MINUTES
STATE
OF NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
COUNTY
OF HENDERSON JUNE 5,
2000
The Henderson
County Board of Commissioners met for a regularly scheduled meeting at 5:30 p.m.
in the Commissioners= Conference Room of the Henderson County Office
Building at 100 North King Street, Hendersonville, North Carolina.
Those present
were: Chairman Grady Hawkins,
Vice-Chair Bill Moyer, Commissioner Renee Kumor, Commissioner Don Ward,
Commissioner Marilyn Gordon, County Manager David E. Nicholson, Assistant
County Manager/Interim County Attorney Angela S. Beeker, and Clerk to the Board
Elizabeth W. Corn.
Also present
were: Finance Director J. Carey McLelland,
Public Information Officer Chris S. Coulson, Planning Director Karen C.
Smith, and Office Assistant Amy Brantley.
CALL TO
ORDER/WELCOME
Chairman
Hawkins called the meeting to order and welcomed those in attendance.
PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE
Commissioner
Kumor led the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag.
INVOCATION
David Nicholson
gave the invocation.
DISCUSSION/ADJUSTMENT
OF AGENDA
Chairman
Hawkins added one item under Pending Issues as AE-2" - Mayor Niehoff=s letter on
depletion fees.
Commissioner
Moyer added two items under Discussion Items - #1 Green River Gorge Bridge, and
#2
Redistricting Proposal.
Chairman
Hawkins asked for several items to be pulled from the Consent Agenda:
I. Extension of
Improvement Guarantee for High Vista Falls, Phase VI
J. Public
Information Awards (per Commissioner Kumor)
K.Resolution
relating to working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
L. Request for
Improvement Guarantee for Cummings Cove, Phase III, Section I, Wynfield
( per Commissioner Moyer)
It was the
consensus of the Board to approve the above changes to the agenda.
CONSENT AGENDA
Chairman
Hawkins made the motion to approve the Consent Agenda as amended above. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
CONSENT AGENDA
consisted of the following:
Minutes
Minutes were
presented to the Board for their review and approval of the following meetings:
April 3, 2000 regular meeting
May 1, 2000 regular meeting
May 9, 2000 special called meeting
May 11, 2000 special called meeting
May 12, 2000 special called meeting
May 15, 2000 special called meeting
May 16, 2000 special called meeting
May 22, 2000 special called meeting
May 23, 2000 special called meeting
Tax Collector=s Report
Terry F. Lyda,
Tax Collector, had provided the Tax Collector=s Report to the Board for review, as as May 30, 2000. The Deputy Tax Collector, Darlene B. Burgess, had also provided
the Deputy Tax Collector=s Report.
Tax Refunds
(12)
A list of 12
tax refunds was provided for the Board=s review and approval.
Tax Releases
(52)
A list of 52
tax releases was provided for the Board=s review and approval.
Henderson
County Financial Report - April 2000
The Henderson
County Financial Report for April of 2000 was provided for the Board=s review and
approval.
Henderson
County Public Schools Financial Report - April 2000
The Henderson
County Public Schools Financial Report for April 2000 was provided for the
Board=s review and
approval.
Carriage Park
Special Use Permit Amendment (SP-93-13-A4)
The Board had
held a quasi-judicial hearing on May 17, 2000 concerning an application
submitted by Carriage Park Development Corporation for an amendment to the
Special Use Permit (SP-93-13) which governs the Planned Unit Development known
as Carriage Park. As a reminder the
amendment generally concerned the addition of land that is known as the Corn
Property to the PUD.
After hearing
the evidence and statements of the parties, the Board had some brief discussion
of the matter and ultimately indicated that its consensus was to grant the
amendment as requested by Carriage Park.
The Board also directed Staff to draft findings of fact, conclusions,
and an order consistent with the evidence and the Board=s
consensus. Staff had done so and the
draft was reviewed by the Board. This
draft had also been distributed to all parties for comment, although no
comments were received at the time this agenda item was prepared.
Copies of
SP-93-13 and the three subsequent amendments were included with materials
related to the requested amendment in burgundy notebooks distributed to the Board. This notebook may be useful to the Board in
its deliberations on the proposed draft order.
Due to the length of the special use permit and the amendments, those
items had not been reproduced with this agenda item. The Commissioners were
encouraged to consult their burgundy notebooks for these items.
The Board was
reminded that it has 45 days from the close of the proceeding on May 17, 2000
to enter a written order. Action at this meeting would be appropriate.
Road Petitions
Road petitions
had been received for addition to the State Maintenance System for the
following roads: 1. Old
Homestead Road
2.
Tupelo Drive
It has been the
practice of this Board to accept road petitions and forward them to North
Carolina Department of Transporation for their review. It has also been the practice of the Board
not to ask NC DOT to change the
priority for roads on the paving priority list.
DISCUSSION OF
ITEMS PULLED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA
I. Extension
of Improvement Guarantee for High Vista Falls, Phase VI
Chairman
Hawkins asked a question about the letter that came from the Carolina
Development Resources as to why a longer time period is being used?
Karen C. Smith
stated that she had tried unsuccessfully to contact the developers
representative today. She talked with
the Engineer, William Lapsley, and to his knowledge there has been no work done
toward any of the improvements. She
made a site visit today and it does not appear that any work had been done. They do have one other outstanding bond with
the Board currently. The improvements
are up near where the clubhouse is.
On July 21,
2000, the Board of Commissioners approved the posting of an irrevocable letter
of credit in the amount of no less than $196,562.00 by K&M Development
Resources, Inc., as an improvement guarantee for High Vista Falls, Phase
VI. As approved, the Agreement for the
improvement guarantee required that the water, sewer, road and drainage
improvements in High Vista Falls, Phase VI, be completed by July 1, 2000. To date, the County has not released any
portion of the letter of credit.
