Hookerton Board of Commissioners Gathers for First Meeting After Mayor’s Death

For the town to have to come in here and cut this loose and do this ourselves, we’d have to pretty much buy this property from him, and then pay the lawyer to do the easement, and then we’d have....

The Hookerton Town Hall carried a quieter weight than usual as Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Stocks called the Tuesday, August 4th Board of Commissioners to order. It was the town’s first regular meeting since the death of longtime Mayor Bobby Taylor.

Stocks opened by noting a change to the agenda. “You’ll notice a difference on the agenda, and I just want to bring it to your attention before we get started,” she said. “We do have an old business section. I asked Shaun to add that to our agenda so that we could follow up and follow through on things, and it would be said out loud. Everybody would know where we stand with things that we’ve talked about previously.”

Public Works Superintendent Tyler Shirley then requested a closed session to discuss a personnel matter. Stocks placed the item under new business. The amended agenda and consent agenda both passed unanimously.

Visitor Introduces Himself

With no formal guest speaker scheduled, Stocks invited comments from those in attendance. One visitor, Benny Brigman, said he simply wanted to begin getting accustomed to town operations and had no further comments. Stocks invited him to introduce himself. “Does everybody know you?” she asked. After a brief exchange, Brigman introduced himself. “I hope everybody does,” he said. Brigman, who has run for office in the past, is currently running for a seat on the town board of commissioners. Stocks welcomed him and reminded everyone that the meetings are being recorded. With no other public comments, the board moved into old business.

Sale of Nail Salon Building Moving Forward

Stocks asked for an update on the sale of the nail salon building. Town Administrator and Commissioner Shaun Jackson reported that the town attorney is handling the legal requirements. “I’ve got Brian working on it,” he said. “He’s got to do all the legal stuff, and he’ll get it ready for me to post in the paper.” Stocks asked whether a timeline had been provided. “No, ma’am,” Jackson replied. “I mean, it ain’t gonna be long. It has to go into the paper and sit for X amount of days, and then the bid starts.” Stocks called the update “wonderful.” There were no further questions.

Flower Shop Rent Held Steady at $400

The board next revisited rents for town-owned buildings. Stocks noted that the issue had come up at the previous meeting but that no effective date had been set. Jackson confirmed the omission. “There was nothing in the minutes that said anything about a date. I think that was something that was looked over when we made the motion.”

Stocks then clarified the capacity in which she was speaking. “This is just Sandra, the commissioner, not the mayor pro tem talking,” she said. She voiced concern about raising the flower shop’s rent by $50. “I know that we did say that we were going to increase the florists by $50. Is there any way that we can keep that rent the same? I know Shaun’s argument is that the square footage is so big, and folks are paying more for less. However, we would love to keep them in business and keep them in Hookerton. And when I was there last buying something, she just really went on about how tough it was. And it is tough with a new business.”

Commissioner Catherine Carraway shared the same view. “I had the same thoughts as you that I would love to see us not.” Carraway then made a formal motion to keep the flower shop’s rent at $400 rather than increase it to $450. The motion passed with no opposition. The board set October 1 as the effective date for the other rent adjustments discussed in July. Jackson confirmed the date would give him enough time to prepare and send the necessary notices.

Travel Trailer Timeline and Property Concerns Examined in Detail

Commissioners spent considerable time on questions surrounding a travel trailer owned by Ruby Coria. Stocks introduced the item by noting the volume of calls commissioners receive. “As you know, the commissioners get a lot of phone calls about travel trailers being used in Hookerton, and there hasn’t been clear communication with one of our residents about how long the travel trailer could be used on their property, and I think that’s something that we need to address.”

She reviewed her notes and research. “My little research, and you know I’m wrong sometimes and a lot of times, I went back, and I saw the original communication for the Coria family to put the travel trailer on their property was March of 25,” she said. “She’s had one calendar year, but at the same time, she hasn’t had just kind of like the date that we did before. We just left it out. So we need to look at it now, giving her a reasonable amount of time, and we will discuss what that is, because I don’t know what her plans are. Have y’all talked to her?”

