By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
The Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted unanimously on Tuesday to consider a bank’s involvement in the community and available support for local businesses when determining where to deposit the town’s assets.
Board members said they would like to encourage banks to treat local businesses fairly and provide them with support, especially in light of the grim economic climate and limited lines of credit available for small businesses. The town’s current banking-services contract with Bank of America expires in February 2010.
The board reviewed the town’s use of banking services as part of a work session to consider a follow-up report on a list of potential action items identified in their February retreat.
Board members said in February that they would like to explore the possibility of investing the town’s assets with a local bank. However, state statutes limit the types of banks that are eligible to do business with municipalities.
“The large banks – RBC, Bank of America – they are right now taking in as much money as they can and sitting on it in order to get their numbers up,’†board member Jacquie Gist said. “They are being very unscrupulous in their behavior toward small businesses.
“So my hope was that [we could] find a smaller bank and give our money, the people’s money, to a smaller bank, that would then be more open in its lending practices, so that the flow of credit to our small businesses was more open and more real than what you’re getting from [the larger banks], who don’t really give a darn about what happens to a small business in North Carolina.â€
Board member Dan Coleman agreed.
“We really need a different kind of bank than we have currently,†he said, adding that he would like to see a small, local bank come to Carrboro in the future.
“I’m really looking for us to find a way to leverage the town funds in a way that will be beneficial to the people that live in the town and have businesses in this town,†Gist said.
In other town business, board members reviewed a report from OWASA regarding proposed changes to water-conservation standards.
Proposed changes include: allowing the irrigation of public purpose fields during declared water shortages; allowing residents to fill, refill or top off swimming pools at any time except during a water-supply emergency; reducing limitations on irrigating trees, shrubs and gardens; eliminating the water-supply advisory status; removing high caps on monthly residential water use; allowing residents to fill, refill or top off ornamental ponds and fountains during a stage one water shortage; and allowing residents to wash building exteriors prior to painting during stage one or two water shortages.
Board members said they supported the proposed changes, which OWASA will review and adopt at a future board meeting.
“very unscrupulous in their behavior toward small businesses. ”
How is this true? It would be useful to have some facts to support such an outlandish claim.