Mr. Robert J.
Duffy, Jr. on behalf of K&M Development Associates, Inc. had submitted a
letter requesting the County extend the completion date for the improvements
for one year (to July 1, 2000).
Should the
Board choose to grant the extension, Staff had attached a draft extension
Agreement for the Board=s consideration. If the extension is approved, the developer
must post an amended letter of credit, with a new expiration date, in the
amount of $196,562.00. The Staff
Attorney must review the amended letter of credit, once submitted, and certify
the Agreement as to form prior to its execution by the Chairman and the
developer.
In the event
that the Board declines to grant the requested extension, Staff will seek
direction from the Board on whether to pursue any remedies under the letter of
credit should the developer fail to complete the improvements by July 1, 2000.
10.
Public Information
Awards
Commissioner Kumor stated that it is important to highlight
when staff does some exceptional work and it=s
important for the public to know these things.
Our Public Information Officer, Chris Coulson, has received two national
recognitions from the National Association of County Information Officers
(NACIO).
Commissioner Kumor read the two letters highlighting
the awards:
#1
AThank you for your participation in the 2000 NACIO
Awards of Excellence Competition.
This year, there were more than 500 entries across the
spectrum of categories. Seventeen
judges, all professionals working in fields such as communications, graphics,
video production, public relations, etc., spent many hours reviewing the
entries and choosing the best of the best to receive special recognition.
I am please to inform you that you are a winner in
this year=s competition.
Your entry, Millennium Logo, was judged Excellent.
On behalf of NACIO, please accept my sincere
congratulations on this well-deserved recognition for your exemplary work. You have enriched the field of public
information, and have made us all a bit better at what we do by virtue of the
example you have set.
I hope you will be able to attend the NACIO Awards
ceremony in Charlotte, N.C. (Mecklenburg County), on Friday, July 14. I look forward to seeing you there.
Sincerely,
Don J. Kappel
2000 Awards of Excellence Coordinator@
#2
AI hope that by now, you have received word of the
results of the 2000 NACIO Awards of Excellence Competition. The results have been sent out by way of
letters to the winners; posting on the NACo web site; by e-mail to those listed
in the NACIO ListServ directory; and by other means.
I am most pleased to inform you that your entry, A1999 Report to Citizens,@ was judged BEST IN CLASS. This is a distinct honor, especially in light of the large number
of entries received this year.
Congratulations to all those responsible for this
outstanding public information product.
I hope you will be able to attend the awards reception in Charlotte, NC
on Friday, July 14 to receive your plaque.
Sincerely,
Don J. Kappel
2000 Awards Competition Coordinator@
Commissioner Kumor expressed the importance of
acknowledging these awards because there was quite a challenge to the Board of
Commissioners that established Public Information as a goal. She offered congratulations to Mr.
Nicholson, once he received the charge from the Board to find someone to react
to community information services, he was able to find a well qualified and
competent Public Information Officer.
She expressed pleasure that he was able to find someone qualified to
meet the Board=s goal of taking advantage of the local cable
channel. Ms. Coulson has been able to
meet all the goals the Board set for her and for Mr. Nicholson in this respect.
K. Resolution relating to working with the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
A draft resolution had been submitted for the Board=s review and approval.
Chairman Hawkins stated that he had some questions and
therefore asked Rocky Hyder, Fire Marshal, to explain what he was looking for
in submitting this Resolution.
Mr. Hyder stated that in 1996 the FEMA started using a
800 number for victims of disasters to register themselves and that has been a
very successful effort, especially during Hurricane Floyd. What we found out as counties was that we
needed access to that information to see who and where the people were in our
communities that needed assistance.
Because of some internal policies within the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, access to that information was denied to all the counties in
North Carolina.
The Resolution asks the Federal Emergency Management
Agency to reconsider their policy, understand that counties have a need for
that information, and that the counties will protect the privacy of those
victims but certainly need to have access so that they can provide service to
the victims.
Commissioner Kumor made the motion that the Board
adopt the Resolution Working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
12.
Request for Improvement
Guarantee for Cummings Cove, Phase III, Section 1, Wynfield
Chairman Hawkins stated that Commissioner Moyer has
asked to be excused from consideration of this item. Chairman Hawkins made the motion to excuse Commissioner Moyer
from voting on this item. All voted in
favor and the motion carried.
Mr. Roger A. Hill, on behalf of Cummings Cove
Properties, L.L.C., had submitted a request for approval of a subdivision
improvement guarantee. Mr. Hill would
like to post an irrevocable letter of credit to cover the cost of the remaining
road, drainage, water and sewer improvements in Phase III, Section 1, Wynfield,
of Cummings Cove. The Board approved an
improvement guarantee for Phase II, Sections 1, 2 and 3 of Cummings Cove in
October of 1999.
Pursuant to Section 170-39 of the Henderson County Code,
a developer may, in lieu of completing all of the required subdivision
improvements prior to Final Plat approval, post a performance guarantee to
secure the County=s interest in seeing that satisfactory construction of
the incomplete improvements occurs. One
type of permitted guarantee is an irrevocable letter of credit.
Mr. Hill intends to secure an irrevocable letter of
credit from Wachovia Bank in the amount of $327,772.00, which includes the cost
of the remaining road, drainage, water and sewer improvements in Cummings Cove,
Phase III, Section 1, as well as the required contingency amount of twenty-five
percent. The proposed completion date
for the improvements is January 1, 2001.
