MINUTES
STATE
OF
The Henderson County
Board of Commissioners met for a regularly scheduled meeting at
Those present were: Chairman Bill Moyer, Vice-Chairman Charlie
Messer, Commissioner Larry Young, Commissioner Shannon Baldwin, Commissioner
Chuck McGrady, County Manager Steve Wyatt, Assistant County Manager
Also present were: Fire Marshal Rocky Hyder, Finance Director J.
Carey McLelland, Assessor Stan Duncan, and Deputy Clerk to the Board Amy
Brantley.
CALL TO ORDER/WELCOME
Chairman Moyer called
the meeting to order and welcomed all in attendance.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Commissioner Young led
the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag.
INVOCATION
Commissioner Baldwin gave
the invocation.
INFORMAL PUBLIC COMMENTS
She
also mentioned a landscaping ordinance, which she thought would be part of the
plan when it finally comes together. She spoke in opposition to clear cutting.
DISCUSSION/ADJUSTMENT OF AGENDA
There were no
changes. Commissioner Messer made the motion to approve the agenda. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
CONSENT AGENDA
Commissioner McGrady made the motion to approve the consent
agenda. All voted in favor and the
motion carried. The
Consent Agenda consisted of the following:
Minutes
Draft minutes were
presented of the following meetings for the Boards review/approval:
Tax Collector’s Report
Terry F. Lyda, Tax
Collector, had provided the Tax Collector’s Report dated
Financial Report – April 2006
Cash Balance Report – April 2006
The YTD deficit in the
Emergency 911 Communications Fund is due to FY 2006 approved appropriations for
the purchase of new generators for the mountaintop communications sites, a GIS
software application update that links GIS data with the Computer Aided
Dispatch (CAD) system and complete replacement of the UPS-battery backup system
in the 911 Center.
The YTD deficit in the
Mills River Watershed Protection Project is temporary due to timing differences
in the expenditure of funds and the subsequent requisition of Federal and State
grant funds.
The YTD deficit in the
Historic Courthouse,
Henderson County Public Schools Financial Report – April
2006
This report was provided
for the Board’s information and consent approval.
Renewal of lease with McCallister (Sheriff’s Investigations
Division building)
The lease agreement
would renew the existing lease on the property located at
If the Board is so
inclined, the following motion was suggested:
I move that the Board approve the lease with McCallister for
the parcel located at
Improvement Guarantee for the Fox Glen Major Subdivision
(Phases I, 2 and 3)
Mr. Gaston Campano on
behalf of Chestnut Land Fund, L.L.C., owner, submitted a request for an
improvement guarantee for the Fox Glen major subdivision. Fox Glen is located on approximately 45 acres
of land off
According to Sections
170-38 and 170-39 of the Henderson County Subdivision Ordinance, where the
required improvements have not been completed or in lieu of completing all of
the required improvements and for Final Plat approval, the developer may post a
performance guarantee for the improvements. Section 170-38 of the Henderson
County Subdivision Ordinance also states that the improvements must be
completed within two years of the improvement guarantee approval date. The
developer intends to post with the County an irrevocable letter of credit in
the amount of at least $1,439,087.00 to cover the cost of the improvements
($1,151,269.60) as well as the required twenty-five percent contingency
($287,817.00).
A draft Performance
Guarantee Agreement was included in the agenda packet for the Board’s
consideration. If the application is approved, the developer must submit an
irrevocable letter of credit in accordance with the terms of the Agreement.
Once the County receives a letter of credit in proper form, the relevant
parties must execute the Agreement.
The
Improvement Guarantee for River Stone
Mr. Drew Norwood
submitted on behalf of Windsor Aughtry Company Inc., an improvement guarantee
application for Sections 4-A, 5A, and 6A (approximately 60 lots) of River
Stone. River Stone is a 524-lot Planned Unit Development located on
approximately 175 acres of land off
According to Sections
170-38 and 170-39 of the Henderson County Subdivision Ordinance, where the
required improvements have not been completed or in lieu of completing all of
the required improvements in order to submit a Final Plat and also prior to
Final Plat approval, the developer may post a performance guarantee for the
improvements. Section 170-38 of the Henderson County Subdivision Ordinance also
states that the installation of the improvements must be completed within two
years of the date of approval of the improvement guarantee. The developer intends to post with the County
an irrevocable letter of credit in the amount of at least $1,159,512.50 to
cover the cost of the improvements ($135,975.75 for offsite improvements and
$989,543.75 for onsite improvements) as well as the required twenty-five
percent contingency ($33,993.75 for offsite improvements and $197,908.75 for
onsite improvements). The proposed completion date for the improvements is
A draft Performance
Guarantee Agreement was included in the agenda packet for the Board’s
consideration. If the application is approved, the developer must submit an
irrevocable letter of credit in accordance with the terms of the
Agreement. Once the County receives a
letter of credit in proper form, the relevant parties must execute the
Agreement.
