MINUTES
STATE
OF NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
COUNTY
OF HENDERSON SEPTEMBER 10, 2001
The Board of
Commissioners (the "Board") of the County of Henderson, North
Carolina (the "County") held a meeting in the County Administration
Building, 100 North King Street, Hendersonville, North Carolina on September
10, 2001, at 5:30 PM. The following
Commissioners were:
PRESENT: Chairman
William L. Moyer, Vice-Chair Marilyn Gordon, Commissioner Grady Hawkins,
Commissioner Don Ward, and Commissioner Charlie Messer
ABSENT: None
Also
present were: County Manager David
Nicholson, County Attorney Angela S. Beeker, Clerk to the Board Elizabeth W.
Corn, Public Information Officer Chris Coulson, Assistant County Attorney
Jennifer O. Jackson, Planning Director Karen C. Smith, Finance Director J.
Carey McLelland, and County Engineer
Gary Tweed. Amy Brantley, Volunteer Coordinator,
was present through the Nominations.
This meeting
had been rescheduled from September 4, the day following the Labor Day holiday,
to September 10.
CALL TO
ORDER/WELCOME
Chairman Moyer called the meeting to
order and welcomed those in attendance.
PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE
Chairman Moyer led the Pledge of
Allegiance to the American Flag.
INVOCATION
David Nicholson gave the invocation.
DISCUSSION/ADJUSTMENT
OF AGENDA
Chairman Moyer requested the following
adjustments to the agenda:
Update on Pending Issues, #3 - Clean Air Resolutions
#4 - Comprehensive County Plan
#5 - Regional Water Authority,
Negotiating Sessions by Chairman Moyer and Commissioner Gordon
#6 - The accident on Spartanburg Highway which
involved
EMS
personnel by David Nicholson and Commissioner Gordon
#7 - Update on Westfeldt Park
by Commissioner Messer
#8 - Update on the Detention
Center by the County Manager
#9 - Update on Animal Control by Chairman Moyer
#10-Update on Howard Gap Road situation/opening
of the new
school
by Commissioner Messer
#11-Distance based education update by
Commissioner Hawkins
Commissioner Hawkins asked that one item
be added, as #12 - Mud Creek agreement.
Commissioner Hawkins also asked for an
update on the last LGCCA meeting, added as #13.
Chairman Moyer added one additional item
as #14 - Mud Creek by Commissioner Ward.
Chairman Moyer made the motion to approve
the agenda as revised. All voted in
favor and the motion carried.
CONSENT AGENDA
Chairman Moyer pulled the following items
from the consent agenda for discussions:
AC@ - Henderson County Public Schools
Financial Report - July 2000.
AE@ - Reappointment of Deputy Tax Collector
for Delinquent Taxes
AG@ - Resolution - NC Big Sweep
AK@ - Hunger Walk Resolution
Henderson County Public Schools Financial
Report - July 2001
The July 2001 Public Schools Financial
Report was presented for the Board=s consent approval.
Chairman Moyer stated that he finds the
report we are currently getting from the finances for the Schools just about
worthless. He asked the Board if they
could ask the County Manager to work with the School System to come up with a
report that will give the Board meaningful information that would be of some
help. The Board agreed by consensus.
Commissioner Hawkins asked that land sales be tracked because by statute those
land sales go back into our capital fund.
The Commissioners were asked if they had any other ideas about the
financial report to speak to Mr. Nicholson soon about it.
Chairman Moyer then directed the Board to
go to the last page of the Henderson County Financial Report for July
2001. The last page is basically the
cash balance report. He felt it was
extremely important to monitor this as we move forward, with what is happening
with the State budget. Cash becomes a
real consideration as we get into this time of year.
Reappointment of Deputy Tax Collector for
Delinquent Taxes
The Board was asked to consider the
reappointment of the office of Deputy Tax Collector for Delinquent Taxes. That
position is appointed by the Board of Commissioners but performs the work of
the Tax Collector (i.e. the collection of delinquent taxes) under the direction
of the Tax Collector. Darlene B.
Burgess has served in that position since the Board took action to appoint her
on October 20, 1999. She has been
serving one-year terms since that time with the most current term due to expire
on October 20, 2001.
At the Board=s meeting on
August 15, 2001, the Board approved a bond in the amount of $250,000 for the
Deputy Tax Collector.
If the Board wished to reappoint Ms.
Burgess as Deputy Tax Collector for the collection of delinquent taxes for
another one-year term (to expire October 20, 2001), it would be appropriate to
do so at this meeting.
The County Manager recommended the
reappointment of Ms. Burgess to that position for another one-year term to
expire October 20, 2001, with a $250,000 bond as previously set by the Board.
Chairman Moyer asked if the Board had to
set compensation at this time. Mr.
Nicholson explained that the compensation was set during the budget
deliberations. Ms. Beeker explained
that Ms. Burgess is on the county=s pay plan, administered the same as most
employees are. Chairman Moyer explained
that it was odd that the Board set her salary and bond and then two months
later decide whether to reappoint her or not, he felt it was a timing
thing.
Ms. Beeker stated that Ms. Burgess= term could be
modified to the end of June. It was the
consensus of the Board to modify that resolution, rather than for the period of
one year it would be for the period ending June 30, 2002.
Resolution - NC Big Sweep
Last year the Environmental Advisory
Committee and the Environmental & Conservation Organization co-sponsored
the Big Sweep event in Henderson County, which is the statewide clean-up of
waterways. This effort resulted in
6,500 pounds of trash being taken out of Mud Creek by 8 teams of 70
volunteers. Big Sweep will be held
Saturday, September 15 from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. this year.