Should the Board choose to approve the improvement
guarantee request, a draft Performance Guarantee Agreement had been presented
for the Board=s consideration.
If approved, the developer must submit the letter of credit in
accordance with the terms of the Agreement.
The Staff Attorney must review the letter of credit and certify the
Agreement as to form prior to its execution by the Chairman and the developer.
Commissioner Kumor made the motion to approve the
improvement guarantee request for Cummings Cove, Phase III. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
NOMINATIONS
Notification of Vacancies:
The Board was notified of the following vacancies
which will appear under ANominations@ on
the next agenda:
1.
Hendersonville City
Planning Board - 1 vac.
2.
Child Fatality
Prevention Team - 1 vac.
Commissioner Gordon nominated Jim Crafton for the
Hendersonville City Planning Board.
Commissioner Kumor made the motion to suspend the rules and appoint Mr.
Crafton. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
Commissioner Kumor nominated Teresa Lowe, a fire
fighter from Fletcher, for the Child Fatality Prevention Team. Commissioner Kumor made the motion to
suspend the rules and appoint Ms. Lowe.
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Nominations:
Chairman Hawkins reminded the Board of the following
vacancies and opened the floor to nominations:
1.
Nursing/Adult Care Home
Community Advisory Committee - 2 vac.
Nursing/Adult Care Home Community
Advisory Committee - 2 addl. vac.
There were no nominations for the two vacancies so
this item was rolled to the next meeting.
Commissioner Kumor nominated Marguerite Martin and
Lois Hoots for reappointment to the two additional vacancies for the year
2000. All voted in favor and the motion
carried.
2.
Henderson County Industrial Facilities
& Pollution Control Authority - 1 vac.
The Board had asked for assistance from the Chamber of
Commerce in finding a nominee for this spot.
The Chamber had sent a letter back suggesting John Goins for this
vacancy.
Chairman Hawkins nominated John Goins for this
vacancy. Commissioner Kumor made the
motion to suspend the rules and appoint Mr. Goins. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
3.
Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) -
1 vac.
The Board needed to appoint a Chairman for this
committee. Commissioner Gordon nominated Rocky Holbert to serve as Chairman of
the SWAC. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
Commissioner Gordon nominated William O=Cain to fill the one vacancy on the SWAC. Commissioner Ward made the motion to suspend
the rules and appoint Mr. O=Cain. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
4.
Juvenile Crime Prevention Council - 1
vac.
There were no nominations for this vacancy at this
time. This vacancy must be filled by
someone under 21 years of age. This
item was rolled to the next meeting.
5.
Mountain Area Workforce Development
Board - 1 vac.
There were no nominations at this time so this item
was rolled to the next meeting.
6.
Henderson County Board
of Health - 1 vac.
Chairman Hawkins reminded the Board that this vacancy
must be filled by a veterinarian.
Commissioner Gordon nominated Dr. William Martin to
this slot. Commissioner Kumor made the
motion to suspend the rules and appoint Dr. Martin to the veterinarian
position. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
7.
Henderson County
Hospital Corporation Board of Directors - 1 vac.
Previously John Swanson and Dr. John Bell had been
nominated. Commissioner Gordon
nominated Priscilla Betty Strickland.
The Clerk polled the Board and Ms. Strickland received
three of the five votes. She is the new
member of the Hospital Corporation Board of Directors.
8.
Child Fatality
Prevention Team
This has been on the agenda for several meetings now
and the Board has not nominated anyone else.
The Board can appoint a maximum of five members. There are currently four non-agency members. This Team will be dropped from Nominations
on the agenda.
9.
Henderson County Child
Protection Team - 1 vac.
Chairman Hawkins nominated Tom Hix for this
vacancy. Commissioner Ward made the
motion to suspend the rules and appoint Mr. Hix. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
10.
Board of Equalization
and Review - 1 vac.
Commissioner Ward nominated Lewis Steinbach. Commissioner Kumor made the motion to
suspend the rules and appoint Mr. Steinbach.
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
CDBG - RESOLUTION
Heather Bullock with Land of Sky Regional Council
presented several documents to the Board that are associated with the Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) that the County received for Habitat for
Humanity=s Grove Hills Subdivision. She explained that there were three documents she would review
that are requirements to release CDBG funds so that they can be spent
down. Everything else has been released
from the State.
#1 Local Economic Benefit for Low and Very
Low Income Persons Plan
This plan must be adopted by the County. It covers a section 3 requirement which
requires that the County will bid out projects and try to encourage
participation from local contractors and subcontractors in the area to participate
so that they can directly benefit from the influence of CDBG funds in the area.
Following some discussion, Chairman Hawkins made the
motion to adopt this Resolution as presented.
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
#2 Equal Employment and Procurement Plan
Ms. Bullock explained that this plan verifies that
Henderson County is an equal employment opportunity employer, that when you
hire that it is publicly advertised, that the employees and personnel are aware
of that status, that the County does not discriminate in hiring and that David
Nicholson will serve as the person to receive any discrimination complaints.
Commissioner Moyer had a question regarding the
Affirmative Action requirement in the plan.
He asked if the capital As could be deleted and small a=s inserted instead.
That was OK with those in attendance.
Commissioner Moyer made the motion to approve the plan
as amended in paragraphs 4 and 5. All
voted in favor and the motion carried.
#3 Recipient=s Plan to Further Fair Housing
This plan has to be approved annually for Henderson
County when they received CDBG funds.
The plan was based on an analysis for impediment study that was done by
the NC Fair Housing Center in
1997. Several of the action statement
items will be implemented in conjunction with Land of Sky and the local Housing
nonprofits in the area. David Nicholson will also serve as the individual who
would accept housing discrimination complaints.
