd put my money where I got the best return.
Plus, I'll guarantee that if you go to a bank and say; such and such bank across town will give me xxx% on my money, will you compete with that? I'll be willing to bet you'd get a different quote then.
Heck, Watt Foster would give the town a better return than that if you let him invest the money!
(of course he doesn't need it and he likely wouldn't want to deal with almost an entire fleet of idiot's I'm sure, but he would be a better manager of the towns funds than the current administration seems to be.)
Come on town administration, lets put on your thinking caps for a change. You're working for the tax paying citizens, not the Bank CEO's!
atm wrote:
>The town has $687,173.03 at Wachovia in a Money Market acct. earning a whopping 1.36% which gave the town a monumental YTD interest return of $5379.24.
*This is only $94 more than the $151,000 CD was yielding!!!
Duh!!!!!!!
Don't gripe at me, I'm on record telling the council we need to move the money over to BCC. I have been after them to do this ever since Wachovia started messing with us on the business license fees.
Tracy Meisenbach
Walk-Over-Ya is like that. Too big, don't care. Bank of Charlotte did not go under during the depression. Tells you something, doesn't it?! Clueless about BB&T.
Okay, don't know about all the banking stuff...except I remember the town paying the Bank of Charlotte to hold thier money when they took out a loan (CD) to by the old Basset Walker building...ROFLMAO!
But...I would like to ask one question if I can...
Why, oh why, hasn't the town started looking for a town manager yet??? Hasn't it been over 2 years??? Wasn't it stated on this blog that Richard (a.k.a. Dick...appropriately named) Adams promised Bob Jean that if he voted to approve the budget the town would begin looking for a town manager asap??
Guess Mike Crews has really got them by the B@lls!! HUH?!!!
You're exactly, 100% correct.
Mr. Jean ask informally once before the May meeting about hiring a part-time Town Manager and he voted yes to the budget at the May meeting, with a stipulation that they begin the process of advertising for the position within 60 days (long gone past 60 days now), which Mr. Adams seemed to agree with.
Although you'd never know it because for some reason it never made the Onion Star. Wonder why???
Mr. Gillespie left at the end of June of 06 and was almost immediately hired back as an independant consultant, at which time Mr. Crews was appointed Interim Town Manager.
You'd think by these actions that it was all a planned deal, but for the fact that those in power would NEVER do such a thing in Brookneal!
LOL.
I guess the Mayor and a few council members see it as if leaving Mr. Crews as Interim long enough, this will qualify him for the job. NOT!
Its like the old story of having an operation; "We're sorry Mr. Jones, but your surgeon is sick today, but not to worry, the head O.R. nurse is going to do your surgery. Although she's not liscened or qualified to operate, she has been a nurse in the O.R. for 10 years"!!!
Maybe Mr. Crews stayed at a Holiday End Express the night before they handed him the job???
"Maybe Mr. Crews stayed at a Holiday End Express the night before they handed him the job???"
Yea, but the real question is...who'd he stay with?
mike crews will always hold this postion HE will NEVER be replaced!!
for goodness sakes ,he ask for a raise didn't he , he's in now never to leave free gas to take care of personal busness, work when you want, swing by the house for a nap while being paid, honestly the town will never get any better than it is today, how can it??? after all the junk that came out on him a felon, drug dealer etc.. and he's still there months later and then showed up on the front page of the union star a few weeks ago.
I think Stacey Hailey must be reading this site. There's one vote for him to STAY on council.
ROFLOL!!!
Surely he's the only person who would believe he should not resign. If there is someone out there who believes he should stay (other than S. Hailey himself), please make yourself known. Explain to us why he should not step down from his position.
Thanks!
anonymous,
>I think Stacey Hailey must be reading this site. There's one vote for him to STAY on council.
>ROFLOL!!!
That was my thought too! At least we know more than one council member checks here.
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