The sponsoring entities requested the
Board of Commissioners sign a prepared AResolution Declaring September 15, 2001
as Henderson County Big Sweep Day@.
All municipalities in the County have been requested to sign a similar
resolution.
Chairman Moyer wanted to mention this for
the public=s information,
in case they wanted to participate in the clean up day. He read the resolution, which is hereby made
a part of these minutes.
Hunger
Walk Resolution
The Board was requested to approve the
following resolution which Mr. Moyer read in its entirety:
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The
Henderson County Hunger Coalition annually raises money to provide food and
fuel for the needy citizens of Henderson County through its annual Hunger Walk;
and,
WHEREAS, The
money raised is distributed to eight Human Services agencies in Henderson
County which are: Interfaith Ministry, Main Stay, Council on Aging, the
Hendersonville Rescue Mission, the MANNA Food Bank, the Blue Ridge Health
Clinic, the Henderson County Chapter of the American Red Cross and Western
Carolina Community Action; and
WHEREAS, Last
year, over 300 participants raised $57,000 through pledges during the Hunger
Walk; and
WHEREAS, The 19th
Annual Hunger Walk will be held on Saturday, September 15, 2001 at Jackson Park
beginning at 8:00 a.m.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the Henderson County Board of
Commissioners applauds the efforts of the Henderson County Hunger Coalition on
behalf of Henderson County=s needy citizens, and encourages
Henderson County citizens to participate in the Hunger Walk on September 15,
2001.
Chairman Moyer stressed that this was a valuable
community effort. It is a ten mile walk
but you can walk as little as you wish.
He stated that registration is at 7:30 a.m. and each participant will
receive a very nice t-shirt. He also
applauded Carolina Village for their efforts and contribution to the Hunger
Walk. Their goal this year is $10,000.
Chairman Moyer made the motion to approve the
Consent Agenda including the one change the Board made in the Resolution
concerning the Deputy Tax Collector. All voted in favor and the motion
carried. The CONSENT AGENDA consisted
of the following:
Minutes
Minutes were presented for the Board=s review and
approval of the following meetings:
January 20, 1999, regular meeting
June 8, 1999, special called meeting
October 4, 1999, regular meeting
October 20, 1999, special called meeting
July 25, 2001, regular meeting
July 26, 2001, special called meeting
August 6, 2001, regular meeting
August 15, 2001, regular meeting
Tax Collector=s Report
Terry F. Lyda, Tax Collector, provided the Tax
Collector=s Report dated
August 31, 2001, for the Board=s information.
Henderson County Financial Report - July 2001
Henderson County Cash Balance Report - July 2001
The July 2001 County Financial Report and Cash
Balance Report were presented for the Board=s information and consent approval.
Plat Review Officer Resolution
NCGS 47-30.2 requires that all persons appointed
as plat review officers be so appointed by resolution and that the resolution
be recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds. Plat review officers are charged with the responsibility of
ensuring that all plats that are to be recorded comply with the plat
requirements set out in the General Statutes.
On September 17, 1997 the Board first adopted a resolution appointing
certain named persons as plat review officers in accordance with NCGS
47-30.2. The Resolution adopted on
September 17, 1997, also sets out certain procedures that all plat review
officers must comply with. Copies of
that resolution and an excerpt from NCGS 47-30.2 were in the agenda packet for
the Board=s review. The Board has from time to time updated its
list of appointed plat review officers.
The Planning Director requested that her two new
employees, Dan Gurley and Melissa Peagler, be appointed as plat review officers
and Shannon Baldwin, who is no longer employed by Henderson County, be deleted
as such.
A proposed resolution had been prepared by Staff
and was included for the Board=s consideration in order to accomplish
this update. The proposed resolution
restates all of those persons currently appointed as plat review officers.
The County Manager advised that it would be
appropriate for the Board to take action at this meeting by adopting the
proposed Resolution in order to provide the Henderson County Register of Deeds
with an updated list of review officers authorized to approve plats for
recordation.
Waterline Extension
The City of Hendersonville has requested any
County comments on two proposed waterline extensions:
1.
Highland Golf Villas Waterline Extension
This project includes 2,520 lineal feet of 6"
PVC, DR 18 water line to serve this non-standard subdivision.
No Staff comments or recommendations were offered.
2.
Etowah Elementary School Waterline Extension
This project includes 230 lineal feet of 6"
PVC, C900 water line to serve the Etowah Elementary School.
Staff Comments/Recommendations - Flow rate of 530
gpm is well below required fire flow for a facility of this size. 5 psi residual pressure indicates a severe
capacity problem, a minimum of 20 psi residual is recommended. City needs to improve water pressure to
area.
Request for Improvement Guarantee for Bridge in
Oleta Falls
On behalf of Waterside Properties, L.L.C., Mr.
Luther E. Smith had submitted a request for approval of a subdivision
improvement guarantee. Waterside
Properties, L.L.C., would like to post an irrevocable letter of credit to cover
costs associated with constructing a covered bridge over the Little Hungry
River between Sections 1 and 2 of Oleta Falls.
The Planning Board approved a Master Plan and a Development Plan for the
entire project on April 25, 2000, subject to several conditions, two of which
pertain directly to the bridge.
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. Waterside Properties, L.L.C., intends to secure an irrevocable
letter of credit from Palmetto Farm Credit in the amount of $225,519.70, which
includes the cost of the bridge as well as the required contingency amount of
twenty-five percent. The proposed
completion date for the improvements is March 31, 2002.
The Board of Commissioners previously approved for
the developer the posting of a letter of credit as an improvement guarantee for
improvements in another portion of Section I of Oleta Falls. The developer completed
the improvements in that portion and the improvement guarantee was released by
the County on August 23, 2001.
