MINUTES
STATE
OF NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
COUNTY
OF HENDERSON APRIL 1,
2002
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.
Those present
were: Chairman Bill Moyer, Vice-Chair
Marilyn Gordon, Commissioner Grady Hawkins, Commissioner Don Ward, Commissioner
Charlie Messer, County Manager David E. Nicholson, County Attorney Angela S.
Beeker, and Clerk to the Board Elizabeth W. Corn.
Also present
were: Planning Director Karen C. Smith, Assistant County Attorney Jennifer O.
Jackson, Finance Director J. Carey McLelland, and Public Information Officer
Chris S. Coulson. Deputy Clerk to the
Board/Volunteer Coordinator Amy Brantley was present through ANominations@.
CALL TO
ORDER/WELCOME
Chairman Moyer
called the meeting to order and welcomed all in attendance.
PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE
Commissioner
Ward led the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag.
INVOCATION
David Nicholson
gave the invocation.
DISCUSSION/ADJUSTMENT
OF AGENDA
Chairman Moyer
requested one item be added before the Consent Agenda - an Economic Development
item.
Chairman Moyer
recognized Commissioner Gordon who requested that one item be added - Mills
River Incorporation study. This was added as AA@ under Discussion Items.
David Nicholson
requested one item be added - Increase in the National Medicaid Reimbursement
Schedule. This was added to the consent
agenda as item AJ@.
Commissioner
Ward requested two items be added to the agenda for staff comment and Board
discussion - a letter from Mediacom and a letter from Dr. David Sink of Blue
Ridge Community College. They were
added under Discussion Items as AB@ and AC@ respectively.
Chairman Moyer
made the motion to approve the agenda as revised. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Economic
Development Item
Commissioner
Messer recognized Bob Williford of the Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce and
Tony Hartman, Human Resource Manager with General Electric Lighting.
Bob Williford,
President of the Greater Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce, was present on
behalf of the Committee of 100. He
asked that the Board of Commissioners set a public hearing date to consider
offering incentives for General Electric Lighting Systems, the facility in
Henderson County. The incentives are
tied to a proposal to move a manufacturing line from a G.E. Lighting facility
in Mexico to our local facility. If
successful, it will retain jobs in Henderson County and will help G.E., a long
time contributor to our local economy, the local non-profit organizations, and
to our local tax base. Working with local industry to maintain or add jobs and
to increase investment in our community is the #1 job of our economic
development partnership.
Tony Hartman
requested consideration for a hearing for local incentives under the County=s economic
development program. This project would
help facilitate the investment of over $2 million into our East Flat Rock
facility. G.E. Lighting Systems has
been a part of Henderson County since 1955.
G.E. Lighting Systems has a strong commitment to this community. Their current annual payroll is in excess of
$30 million. Their employment at the East Flat Rock facility is currently
approximately 800.
He then spoke
specifically to the project they are seeking economic incentives for. They would be dissolving a joint venture in
Monterey, Mexico. The partnership
manufactured lighting systems roadway product line. After a careful evaluation of the operations, they have
identified the East Flat Rock facility as a likely location to bring the
roadway product line assembly back to.
There are some operations they will not bring back to the East Flat Rock
facility in order to maintain competitiveness.
The coil winding operation that was in the joint venture in Monterey
will be moving to a G.E. Lighting Plant in Mexico. They are evaluating the
current coil winding project at the East Flat Rock facility. They need to make it more competitive or consider
moving it to the parent company=s plant in Acuna, Mexico. They have committed to their employees that
they will investigate making this area of the plant a more competitive area and
have begun to meet with employees to do so.
So far, employees have come up with 67 ideas. Each of these ideas will be evaluated as they must remain
competitive.
Mr. Hartman
stated that to facilitate the move into the East Flat Rock facility, they are
prepared to spend in excess of $2 million in new production line equipment and
tooling for the roadway line. These
announcements were made contingent upon local incentives. They will not be adding additional jobs but
will absorb this new work into the current workforce.
CONSENT AGENDA
Chairman Moyer
pulled the two Proclamations in the consent agenda for comment.
David Nicholson
requested an item be added to the Consent Agenda - ANew National
Medicare Ambulance Fee Schedule - Rural Mileage Rate@. This was
added as AJ@.
Chairman Moyer
made the motion for the Board to approve the revised consent agenda (except for
AH@ and AI@. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
The Consent
Agenda consisted of the following:
Tax Collector=s Report
Terry Lyda,
Henderson County Tax Collector, had provided the Tax Collector=s Report dated
March 27 for the Board=s information.
Tax Refunds
A list of 7 tax
refund requests were submitted for approval by the Board of Commissioners.