Jackson said he had not spoken with Coria recently. He left the room for a few seconds and returned with a copy of the March 2025 meeting minutes, which he read aloud. The record showed that Stocks had provided background, noting the lot belonged to Miss Ruby, who had worked for the town in the front office, that the family was clearing the property on a Saturday, and that the modular home would have brick underpinning. The board had approved placement of the travel trailer for temporary residence while the home was built. The motion had been made by Jackson, seconded by Commissioner Carraway, and approved.

“When I was asked about this in prior meetings, I said there was nothing in here about a year because there’s nothing in here about a year,” Jackson said. “The motion was put there, but not indefinitely.” Stocks agreed that a timeline was needed. “I think that’s what we need to do is put a timeline into effect,” she said. Commissioners recalled earlier cases, including one around 2018 in which a property owner had been given a year to use a travel trailer while building a house. Stocks stressed consistency across residents. “In all fairness to all parties, to include like the mini mart where he got rid of, I think there needs to be a timeline established. Because that was the understanding, Shaun, that it would be a year. Now it didn’t make the minutes as you just read, but yeah, it wasn’t indefinite.”

Commissioner Doris Jones suggested reaching out first. “Maybe somebody needs to reach out to her and see what her plans are,” Jones said. “She’s working here.” Stocks agreed and raised a second concern that residents had brought to her attention. “My phone rings at least once or twice a month about that, and people will come up in my yard and pull up and talk to me about it too. And the other thing that they talk about is that big hole in the yard, and nothing’s been done with that. And I’m more worried about the hole because if we have someone who has partied too much in one way or another and they fall in that hole, it ain’t gonna be pretty. So if we could reach out to her on both counts, about the timeline and the hole in the ground, that would be great, and come back and report to us next month. Then I’m for that.”

Another commissioner recalled an earlier conversation that Coria had considered buying an existing home in town. The board directed Jackson to contact Coria about both the trailer timeline and the hole in the ground, then report back at the next meeting. No formal motion was required.

Christmas Parade Still in Early Stages

Town Clerk Mary Ann Radford reported limited progress on the Christmas parade. “I don’t have anything to tell you,” she said. “We’ve not done anything.” Stocks pressed for action on save-the-date cards. “I think the save-the-date cards need to go out to at least the high schools or the bands that we want,” she said. Radford noted that some emails had gone out months earlier before school ended, but Stocks preferred something physical. “I think a card needs to go out... something physical,” she said. Addresses from the prior year’s participants are available.

Route planning remains unresolved. Last year’s path closed Main Street and other thoroughfares, creating access problems for traffic from Snow Hill, Kinston, and Maury. Public Works Superintendent Tyler Shirley said he would have to work with the Department of Transportation for approval of any new route. “I’m gonna have to really think about this thing because there has to be a way for people to come through town,” Shirley said. “Last year we had Morris Barbecue Road shut down, Main Street shut down, and I mean there was no way for anybody coming from Snow Hill, Kinston, or Maury to come through town.”

One suggestion was to start near the fire department so that at least one roadway remains open, though that would require a significant detour. Closures typically last one to one and a half hours. Stocks also raised the placement of Santa Claus after the parade, noting safety considerations. Further updates are expected at the next meeting.

Cleanup and Ownership Questions Along William Hooker Drive

Stocks raised the appearance of properties along William Hooker Drive near the Jonestown mobile-home area. “You know where Jonestown is. %hose mobile homes. When you go by that middle one with the tarp and all the other stuff, it is just an eyesore,” she said. She asked whether the existing fence erected by another property owner could be extended to screen the view. “My thing is, why can’t the fence go on across and kind of cover up that trailer? You won’t see it.”

Jackson explained the practical and legal obstacles. “There’s three different owners that the fence has got to cross,” he said. “Salvador’s stops at the property line. Then there’s another owner for a small strip, and a third owner’s part goes from that strip on this side of Barbara Hooker all the way to the corner. So I don’t know how the town can put a fence on somebody else’s property.” He added that the town cannot place a fence in the right-of-way.

