The announcement was made during the council’s Monday evening meeting via Facebook Live -- Mayor Tracie Clemons stated that Thorpe was officially sworn in on Monday, Oct. 26.

Thorpe said he would have more to share at a later date because he had just been sworn in a week before the meeting.

Clemons congratulated him on his new position and encouraged those council members who had phoned in to clap for him over the phone.

According to financial reports disclosed in the meeting, the general fund was still in the red as of the end of October.

Clemons emphasized, “This does not mean that the town's bank accounts are in the negative.”

Some financial reports showed some areas in the negative as disclosed in the meeting. For example, one area in the budget was approximately $800 in the negative for the past month. Council approved the financial statements as-is.

Clemons said Norway will be on a spending freeze for the next six months. She stated they will just be paying basic bills and not spending town funds on other things during this time.

“We are still in the middle of the pandemic, which halted some of our revenues coming in,” she said.

Council also had its first reading of what Clemons calls a stub-year budget for January 2021 to June of 2021. As council voted for some months ago, the town start a fiscal year budget from July 2021 to July 2022. Previous administrations in the town had the fiscal year going from January of one year to January of another.

Clemons said that $138,830 will be the total municipal budget for the stub year. She stated they also have $625,486 in restricted funds that can only be used for water and sewer infrastructure.

She said the town’s total expenses will be $107,312.

Clemons next said there will be $365,788 in Public Service Commission funds. She stated there are capital penny sales tax funds for $198,000 for water infrastructure improvements and that the true operating revenue for the Public Service Commission will be $167,720.

“Expenses for the Public Service Commission will be $122,870,” she added.

She also mentioned that Norway Municipal Court will have an operating revenue of $42,000, with expenses of $40,500.

Clemons next said, “The town did not receive a Hometown Development grant.”

She stated that some nearby towns, including Springfield and Salley, did receive theirs and she congratulated them.

Clemons also added that they are awaiting some permits from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control for the Winchester Avenue water project.