The
Extension Request for the Leoni’s Mountain Lake Homes
Improvement Guarantee
On
The Planning Department
recently received a letter from Todd Leoni, owner and developer, requesting to
extend the completion date to
The
Extension Request for the Mountain Meadows Improvement
Guarantee
On
On
The
Solid Waste Transfer Station Construction Agreement between
Construction Logic, Inc.
As directed by the Board
of Commissioners, staff had negotiated the agreement for the construction of a
new solid waste transfer station with Construction Logic, Inc. The
The
Resolution recognizing anniversaries of Downtown
Hendersonville, Inc., and
Downtown Hendersonville,
Inc., and Fischer Publications, Inc. have requested that the Board adopt a
resolution honoring anniversaries for these organizations. It is also requested that the Board of
Commissioners participate in a celebration that will be held on June 22.
The
Valley Hill Fire and Rescue Insurance District
The North Carolina
Department of Insurance has completed a rating survey for Valley Hill Fire and
Rescue as one district. They were
previously rated as district one and district two. In order to validate the new insurance rating
as one district a resolution by the
The
ECO/VWIN Report
The Environmental &
Conservation Organization (ECO) had provided their annual report on the
Volunteer Water Information Network (VWIN) for the Board’s review. This report was provided for the Board’s
information only. No action was necessary.
Home and Community Care Block Grant for Older
Each year the Board of
Commissioners is required to adopt a funding plan for the Home and Community
Care Block Grant for Older Adults and identify the lead office or agency
responsible for coordinating the County funding plan. The funding plan for Fiscal Year 2006-2007
totaled $622,672 which reflects a 4% cut from the State Division of Aging. This
is a State/Federal program administered at the local level. This is the third year of a three-year
planning cycle for this grant program.
The proposed funding plan supports the service priorities identified for
the current planning cycle.
The
Grant of easement by Henderson County Hospital Corporation
to BellSouth
BellSouth requested that
The lot upon which the
easement is proposed is actually adjacent to neither
If the Board is so
inclined, the following motion is suggested:
I move that the
Board grant the easement illustrated in the materials accompanying this
Agenda
item, and authorize the Chairman and Secretary to execute such documents as
are
necessary to carry out this grant.
Council on Aging Report
The Council on Aging had
put together a report for informational purposes, copies of which were included
in the agenda packet. No action was
required.
Water Line Extension – Eagle Pointe
The City of
A City of
Order on amendment of
This item requested the
Board’s approval of the draft order, from the Board’s recent hearing on
amending the special use permit regarding the
If the Board is so
inclined, the following motion is suggested:
I move the Board
approve the order drafted by staff, the findings of fact contained therein,
the
conclusions contained therein, and the decree therein, as correctly reflecting
this Board’s
previous
action.
NOMINATIONS
Notification of Vacancies
The Board was notified
of the following vacancies which will appear on the next agenda for
nominations:
1. Nursing/Adult
Care Home Community Advisory Committee – 1 vac.
Nominations
Chairman Moyer reminded
the Board of the following vacancies and opened the floor to nominations:
1.
Chairman Moyer stated
that Selena Coffey had been the Board’s excellent representative for a number
of years and has indicated a willingness to continue to serve there.
Commissioner McGrady
nominated Selena Coffey to represent the Board here. Chairman
Moyer made the motion to appoint Ms. Coffey by acclamation. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
2.
Child Fatality
Prevention Team – 1 vac.
Ms. Brantley explained
that the Child Fatality Prevention Team has a couple of specific positions. The
one we are seeking someone for currently is position #3 which has to be the
parent of a child who died before their 18th birthday. As of now, we don’t have any applications on
file that qualify. There were no nominations at this time so this item was
rolled to the next meeting.
3.
Environmental Advisory
Committee – 5 vac.
Three of our current
members have indicated that they would like to be reappointed, position #1 Bill
Hyatt, #3 David Lowles, and #5 Jay Rogers. Ms. Brantley has not heard back from
Anthony Campano yet (position #7). John Thornton (position #9) is unable to
serve another term as he is currently out of state. There are a few qualifying applications on
file.