Following some discussion, Chairman Hawkins made the
motion to adopt this plan as presented.
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
LOCAL TAX ON GROSS RECEIPTS FROM RETAIL SHORT-TERM
LEASE OR RENTAL OF MOTOR VEHICLES
Angela Beeker informed the Board of Senate Bill #1076,
which was ratified by Governor Hunt on May 17, 2000, and repeals the property
tax on rental or leased motor vehicles effective July 1, 2000. The Bill however
provides a means for counties to replace this lost tax revenue. Counties were authorized to levy a gross
receipts tax of up to one and one-half percent (12 %) on all short-term (less than 365 continuous days) leases and
rentals of motor vehicles such as passenger cars, vans, minivans, sport utility
vehicles, cargo vans, pickup trucks, trucks with a gross vehicle weight of
26,000 pounds or less, and trailer or semi-trailer of 6,000 pounds or less.
At the suggestion of the North Carolina Association of
County Commissioners (NCACC) Staff had prepared a Resolution for the Board=s consideration which authorized the levy and
collection of this local tax beginning on July 1, 2000. The Resolution places the burden on the
leasing and rental establishments to file returns with and make the tax
payments to the County.
Angela explained that the Resolution would actually
enact an Ordinance in Henderson County.
Following much discussion, action was postponed to a
later meeting. The Board requested some additional information before taking
action.
PETITION TO ABANDON A PORTION OF WHITEHEAD ROAD (SR
#1589)
Angela Beeker reminded the Board that the County had
received a petition asking that the County request North Carolina Department of
Transportation (NCDOT) to abandon and remove from the State Maintenance System
a portion of Whitehead Road (SR #1589) which is located off Bearwallow Road. This petition was reviewed by the Board
along with maps showing the location of the road.
NCGS 136-63 sets out the procedure by which a road may
be abandoned. Before NCDOT abandons a
road in the manner requested, the statute requires that the Board of
Commissioners pass a motion or adopt a resolution requesting the road be
abandoned. Such Board action must be
based upon a finding that Athe best
interest of the citizens of the County will be served thereby.@
Although no public hearing is required to abandon a
road, it might be appropriate to hear from the interested public as well as the
Planning Department and emergency officials before making such a
determination. The Board has previously
set and advertised special public input sessions for the purpose of receiving
comments from the public on proposed abandonment petitions. If a public input session is scheduled,
Staff requested that it not be scheduled prior to the Board=s July 3, 2000 meeting in order to allow enough time
for advertisement and receipt of comments from the Planning Department and
emergency officials.
If the Board were ready to find that the Abest interest of the citizens@ would be served by approving the abandonment, the
Board could forego the public input session and consider a motion or resolution
to request the NCDOT to abandon the road as described in the petition based
upon a finding of Abest interest.@
After discussion and looking at this on a map, it was
pretty evident to the Board that this would not negatively effect others to
abandon this section of road.
Commissioner Moyer made the motion to approve this
petition subject to a reasonable period of time for EMS and rescue, fire, and
police to respond. If there are no
negative comments, it would be approved.
If there are negative comments, this would come back before the
Board. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
ADOPTION OF FY 2000 - 2001 BUDGET
David Nicholson distributed copies of the proposed FY
2000 - 2001 Budget Ordinance. David
explained the components of the ordinance:
Section 1 is the General Fund. The total General Fund is $67,304,536 and it
is broken down by departments.
Section 2 is the School Capital Reserve Fund. This is monies transferred from the General
Fund.
Section 3 is the total of the Fire District Funds.
Section 4 is the continuing remainder of the Special
School Tax District.
Section 5 is the Revaluation Reserve Fund.
Section 6 is the Travel & Tourism Fund as
recommended by the Travel & Tourism Committee.
Section 7 is the Community Development Block Grant
Fund.
Section 8 is the Emergency Communication or E-9-1-1
Fund.
Section 9 is the Capital Projects Fund.
Section 10 is the Sewer Capital Projects Fund.
Section 11 is the School Capital Projects Fund. This is the ADM funds.
Section 12 is the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund.
Section 13 is the Cane Creek Sewer Enterprise Fund.
Section 14 is the Mud Creek Sewer Enterprise Fund.
Section 15 is the Justice Academy Sewer Fund.
Section 16 is the Self Insurance Fund.
Section 17 establishes the tax rates at fifty cents
(50.0) per one hundred dollars valuation of property listed as of January 1,
2000. That is the same as the current
year. The total valuation projected is
$6,707,715,550 with a collection rate of 97.0%. The Fire Districts=
Tax Rates are also in this section.
Section 18 is the restrictions the Board puts on Mr.
Nicholson as Budget Officer. Also in
this section are the salaries for the elected officials. The Board intends to discuss these salaries
today in closed session.
Section 19 is the provisions of how we handle the
funding of the school system, non-profit contributions, and the allocation for
Pay-for-Performance funds to departments as needed.
Section 20 is utilization of the budget.
Mr. Nicholson stated AMr. Chairman, following Closed Session, it would be appropriate for the
Board to consider this ordinance.@
UPDATE ON PENDING ISSUES
Conflict of July 19th meeting with NACo
Conference
There was some discussion that some of the
Commissioners will be attending the NACo Conference July 14-18 in Mecklenberg
County and the complications that might create with a scheduled Board Meeting
on July 19. Board members might not
have adequate time to prepare for the Board meeting.
Following discussion, Chairman Hawkins made the motion
to move the mid-month July meeting from July 19 to July 26, 2000 and directed
staff to advertise same. All voted in
favor and the motion carried.
