Whiteville officials describe contractor payment process, single-bid engineering award and end-of-year spending freeze

Whiteville City Council members heard from staff that the city will pay contractors on receipt of invoices, that an engineering services contract may be awarded after only one bid, and that a hiring and spending freeze is limiting what can be completed before the end of the current budget year.

A staff member said, “Basically, what we're gonna do is when we get an invoice, we'll go ahead and write a check to them because the contract action will be between the city and the contractors. So we'll go ahead and make payment to the contract and then we'll turn around and send the invoice over to the counter. So there might be a few days there that we're don't have that money in our account, but it'll be fairly quickly.”

The staff member told the council the city is operating under a spending freeze and an accompanying hiring freeze. “If you haven't got it done by now, you may not get it done in this budget year,” the staff member said, describing the typical local-government constraint as the fiscal year closes.

On procurement, staff said the engineering-services item differs from a construction contract because the city received only one bid and that engineering services do not require the three bids typically required for construction work. “We only have to have 1, and we can go ahead and award,” the staff member said, and added that they were “very comfortable with [the firm], engineering services. They've done a tremendous job for us. So, we're recommending that you … ” (recommendation insertion interrupted in the record).

Staff also discussed several operational items tied to ongoing work. One staff speaker said the city would reconnect previously removed ramp locks and that “the OTs will be reimbursing us for that.” The same speaker said the city plans to delay some interior work until Duke is clear of the area so crews “can get in there and do what we need.” The transcript records another reference—identified only as a council member—urging staff to “bear it down” because projected income has not met expectations, which the staff described as causing “hot spots” in the budget.

No formal vote or contract award is recorded in the provided transcript excerpts. Staff said they would verify bidding details and follow up; no specific timeline or dollar amounts were given in the record.

Council members and staff discussed these items during the meeting’s agenda; public comment or formal ordinance language was not recorded in the provided excerpts. The council did not record a final decision on awarding the engineering contract in the provided text, and staff identified budget-year timing as a constraint that could prevent projects from being completed before the fiscal year ends.