Commissioner Baldwin made the motion to appoint Hyatt,
Lowles, and Rogers to positions 1,3, 5 respectively by acclamation. All voted
in favor and the motion carried.
Commissioner Baldwin
nominated Collette Summitt for position #9. Commissioner McGrady nominated
Anthony Campano for reappointment to position #7. There were no other nominees
at this time but the Board wished for these two vacancies to be rolled to the
next meeting for action.
4.
Jeannie Hernandez is
currently serving and is willing to continue to serve as their
Veterinarian. Commissioner McGrady
nominated Ms. Hernandez to position # 4. Chairman
Moyer made the motion to appoint Ms. Hernandez by acclamation. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Commissioner Baldwin
nominated Terry Hicks to position #10. Chairman
Moyer made the motion to accept Mr. Hicks by acclamation. All voted in favor
and the motion carried.
Commissioner Young
nominated Jack Romer for the Pharmacist position, #6. Chairman Moyer made the motion to accept Mr. Romer to position #6 by
acclamation. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
5.
Chairman Moyer explained
that there are two vacancies and have been but they are coming up with some
changes to their structure which will affect how people are put on their
board. The Board will be discussing a
couple of alternatives, probably at the next meeting.
This item was rolled for
the time being.
6.
Nominated at the May 19
meeting were Steven Orr and Hunter Marks.
The Clerk polled the Board with the results being:
Commissioner Young Orr
Commissioner Messer Marks
Chairman Moyer Marks
Commissioner McGrady Marks
Commissioner Baldwin Marks
Hunter Marks was the
appointee.
7.
There were no nominees
at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
8.
Juvenile Crime
Prevention Council – 10 vac.
Three of the current
members are willing to continue to serve: position #10 Anthony Craver, position
#15
Position #25 is an at
large position and we have two applications on file for that position.
Commissioner McGrady nominated Angie Alley to position #25. There were no other
nominees. Chairman Moyer made the motion
to appoint Ms. Alley by acclamation. All
voted in favor and the motion carried.
9.
Mountain Area Workforce
Development Board – 3 vac.
Commissioner McGrady
nominated Paul Keating to position #1, Phil Webb to position #3, and Barry
Brown to position #6, all as reappointments. Chairman Moyer made the motion to accept these nominees by
acclamation. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
10.
Nursing/Adult Care Home
Community Advisory Committee – 6 vac.
Ms. Brantley informed
the Board that both Dr. Eve Hoover, position #17 and Phyllis Brown, position #22,
terms become vacant at the end of July and they are both willing to be
reappointed. Commissioner McGrady
nominated both ladies for reappointment.
Chairman Moyer made the motion to
accept
11.
SmartStart – 1 vac.
Commissioner McGrady
nominated David White. Commissioner
Young nominated Marcie Burlett. There were no other nominations. There were no
other nominations at this time. The Clerk
will poll the board at the next meeting.
12.
Solid Waste Advisory
Committee – 1 vac.
There were no
nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
HCTV-11 AUDIO BROADCAST
Chairman Moyer stated
that the Board would address the issue of WHKP and Channel 11 and the issue
they’ve had with respect to that. A
number of things have been tried, to try to resolve this issue but have not
been successful.
Public Input
Chairman Moyer – “I
think you’re referring to the WHKP portion of Channel 11, right?”
Mr. Widener – “Yes,
WHKP, right.”
Chairman Moyer – “Why it
was changed is your first question.”
Mr. Widener – “Right”
Chairman Moyer – “The
issue came up several meetings back. We were trying to resolve this and it was
a matter of concern and certainly I only want to speak for myself, to me with
respect to the political content of some of it, particularly political
advertisements to be very honest. And on the government channel it was always
embarrassing to me to hear my own ads running on the government channel. We tried ways to try to cleanse the political
portion of it. We got through Russ Limbaugh and then the radio station said
they were unable to cleanse the rest of it so that piece came to a halt. And I think that, Art correct me if I’m
wrong, I think that’s the only programming change that was made in response to,
Richard is that – isn’t that correct, the only programming change that was made
with respect to our objection?”
Richard Rhodes – “Quite
possibly the pastor may be speaking about your programming over-riding some
Sunday morning religious programming that it hadn’t been in the past.”
Mr. Widener – “That’s
right. That’s one of them, yes sir.”
Chairman Moyer – “Steve
or Justin?”
