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Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting

Town of Hillsborough · Board of Commissioners
Monday, December 8, 2025 at 7:00 pm

Regular meeting Budget and appropriationsAppointments and personnelContracts and procurementIntergovernmental agreements

Agenda document Full packet Minutes Meeting page Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

Commissioners Robb English and Kathleen Ferguson and Mayor Mark Bell are set to take their oaths of office, after which the board selects a mayor pro tempore and makes committee appointments for the new term. The board also hears a presentation on the Fiscal Year 2024-25 audit.

The rest of the business runs through the consent agenda: minutes from two November meetings, miscellaneous budget amendments and transfers, a National Mentoring Month proclamation, renewal of the interlocal agreement with Orange County covering Fairview Park, and a salary correction tied to the town manager's annual merit increase. This is an agenda for a future meeting, so no vote outcomes are recorded yet.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

Robb English and Kathleen Ferguson took the oath as commissioners, and Mark Bell took his as mayor, administered by Judge Hathaway Pendergrass. The board then chose Commissioner Meaghun Darab as mayor pro tem, following its practice of giving the seat to the junior-most commissioner, and appointed Robb English as the town's alternate on the Central Pines Regional Council of Governments Board of Delegates. Both votes were 5-0. The board split 4-1 on the rest of the committee assignments, with Commissioner Matt Hughes opposed; Hughes had asked not to serve as the Central Pines alternate and suggested the board adopt a formal policy for rotating assignments in the future.

Lee Grissom of S. Preston Douglas and Associates presented the town's Fiscal Year 2024-25 audit: an unmodified opinion, the highest level an auditor can give, with net position up nearly $7 million to $113 million and the General Fund up $3.3 million. It was the second straight on-time audit after earlier staffing problems in the finance department. The board added a special event permit for the 2026 MLK Jr. Day Memorial March to the consent agenda and approved it along with the rest of that agenda, 5-0. No one signed up for audience comment.

How the votes went

Agenda approved as amended, 5-0. Darab selected mayor pro tem, 5-0. English appointed to the Central Pines Council of Governments board, 5-0. Remaining committee assignments approved 4-1, with Hughes opposed. Consent agenda, as amended to add the MLK Jr. Day march permit, approved 5-0.

From the published minutes.

Who spoke

No members of the public spoke.

Read from the records the government published after the meeting. Members of the public are private residents and are not named or indexed.

Speaking at this meeting

Town of Hillsborough's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (7)

Budget action · 2Procedural · 1Appointment · 1Presentation · 1Proclamation or recognition · 1Contract or award · 1
  1. 2 Oaths and affirmations of office
    Procedural Appointments and personnel
    Commissioner Robb English, Commissioner Kathleen Ferguson, and Mayor Mark Bell are sworn into office.
  2. 5.A Selection of Mayor Pro Tempore and Committee Appointments
    Appointment Appointments and personnel
    The mayor and commissioners select a mayor pro tempore and make committee appointments for the term.
  3. 6.A Fiscal Year 2024-25 Audit Presentation
    Presentation Budget and appropriations
    Staff or the town's auditor present the results of the FY2024-25 financial audit.
  4. 7.B Miscellaneous budget amendments and transfers
    Budget action Budget and appropriations
    Routine consent-agenda budget amendments and transfers between town accounts.
  5. 7.C Proclamation – National Mentoring Month
    Proclamation or recognition
    The board proclaims National Mentoring Month, a consent-agenda item with no substantive decision.
  6. 7.D Renew Memorandum of Interlocal Agreement with Orange County for Fairview Park
    Contract or award Contracts and procurementIntergovernmental agreements
    Renews the interlocal agreement between the town and Orange County covering certain activities and operations at Fairview Park.
  7. 7.E Salary correction – town manager's annual merit increase
    Budget action Budget and appropriations
    Corrects the amount of the town manager's previously approved annual merit increase.

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