INFORMAL PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were none.
MAYOR NIEHOFF=S LETTER re: depletion charges
Chairman Hawkins had received a letter from Mayor
Niehoff which was copied to all the Board, requesting the Board consider
waiving the capacity depletion fee charges for Charlestown Place ($7,800) since
there is a pending Memorandum of Understanding between the City of
Hendersonville and Henderson County involving the purchase of the Mud Creek
Sewer System.
The capacity depletion fee is outlined in 152-37 of
the Henderson County Code. It is
specific in what staff is able to do with charging these fees. Staff does not have the latitude to waive
them. It was the opinion of the Chairman to leave these as is until the
Agreement is finalized.
Following discussion, Staff was directed to get with
the City and work on this and bring back a recommendation.
CLOSED SESSION
Commissioner Kumor made the motion for the Board to go
into Closed Session as allowed pursuant to NCGS 143-318.11 for the following
reasons:
1. (a)(1) To prevent disclosure of information that is
privileged or confidential pursuant to the law of this State or of the United
States, or not considered a public record within the meaning of Chapter 132 of
the General Statutes, in accordance with and pursuant to NCGS 143-318.10 (e)
and Article II of Chapter 11 of the Henderson County Code.
2.
(a)(3) To consult with an attorney employed or
retained by the public body in order to preserve the attorney-client privilege
between the attorney and the public body, which privilege is hereby
acknowledged. To consult with an
attorney employed or retained by the public body in order to consider and give
instructions to the attorney with respect to the following claim:
Henderson County v. Crosby (File
No. 99-CVS-527)
3.
(a)(6) To consider the qualifications,
competence, performance, character, fitness, conditions of initial employment
of an individual public officer or employee or prospective public officer or
employee; or to hear or investigate a complaint, charge, or grievance by or
against an individual public officer or employee.
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Commissioner Ward made the motion for the Board to go
out of Closed Session. All voted in
favor and the motion carried.
PUBLIC HEARING - Road Name
Lee King informed the Board that the Property
Addressing Staff had received two petitions for a road name in the Dana
Community. The first petition was to
retain the current name of Dollie Case Lane and the second requested a change
to Bourbon Street. Staff had originally
suggested AInteresting Lane@ as
a possible road name.
In preparation for this meeting, Staff sent out
ballots to the 12 property owners. Nine
of those ballots were returned. Six
property owners preferred Dollie Case Lane.
The three others stated their preference for Interesting Lane. The original petitions and the ballots were
reviewed by the Board.
According to NCGS 153A-239.1 and the County=s Ordinances - Section 142.7, the Board of
Commissioners must first hold a public hearing before approving a road
name. The establishment of a name for
this road is the purpose of this hearing.
From the twelve ballots that were sent out to the
twelve property owners, nine had been returned, according to Lee King, six
voted for Dollie Case Lane, three voted for Interesting Lane, and none for
Bourbon Street.
Staff had posted the notices for this Public Hearing
on the road name sign itself and at the Dana Post Office. Notices were mailed to all residents along
the road in question.
Mr. King explained that when the road sign went up for
ADollie Case Lane@,
the phone started ringing. Due to the
number of calls received about the road name, the residents all received
ballots.
Commissioner Ward asked to be excused from
voting. The Church represented on the
petition is his home Church. His Mother
attends the Church.
Chairman Hawkins made the motion to excuse
Commissioner Ward from voting on this item.
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Commissioner Kumor made the motion for the Board to go
into Public Hearing to receive public comments regarding this road name
petition. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
Public Input
1. Lucille Lyda
- Ms. Lyda spoke in favor of the name Dollie Case Lane. She stated that this was a historical name
in Henderson County. The Methodist
Church was started in a building on the place where Dollie Case lives now. Part of the graveyard was given by the Case
family. Dollie Case is in her 90s and
she would like it to remain Dollie Case Lane to honor Mrs. Case.
2. Rick Phillips - Mr. Phillips stated that there are twelve property owners and he
knew of two people who had not received a ballot. He spoke in favor of Interesting Lane.
3. William Warren - Mr. Warren spoke in favor of Interesting Lane for the road. Originally he was one of the persons who
voted for Bourbon Street. They didn=t think about the Church when they chose that name and
they understand how the Church would not want to be on Bourbon Street.
4. Beth Warren
- Ms. Warren spoke in favor of Interesting Lane. She was one of the eight who originally voted for Bourbon
Street. She stated that papers gave the
residents until the 19th of June to turn in their ballots.
5. Sergio Tapia
- Mr. Tapia did not speak.
6. Tamara Tapia
- Ms. Tapia spoke for she and her husband, Sergio. She brought her ballot with her to the meeting, in favor of
Interesting Lane. She submitted her
ballot to the Board via the Clerk to the Board.
7. Ethelann Wood - Ms. Wood spoke in favor of Interesting Lane. She had already submitted her ballot but brought
a copy with her to the meeting.
8. Archie W. Case, Jr. - Mr. Case is Dollie Case=s grandson. Dollie Case is 96 years old. He spoke in favor of Dollie Case Lane. He
stated that most of the current property owners originally bought their
property from his Grandmother, Dollie Case, and Grandfather Case. The Church was in the Case home at one time
as was the School and the Post Office.
He would like to see this legacy left in honor of his Grandmother.
9. Joyce A. Case - Ms. Case spoke in favor of Dollie Case Lane. She stated that this property had been in
the Case family for over 150 years and out of respect for Dollie Case Lane, she
would like to see it stay Dollie Case Lane.
10. J. Clukey
- Mr. Clukey did not speak.