Justin Hembree – “There
were, and Russ may be able to speak better to this, there were some programming
changes that were made, it’s been several months ago. I don’t recall the exact month. It was changed, the times of some certain
meeting times that we’re running for the Board of Commissioners that I think
did coincide with some Sunday morning audio programming that may have been on
WHKP those mornings.”
Chuck McGrady – “Mr.
Chairman, I believe, Mr. Nicholson, if you remember, briefed us back when this
was occurring that we were going to be changing some of the content that we
were putting on in a way such as to block the flow of content that you know was
a concern whether on political, religious, or commercial basis and the Sunday
morning slots were specifically mentioned. That’s my memory. But it’s been, you
know, late last year when we were briefed on that.”
Mr. Widener – “That was
a question I had also concerning that. If it was mainly political, religious,
or what was the background behind it, why we had the change. And the
over-riding of the program on Sunday morning.”
Chairman Moyer – “OK,”
Mr. Widener – “Thank you
sir.”
Board that he
appreciates what they do but he doesn’t agree with every decision they make. He
addressed the Christian programming that’s on WHKP/Channel 11 from about
supports WHKP and Channel 11. He stated that
County allowed WHKP to
program the background sound on Channel 11. WHKP started the public access
channel in 1969 as Cable Vision of Hendersonville. In 1999 the Commissioners
distinctly told WHKP by letter how important it was to have WHKP on the
government access channel for community awareness and particularly for
emergency broadcasting. In 1999 the
“We at WHKP are
confused, we’re confused that we would be asked to be the radio station of
record for the government channel for the past seven years, then asked to make
a proposal to remain on the channel and after doing so to hear nothing in over
three months except a comment by a Commissioner that our extensive exercise in
putting this proposal together for the County Commission was basically a waste
of time because it wouldn’t be fair to
the other radio station. Folks that was the purpose of the proposal, to select
the best qualified radio station. Ladies
and gentlemen, Henderson County Commissioners, the residents of
does own and operate
WHKP, that there is not any legal problem with any of the programming carried
on WHKP being broadcast on channel 11. She read some of the recent opinions
that have been filed by the United States Supreme Court in the area of the
first amendment and what she found was that the United States Supreme Court has
looked at the issues of the establishment of religion and other first amendment
issues very practically. The Supreme Court has said that they cannot ignore the
strong role that has been played by religion and by the religious traditions
throughout our nation’s history. She also read a quote that summarizes a lot of
the other comments that have been made and their opinions – “It is true that
religion has been closely identified with our history and government. The fact that the founding fathers believed
devoutly that there was a God and that the inalienable rights of man were
rooted in him is clearly evidenced in their writings from the Mayflower Compact
to the Constitution itself. It can truly be said therefore that today as in the
beginning our national life reflects a religious people who in the words of
Madison are earnestly praying as in duty bound that the supreme law giver of
the universe guide them into every measure which may be worthy of His blessing.
So the Supreme Court in finding that for example the ten commandments can stay
on government buildings or that prayer can be said, as we did tonight at the
beginning of this meeting, in governmental meetings the Supreme Court has
consistently acknowledged that we cannot ignore our religious heritage and that
the fact that the government may seem to foster in some respect some religion,
that is not a constitutional problem. Your role is to avoid unnecessary
governmental intrusion into the religious matters and I would suggest to you
that if you were to make a decision, a policy decision to remove WHKP from your
governmental channel because of the concern about religion that you are
intruding into religion. You are making a
decision about what is going to be available and taking away choices that
people have had for many many years in this respect. I also would suggest to you that what you do
need to make is not a legal decision, it is a political decision, it is a
policy decision and in doing so the Supreme Court has said that you are
required neither to abdicate your responsibility to maintain a division between
Church and State nor to evidence a hostility toward any religion. And again, I
would say that if the decision were to be driven by the concern about the
religious content of some of these broadcasts, that that’s what you would be
doing. I would also ask that you have
some security because the FCC very closely regulates all the broadcasts at WHKP
and as Chairman Moyer has pointed out, his concern is about the political
advertising that is carried on WHKP and I guess the appearance, or in this case
the sound of that on the government channel. The FCC, as you know, they don’t
closely regulate any kind of freedom of choice or equal access except in the
political area but in the political area they are very very involved and I
would suggest to you that if the FCC has allowed WHKP and in fact required WHKP
to carry political advertising, it is not a constitutional problem and it is
not a legal problem if that same broadcast is carried on your government
channel. The FCC is aware that that is
occurring. . . . It occurred to me as I was preparing to come here tonight that
the people who could be here tonight and who are able to address you are not
really those from whom you need to hear because there are many many people in
the far reaches of the county who cannot get an AM Radio signal who rely upon
the cable channel to get local news, to be involved not just to hear the Sunday
morning broadcast or the other regular religious broadcasts but on a daily
basis. If they’re confined to a wheelchair, if they are confined to their bed,
their contact with their community is contained in the radio signal that they
are able to get through channel 11 and you would take away that very important
contact with the community from a tremendous number of people. And I will say,
Chairman Moyer you suggested that there was not a way to take the political
ads, I think you used the word wash those.
