New hire, fish kill lead discussion at White Lake

WHITE LAKE — A quick punch list of items was ran through Tuesday night, with town commissioners moving forward in the process to hire a town administrator and also discussing a recent fish kill.

In order to continue with the hiring process, the board is going to an in-person meeting at 2:45 p.m. on Sept. 24. It will be a closed session for personnel, during which interviews will be conducted. Tuesday’s regular meeting was held through the internet application Zoom.

Mayor Goldston Womble said the town had received $155,000 from the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency for the administrator position. The funds must be spent within 18 months.

The figure doesn’t necessarily represent an annual salary. Originally set to have an annual salary of $60,602 with a 5 percent increase after a probationary period, the town’s ad did not list a salary figure, instead saying it is negotiable and dependent on education and experience.

Commissioner Tim Blount brought up the most recent die of fish at the lake.

“Can we post something on our webpage?” he asked. “I’m sure we have all heard about the recent fish kill. People are questioning it and it is kind of a biannual event.

“Maybe we need to put this to answer a lot of questions that people are asking about it.”

“We have had some people flying in here,” Womble said. “And of course we have talked with the State Parks folks about it.”

The mayor said the town has referred people to the state, which owns the lake. But he also affirmed he would see about getting something up on the town website.

“All the fish that I am seeing tend to be yellow perch,” said Tom Riel. “Typically this happens in July, but it’s a little later this year.”

Riel said that he wasn’t a fish expert though.

“We have all seen this for years,” he said. “When the water gets really, really hot, we typically see a die off and that’s what we have going on right now.”