A draft Performance Guarantee Agreement for the
current application was included for the Board=s review. If the request is approved, Waterside
Properties, L.L.C., must submit the letter of credit in accordance with the
terms of the Agreement. The Assistant
County Attorney must review the letter of credit and certify the Agreement as
to form prior to its execution by the Chairman and the developer.
The County Manager recommended the Board approve the
request for an improvement guarantee for the construction of a bridge in Oleta
Falls subject to the developer submitting a letter of credit for $225,519.70,
in accordance with the terms of the draft Agreement and subject to the
Assistant County Attorney reviewing the letter of credit.
Withdrawal of Improvement Guarantee for a Minor
Subdivision to be known as AThe Ridge@
On August 6, 2001, the Board of Commissioners
approved an improvement guarantee for James E. Wear. The Improvement guarantee, an irrevocable letter of credit issued
by MountainBank in the amount of $15,750.00 was posted to cover the cost of
road and drainage improvements to serve seven lots in a proposed minor
subdivision to be known as AThe Ridge.@
Since the approval of the improvement guarantee, Mr.
Wear has decided to develop a family subdivision instead of a minor
subdivision. Developers of family
subdivisions do not have to build roads in the project prior to final plat
approval, therefore Mr. Wear has submitted a letter requesting that the letter
of credit he posted be returned. Mr.
Wear did not record a final plat for the minor subdivision.
Staff requested the Board of Commissioners consider
terminating the Performance Guarantee Agreement with Mr. Wear and return the
letter of credit to him.
NOMINATIONS
Notification of Vacancies
The Board was notified of the following vacancies
which will appear under Nominations on the next agenda:
1.
Juvenile Crime Prevention Council - 2 vac.
Nominations
Chairman Moyer reminded the Board of the following
vacancies and opened the floor to nominations:
1.
Solid Waste Advisory Committee - 1 vac.
Plus selection of Chairman
Commissioner Hawkins had some discussion with Mr.
Bill Farrell, who serves on the committee.
He has indicated a willingness to serve as the Chairman. Commissioner Hawkins nominated Bill Farrell
for Chairman. All voted in favor and
Mr. Farrell was named Chairman of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee.
2.
Mountain Area Workforce Development Board - 1 vac.
There were no nominations at this time so this item
was rolled to the next meeting.
3.
Equalization and Review - 3 vac.
There were no nominations at this time so this item
was rolled to the next meeting.
Ms. Beeker reminded the Board that she had placed
information in each of their boxes related to Board of E & R
appointments. There are two
requirements for someone to be considered for the Board of E & R:
1.
They must have resided in Henderson County for at least three years
immediately
preceding the appointment.
2. They
must have satisfactory knowledge of or experience in real estate,
fee appraisals,
banking, farming, or other business management.
She stated that it would be up to the Board to make
the determination as to what is satisfactory knowledge in those specialty
areas.
Commissioner Hawkins reminded the Board that the
Motor Vehicle Valuation Review Board had been combined with the Board of
Equalization and Review. The MVVRB
probably meets more frequently than the Board of E & R. He brought up the issue of how vehicles are
evaluated and suggested getting someone for this Board with vehicle value
experience.
4.
Retired Senior Volunteer Program Advisory Council - 1 vac.
There were no nominations at this time so this item
was rolled to the next meeting.
5.
Juvenile Crime Prevention Council - 1 vac.
There were no nominations at this time so this item
was rolled to the next meeting.
6.
Henderson County Planning Board - 1 vac.
Commissioner Hawkins nominated Mike Cooper for this
vacancy. There were no other
nominations. Chairman Moyer made the
motion to suspend the rules and appoint Mr. Cooper. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Appraisal of Automobiles
Chairman Moyer stated that this issue has been
raised. It started with a study by the
American Automobile Association in Charlotte and then carried to our area. What they basically do is look at a specific
type vehicle and then go to the different counties and see how it is being
appraised for tax purposes.
He and Commissioner Hawkins both expressed that they
felt there was a standard set of appraisals for automobiles but learned
differently.
The way the appraisal actually works, the man who
does the appraisal service for all the counties in the State comes out with a
range of a low, medium, and a high figure.
Then the county can select which of those values it chooses and any one
of them can be defensible. Some
counties use the low figure while other use the medium figure and still others
use the high figure. Henderson County
is currently using the high range of figures.
We=re one of eleven counties who use the high
range.
The Board was surprised, stating that they had never
heard of this previously. The Assessor
gets to select which range will be used in his particular county.
Obviously, if you change your assessment on motor
vehicles, there is a gap in revenue that may have to be made up somewhere
else. Staff is working on getting more
information on this item and the Board will have more information available at
a later meeting.
APPROVAL OF HOSPITAL REVENUE BONDS
Chairman Moyer reminded the Commissioners that they
had a separate binder dealing with the County Hospital Revenue Bonds Financing.
Jennifer Jackson reminded the Board that the LGC
(Local Government Commission) met on September 4 and approved the Board=s application for
the issuance of up to $15.3 million in revenue bonds for the following hospital
projects: to fund in part the Hospital=s emergency room
expansion, parking deck addition and the medical office building project.
A closing is scheduled for this transaction for
September 20. Ms. Jackson had
distributed a lot of information for the Board=s review (via
binder). An extract was attached in the Board=s agenda book that
the Board will need to follow. She
informed the Board that they would need to adopt a bond order which is part of
the extracts.