In fact, there is a way to do that and the proposal presented by WHKP
explains that they would need to invest in some equipment but once they
purchase that equipment then they would be able to respond to your concerns and
to take out, wash out or bland out certain audio. Their concern was to invest in that equipment
without any certainty as to how long they would actually need that equipment. I
just want to end … I was sitting here and looking at your mission statement and
part of it is to provide efficient, innovative and quality public services and
certainly that’s what you have done over the course of the last seven years by
allowing your constituents to have contact with local news, local community
affairs, High School football games, University of North Carolina sporting
events, High School basketball games, all sorts of community activities that
people could hear, listen to even though they were outside the range of the
radio signal. And I would just ask that you continue that public service from
here on into the future.”
Overview
Justin Hembree reminded
the Board that at some point, when this issue first came up, the Board sought
proposals from radio stations to provide services for audio broadcast on
channel 11 that met specific criteria, that went out in a formal request for
proposals. Parts of those criteria
related to not allowing broadcast of commercial advertisements. There were issues that dealt with political
advertisements and political type broadcasts and also broadcasts that were
religious in nature. The initial RFP was responded to by WHKP saying that they
could, in fact, meet the requirements of that request, that it would take the purchase
of a software system and some re-engineering by their station engineer to be
able to do that. Several weeks
transpired and we received word from WHKP that they would not be able to do
that with the software that they thought they could because of some technical
issues dealing with the software. The issue came back to the Board again,
another, more formal RFP was drafted at this point and went back out a second
time to request proposals. At that point
one proposal was received and that was from WHKP. It essentially provided the same proposal
that software equipment and hardware equipment could be purchased that would
allow the washing of commercial, religious and political broadcasting but it
would require a substantial investment by WHKP and at that time WHKP was asking
for a fairly extended period of time that their broadcast was to continue on
channel 11. It was about February when the responses to that last RFP came in.
The Board is currently
in violation of their own broadcast policy but it is the Board’s policy and
they could revise their policy.
Russell Burrell reviewed
a memorandum with the Board that he had placed in their mailboxes today. The
Supreme Court test for dealing with first amendment issues, particularly
involving establishment of religion is called the lemon test, not the lemon law
but the lemon test. Basically it comes
with three different tests. When you evaluate the broadcast of WHKP audio over
your channel much of the tests come out very favorably to
Mr. Burrell then
addressed the second part of the test which is a little more problematic. “The
question is whether the Board’s action in having that program on there serves
to advance any particular groups’ religious interests or not. Clearly I would
presume that some of those groups would not be paying the money to be on the
radio or not going through the effort to be on the radio, if it did not to some
extent in their view advance their cause.
That said, the Supreme Court has also said that merely because something
has an incidental effect of advancing religion, if what your real purpose is is
to have local weather, local sports, local emergency access, if that’s your
real purpose as long as a court can find that is just a mere incidental benefit
to some religious group, they won’t invalidate that action as a result. That’s a question that there’s no clear cut
answer for that has clearly never been addressed by a court at this point, that
issue. I think the Board has a
reasonably good chance of success on that issue but that question has never
squarely been addressed in this context.
The final question under
the lemon test is whether or not the arrangement of broadcasting results in an
excessive entanglement between government and religion. I tend to doubt that that’s going to be the
outcome that a court would find because you have some insulator in between you
that keeps your involvement and the religious content to be nil. You don’t change which programs are on that
station. You don’t have any role on that regard.
