By Rebecca Rider

rebecca.rider@salisburypost.com

LANDIS — Meeting pay might be off the table for elected officials in Landis. According to the agenda for the town’s monthly meeting on Monday, the Board of Aldermen will discuss the possibility of nixing meeting reimbursement for aldermen — an issue brought up at the town’s July 11 meeting by Mayor Mike Mahaley. The discussion was removed from the agenda and tabled until the Aug. 1 meeting.

Currently, Landis aldermen are eligible to receive a $50 reimbursement for called and special meetings. The reimbursement became an issue after March request for records showed that between July 2014 and the end of his term in fall 2015, former mayor James Furr requested reimbursement for more than 90 meetings. On June 17, 2015, Furr requested reimbursement for 44 special meetings, from a period between December and June and included events like the town’s 5k run to benefit cancer and a funeral.

Mahaley said the previous mayor’s practice took the reimbursements too far, and said he wanted to toss the practice altogether. The discussion was postponed until the board was able to determine if special meetings pay was on the books as a policy, or if it was just a habit of past boards.

Should it be approved, the move would come after Landis slashed its travel budget for elected officials, following a high-priced conference in August 2015. While attending the 2015 ElectriCities conference in Myrtle Beach, the previous board spent approximately $17,000 — more than half of its yearly travel budget. In February the board approved a travel policy for elected officials, and in July the new board announced that it would not be attending the 2016 conference, to be held in Concord.

In other business the board:

• Will hold a public hearing regarding re-zoning for a property located at 201 N. Main Street and West Garden Street (Tax Map#107, Parcel# 070).
• Consider approving a preliminary plan provided by the North Carolina Department of Transportation for an intersection at South Main, West First and South Highland Avenue. The area was brought to the board’s attention earlier this year, after a business — Merrell Family Dentistry — complained about the confusing and dangerous layout of the intersection.

The board will meet Monday at 7 p.m. in the Landis Town Hall building, located at 312 S. Main St., Landis.

Contact reporter Rebecca Rider at 704-797-4264.