Jennifer Jackson briefly explained to the Board the
mechanics of the transaction. The
Henderson County Hospital Corporation came to the Board of Commissioners,
requesting their assistance in the issuance of up to $15.3 million in revenue
bonds. They would have issued them if
they had the legal authority to do so independently but they do not have that
authority. The County must issue those
bonds. The County then contacted an
underwriter and the underwriter through a process of Request for Proposals
turned out to be BB&T Capital Markets.
Staff of Pardee Hospital and of Henderson County have been working with
BB&T in this project. We
potentially have a buyer of these bonds but the entity that can actually sell
the bonds is the LGC. In order to establish the relationship with LGC and the
underwriter for the purchase of the bonds and the sale of the bonds, there is a
Bond Purchase Agreement. LGC agrees to
sell them and the underwriter agrees to purchase them through the Bond Purchase
Agreement under certain conditions. LGC
looks for whether there is a proper mechanism to essentially administer the
bonds over the 20 year period that they will be outstanding. With that, they look to what is called the
Master Trust Indenture and the First Supplemental Trust Indenture. Those are the documents that really outline
the administrative end of the bonds themselves plus they go into the specifics
of this particular bond issue. The LGC
would also be looking to make sure that the county has the proper pledging
authority for the security for the bonds, which is the net revenue of the
hospital. Here, they got into some
amendments of the lease agreement because prior to the most recent amendment,
the hospital owned its revenues. In the
most recent lease amendments, the hospital conveyed those revenues to the
county in order for the Board to have the legal authority to pledge them. The bonds are backed by the net revenues of
the hospital. The third thing the LGC
looks to is whether the borrowers have proper security and in this particular
transaction that is through a direct pay letter of credit. BB&T through their banking side has
issued or will be issuing the letter of credit and the reimbursement agreement.
Jennifer explained that generally, due to the
revenue bonds being sold on the public market, the Board=s relationship with
the hospital will be under some public scrutiny because there are bond holders
out there that have entered into and invested in this $15.3 million in reliance
upon the Board=s relationship with the hospital and the
hospital=s diligent efforts as far as their operation
of that hospital is concerned in order to secure the revenue stream. So essentially, any reorganization or
restructuring of the hospital would need to be reviewed by the tax folks in
order to protect the tax exempt status of this transaction. There will be several different folks
interested in any restructuring or amendments to the lease agreement in order
to make sure the bond holders are protected.
Commissioner Hawkins asked three questions:
1. to Mr. Nicholson - Does this $15.3 million count
against county debt for our calendar year?
Mr. Nicholson explained that it does count against our IRS limit of
$10,000,000 but we were already over that IRS amount this year because of what
we had done earlier in the year for schools so that was not an issue and now
has been factored in.
Commissioner Hawkins asked then how that would affect
the tax exempt status and how does it affect our financing for the school
projects.
Mr. Nicholson explained that the $10 million limit
basically gives the banks an additional credit on their taxes that they can
issue if we issue ten million dollars or less.
It gives them a little more incentive to do the project at a little
lesser rate. The effect is minor, on
this issue particularly, because it is direct placement of a letter of credit,
if we were going to do some additional schools this year, we would be in a
position, because of what we issued the first of the year, for it not to make a
lot of difference to us this year. It
is on a calendar year, not a fiscal year.
Ms. Beeker stated that it is all tax exempt
financing.
Commissioner Hawkins asked AIt=s not going to
affect our financing plans as far as restricting us on anything the Board
chooses to do for the capital outlay for school construction?@
Ms. Jackson stated that it shouldn=t because what is
pledged is not any county assets or taxing power to cover these. They are backed by the net revenues of the
hospital system only. If there is a
problem, the bond holders can only go to the net revenues of Pardee Hospital
for payment of the indebtedness.
2. to Jennifer Jackson - On page 52 of the Master
Indenture, it says in section 8.05 - compensation of Trustees - it says that
the trustee will be paid a reasonable compensation for services. What is that number, is it a percentage, is
it a fixed amount. What are we paying
the Trustees to handle this?
Ms. Jackson wasn=t sure of what the
figure was but stated that the Hospital Corporation would actually being paying
it. Carey McLelland stated that their
annual charge is about $2,000.
3. to whomever.
In the letter of credit and reimbursement agreement on page 1 - it talks
about the aggregate principal being $15,250,000, our resolution called for
$15,300,000. Paragraph 3 then talks
about a 35 day interest and the amount is listed at $15,425,480. That is $175,000 difference and he couldn=t figure out where
that money was. We didn=t borrow it.
Jennifer Jackson explained that when you close this
deal, there will be up to $15.3 million in bonds outstanding. The letter of credit is a separate contract
that we enter into with BB&T, the bank side. It is separate from the capital market section, it=s really a separate
entity. When you enter into that
agreement, they agree to essentially make good on all our outstanding
bonds. They are there to essentially
secure the bond holders that no matter what happens with the county or with the
corporation, they are going to get paid.
Because of that, the letter of credit provider must, in order to protect
themselves, assume if we default on day 1 that they will have enough to pay off
the bonds with the necessary interest so therefore that 35 days accounts for
the notice period and it gets those bond holders paid off with that month=s interest. When the trustee has to draw down to make
principal and interest payments to the bond holders, they don=t come to us, they
go directly to the letter of credit provider which is BB&T. BB&T will make sure that the trustee has
the amount of money to make sure the bond holders are paid and then BB&T
bank looks to us for reimbursement of those monies.
Commissioner Hawkins stated AHere=s the question,
that was an assumed rate of 12% per annum which is a maximum rate that we could
be charged, if I understand the limit.
If the rate=s less than that then that $175,000 would be
less. What happens to that money if it=s less than 12%
that we get?@
Jennifer Jackson stated that we would be in a
default situation if this ever comes to pass.