Finally the practice is
examined to see whether it unconstitutionally endorses any religion by
conveying a message that religion is preferred, favored, or promoted over other
beliefs. Again there’s no case on point
in the context of broadcasting over a government operated cable channel. I think that the Board probably has better
than a 50/50 chance of prevailing in such litigation though if you have that
litigation there’s going to be significant cost and cost of defense of those
cases. From a legal only perspective,
understand that I’m not addressing a policy that the court would interpret as
something that you have the ability to change so you’re not bound by that
policy. Neither am I addressing any of the other issues outside the legal
perspective. I know there are other political and other issues that I’m really
not trying to give you advice on. The
legal issues alone – I think that you can reasonably support whichever action
you take. If you choose to change the
current status, I think that there’s no kind of contract that binds you to the
status in which you are currently. You can take whatever action you choose in
that regard. If you should be inclined
to maintain the status quo, while I think the litigation, the risk of loss is
relatively reasonable, it’s not an insignificant risk. You could mitigate that
risk a number of ways. I think first of
all having a contract with a radio broadcaster that, while it has a time
duration, that could be specifically limited to some time that you choose. As for example whenever the operation of a
new head-in facility in the historical courthouse comes on line or some other
period of time or extendable at your will that has an early termination
provision should any new franchise agreement, should one be reached at any
point, require the same or should an unfavorable court ruling come down that
should be in a contract with them that probably should be a disclaimer
broadcast over a radio station that any broadcast of opinion content is not the
content of Henderson County but rather of the radio station or its broadcasting
partners. And finally a requirement that
there be some sort of indemnification for litigation costs and for any defense
costs in any liability that arises out of any litigation. I think if you do that, if you choose to
maintain the status quo that would effectively shift any legal risk away from
you. Whatever actions and what other
considerations you’d have, at least from the legal prospective those risks
would be shifted away from the county.”
Discussion followed.
It was discovered that
one of our problems is the policy we have in place so the Board needs to revise
their policy to more match what we are actually doing. There was also
discussion regarding getting emergency information out to the public.
Commissioner McGrady
stated that he believes that WHKP has significant value, particularly with respect
to community awareness and has some value on the emergency broadcasting
side. He agreed that WHKP has earned its
position there. Of the broadcasters in our community, it’s the one that
provides that community content and has consistently been there to provide
emergency broadcasting. He sees a real
need in amending our broadcast policy.
Discussion continued.
Commissioner McGrady made the motion to direct the County
Manager to enter into negotiations with WHKP pursuant to the earlier RFP to
provide audio services on Channel #11 which would be of some specific duration
related to the purchase of equipment and software needed to block any
programming which we might find objectionable for whatever reason, that could
be religious, commercial, or political, that would require certain disclaimers
as suggested by Counsel, and finally providing for the indemnification that has
been discussed. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Commissioner McGrady made the motion to rescind section 7-A,D,E,F,
of our current policy till August 16 to allow us time to redraft it and direct
the
Recess
Chairman Moyer called a
brief recess, to change videotapes.
PUBLIC HEARING – FY 2006-2007 Budget
Commissioner Messer made the motion for the Board to go into
public hearing. All voted in favor and
the motion carried.
Chairman Moyer explained
that this public hearing was to received citizen input on the proposed FY
2006-2007 budget as prepared by the
Public Input
Community College for
2006-2007. He shared good news – the bids for the technology center came in
within budget on their June 1 bid opening.
They had six bids, five qualified. The local budget for FY 2005-2006 was
not enough to meet their needs so they will carry forward $80,000 worth of
bills that they will have to pay out of this next year’s budget. Their proposed county budget for 2006-2007
falls short of their maintenance and repair requirements. He distributed a hand-out showing that
shortfall with line items as to how that money needs to be spent. He mentioned
three quick examples: a boiler replacement, front door repairs and replacements
including automatic openers for the handicapped, and a fire alarm system for
one of their buildings. He also stated that the proposed budget does not
include any funds for their educational channel. The Dean and he had made
presentations to the Board of Commissioners as well as the municipalities
within
they hope to move into
that new building next month and be ready for school to start. He stated that
kids continue to move into
function. He feels very strongly that the
Board must also take exceptional measures to insure the position’s security by
providing an audit committee or board as it’s functional reporting one. He or
she would report to the
He addressed the School Board
budget, stating it seems that this is all about micromanagement of a
financially dependent elected board. He feels that the
Mr. Lucas felt it is a
bad idea to start with a new
”So squeeze the taxpayers a bit more now and save that hard earned fund
balance.”
supported recycling and
she thanked the Board for what they have done with it and hope that in the
future the Board will find other ways to encourage the community to do so.
