HAMLET — City leaders could possibly use some of Hamlet’s COVID-19 relief funds to purchase high-tech cleaning equipment.
Representatives of Air Production and Service, Inc. and Olympus CSI demonstrated several products to the Hamlet City Council during the September meeting Tuesday night.
“During this pandemic, we know that everyone’s in kind of a situation where we’re trying to find ways to fight it (the coronavirus), at least so we can get back in operation in all of our areas, whether it be the administrative building, the water department … wherever it may be that we have gatherings,” said Johnathan Buie with APS.
Buie is also a former Hamlet City Council member.
He then turned to the podium over to Alan Yost of Olympus to give details on the devices they brought with them.
“The fact that I’m wearing this mask kinda tells everybody where we’re at,” Yost said. “I think the top over everybody’s list is figuring out a way to either protect ourselves, protect the public, or clean, santize, protect us against something.”
The first product Yost showed was a temperature checker that scans the wrist instead of the forehead, which is more accurate, he said.
The device also eliminates close contact as it can be monitored remotely.
Yost also showed off an ultraviolet C locker, which can be used to sanitze laptops, cellphones and other objects in several minutes.
There was also a floor unit set up in the City Hall front office, which Yost said could sanitize a 16×16-foot room in about 15 minutes.
The UVC radiation, he said, kills bacteria and viruses — including flu and coronavirus.
The floor unit costs around $3,500 each. Buie said similar units can run up to $7,000. The price tag on the temperature-checking station is just less than $2,500.
The bulbs on the room sanitizer last around 8,000 hours, Yost added.
Mayor Bill Bayless suggested the Hamlet Senior Center would be an ideal location for such a device.
As for the relief funds, City Manager Matt Christian said the Hamlet received $158,345 from the $1.8 million allocated to Richmond County.
The city requested more than $900,000, according to Christian.
“My understanding is each community was allocated $25,000 and the remaining portion of the 25% that was set aside for municipalities … was allocated on an ad valorem tax basis,” Christian said, citing his response from the county finance director.
He added that counties had “broad authority” as to how they would distribute the fund.
During the first allocation, there was no requirement to divy up the funds among municipalities, Christian said. However, that mandate was added in the second allocation.
“Was there any logic to the fact that this money was allotted to the counties with complete disregard, practically, to the municipalities?” asked Councilmember Abbie Covington.
She said that Hamlet has a large medical response responsiblity to not only residents of the city, but surrounding areas of the county. Councilman Jesse McQueen added that the rescue squad serves as a backup to FirstHealth EMS.
“So we’ve had a tremendous impact from that standpoint, and yet the legislature thinks the county needs this money worse than the municipalities? What’s the logic,” Covington asked.
Christian said he wouldn’t venture into guessing the logic of the General Assembly members, but added that he’s worked with the advocates at the N.C. League of Municipalities “to make sure that our interest is known and that our concerns are heard.”
He said that having one of the largest response districts in the county is a huge burden that the city bears, “and I think our citizens are grateful for the high level of service that we provide and we’re doing everything we can to keep that going.”
“They’re not making it any easier,” Covington quipped. She added that the city has already incurred the financial responsibility.
The funds must be spent prior to Dec. 30, Christian said.
The council also held an initial public hearing for a Community Development Block Grant application for COVID-19 relief.
Christian said a Citizen Participation Plan, which outlines “the structure for receiving citizen feedback and requirements for the city to respond,” is required as part of the application process.
The window for the funds — available on a first come, first serve basis — opened on Sept. 1.
Christian said the city would use the money to help residents who are behind on utility and housing payments due to the pandemic.
Earlier in the meeting, the council held public hearings approved three rezoning petitions for: part of a parcel on Vance Street to general business; a parcel at 707 Spring Street from residential to general business; and a 7.2-acre tract on N.C. 177 South from neighborhood business to residential.
The latter would allow homes to be built near the new Dollar General store on the corner of 177 and Airport Road and prohibit any new businesses from going in.
