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By Jim Buice

For the Clemmons Courier

The budget season is always a hectic time, and that’s the case now in the town of Bermuda Run as Andrew Meadwell presented the fiscal year 2025-26 proposed numbers in last Tuesday night’s council meeting.

Meadwell, who is in his third year as town manager, said that the recommended budget for all three funds is $4,875,950 with the General Fund, which is the basic operating fund for town services, at $3,003,900, the Gate Operations Fund at $1,077,100 and the Utilities Fund at $794,950.

“The recommended tax rate remains at 15 cents per $100 of value,” said Meadwell, who received approval from the council to call for a public hearing on Tuesday, June 10, at 6 p.m. at town hall. “We all understand that this was a revaluation year and that revenue neutral rate equates to 13.5 cents per $100 of value, and this budget is balanced.”

The proposed General Fund Revenues total breakdown is: Ad Valorem Taxes, $1,203,500; Sales Taxes, $460,000; ABC Revenue, $271,000; Powell Bill, $100,000; Vehicle Tax, $100,000; Intergovernmental, $565,000; and Miscellaneous, $304,400.

Meadwell called the Gate Fund “a little bit tricky” for the upcoming fiscal year because of the changes involving the gate operations with two possible paths — one for the current staffing model and the other being all-inclusive, which would include staffing, administrative and maintenance.

However, he said that the town did not receive a sufficient number of bids for either RFP (request for proposal), but both have been put out for rebid with the expectation that those bids will be received late this week.

“That will allow us to make an assessment of which method is preferred, and I will make a presentation to the town council on that and start choosing a vendor and those contract negotiations,” Meadwell said. “When we look at this, we’re kind of having to set a high-water mark on this anticipated gate fee, which is proposed at $856 per assessed parcel in Bermuda Run and Bermuda West.

“As these RFP’s come in, we’ll have a better understanding of what that fee is going to be. I think the one thing we don’t want to do is show a lower number, adopt a budget, tax bills go out and then we have to come back, and say, ‘Hey, you have to pay this now.’ We would rather avoid this situation.”

As for the Utilities Fund, Meadwell said it is “still somewhat stable and will remain the same or somewhat flat, but our ultimate goal is that we want to turn this system over to the Davie County Utilities.”

In proposed action items, a text amendment (TA-2025-001) Amendment Chapter 11 Administration 11.2 The Boards, Board of Adjustment, following the Planning Board’s review and approval, proposes to assign the functions and responsibilities of the Board of Adjustment from the Planning Board to Town Council — with staff calling for a public hearing on Tuesday, June 10, at 6 p.m. in town hall.

But even before council gave approval to having the public hearing, resident Vera Williamson of Haywood Drive in Advance offered her take on the matter in public comments, saying this action “does again narrow both the number and the perspective of decision makers in our community.

She then elaborated further in her time speaking before the council.

“As you know, the planning board is the only spot in Bermuda Run town government that gives any voice to those like me who live in the ETJ (Extraterritorial Jurisdiction). The planning board, as it is now constituted, is also simply more representative of this community than the town council because it includes members of Kinderton.

“For example, when you had the opportunity last fall to appoint a qualified person from Kinderton to a vacancy on the town council, you chose to not do so. A more representative government will be a healthier community.”

Williamson then offered a possible solution — “to add the ETJ representative on the Planning Board and perhaps one additional planning board member, ideally someone from Kinderton, to join you as a council when you sit as the Board of Adjustment.”

Later in council comments, Jeff Tedder thanked Williamson for her comments, but added, “I would say, as June approaches, November is around the corner. Community representation is very important. There will be three (council) seats available in November.”

In a last-minute addition to the agenda, Meadwell asked to include an item — and later received approval — regarding a new agreement for event planning, saying the town would be “moving away from the alignment with the Davie County Arts Council to coordinate and plan these town events (multiple concerts on the Town Green with a variety of groups performing).

“So I have found a vendor who is willing to offer its services at no cost to the town. It’s really more of a partnership with this group to do so. We’ll have at least four Food Truck Fridays and two other events planned for this. This group will also take care of the marketing.”

Last month in a story related to the local concerts’ schedule for various venues in the 2025 season, Mayor Mike Brannon offered this comment: “While we have had several successful years of larger name performers as part of that partnership, we want to pivot instead to finding more local acts, a greater percentage of residents attending our concerts and leveraging our entertainment dollars more efficiently.”

In other highlights from last Tuesday night’s meeting, the council:

• Heard a presentation from the council on its recent 2025 planning session. It included a 2024 year in review update from Meadwell, current and new projects from Brannon, Vision 2035 from council member Rae Nelson and Comprehensive Plan strategies and objectives from council member Christy Schafer.
• Approved a request from Meadwell seeking support from the council to send a letter of support to the Davie County Board of Elections requesting that General Elections for Bermuda Run residents be held at the Bermuda Run Town Hall instead of Hillsdale Baptist Church.
• Approved a budget amendment from Meadwell for the 2024-25 General Fund Budget to be amended to accept $12,823 from the Davie County Community Foundation as revenue and expend the same amount for expenses related to the 2025 Flag Project — Blue Heron Trail.
• Heard from Brannon in the mayor’s report about Davie Medical Center’s recent recognition as an outstanding hospital — placing seventh out of all small community hospitals in the United States; and that Sheriff JD Hartman would be the guest speaker at the June 10 council meeting.