On behalf of Grace Poli
and Lee Luebbe, she supported the dollar request of the DSS Board to provide
local funds for child care subsidy to partner with the state and federal
governments and their allocations to
the improvement to our
one recycling convenience center at the transfer station. She also thanked the
Board raised the amount
they gave to the Human Services in
county. There are currently 400 children on
the waiting list, last month. Two
working parents in
capital needs. For 15
years we have put the entire burden on the shoulders of property owners. Almost
a third of our community make less than $25,000 a year and many are on fixed
incomes. Providing a quality education
will continue to be a legitimate need for more monies. In order to provide
money for education and other needed services, it is past-time to consider new
ways to raise money such as development impact fees. New developments result in
the need for expensive school expansions and upgrades to roads, water, sewer,
and gas lines. Without impact fees, the cost of these things will continue to
be born by property owners. Increasing property taxes has become the easy
solution to cover our lack of long-range planning. Additionally a failure to create
an energy management plan is depriving our government and our schools from much
needed savings. As the price of energy climbs ever higher, an energy management
plan is essential. Until such time as we begin a comprehensive and multi
funding approach, she opposes the proposed increase in property taxes.
been more movement on
public facilities from the current Commissioners’ efforts on this Board that
has been seen in many years, according to Mr. Lewis. He stated that it is good to drive around
that the county’s
educators appreciate the Board’s past funding efforts. She stated that this
year the Board had been presented a bare bones request for funding. Our
neediest children, those with special needs and those where English is a second
language require personnel to help them to be productive citizens. The Junior ROTC Program for
their past, present, and future support of the
Henderson County Public Schools. But as
an educator she is highly concerned for this year’s budget. Henderson County
Public Schools is one of the largest employers in
and is a 7 year employee
of Henderson County Schools. She has been a librarian at the
a children’s advocate.
She also served on the Historic Courthouse Committee. She stated that the debt
service this year is on $51,000,000 in building projects. The historic courthouse is one of those
projects that needs to be restored but as of this time there are no bids. She mentioned several building projects. She
stated that in this budget is $28,000,000 to the public schools which includes
$8,000,000 in debt service. She reminded the Board that in January of 2005 they
saw a slide presentation of the schools and the Board has just heard the need
regarding repairs that need to be made as well as seeing slides about
Ms. Singleton stated
that we should not pay one penny to
She stated that now that
the hurricane season is here, maybe we can get a hurricane evacuation plan for
our county.
their continued
support. The children of
citizens of
of the important things
she does in her job is bring technology to the schools for the teachers and to
implement the technology with them, to empower them to be able to use it for
higher learning with their students. One concern she has is the possibility of
eliminating our elementary technology facilitator position. She has worked
closely with this person through staff development, key teaching. She has come into
Ms. Blocker is one of
the elementary gifted education teachers in the county. She teaches at Fletcher and
which is a program for
kids who are suspended from middle and high schools in the county. It is a
program that gives kids a second chance who make a mistake. It’s a program that
is needed in our education system. Mr. Smith is married to a teacher of eight
years. He stated that research shows that attendance trouble is a key factor in
why kids drop out. In other words, if we
have a student who can only miss five days in a semester of high school and
they miss six or seven days, they feel a sense that they are in hot water and
they can’t get out of it and some of those kids drop out. What is done at C-STOP is give those kids a
second chance. Instead of being sent
home, on the street, or sleeping late, or playing Nintendo, they come to the
program at Balfour. He said they don’t give these kids attendance credit, they
have to earn it. They have behavior contracts and they set high expectations
for the kids from the moment they arrive at Balfour until they leave. This is
the second year of C-Stop in
have grown up in
To much of it he could only add “please
listen, please listen to us.” He thanked the Board for their support.
year veteran teacher.
“History teaches us that a nation that does not value it’s youth, falls.” She
asked the Board to help her value our youth in our county by addressing their
needs. The budget has been computed not to be extravagant but to fill the needs
of our youth and the growth of our school system. Their needs are in buildings, personnel,
basic instructional and program needs. This county is one of the wealthier 100
counties of this state and has the resources to value our youth. She asked that they make our children a
priority. She thanked the Board for the support to the schools they have shown
in the past and will give in the future.
looking at an investment
in our future. We need to make that investment today, let’s not put it off.
These students in our high schools today are the people who will come back to
Commissioner McGrady made the motion that the Board go out
of public hearing. All voted in favor
and the motion carried.
The Process
The Board had a budget
workshop on May 25 and a continuation of that meeting on June 1 and this public
hearing. Chairman Moyer felt that the
Board needed to set an additional special called meeting for another budget
workshop. Some issues that Commissioners felt needed to be discussed at the
up-coming workshop were impact fees, alternate sources of revenue/funding,
maintenance issues for schools, rescue squad funding, purchasing agent,
recreation, and an eastern
Following discussion, Chairman Moyer made the motion to set a
special called meeting to deal with budget issues (budget workshop) for
Tuesday, June 13 at
UPDATE ON PENDING ISSUES
Land Development Code Update/Professional Services Agreement
Justin Hembree updated
the Board regarding the Land Development Code. He stated that they have
completed the recruitment process for the Planning Director position. Anthony
Starr, the new Planning Director, will begin work on Monday, June 26th.
