WINDSOR – The high cost of fuel will be costing citizens here.

During Thursday’s Windsor Board of Commissioners meeting, Mayor Bob Spivey told the Board there was a tough issue to address.

According to the mayor, fuel costs to the town of Windsor increased 22.4 cents. He said it was the highest rate increase in the town’s history.

The mayor said he wanted to help citizens as much as possible, but there was no way the electric system could absorb the cost.

Usual rates for the winter are 8.205 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to the mayor, and he suggested that rate remain the same.

&uot;I think we should show the fuel adjustment separately,&uot; Spivey said.

Mayor Pro Tempore Jimmy Hoggard asked if it would be passed along at the actual cost with no profit for the town.

The mayor said that would be his suggestion.

&uot;I think we should do it in such a way the people can see it and hopefully, it will come down,&uot; Spivey said.

Commissioner Bobby Brown said he felt it was the only fair way to handle the situation. He added if the rate comes down, the price passed on to the customers would follow.

The mayor said he calculated his personal bills, using 1521 kilowatt-hours and the change was $18.75. He added that Interim Town Administrator David Overton said the average bill was lower than the one the mayor used to calculate and that it would cost most citizens less than that amount.

Spivey said there was no other way to handle the situation, because it was the biggest increase ever passed along to the town.

&uot;It’s the best thing we can do; the only thing we can do,&uot; Brown said.

Hoggard made the motion to pass along the actual cost of the fuel increase on a separate line item with Commissioner Charles W.D. Fulk offering a second. The motion passed unanimously.

In other business, the Board:

* heard from Mayor Spivey that the Cashie Wetlands Walk had been officially added to the North Carolina Birding Trail;

* approved the fulltime hiring of Officer David Pierce with the Windsor Police Department;

* accepted a bid from T.J.’s Custom Building to add two boating docks to the Cashie River;

* passed a resolution requesting financial assistance from the North Carolina Department of Transportation for drainage improvements on Hofler Street; and

* transferred a Deed of Trust to Bertie County on a property being purchased by the county.