11. Danny Thompson - Mr. Thompson stated that he never got a notice therefore he wasn=t given a
chance to vote on the road name. He
uses the road to access his property.
Upon questioning, it appeared that Mr. Thompson did not actually live on
Dollie Case Lane but on a road that intersects with Dollie Case Lane. He spoke in favor of Interesting Lane.
Upon questioning, Mr. King explained that in 1998 a
mass mailing naming about 1200 roads was done.
At that time the two petitions were received, one for Dollie Case Lane
(6 votes) and one for Bourbon Street (6 votes). Dr. Flynn signed both petitions and then requested that his name
be removed from both petitions. It was
suggested to hold that road name off the list at that time because it was in a
lawsuit. The property addressing coordinator
over-ruled the suggestion and sent the road name through as Dollie Case
Lane. Road signs are being installed
for names that were approved in 1998.
When the sign for Dollie Case Lane went up, Lee King started getting
calls concerning the road name. To be
fair, staff decided to poll the residents one more time and sent out the twelve
ballots. Ten of the twelve ballots have been received with six for Dollie Case
Lane, four for Interesting Lane and none for Bourbon Street. Two - no response.
Following additional discussion, Commissioner Kumor
made the motion to continue this Public Hearing to July 3, 2000 at 7:00
p.m. All voted in favor and the motion
carried. The Board did not wish to
take action until the time had lapsed to return all the ballots (June 19,
2000).
Chairman asked Angela Beeker and Lee King to verify
the votes prior to bringing them back to the Board.
PUBLIC HEARING - FY 2000 - 2001 Rural Operating
Assistance Program
Commissioner Kumor made the motion to go into Public
Hearing for the Fiscal Year 2000 - 2001 Rural Operating Assistance
Program. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
Rochelle Miller of Apple Country Transportation
presented the FY 2000 - 2001 Rural Transportation Operating Assistance
Program. This transportation grant
requires that the Board of Commissioners hold a Public Hearing to receive
public input on the application. Ms.
Miller reviewed several documents (which made up the application) in detail
with the Board:
C
EDTAP Transportation
Plan for Henderson County FY 2000 - 2001
C
Application for
Operating Assistance Rural Operating Assistance Program FY 2000 - 2001
C
Rural General Public
Transportation Plan for Henderson County FY 2000 - 2001
C
NCDOT Work First
Transportation Plan for Henderson County FY 2000 - 2001
Ms. Miller requested that the Board sign the final
document of the application which was a certified statement (appendix B). All these programs are consolidated into one
application. The County is the only
eligible applicant for these funds and all requested funds will be dispersed to
the County.
Public Input
1. Jeanie Martin - Ms. Martin is the Director of Partnership for Health and is the
Chairperson of the Apple Country Advisory Committee. She spoke about the difficulty in recommending where the funds
should be spent due to the overwhelming needs in our county. She spoke briefly
about the increased needs for medical transportation. The Advisory Committee has asked Rochelle Miller and Staff to
come up with a formal application process for the folks who are applying for
EDTAP funds and to establish some type of criteria that the Advisory Committee
can look at every year and can give to the providers who are making these
applications so that they will know how they will be judged on their application.
She requested that the Commissioners take a look at
the criteria once they are developed and give the Advisory Committee some input
on what they think and that there be some type of long-range plan established
for medical transportation in our community.
She suggested using the TIP (Transportation Improvement Plan) to see if
we can get some type of funding established for public transportation. She encouraged the Board to work with the
Advisory Committee to develop a long-range plan to fill the medical
transportation needs in the county.
2. Paul Stepp
- Mr. Stepp talked about public transportation. He requested the Board set aside $10,000 as a planning tool for
after school and summer transportation for children and to aim it at the Middle
Schools.
He then talked about how public transportation is an
economic boost for a community.
3. Eva Ritchey
- Ms. Ritchey spoke on behalf of Citizens for Transportation Planning. She asked the Board to please increase the
funding for public transportation, general and medical, so that we can get at
least one fixed route so that we can show our elderly and young people and
those who don=t drive that we=re
serious about providing them transportation and the means for a productive
life. Based on a letter she had
received (from Sanford Cross), she felt that if the Board would do that, that
the NC DOT would also contribute more to public transportation in our county.
Rochelle Miller then answered some questions raised by
the Board.
Commissioner Moyer asked for a chance to respond to
Ms. Martin at this time. Commissioner
Moyer - AIn the most recent budget meeting which I think will
be ratified tonight, we did increase the money for medical transportation by
$30,000 for next year. That is though
.......... that money has been frozen until we come up with a plan so it=s gonna be incumbent on both of us to work together
but the Board did set aside an additional $30,000 until we looked at a plan to
see what we could - but hopefully that would provide some type of level of
funding throughout the year for that type of program.@
Chairman Hawkins - AIn
addition to $10,000 that we set aside to make it through the rest of this year
so I just add that to your comments, Bill@
Following discussion, Chairman Hawkins made the motion
to approve the certification statement
presented as appendix B, and amended AUnder
the EDTAP Program, paragraph one - to add the verbiage that indicates that was
prior to the receipt of the initial funds.
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
PUBLIC HEARING - Solid Waste Management Plan
Commissioner Kumor made the motion for the Board to go
into Public Hearing on the Solid Waste Management Plan. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Gary Tweed informed the Board that Henderson County is
required to update our 10-Year Solid Waste Management Plan every three
years. A copy of this Plan was
previously submitted to the Board. The
original plan was adopted in 1997. All
of the municipalities adopted the original Plan and now have approved the
update. The Solid Waste Advisory
Committee (SWAC) has also approved the plan.