During the interim, work has continued with development of the Land Development
Code. Staff has been going through the issues brought up with the first draft
as circulated. Staff has spent a lot of
time going through those comments and working some of those comments into
possible revisions that were made to sections.
The Planning Board is still working with the subcommittee process. They had a subcommittee meeting this
afternoon. During the meeting, staff
presented a timeframe they are working with to get certain sections of that
code back into their hands so it can go through the subcommittee and then on to
the full Planning Board. At the meeting, they met with Mr. Richard Smith who is
with CMR BenchMark Corporation. A copy
of a contract was included in the agenda packet with BenchMark for professional
services to assist with the Land Development Code process. He referenced the
scope of work that’s proposed through the contract, BenchMark will be working
on the zoning section which is the largest section of the Land Development Code
but will also work to help the whole document gel together in terms of ensuring
that it flows together, give it a cursory overview to make sure that all the
definitions in the code match up consistently through each section of the
ordinance. Staff requested in the contract that BenchMark include a timeframe
in terms of what they are looking at as to how long it will take this process
to be completed. Their target date is around September 1st. That’s dependent on how the public input
process goes at the Planning Board level. As part of the scope, BenchMark is
going to be facilitating some public input sessions with the Planning Board to
gather more input as it goes through a development process but they feel pretty
confident that the early September timeframe is going to be good in terms of
having something turned around, worked through the Planning Board and then at
that point will come back as a recommendation from the Planning Board to the
Board of Commissioners. Through this interim period, particularly the
Director’s position, the work hasn’t completely stopped on this. Staff has moved forward along with other day
to day activities. The Land Development Code process is continuing and what
they are working towards is a document that will be coming from the Planning
Board as a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners with a target date of
around Labor Day.
Justin Hembree requested
that the Board authorize the approval of the professional services contract
with BenchMark. The
Much discussion followed
with the Commissioners not supportive of the Planning Board taking the document
out to the public for input. The
Commissioners feel that process should be done by the Board of Commissioners. They
are the ones accountable and they are the elected officials.
Commissioner McGrady made the motion to table the agreement
for services at this time and request that the County Manager propose an
amended scope of services which reflects the public input process largely being
handled by the Board of Commissioners while the Planning Board, with the
support of BenchMark, provides us with a draft by around September 1st.
Much
discussion followed.
Commissioner McGrady made the motion to approve the
agreement for services with the amendment to strike paragraphs 7 and 8 of the
scope of services and amending paragraph 9 to make it a Planning Board
presentation to the Board of Commissioners by around September 1st/Labor
Day. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
There was none.
There was none.
IMPORTANT DATES
Chairman Moyer had
provided a recommendation under Important Dates, based on upcoming events, to
make some changes in the following meeting dates/times:
·
Reschedule
the Wednesday, June 21 meeting at
·
Cancel
the Monday, July 3 meeting at
·
Reschedule
the Monday, August 7 meeting at
·
The
NACo Conference is scheduled for August 4 – 8 and we have Commissioners going.
·
Cancel
the Tuesday, September 5 meeting at
Discussion followed with
everyone checking their respective calendars.
Friday, June 23 was not
good for some Commissioners. Commissioner
McGrady made the motion to move that June 21 meeting to Tuesday, June 27 at
Chairman Moyer made the motion to cancel the July 3
meeting. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
Chairman Moyer made the motion to move the August 7 meeting
to August 2 at
Chairman Moyer made the motion to cancel the September 5
meeting. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
Set Public Hearing on Rezoning Application
#R-2006-01
Rezoning Application
#R-2006-01, which was submitted on
The Henderson County
Planning Board will first consider rezoning application #R-2006-01 at its
regularly scheduled meeting on
Before taking action on
the rezoning application, the Board of Commissioners must hold a public
hearing. Staff proposed that the hearing be scheduled for
The Board had just
canceled the July 3 meeting.
Commissioner McGrady made the motion to set this public
hearing for July 19 at
CANE CREEK WATER & SEWER DISTRICT – no
business
CLOSED SESSION – none
ADJOURN
Commissioner Messer made the motion to adjourn the meeting
at
Elizabeth W. Corn, Clerk
to the Board
William L. Moyer, Chairman