ROWLAND —The Rowland Board of Commissioners on Tuesday welcomed new administrative assistant Teresa Williams, who started work on July 2.

She replaces Elizabeth Brown, who retired after almost 11 year of service to the town.

Williams reports to Town Clerk David Townsend, who was absent from the meeting because of a family emergency. As administrative assistant, Williams will be responsible for billing, bookkeeping and keeping minutes of commission meetings.

A long-time Rowland resident, Williams worked 29 years for BB&T and for a brokerage firm before that.

“I retired twice, and my goal is to give back to the town,” Williams said. “My husband grew up here, and I moved to Rowland in 1971.”

Highlights of Brown’s tenure with the town included computer system upgrades and remodeling the town office.

“I’ve enjoyed it, and I learned a lot,” she said.

Williams and a Public Works employee will be paid for one year through a Federal Emergency Management Administration program providing post-Hurricane Matthew relief.

In other business, the town purchased a John Deere tractor for cutting brush, ditches and lawns. At a cost of $14,000, the tractor was purchased from Southeastern Farm Equipment Company of Laurinburg.

The commissioners briefly discussed a new state law that eliminated business license fees. Rowland collects approximately $3,000 annually in fees.

Town Attorney Rob Price advised the commissioners that they may only charge businesses an amount of the paperwork cost of registering them.

“We were hoping to replace this fee to offset costs of things like painting lines for parking in front of businesses,” said Mayor Pro-tem Marvin Shooter.

Commissioner Jean Love said $3,000 might not seem like a lot, “but every little bit counts.”

Electronic games have returned to Rowland, and the commissioners heard from Price that some types of games are legal, but Robeson County’s District Attorney’s Office has taken the position that all gaming machines are illegal.

“There has been lots of controversy about it,” Shooter said. “They used to be outside of town. It’s a matter for the D.A.”

In the mayor’s report, Shooter thanked town employees for their work to clean up several lots at town gateways.

Scott Bigelow

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