She thinks that the interest rate that is associated with a default is
12%.
Chairman Moyer raised a question to the marketing,
stating that the resolution refers to this as a private sale and yet we have a
remarketing agreement. AAre these bonds
going to be offered to the public for purchase?@
Jennifer Jackson stated that BB&T Capital
Markets is underwriting this deal. The
LGC will sell the whole $15.3 or up to that amount to BB&T Capital
Markets. They will then, through the
public market system sell chunks of that indebtedness. She was not sure that she could purchase
some because they are offering it in fairly large increments. They will be offering it through the public
market system.
Mr. Nicholson stated that it was his understanding
that they will market this first and foremost to the institutions. It doesn=t mean that the
institution won=t turn around and sell it so there may be
some that will hit the local market.
John Hester, Chief Financial Officer for Pardee
Hospital, stated that he understood it would be offered through brokers and
institutions. It will be up to
BB&T. He stated that it would be in
fairly large denominations, $100,000 per bond.
He understood that they would be available for the public.
At this point, Chairman Moyer pointed out that the
hospital had a negative pledge. They
promised not to put any lien, pledge, charge, anything against any of their
assets ever in the future and that=s quite a
restriction.
Jennifer Jackson explained that what the negative
pledge actually does, which was a result of the negotiations under the letter
of credit and reimbursement agreement - the way that is to work is that there
is not that prohibition except for those things listed on exhibit A. The hospital has listed the things that they
will not put a lien on, mortgage, or encumber in any way. The rest of the assets will remain somewhat
free from that covenant.
Chairman Moyer then questioned the language Aor hereafter
acquired@ if exhibit A will be used. He stated if you=re going to only
place a lien on certain assets you don=t say or hereafter
acquired. Attorney Alexander, Pardee=s Attorney,
informed Ms. Beeker that it would be a percentage, up to a certain percentage.
After
discussion the Chairman of the Board introduced the following bond order, the
title of which was read and copies of which had been previously distributed to
the Board:
BOND ORDER AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE AND
SALE BY THE COUNTY OF NOT TO EXCEED $15,300,000 OF COUNTY OF HENDERSON, NORTH
CAROLINA, HOSPITAL REVENUE BONDS (MARGARET R. PARDEE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
PROJECT), SERIES 2001 AND AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF CERTAIN
DOCUMENTS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH
BE IT ORDERED
by the Board of Commissioners (the "Board") of the County of
Henderson, North Carolina (the "County"):
The Series 2001
Bonds shall be issued as variable rate fully registered bonds in denominations
of $100,000 and multiples of $5,000 in excess thereof and shall be subject to
provisions of the book-entry-only system for registration of the Series 2001
Bonds as set forth in the First Supplemental Indenture. While at the Variable Rate, interest on the
Series 2001 Bonds shall be payable on the first day of each month, commencing
on October 1, 2001, until the payment in full of the principal thereof. After the Conversion Date, if any, the
Series 2001 Bonds shall bear interest at the Fixed Rate and interest will be
payable on each March 1 and September 1.
The final maturity of the Series 2001 Bonds shall not exceed September
1, 2021.
The officers of the
County and the agents and employees of the County are hereby authorized and
directed to do all acts and things required of them by the provisions of this
Bond Order, the Series 2001 Bonds, the Master Trust Indenture, the First
Supplemental Indenture, the Bond Purchase Agreements, the Official Statement,
the Amended and Restated Lease Agreement, the Negative Pledge Agreement, the
Letter of Credit and Reimbursement Agreement or the Remarketing Agreement for
the full, punctual and complete performance of the terms, covenants, provisions
and agreements of the same.
Upon motion of
Chairman Moyer seconded by Commissioner Hawkins, the foregoing Bond Order
entitled "ORDER AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE AND SALE BY THE COUNTY OF NOT TO
EXCEED $15,300,000 OF COUNTY OF HENDERSON, NORTH CAROLINA, HOSPITAL REVENUE
BONDS (MARGARET R. PARDEE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL PROJECT), SERIES 2001 AND
AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS IN CONNECTION
THEREWITH" was passed by the following vote:
AYES: Chairman Moyer, Vice-Chair
Gordon, Commissioner Hawkins, Commissioner Ward, and Commissioner Messer
NAYS: None
ABSTAIN: None
Mr. Nicholson
explained that the preclosing is scheduled for September 19 and the closing for
September 20. He met with two of the bond rating agencies in New York last
week, Moodys and Standard & Poors.
He introduced Pardee Hospital to the bond rating agencies because we
have not issued any debt for Pardee Hospital since 1982. Some time was spent talking about the
relationship between the county and Pardee Hospital, the fact that it is a
county hospital, your lease with them and the responsibilities under that
lease. He spent a lot of time with
Moodys to talk about the deal itself.
Moodys has been chosen to do the one formal rating. Bill Dunn, Chairman of the Hospital Board;
John Hester, Chief Financial Officer of the hospital, and David Nicholson made
the trip to New York. He explained that
the Board would be pleased when it is announced next week what the first week=s rate will
be. He felt that the meetings had gone
very well. He took time to update the
bond rating agencies on the county=s projects.
Chairman Moyer
asked Steve Pennock to update the public on where the construction project stands. Steve Pennock is Vice-President for
Professional Services. He stated that
the Medical Office Building opened about 3 weeks ago. It is occupied and they are very pleased.
He explained
that one project that was not in the bond offering was the MRI project where
they made a small addition to the outpatient radiology building and added a
second MRI to the hospital. That came
on line just last week.