One commissioner suggested treating the entire frontage rather than singling out one trailer. “To make it presentable, just don’t call out one set of trailers to do all of them that way. Put a fence all the way across the front,” the commissioner said. Stocks agreed that a consistent approach would be preferable. The board then turned to enforcement under existing ordinances that address junk and unkempt conditions. Jackson recalled a similar letter sent in the past that produced results. “Three-quarters of it’s gone,” he said.

Stocks asked Jackson to draft a letter to the landowner requesting cleanup. Commissioners also noted additional unmaintained grass strips and a second trailer that may warrant attention. “There’s a strip of land in there where most of that grass is that ain’t real wide that somebody owned,” Jackson said. “I don’t even understand why it’s even there.” The board left the matter with Jackson to prepare the correspondence and gather more information on the ownership.

LCC Golf Tournament Sponsored in Memory of Mayor Taylor

Jackson next presented the annual request for the town to sponsor a golf tournament at Cutter Creek. In recent years, the town has contributed $1,000. “Every year the town, well, in the past, the town has sponsored the golf tournament at Cutter Creek. They paid $1,000,” he said. “The main thing,” he said, “is putting Hookerton’s name in front of people like those associated with economic development stuff and with the folks from the House and Senate, just pushing Hookerton. That was the theory behind it. We don’t benefit from being in the tournament.” Commissioners discussed whether the sponsorship had produced tangible results. Jackson noted that the town had received a little bit of money from related contacts in recent years.

Stocks asked whether the sponsorship could be designated in memory of the late Mayor Bobby Taylor. “Can we do it in memory of Mr. Bobby?” she asked. Jackson said he would inquire about adding the language under the town’s name. Commissioner Doris Jones made the formal motion to continue the sponsorship and attempt to include the memorial language. The motion was seconded and approved.

Subdivision Recommendations Reviewed and Approved

Jackson presented recommendations from the town’s planning board concerning a new subdivision being built beside Burnside Village, using a large map so commissioners could follow the details. He began with a long-standing problem. “This is the corner. This is Ormond Street right here. That there is a fire hydrant,” he said, pointing to the map. “Our water line goes from right there to right there. We do not have a recorded easement for that water line, so it’s on his property. Whether he does this or not, the moral of the story is that the water line is on his property. Now that he’s bought it, and it was on the other man’s property, because the town has no easement, the town has a problem there. Because if something happens to the water line, we’re tearing up this property, and we can’t just go out there and say we’ll cut it off. We can’t do it. So we found that out. Done all the research. There’s nothing there.”

Jackson then explained the two requests from the developer. The subdivision ordinance required a blank space for recreation, but the planning board had been told the requirement could be waived because the property is inside town limits and residents already have access to the town park. The second issue was a required 25-foot buffer. “If you can’t build a house within 25 feet of your property line, but you got to have a 25-foot buffer from the house to the thing (fence), it’s kind of two things telling you the same thing. So what we have to do is we have to clarify, fix one to satisfy the other one.”

In exchange for the waivers, the developer offered the town a free 20-foot water-line easement. “He will give the town a free easement, 20-foot waterline easement from here to here on his property,” Jackson said. “We’ll now have an easement, a recorded legal document done for free. And what we’ll do is when it comes time to connect the water, we’ll cut the water line there, and connect to his lines, and it’ll flow through here and come back out to the street and tie back in and continue. The existing section will be abandoned underground.”

Jackson emphasized the cost savings. “For the town to have to come in here and cut this loose and do this ourselves, we’d have to pretty much buy this property from him, and then pay the lawyer to do the easement, and then we’d have to do all the work. So I mean, it’s a no-brainer for the town.” Stocks asked Shirley for his view as utilities superintendent. “Well, see, I’m on the planning board, so that’s kind of where it comes from. “I was speaking to you as a utilities superintendent,” Stocks said. Shirley confirmed the arrangement would save the town substantial money compared with acquiring property and performing the relocation work itself. “It would cost a lot of money if we had to do it the other way,” he said.

Jackson made the formal motion to approve the planning board’s recommendations on the buffer and recreational area in return for the water-line easement. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Stocks thanked Jackson for bringing the map. “I do think it helped me out a lot. Helps me to see it. I like to see it.”

With the new business complete, the board voted to enter closed session to discuss the personnel matter.