Administrator position officially eliminated

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With a unanimous vote of 5-0, Williamston Town Council defunded the position of Administrator.

Councilman Otis Scott made the motion to eliminate the position of town administrator. Scott said he had made the original motion to establish the position and wanted to be the councilman to make the motion to defund it.

There was little discussion about why the position was being eliminated other than a few comments by councilmen about the job performance of the town’s administrator.

Newly elected Councilman Rockey Burgess seconded the motion. During discussion he stated that the vote had nothing to do with the job performance of Mrs. Lollis and that she was not being fired.

“We are not firing her,” he said. “That term implies wrongdoing. I know of none at this time.” Burgess commended the administrator for the job she did.

Councilmen Scott, Tony Hagood and David Harvell echoed the comments the Lollis had done a good job while she was there.

Mayor Mack Durham also stated that eliminating the position “had nothing to do with any wrongdoing but that the position is simply not essential at this time.”

The status of Town Administrator Phyllis Lollis has been classified as “suspended with pay” since Mayor Durham took office in January.

Durham said earlier this week that Lollis will receive 60 days pay as stated in the original hiring agreement. The sixty days will begin with the date of the meeting in which the position was eliminated, he said.

In other action during the special called meeting Thursday, Council unanimously approved the 911 Dispatch Transfer with Anderson County and a new contract with the ClearWater Company that runs the Waste Water Treatment Plant.

The Council also approved two funding requests for upcoming events, however the vote was 4-1 with Councilman Harvell opposed.

The Park Fest event request was approved for $3000 and the GWBA Party in the Park event request was approved for $800.

Funding for both events will come from the town’s Hospitality Tax fund.

A vote to amend the budget was held on each funding issue.

Councilman Havell was opposed on all of the funding votes.

The Mayor announced that Councilman Rockey Burgess had been sworn in during a private ceremony the day after the election and that a public swearing in ceremony will be held at the May meeting of council.

“We are very pleased to have a full council,” the mayor said.