The next
project is the parking deck and the upper level of the deck serves the
emergency department and the word they have gotten back from the contractors is
that the contractors plan to turn it over to the hospital earlier than the rest
of the deck, October 8. The lower two
levels of the deck should be turned over to the hospital October 24.
The last phase
of the project will be started when the parking deck is completed, and that is
the new addition to add the emergency department and the new entrance to the
hospital which is scheduled to take about 15 months to complete.
WATER MASTER
PLAN
The County
Manager had received a letter from David C. Hanks, Interim Director of the
Water Resources Department, concerning the development of a Water Master Plan
for northern Henderson County. The
Regional Water Authority requested that Henderson County fund 50% of the
expected cost of $44,000.
Mr. Nicholson
recommended that the Board approve funding of the development of the Water
Master Plan. Staff had no involvement,
with the exception of the County providing a map, in the development of the RFQ
for these engineering services. The
agreement does not specifically state who will pay the cost of the study. However, staff believes that our involvement
in the Plan is very important. If our
funding of 50% of this Plan ensures participation by staff in its development,
Staff would recommend the Board=s approval of this request.
Chairman Moyer
stated that Gary Tweed has been involved in this and raised the question of
whether the Hendersonville Water System was being considered as part of this
evaluation because the two quotes were substantially different. They went back to the people making the
proposal and they said that definitely it was and that it would be part of the
study. Since that, Chairman Moyer
talked to Mayor Niehoff who said that they would be willing and pleased to
participate and think the study would be of benefit to that area and they would
share any of their information and would participate to the extent that they
can.
Chairman Moyer
stated that the discussions from the Water Authority and the Policies and
Priorities Committee were as follows:
$
The authority started from the standpoint that if Henderson
County wants a study, they should pay for the entire study. There was a range of options, do we spread
this over the various projects or how to do it. It got quite complicated.
Rather than litigate, we basically struck a deal to split the difference
and move forward and get the study done.
There was no
indication that the City of Hendersonville would participate in the cost.
Mr. Nicholson
stated that they had asked that we send our $22,000 up front. If they are paying the $44,000 up front he
has no problem with that but if they are billed on a regular basis by Mattern
& Craig, then we=ll be happy to submit checks at the same time.
Chairman Moyer
made the motion to approve it on the basis that Gary Tweed have involvement
with respect to the study and that the City of Hendersonville and their water
system would be involved and that Henderson County will participate in payment
of the bills as the billing is received.
Angela Beeker
added that with the American Freightways Line there was a lot of discussion as
to whether the line had to be on the Master Plan before the county could
request it as a regional water line under the agreement and she wanted it to be
clear that the Board is not going to give up the right under the Regional Water
Agreement to request regional water lines, regardless of whether they happen to
show up on the Master Plan when it is finished or not. She did not want the Board to lock
themselves in. The Board reserves any right they have to request a regional
water line, regardless of whether it is actually on the Master Plan or not. This will generate some discussion. She felt the Board should leave all their
options open in the future with regard to requesting regional water lines.
Chairman Moyer
stated that the Board never conceded to that issue but the Authority took care
of that issue for the Board by simply saying that they have a Master Plan that
has that line on it. Ms. Beeker stated
that the Authority voted to amend it as did Buncombe County. Chairman Moyer stated that we need two out
of the three to basically approve the change in the Master Plan and addition of
a line. He stated that is one of the issues he=s sure Commissioner Gordon and he will be
getting into in the negotiations. With
the added condition, he asked for a vote on his motion. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
INFORMAL PUBLIC
COMMENTS
There were
none.
CLOSED SESSION
Chairman Moyer
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 as allowed by and pursuant to NCGS 131E-97.3.
2.(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 ll of the
Henderson County Code.
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 and to consult with an attorney
employed or retained by the public body in order to give instructions to the
attorney with respect to a claim.
4.(a)(6) To
consider the qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness,
conditions of appointment, or 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.
Chairman Moyer
made the motion for the Board to go out of closed session. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
UPDATE ON
PENDING ISSUES
House Bill #984 Commissioner Ward
Commissioner
Ward had received some calls from local landscapers, contractors, and yard
maintenance people that had brought House Bill #984 to his attention. This HB affects all house owners, business
people and anyone who does landscaping throughout the county. The bill was generated in the House. He had talked with a couple of House
members. At 5:00 p.m. this evening he
spoke to Senator Carpenter who believes that this will die in committee this
year. He talked with the sponsors on
the House side and he said he would hold it until next year because it is not
moving in the committee and they=ll set up a study commission to look at
the Bill and show some areas where it could be improved on, if it=s brought back
up. As far as Henderson County,
Commissioner Ward thinks it is unfair to Henderson County. He stated that a group of bureaucrats had
put together a bill basically to raise money for Raleigh. It could raise from $250,000 to $500,000 a
year. He thinks it is just another hoop
that the working people have to jump through to aid Raleigh in their budget
troubles. He hoped that all the
Commissioners would support a resolution to the State that they need to send
this House Bill to a study commission for its improvement. There are at least 200 landscapers in our
county and this Bill would have a huge effect on Henderson County. He asked the other Commissioners to join him
in a resolution of not supporting this Bill.
Commissioner
Ward made the motion that this Board oppose House Bill #984 as it is presently
written and ask that it be referred to a study commission for further study and
improvement.
Following
discussion, a vote was taken on the motion which passed unanimously.
PUBLIC HEARING
- Road Names
Commissioner
Ward made the motion for the Board to go into public hearing. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
The purpose of
this public hearing was to name several roads in Henderson County. The list of road names to be considered was
as follows:
Proposed Name Current Name
Sunrise Hill
Lane Pullover
Lane
Deer Meadow
Lane
Grand Peak
Springs Road
Try and Find It
Lane
Staff
recommended Board approval.