A Public Hearing is required to seek input from the
community before the Board may adopt this updated plan. A Resolution had been prepared for the Board=s consideration.
Mr. Tweed stated that the only major change in our
plan is the goals that were set per capita for solid waste reduction. This past year, the year ending >98 - >99 the State=s per capita solid waste reduction was a +13% from
what it was in >91 - >92, that was
their target year goal. Ours was a 5%
reduction. What has been recommended is
we feel that we can retain the 5% reduction and that is what will be set as our
goal. In the original development of
the rules, the State was seeking a 40% reduction. However, with this 13% increase that they saw in >98 - >99, they are
revising their state-wide goal to 10% of that >98 - >99 number. In
essence, with us being at a 5% reduction we are going to be quite a bit better
than what the state goal is.
Public Input
1. Lynn Redmond
- Ms. Redmond had a number of questions:
She asked if the plan in any way includes utilization
of the landfill on Stoney Mountain Road, any further expansion of that?
She asked would there be dumping at the Stoney Mountain
Road site of any type of materials? She
stated that if she could get these two questions answered, she might not have
others.
Chairman Hawkins replied AAs far as the expansion of the facility as far as
solid waste - it=s been closed for solid waste since January 1 of 1998
so there is no more municipal solid waste that=s going in the landfill. What
is taken down there is C & D or construction and demolition, wood,
blocks, that type things. That does still go in the landfill. That particular aspect of operating the
transfer station is one of the key factors that the county has been able to
keep our tipping fee down to keep the flow that we have.@
She then asked questions about the monitoring of the
landfill. David Nicholson answered that
we monitor both ground water and methane gas, methane weekly and ground water
semi-annually.
2. Virginia Burke - Ms. Burke is a resident of Carriage Park. She asked about the current appearance of the landfill and what
the plans are for the future stating that many residents of Carriage Park have
as their major view the sand hill of the landfill. Everyone driving down Carriage Park Drive has an excellent view
of this eyesore. She was told in 1989,
when she moved here, that the landfill will be closed and that it would be
covered with vegetation. She asked if
anyone could give her an idea of when covering the eyesore with vegetation
would take place.
David Nicholson stated that as we close out an area,
grass and vegetation are planted on it as we go. Grass and vegetation are
planted across the facility fairly regularly.
David further explained to her that we always plan to have some type of
activity on that site but not municipal solid waste.
Chairman Hawkins made the motion to adopt the
Resolution as presented. All voted in
favor and the motion carried.
FY 2000 - 2001 BUDGET
The Board had discussed salaries in Closed Session and
were now ready to take action.
David Nicholson recommended the Board consider
adopting the budget with the following changes:
Section # 18
#6 That the Board set the compensation for the
Board of Public Education Chairman at
$3,500 annually and the members at $2,800 annually.
#7 That the Board set the compensation for the
Sheriff at $64,000 annually.
#8 That the Board set the compensation for the
Tax Collector at $54,000 annually.
#9 That the Board set the compensation for the
Register of Deeds at $47,000 annually, and to add a #10 as follows.
#10 That the Board set the Board of Commissioners
base salary at $9,500 annually and the
Chairman at $15,301 annually.
Chairman Hawkins stated that it had been several years
since some of these salaries had been visited and adjusted and that the
salaries of like officials from counties similar in size to us were reviewed
prior to making these changes. We wish
to pay salaries that are commensurate with the populations and levels of
service that other counties are providing.
Mr. Nicholson explained that staff would go in and
look at the general contingency and deduct any of the increase from the General
Contingency to the individual departments.
We have a $67.3 million budget with a tax rate of 50
cent per $100 valuation.
Chairman Hawkins made the motion to approve the budget
as presented. He asked for any
discussion and there was some as follows:
Commissioner Ward - AWell, I=d like to say something. I compliment the County Manager on his budget as presented. I still don=t feel comfortable with all the personnel that we have added in this
budget. I think it takes away some of
our flexibility between our part time and our full time and our temporary
help. I=d just like to go on record as saying that.@
Commissioner Moyer - AI share the concern about the number of people but I think when you
step back and look at the budget and what is in there, for many years there has
been things in this community that have been left unaddressed and have not been
given the attention and funding and overall
emphasis has long been overdue. We have
taken some important steps in the right direction to begin that process, it=s far from over but I think you see the difference in
the attitude in what the schools are willing to do, you=re seeing it in many other areas and I think they are
positive steps that will aid and benefit our community and I=m very glad we could do it within the present tax rate
but I=m also very glad to see we=re starting to address these issues.@
Commissioner Gordon - AWell, I=ll take a turn at it since everybody=s taking their shot at it. Having just sat through my second budget cycle, there is to me a
real difference in last year and this year and I want to compliment the people
who made decisions earlier on because I do realize there were some very tough
years there when we were trying to address a lot of needs, school needs and
fund balance needs and a lot of tough decisions had to be made and because
those decisions I think were made we were able this year to begin to start
seeing some of the rewards of that and have a little bit more flexibility than
you=ve had in the past and I hope we can keep our heads
together and continue that trend and that we will be able in the next two years
at least that Bill and I have on here to see more of these things being taken
care of.@
Commissioner Kumor - AO well, heck, you know I have to speak, gee whiz. No, I do have to say it was very pleasant
this year to not feel under such restraint and you know how much I hate
restraint. But I feel it is exactly as
Marilyn and Bill say, it=s a budget that takes gigantic leaps forward in
serving people in this community and because it took the years to finally calm
down the Finance Officer and the Budget Officer with regard to our fund balance
and address those real critical nuts and bolts issues for which no one could
see any good coming and this was the year that it was a real treat to sit in
this budget and to be able to finally address issues that didn=t end up costing a lot of money but I think will speak
volumes to the community and this Board=s
commitment to public service.@
Chairman Hawkins - AI
know that probably everybody on the Board - there=s some items in the budget that you=d
like to have seen turn out different whether it be personnel or how you address
non profits or whatever but a large budget of sixty some million dollars is a
lot of different pieces and I think the Board=s had a lot of compromises to arrive at the document that we have and
if there=s no more discussion on it.@
Commissioner Ward - AWell I=d like to say being this is my sixth budget and I=m two behind Mrs. Kumor I know but we have worked hard
cutting out some of the excess and I call it fat over the years and I think
with this present Board we have done a lot of that and I didn=t say I wasn=t
going to vote for it, I just said that I wasn=t happy with it.@
A vote was taken on the motion and it passed
unanimously.
