HOLLY POND – The Holly Pond Town Council met last night for a regularly scheduled meeting at the Guy Hunt Library and Museum, where one of biggest topics was the upcoming election.
Holly Pond Mayor Herman Nail, who has worked for the town in some capacity since 1980, announced earlier this week that he will not be seeking a third term. Nail will be retiring, and no current councilmembers will be seeking the mayoral seat. Instead, community member and former council member, Bill Oliver, announced his candidacy for the position.
“I am not excited about campaigning,” Oliver said, “but I am looking forward to helping Holly Pond continue to be great. There is a lot to offer here. We’re a small town, and we like that. But that doesn’t mean we can’t give everyone everything we have to offer. I look forward to the opportunity, if I am elected.”
In other business, a community member brought a road in need of repair to the attention of the council. “Lick Creek Road,” the community member said, “is washing away, there is erosion getting up underneath it, and you’re going to lose the road if we don’t get out there and fix it.” The street department made note of the reported damage reported and will inspect it.
A community member named Wayne White proposed that he be allowed to rent the old post office building in order to turn it into an antiques shop. White will be doing a renovation to the building, including changing of light fixtures, landscaping, repairs to the porch, and other work.
Another community member raised concern about the potential for the elderly and infirm to reach voting booths during the general presidential election in November; Nail informed the community member that there are volunteer organizations that go into the community and provide transportation for the elderly and infirm. The community member also voiced concern about the lack of a “general get-out-and-vote campaign” to encourage community members to participate in the election process.
The potential for a new road was discussed, about which no decisions were made last night. The road would connect to Highway 278 in an effort to relieve some morning traffic during school hours.
Paving scheduled to be done at Holly Pond Park was awarded to a new contractor. The contractor previously selected to do the job was chosen approximately one year ago and has been released from his duties, and his bid rescinded. A motion was passed to accept the new contractor’s bid of $15,000.
A motion was passed to charge the Holly Pond Youth Football organization $300 to use fields for practices and games. The $300 was donated by a member for the community who was present at the meeting.
The Holly Pond Town Council meets on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Guy Hunt Library and Museum (Last night’s meeting was a rescheduled meeting.) The public is welcome to attend.
