BELHAVEN — Blood was boiling at Monday night’s Belhaven Board of Aldermen meeting.

A trash-collection disagreement pitted Mayor Adam O’Neal against town Manager Woody Jarvis, as well as the majority of the board. O’Neal launched claims of underhanded favoritism, which he said is aimed at the poor and minority population in Belhaven. Jarvis vehemently refuted the accusations.

“I think it is very important to understand some things. I ran for mayor 11 and a half years ago because we had a town manager that was abusing people,” O’Neal said. “I’m smelling some of the same stuff right now.”

In January, Arthur’s Community Mart owner Arthur Bonner approached O’Neal about being overcharged for trash services — the Town charged Bonner for three trashcans while he claimed to have only one.

At the March 13 meeting, Jarvis gave an account to the Board of Aldermen, stating Bonner approached him in November 2016 about the overcharging, which began about 10 months prior to November. Jarvis said the problem was corrected as soon as it was brought to his attention (a point O’Neal refutes).

The board subsequently voted 3-2 to not reimburse Bonner for the $260 of overcharges, as three aldermen agreed there was no way for the Town to know it was overcharging until Bonner approached Jarvis 10 months after the fact.

At Monday’s meeting, O’Neal attacked this decision, saying that Jarvis refused to help Bonner with the trash overcharges unless he addressed the account’s delinquency. O’Neal said Jarvis initially lied about this exchange, and the delinquency stemmed from the previous property owner, not Bonner.

“I feel like my main responsibilities as the mayor of Belhaven is to make sure citizens are not abused,” O’Neal said. “I spent about a month trying to get this issue fixed behind the scenes.”

Jarvis said he declined to call David’s Trash Service to leverage a refund for the Town because he felt the situation was handled properly. He also denied that any favoritism played a part.

“I had been reluctant to do that because I felt like we had done what is right,” he said. “In talking to David’s Trash, they were very quick to tell me that they offered this refund because the mayor threatened them with public exposure if they didn’t. Coercion and bullying is not the way to run a town.”

Board Chairman Greg Satterthwaite said he did not understand O’Neal’s accusations that he and other board members were turning their backs on the citizens.

“Every councilman up here is fighting for our citizens,” Satterthwaite said. “I’m in politics, but I’m not a politician. … I’d rather be biblically correct.”

He said he voted against reimbursing Bonner because he saw three trashcans at Arthur’s Community Mart.

“I’ve never had three trashcans. I’ve never had but one trashcan. That was a cold-blooded lie,” Bonner said. “I did not ask for this. … Right now it’s not equal opportunity in this town.”

In a separate issue, O’Neal also attacked Jarvis’ decision to allow Spoon River Artworks and Market to contract with another trash company outside of David’s Trash. Jarvis defended his decision, saying David’s Trash did not pick up the restaurant’s trash for days because of the amount, and Spoon River was concerned about health hazards and needing trash space for weekend service.

David’s Trash cannot provide a larger trash container without a concrete pad, and Spoon River is waiting for its grant-funded expansion project to begin, and the subsequent construction, before pouring the concrete.

“There were issues with the weight of the trash in the containers. There were issues with the condition of the containers,” Jarvis argued. “I have discussed it thoroughly with the town council, I have discussed it thoroughly with Spoon River, and I have discussed it thoroughly with David’s Trash. … Most people would say it’s more important to get trash dumped and avoid health problems.”

He said the switch did not hurt the town’s relationship with David’s Trash, and he is willing to continue working on a solution.

Alderman Amos Wilson spoke up and explained that he could see Spoon River’s concern and talked with owner Teresa Van Staalduinen directly about the issue. Wilson said he understood why Spoon River looked to another trash company.

O’Neal said it would be easier for him to keep quiet about what is going on, but he thinks speaking up is the right thing to do. Alderman Steve Carawan was in agreement with him.

“To this point, we have a town council that thinks everything that just happened is fine,” O’Neal said. “I have to say something at my own personal cost because some people will be mad at me for telling the truth.”

After a motion was made to go into closed session to discuss Jarvis further, no other alderman would second the motion. O’Neal was forced to adjourn the meeting.

“I am really using all the restraint that I have,” Jarvis said. “Why don’t you tell the truth?”