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By Jim Buice
For the Clemmons Courier

The Clemmons Village Council cleared the agenda in Monday night’s final meeting of 2019 to swear in the mayor and council members elected in November and appoint representatives to various boards and committees.

John Wait was sworn in for his second term as mayor, and incumbent Chris Wrights, Mary Cameron and Mike Rogers were sworn in on the council.

Wrights, who was the top vote-getter for council in the election, was appointed Mayor Pro Tempore. It was a return to the council for Cameron, who served 24 consecutive years before coming up short in 2017, and Rogers, who had been on the council for six straight years prior to losing two years ago.

Cameron and Rogers replace Mike Combest, who didn’t seek re-election, and Pamela (PJ) Lofland, who finished fourth in the voting for council in the November election.

In various appointments:

• Wait was appointed to continue as the Transportation Advisory Committee representative with Rogers being appointed as the alternate.

• Cameron was appointed as the Piedmont Triad Regional Council representative with Wrights being appointed as the alternate.

• Councilwoman Michelle Barson was appointed as the liaison on the Stormwater Advisory Board.

• Councilman Scott Binkley was selected as the new delegate to work with Wrights, who has previously served in that capacity, with NCDOT regarding Lewisville-Clemmons Road Improvement Project U-6004.

• Rogers was selected as the new delegate to work with Barson with the county commissioners regarding the Idols Road Project.

• Cameron was selected as the new delegate to work with Barson with the county commissioners regarding the Library Project.

The council also adopted the 2020 meeting and holiday schedules with no changes from this year’s schedule.

In other announcements in what was referred to as an organizational meeting (there were no staff reports), Wait announced that village offices will be closed Tuesday through Thursday, Dec. 24-26, in observance of the Christmas holiday, and Wednesday, Jan. 1, in observance of New York’s Day.

Also, during both the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s, the trash and recycling pickup schedule will be Monday and Tuesday on a regular schedule, and Wednesday-Friday will be delayed one day with pickups being Thursday-Saturday.

E-Recycle will take place at the Public Works facility on Saturday, Jan. 11, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In the public comments portion of the meeting, Allen Daniel commented on his unsuccessful bid for a seat on the council, saying it was “a fun run, I ran my first campaign and learned a lot, some of which I wish I hadn’t learned about public office.”

Daniel also addressed concerns about the new transportation plan changes regarding streets discussed in the last meeting, saying he would prefer a “public comment” period to a “public hearing.” He also asked about physical changes on streets and the impact they might have, urging the council to possibility delay any further action on any petitions that may come in until the recent requests have been tried.

In the council comments, Cameron was the only one to speak and said she felt “very fortunate that I can sit back up here and represent the people of Clemmons and listen to what everybody has to say. I think this is an excellent council. I have high expectations.”