Candor Town Board Town does more research on biofuels
By Linda Beaulieu
Candor officials learned more about biofuels in a report at the town board’s Feb. 9 meeting. Commissioners Tim Privett and Layton Booker, along with Town Clerk Tammy Kellis and Public Works Director Brice Hollis reported on their visit to a biofuel plant in Pittsboro the Friday before the meeting.
Although the Pittsboro facility uses a different base than the biodiesel plant proposed for the Candor area, using vegetable oil instead of sugarcane, Kellis said the plant was very clean with no noticeable noise or odors.
According to Kellis, the Pittsboro plant operators said it sounded like information given to the town for the cane biodiesel plant, regarding size, costs and staffing “all sounded on point to them from the information we were given.”
Board members also discussed possibilities for reducing heating costs at the Candor Library, which had run between $830 and $1,000 the past two months. Options include installing fans to help air circulation and a programmable thermostat.
The board authorized Mayor Becky Williams to talk with owners of the old Tomlinson building near the park. Williams said the county building inspector condemned the building nearly a year ago. “It can’t be brought back to code and it has to be torn down,” Williams said. She will talk with the owners about they want to do and urge them to take some action.
The board also received the town’s annual audit report. Williams said she is “pleasantly surprised at how good it was,” with the general fund balance well in excess of the state recommended 8 percent of total budget. “Some unplanned expenses in water and sewer had us over budget there but the rate increase we put in for this year should work that out,” she added.
In other business, the board:
• Accepted a bid of $1,250 to purchase a Chevrolet Caprice, the previous police chief’s vehicle. No bids were received on a second surplus vehicle, a 1996 Lumina. That vehicle, along with a backhoe and pickup from public works, will be advertised for sale.
• Learned that N.C. DOT has installed warning signs on a bad curve on Whiskey Road near Candor Oil and is planning changes near the Wilco-Hess station to improve safety in that area.
• Learned that Hollis will review town street work needs and put the work out to bid to allow use of state Powell Bill funds before the end of the fiscal year in June.