Chairman Moyer
made the motion for the Board to approve the road names submitted. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Chairman Moyer
made the motion for the Board to go out of public hearing. All voted in favor and the motion
carried.
State Budget David Nicholson
David Nicholson
informed the Board that the House has passed a tentative budget which includes
a replacement for our reimbursements of a half cent local option sales tax,
that is 105% guaranteed. They are still
trying to figure out what this new bill is going to do.
At the end of
last month we were to receive intangibles tax reimbursement. A resolution passed by the members of the
General Assembly said until the budget was adopted that could not be forwarded
to us. For Henderson County it is
$2,028,439. We did not get those funds
at the end of last month.
He reminded the
Board that there is another revenue that we get, it=s very small
but still a revenue - food stamp reimbursement. This is where they took the sales tax off food stamps, it=s $35,430 that
we should have gotten last month that we have not received.
The continued
pressure goes on that we=re suppose to get the first payment in
the inventory reimbursement on September 30 which should be about
$600,000. A lot of things are
happening. They are looking at other
alternatives which include this Board having to levy an additional sales tax.
The Senate=s Finance
Committee is expected tomorrow to approve its version of the budget which at
this point in time includes the additional half cent sales tax for local
governments and no reimbursements for our loss of revenues that had been in the
state budget. One of the caveats
however is that we would receive a monthly sales tax reimbursement instead of a
quarterly sales tax reimbursement. They
are expecting the Senate Finance Committee to approve it tomorrow and by the
end of this week it should be on the floor of the Senate.
Mr. Nicholson
stated that from what he hears within the next two weeks you=re going to see
a finalized budget from the state. At
this point in time it appears to include the alternative the Board is going to
have to face and that is looking at levying a half cent sales tax.
Chairman Moyer
reminded the Board that we could be facing an economic downturn. We could go into this for one year and then
if next year sales tax revenues are off we could really be hurting. The State is nicely passing the problem back
to the Board.
Clean Air Resolution Chairman Moyer
Chairman Moyer
reminded those in attendance that when the Board rechartered the Environmental
Advisory Board, the Board charged them with looking at air quality and handed
to them three resolutions to review and make a recommendation back to the
Board:
1.
Board of Health
Resolution
2.
Canary Coalition
Resolution
3.
Clean Smokestacks Act
Resolution
Commissioner Gordon
wanted it to be known that she voted in favor the Resolution that came before
the Board of Health. She encouraged
anyone with questions to read the text of the Resolution because the Board of
Health put a lot of thought and study into the wording of that resolution.
Comprehensive
County Plan
Chairman Moyer
stated that this has been delayed. He
felt that this project is so important and we need to get started off on a good
footing. All the Commissioners are
comfortable with where we stand and David has been talking with a
consultant. Mr. Moyer has talked with
the consultant also. Mr. Moyer will ask
the consultant (Denny Martin) to come to the next Commissioners= meeting to make a
presentation to the full Board so they can see what he has in mind.
Regional Water
Authority Meetings - Negotiations Sessions
Chairman Moyer
stated concerning the negotiations with Buncombe County, the City of Asheville,
and the Asheville-Buncombe-Henderson Water Authority that there have been two
meetings of this group. He and
Commissioner Gordon were at both meetings.
He asked Commissioner Gordon to update the Board.
Commissioner Gordon
stated that the two meetings have been laying the framework for further
discussions. Today they got into a
little more meat of the issues. Today a
facilitator was selected, Jim Stokoe from Land of Sky Regional Council of
Governments, and he was at the meeting today outlining the process that will be
used going forward. She reminded the
Board that the meetings are being recorded and will be broadcast on our cable
channel. The meetings will be
alternated between here and Buncombe County so that members of the public can
more easily attend when it is in your area.
Chairman Moyer
stated that there will be a public comment period at the end of each session of
10 minutes or 2 minutes per person. The
next session will probably be at the Water Treatment Plant on September 26 at
9:00 a.m., if not at the water treatment plant it will be here in this meeting
room.
Accident on
Spartanburg Highway
Chairman Moyer
asked Commissioner Gordon to speak to the unfortunate accident on the
Spartanburg Highway last Friday.
Commissioner Gordon
explained that there was an accident on the Spartanburg Highway that involved
some of our EMS personnel as well as the City Police and victims from the
public. It was a very unfortunate
situation that couldn=t have been avoided by any procedures that
ordinarily would have been followed.
She was very appreciative of the steps that staff took to notify the
Commissioners of what was happening and keep them informed. She also expressed appreciation for Rocky
Hyder=s role there. She expressed our concern for those employees and victims. She stated that she understood there was
nothing that was life-threatening which was a big relief for everyone
concerned. We are going to have some
people that will have to take some time to recuperate and our thoughts are with
them.
David Nicholson
stressed that our thoughts and prayers are with all the folks who were
involved. We are going to have some
employees who will have to undergo rehabilitation before they=ll be back to
work. Our employees followed all normal
procedures and were doing exactly what they were suppose to do. It=s just one of those
things that happened because of someone else=s medical condition
when we were trying to deal with someone.
Chairman Moyer
stated that he and staff tried so hard to get the information out to the
Commissioners. There were so many
rumors floating about. He wanted the
Commissioners to have the facts.
Westfeldt Park
Commissioner Messer
stated that as of last Tuesday Westfeldt Park was closed. There have been some minor changes in the
way the park will be cleaned up.
Fletcher Police Department, some of Fletcher Council and the Mayor met
at the park Saturday morning. A section
of the Army Reserve - Combat Engineers are willing to come in at the end of
October or the first of November, about six or eight men, to do a lot of the
work. Mr. Swain has the project on hold
for a while but there are definite plans to get the park back open as soon as
possible.
