BELHAVEN — The Town of Belhaven is considering a cease in funding for the Belhaven Community Chamber of Commerce for the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends June 30.

At the Board of Alderman meeting March 28, Mayor Adam O’Neal said he also thinks the board should reconsider its funding of the Chamber in the budget for the next fiscal year.

“These folks have gotten in the middle of politics. All of a sudden, we have a club of folks that are doing things, actually at times, just in spite of the town,” he said, adding that he thinks the Chamber should support the efforts to reopen Belhaven’s hospital. “The largest employer in town that actually saves people’s lives, the Chamber has decided not to support it.”

In February, the Chamber requested the second allotment of its bi-annual funding from the Town, a $4,050 amount given twice a year, according to Chamber President Dianne Bowen. Upon contacting Town Manager Woody Jarvis, Bowen said they were told the Town might not give the $4,050, despite it being written into the budget.

“The reason the town is having a problem giving them anymore money is because not only are they not doing their mission, which should be to protect our economy here and try to bring jobs, but they’re actually working to benefit off of a horrible situation that is the hospital property’s reacquisition,” O’Neal said at Monday’s meeting.

The Belhaven Chamber received a 0.56-acre plot of land at 166 E. Water St. as a gift from Marian Keech in December to use as the Chamber’s Board of Directors sees fit. The land is positioned behind the former Vidant Pungo Hospital, which closed in 2014. It is part of the property the Town has attempted to obtain under eminent domain in its efforts to reopen the hospital.

O’Neal has expressed his desire for the Chamber to hand the land over to the town, but Bowen said it has other plans to utilize it.

In a March 26 letter, Bowen wrote, Keech’s “purpose in donating the land was to give the Chamber enough money to move out of its current building, which is owned by the Town and is a historic building in need of much repair, and to better market our community to people looking to start a business here and to tourists that support local B&Bs, shops and restaurants. We were aware of the notice of eminent domain filed against the property by the Town, but Ms. Keech said that she would rather the Chamber benefit from the sale of the land than herself.”

The Town of Belhaven extended an invitation for a Chamber representative to explain the organization’s side of the story at a board meeting, but the Chamber declined the offer, saying it was not looking for a public confrontation.

“The Mayor is now trying to ‘shame and defame’ the Chamber into giving the property to his hospital effort,” Bowen wrote in the letter. “The Chamber Board will not be ‘bullied’ by the Mayor into relinquishing this donated property without adequate compensation to further the mission of the Chamber.”

At Monday’s meeting, O’Neal also said he thinks the Chamber’s decision to reduce its board of directors from 12 to seven last year was an effort to keep only certain people in control. He also accused the Chamber of not responding to a request from the late Dr. Charles Boyette to use the building on the organization’s new land.

But Bowen said the Board of Directors elected to reduce its number to seven because it is the standard number for Chambers around the state.

She also said the Chamber never heard anything definitive from Dr. Boyette about renting the building.

“The doctor, who was always an ardent supporter of the Chamber, did stop by the Chamber office sometime in early January and asked the executive director, Ms. Diana Lambeth, if the Chamber would consider renting the building to a doctor friend of his. Ms. Lambeth informed Dr. Boyette that she could not make that decision and that she would relay his request to the Chamber Board of Directors. She asked that he check back with her the following week after she had a chance to make that contact. Dr. Boyette never called, stopped by or corresponded with the Chamber after his initial visit,” Bowen stated in the March 26 letter.

After Alderman Amos Wilson said he would prefer to talk with the Chamber before making any budget decisions, O’Neal suggested that Wilson and Jarvis set up a meeting with the group.

“The organization is way off their mission. They’re not supporting the town,” O’Neal said. “I think the town needs to look at this relationship, and in the coming budget, needs to think really hard about appropriating any money for the Chamber going forward.”