CAT Tracks for June 20, 2003 THE 17TH OR NOT THE 17TH...

That was the question...

You know it's a slow night when the big controversy - before AND after the (2nd) closed session was when to hold their July regular meeting!

But...I'm getting ahead of myself. The first order of business was "Approval of Agenda for Regular Meeting"...which they violated 20 minutes later. (The "approved" agenda had Sheriff Buddy Mitchell scheduled to speak (in open session) under the "III. Plant (Buildings and Grounds)" segment of the agenda. Instead, they called an unscheduled closed session at 6:23 p.m. - which lasted an hour. Following that session, the Board voted to hire Shawn Box for the "Cops in Schools Program".

Actually, prior to that session, Andy Clarke, Chairman of the Alexander County Board addressed the Cairo BOE on a possible "deal" to reopen the Bunge plant in Cairo...to bring back 65 people...with the stipulation that Bunge hire people from Cairo where possible. Research by the Alexander County Board indicates that the property taxes paid by the Bunge plant in Cairo is more than twice as much as any of its other (more modern) plants. (For us local Cairo property taxpayers...no surprise there!) Mr. Clarke indicated that Bunge was looking to reduce its tax amount...from approximately $700,000 to $500,000. If granted, Bunge indicated that it might also expand its facility...adding another grain elevator...which might increase future employment possibilities. Mr. Clarke indicated that Bunge had the city "over a barrel"...that if the taxing bodies (of which the school district is the biggest at 33%) did not grant tax relief to Bunge, that it would simply cut back on its operation until its tax evaluation dropped to the desired amount. There was a consensus by the parties...and a resolution passed by the Cairo BOE...to take the steps necessary to return Bunge to its former level of operation.

Since this was the last regular meeting of the fiscal year, it was time for the Board to approve extensions to providers of services for the coming year...like banks for deposits, auditors, Laidlaw Transit, Hinz Insurance, Chartwell Food Service, and...a drumroll please...Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton & Taylor, Ltd. - aka BARNEY! (ONLY $7,225.23 last month!) The rest of the meeting progressed in its "normal" fashion until the Superintendent announced that he would be out of the office from July 16th through July 31st...on vacation. He advised the Board that since he was going to be absent, that they should consider meeting on a date earlier than the scheduled July 17th. Well...much discussion followed, with one Board member commenting that "he needs to be in the district". Finally, it was decided that the issue be tabled until later.

The Board went into closed session at 8:53 p.m.

The Board exited closed session at 10:45 p.m. Upon recommendation of the Superintendent, the Board voted to:

Prior to adjournment, the Superintendent reminded the Board that it still needed to set a new date for its regular July meeting...since he would be on vacation on July 17th. After some more discussion...and some more discord...the Board decided to stick with the scheduled date!

The Board voted to adjourn at 10:55 p.m.