Almost five months after a vacancy opened, Robbins is advertising for a new town commissioner.

The Town Board is accepting applications to fill a vacancy created when former Commissioner Claire Barrow moved out of town and became ineligible to serve. She stepped down at the end of May.

Anyone interested must be a registered voter and a resident of Robbins. Interested residents can get an application at the Town Hall, 101 N. Middleton St., from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. Nov. 1.

Before town ordinances were changed, previous boards usually appointed the next highest vote-getter in the most recent election - provided that individual was willing to serve. The change was made in the hope of attracting interest from residents who might not otherwise have been considered.

Also at their Oct. 11 meeting, the commissioners amended town ordinances to require vaults in town cemetery lots. They consulted with Randy Hussey at the Kennedy Funeral Home and Town Attorney T.C. Morphis on the wording of the ordinance, and Hussey had no objections. Morphis was present at the board meeting, and the amendment passed unanimously.

From now on, all burials will have to be in a commercially procured grave liner or vault that has been approved by the cemetery supervisor.

The minimum thickness for concrete liners is an inch-and-a- half sidewall thickness, two-inch top and bottom thickness, and able to withstand 3,000 pounds per square inch. Steel vaults will have to have at least 12-gauge thickness on every side.

Wooden or any other short-term liner is prohibited by the new ordinance.

The commissioners had expressed concerns that poorly constructed liners or deteriorating coffins pose a hazard of caving in over time.

In other business, Town Manager Jeff Sheffield reported that the Wooten Co. has advertised for bids on drilling five test wells. A pre-bid meeting will be held Oct. 24 in the Fire Department training room. Sealed bids are to be opened at that same location on Nov. 6, Election Day.

Town worker David Lowe has been filling a number of potholes lately, Sheffield told the board, and there have been a lot of positive comments from residents.

In another action, speed limits on town-maintained roads were set at 20 mph in the business section of town and 35 mph in residential areas. This applies only to town-maintained streets, but state-set limits for roads maintained by North Carolina are the same.

The board will hold a joint public hearing with the town Planning Board Monday, Nov. 5, on proposed ordinance amendments. Proposed changes would update the language of two codes to make them consistent with current statutory requirements.

Changes would affect the substance of some ordinances "including, but not limited to those ordinances that address civil penalties and code enforcement, sexually oriented businesses, and clubs, associations and unions."

Copies of the proposed amendments are available at town hall or by request of Town Clerk Lisa Williams.

Contact John Chappell at (910) 783-5841 or jfchappell@gmail.com.