Detention Center
David Nicholson
informed the Board that we had a very successful grand opening last Wednesday
which was well attended by the community.
A substantial number of people were toured through the facility. In-mates were moved into the facility over
the week-end. Sheriff Erwin had
informed David that the transition has gone well. It is locked down and operational. He hopes to have a report to the Board at next Wednesday=s meeting on the
close-out of the facility and the budgetary information the Board had
requested.
Animal Control
Chairman Moyer briefly
mentioned the issues that All Creatures Great and Small have been encountering
with the State and the City of Hendersonville.
He and Commissioner Gordon had a meeting with representatives from all
the agencies to develop a contingency plan in case that agency were to be shut
down to find homes for all the animals.
If it were to close it would place a tremendous burden on the humane
society and our animal shelter. The
decision has been appealed so it may be put off.
Howard Gap
Road/Opening of new Fletcher School
Commissioner Messer
stated that the School opened and it all went well. There was a license check or road check that was in effect August
27 - 31 by the NC Highway Patrol, Henderson County Sheriff=s Dept. and the
Fletcher Police Department. They spent
approx. eight hours on the four days.
They gave out approx. 1,000 pamphlets to motorists. They had 1,800 to 2,000 contacts on the
opening day of school last Tuesday and passed out another 150 - 200 pamphlets
to the parents of the school children.
They wrote very few citations during this time. The bottom line was to increase safety on
that road in the vicinity of the school and decrease speeding.
Distance Based
Education
Chairman Moyer
stated that there had been some articles in the newspaper about distance based
learning. He asked Commissioner Hawkins
to address this issue. Commissioner
Hawkins reminded everyone that this Board has worked very diligently with the
Board of Education over the past several years to meet both their capital needs
and their current operating expenses.
He was surprised to read in our local newspaper where this Board had
been accused of not supporting distance based education in our high schools. He felt that this issue had never been
presented to the Board of Commissioners and challenged Mr. Moss, from the
Times-News, to come visit with the Board on tape and tell them about the
process. He would like to know when
this Board turned down distance based education.
Mud Creek Water
& Sewer Agreement
Commissioner Ward
serves on the Mud Creek Advisory Council with Ron Stephens chairing the
group. They have met three or four
times and progress has been made. The boundaries have been set but are in rough
draft. They have another meeting
scheduled this month and then will take the agreement to the City Council and
the Board of Commissioners to show the progress. They have invited different people to come to the meetings. Robert Smith from the Health Department will
attend a meeting and offer his help regarding the problem areas in the
community regarding septic tanks. They are still working on the Sewer Plan.
Commissioner
Hawkins stated that one of the prime drivers on this agreement was for the
County and the City of Hendersonville to do joint planning. Hendersonville has been wanting to do joint
planning for years. He stated that here
is the golden opportunity for it. He
was surprised when Hendersonville made a unilateral request to extend the sewer
down Hwy. #25. He expressed that this
was covered in the Henderson County Code under 303B - it says that the county
or the city can conduct studies.
Commissioner
Hawkins made the motion that Chairman Moyer contact the Chairman of this
Committee and ask for a study reference the relevance of running sewer line
down Hwy. #25. We have a committee
studying that as well as some folks from Flat Rock.
Chairman Moyer
stated that there has been an ongoing problem that needs addressing regarding
sewer service in the area of Hwy. #25 South.
It is a health condition problem with respect to sewage. One of the benefits of the line was to
relieve the problem in the manufactured home park. That problem is the prime motivation but the people may not want
it. The City of Hendersonville won=t do it if the
people in that area don=t want annexation
because they don=t extend sewer service unless the people in
the area agree to annexation.
It was the
consensus of the Board to send a letter to ask for this to be included as part
of the planning process.
LGCCA meeting
Chairman Moyer
informed the Board that the last meeting was August 21. They had several things on the agenda, one
being an update on the Central Booking at the new Jail and the opening of that
facility. They were given an update on
the progress of the Hwy. #25 South Comprehensive Land Use Plan and the
formation of that committee. At that
time they had not had a meeting. Since
then they have had their first meeting and have started the study of what they
were asked to do in that area. They
discussed a Planning Mission Statement to share information regarding zoning,
planning, ETJs, and annexations where it would affect another jurisdiction or
is on the boundary of another jurisdiction.
There was much discussion and now Chairman Moyer is tasked with drafting
the Planning Mission Statement for the LGCCA.
He felt that the unanimous consensus of the group was that before
actions are taken in the future that a group will be notified of proposed
annexations, ETJ changes, zoning, etc. where it affects another jurisdiction
and then advise the group. The group
may decide they want to have a joint study.
This would start the process so that everyone would know what is going
on and have a chance to have some input in it if they choose to. Any recommendations would come back to the
various governing boards for action.
They spent some time identifying other priority areas that the
municipalities would like to work on with the county and talked about Hwy. #64
East and the need to study that as well as Hwy. # 25 North and possibly some of
the areas between us and Fletcher.
LGCCA will be finalizing that.
The last item they touched on was RPOs (rural planning organizations)
and LGCCA was brought up to date on the county=s position with
respect to that.
The next LGCCA meeting
will be here, Henderson County will host it, on September 18 at 3:00 p.m.
IMPORTANT DATES
This was deferred
until the next meeting on September 19, due to the lateness of the hour.
ADJOURN
Commissioner Ward
made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:48 p.m. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Attest:
Elizabeth
W. Corn, Clerk to the Board William L. Moyer, Chairman