Mr. Nicholson thanked the Board for the time and
consideration this Board had given to the budget process. This is the tenth meeting the Board has had
to discuss the FY 2000 - 2001 budget.
GREEN RIVER GORGE BRIDGE
This was an add-on per Commissioner Moyer.
Commissioner Moyer explained that a new bridge is
being built and the talk had been to tear down the old bridge. The new bridge is being built very close to
where the old one is. A group has been
formed to try to preserve the old bridge.
It is a beautiful old bridge.
Mr. Moyer had talked to the Department of Transportation and got
involved in this. He thought that it
was a dead issue because it was explained to him that the cost of keeping the
old bridge and keeping it safe would be a major issue and DOT didn=t think there was much possibility.
In talking to
Ken recently, he said there still is a possibility and what the State has asked
for is indications of support from the various municipalities involved to take
steps to try to preserve the bridge and then NC DOT would take a look a little
further at it.
He asked that the Board of Commissioners support
asking the State to take a look at what it would take to preserve the Green
River Gorge Bridge. He asked the Board
to support such a Resolution.
Commissioner Moyer made the motion to adopt such a Resolution
of support. The consensus of the Board
was favorable.
REDISTRICTING RECOMMENDATION
Chairman Hawkins stated that in 1997 there was a
Precinct Review Committee report that was done in conjunction with the Board of
Elections. They issued a report. Some of the items that were suggested in that
report dealt with a relook at redistricting lines in accordance with population
and population shifts in the county. At
that time the Board took a look at it.
One thing the Board discovered was that they did not have the authority
to do redistricting in the county along population lines. Subsequent to that recommendation, the Board
secured a local bill from the General Assembly that allowed the Board of
Commissioners to, by Resolution, redistrict by population lines in the
county. There hasn=t been any action taken on that pending some results
from the census. We had some
projections in that report that dealt with where the population would be and
that will be verified by the census this fall or winter.
Commissioner Moyer distributed a memorandum he had
written to the Commissioners regarding redistricting. He felt that politically and otherwise that this is the right
time to resolve redistricting. His
memorandum is attached as part of these minutes but it called for a Board of
five Commissioners. There would be
three districts. Three Commissioners to
be elected according to the district in which they live but would be elected
county wide and two to be elected at large which would be elected county
wide. This plan would increase the
candidate pool.
He asked that a workshop be held to discuss this issue
as soon as possible and to get public input.
He hoped that the issue could be taken care of before the end of the
year 2000, work through the State process in 2001 and be ready for the next
election year of 2002.
CHAIRMAN HAWKINS
Chairman Hawkins briefly discussed a memorandum that
he had distributed to the Board a couple of days ago. He asked the Board to review that memo and to add any additional
items that they felt should be addressed.
One item he mistakenly left off was the Historic Courthouse, which needs
to be revisited shortly. Commissioner
Moyer=s redistricting plan should also be added to the
list.
Chairman Hawkins will work with Staff to try to get
some of these items on a time line or a long-term agenda list.
IMPORTANT DATES
The Commissioners=
calendar was reviewed.
The Board set a Safety Net Zoning Workshop for 3:00
p.m. on Monday, July 24, 2000.
Commissioner Kumor made the motion to reschedule the
Public Hearing scheduled for July 19 at 11:00 with regard to the appeal by Dr. Kenneth Swing to July 26, 2000 at 11:00
a.m. All voted in favor and the motion
carried.
CLOSED SESSION
Commissioner Kumor made the motion for the Board to
reconvene Closed Session as allowed pursuant to NCGS 143-318.11 for the
following reasons:
1.
(a)(1) To prevent disclosure of information that is
privileged or confidential pursuant to the law of this State or of the United
States, or not considered a public record within the meaning of Chapter 132 of
the General Statutes, in accordance with and pursuant to NCGS 143-318.10(e) and
Article II of Chapter 11 of the Henderson County Code.
2.
3.
(a)(3) To consult with an attorney employed or
retained by the public body in order to preserve the attorney-client privilege
between the attorney and the public body, which privilege is hereby
acknowledged. To consult with an
attorney employed or retained by the public body in order to consider and give
instructions to the attorney with respect to the following claim:
Henderson County v. Crosby (File
No. 99-CVS-527)
4.
(a)(6) To consider the qualifications, competence,
performance, character, fitness, conditions of initial employment of an
individual public officer or employee or prospective public officer or employee;
or to hear or investigate a complaint, charge, or grievance by or against an
individual public officer or employee.
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Commissioner Ward made the motion for the Board to go
out of Closed Sesion. All voted in favor
and the motion carried.
ADJOURN
There being no further business to come before the
Board, Chairman Hawkins adjourned the meeting at approximately 10:00 p.m.
Attest:
Elizabeth W. Corn, Clerk to the Board Grady
Hawkins, Chairman