FAITH — The Faith Board of Aldermen was forced to restart the process to get its terms changed during the meeting on Tuesday due to unforeseen issues with state laws regarding amending a town’s charter.

The issue arose due to the state law which outlines the time period requirement in between when the resolution is passed announcing the board’s intent to change the town charter and when the public hearing is held to allow for citizens’ input. The aldermen passed the resolution during the meeting on Oct. 8, which meant that the public hearing that was scheduled for Tuesday was being held outside of the allowed 10 to 45 days after the resolution.

The resolution that the aldermen previously passed stated their intent to change board members’ terms from two to four years. The board members have also expressed a desire to change their elections to even years, but that change would need to be part of a separate process.

The issue arose because they initially agreed to go the route of asking the state legislature to pass a bill approving the change, but Representative Harry Warren said that he would prefer the town go the route of holding a public hearing and passing the amendment that way. Town Clerk Karen Fink noted that the process of sending a letter to Warren requesting the change and receiving the reply took “several weeks,” which raised the issue with the time limit.

Fink also pointed out that the original resolution mentioned the town’s intent to have the amendment effected by the N.C. General Assembly, which would raise problems when it was not done that way.

The charter of the town of Faith has never been amended by the town, said Fink, which meant that the process was new for her and other town officials.

“We’ve never done a charter amendment, as you know. Our charter is exactly the way that it has (always) been. So, it was a learning curve for me,” said Fink.

Town Attorney John Hudson said that the town has “plenty of time” to make the change, so the issue simply means that the town has to put off any decisions for a month.

The aldermen voted unanimously to pass the resolution later during the meeting. That resolution announces their intent to change the term lengths again and set the public hearing for their next meeting on Jan. 14, 2025.

The members of the board have expressed their desire to change the term lengths for over a year, with the point being brought up originally in July of 2023. However, Fink said at that time that the town would need to wait until after the board of aldermen elections, which were set for that year.

“Two years, to a new person, doesn’t give you much time to learn within those two years. Four years, you’re informed and now you have settled in or whatever it is. It seems like two years comes so fast,” said Mayor Randall Barger, during the 2023 discussion.