October Ridge
Variance - Draft Order
On March 21,
2002, the Board of Commissioners considered an application for a variance
submitted by John Free concerning October Ridge, a development off Bob=s Creek
Extension (SR #1104) in Henderson County.
This application requested a shoulder width variance on a portion of a
private subdivision road known as Langwood Drive.
The Board
conducted a Quasi-Judicial Proceeding to consider the requested variance. After hearing all of the testimony the Board
discussed the matter and voted to approve the variance with certain conditions.
The Board
directed Staff to prepare a proposed order, with findings of fact and
conclusions of law, consistent with the information presented and with the
Board=s discussion
and voted to approve the variance. The
proposed order was distributed to the Board for review and consideration.
Staff requested
the Board adopt the Order as presented or as the Board might wish to revise.
Broadpointe
Property Lease Proposal
At the February
20, 2002 meeting, the lease for property adjacent to Broadpointe Center was
awarded to Allan Henderson based on the highest lease proposal of $2,912.00
annually. Since that time, Mr.
Henderson has since made the County aware that he no longer wishes to lease the
property and would like to withdraw his lease proposal. Mr. Wayne Carland had also proposed leasing
the property, at a lower amount of $1,834.00 annually.
County Staff
had spoken with Mr. Carland, who stated that he still wishes to lease the
subject property at the originally proposed annual lease of $1,834.00. The County Manager recommended the Board
cancel the lease agreement with Mr. Henderson and award the lease to Mr.
Carland at $1,834.00.
Financial
Report - February 2002
Cash Balance
Report - February 2002
These reports
were presented for information. Consent
approval was requested.
Non-departmental
expenditures in the General Fund include the annual premiums paid to the NCACC
Insurance Pools for the County=s Worker=s Compensation and Property/Liability
insurance coverage. These costs will be
distributed out to each of the departmental budgets prior to fiscal year-end.
The negative
position in the Schools Capital Reserve Fund was created from the appropriated
transfer of $1.2 million in October to the School Capital Projects Fund for the
Fletcher Elementary School Project. On
February 28th, the Schools Capital Reserve Fund had a positive fund
balance of $961,788.26 subsequent to this transfer.
The negative
position in the Emergency Communications Fund was due to the November annual
payment ($122,277.61) made to Motorola for the lease of emergency
communications equipment. Also, due to
aging battery failures occurring, a total battery replacement of the
Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) System in the Emergency Communications
Center became necessary in February.
The encumbered cost of this replacement was $35,124. However, the fund still had a positive fund
balance of $21,747.99 as of February 28th after the Motorola payment
and UPS System battery replacement.
Henderson
County Public Schools Financial Report - February 2002
The Schools
February Financial Report was presented for information and consent approval by
the Board.
Request for
Extension of Improvement Guarantee for Bridge in Oleta Falls
On September
10, 2001, the Board of Commissioners granted approval for Waterside Properties,
LLC, to post an irrevocable letter of credit in the amount of $225,519.70 to
guarantee construction of a covered bridge over the Little Hungry River,
between sections 1 and 2 of Oleta Falls.
The Performance Guarantee Agreement for the improvement guarantee
required that Waterside Properties complete the improvements by March 31,
2002. The expiration date on the letter
of credit by Waterside Properties from Branch Banking and Trust Company is June
30, 2002.
Mr. A. J. Ball,
Agent for Waterside Properties, LLC, had submitted a letter informing the
Planning Director that Waterside Properties will not be able to construct the
covered bridge prior to the March 31, 2002 completion date. According to Mr. Ball=s letter,
design and engineering issues regarding the bridge as well as a proposed
variance request for the bridge (which was later withdrawn), have led to the delay
in construction. Mr. Ball had requested
that the completion date for the bridge be extended from March 31, 2002 to June
30, 2003.
Section 170-39
of the Subdivision Ordinance allows the Board of Commissioners, upon proof of
difficulty, to grant an extension of a completion date for improvements for up
to one additional year, provided that the time between initiation and
completion of the improvements does not exceed two years. If the Board of Commissioners grants the
extension as requested by Waterside Properties, LLC, the time period between
execution of the original Performance Guarantee Agreement on October 23, 2001
and the proposed completion date of June 30, 2003, will be within the two-year
maximum. Mr. Ball had submitted the revised
construction drawings for the bridge referenced in his letter. Such plans show that the bridge will be
somewhat smaller than was originally planned.
For example, the new plan shows a 25-foot, 2-span trestle on either end
of the bridge while the original plan called for 50-foot, 4-span trestles. The original plan proposed 3-foot wide
walkways on either side of the bridge travelway. The new plan removes the walkways. The travelway of the bridge, as shown on the new plan, is one
inch wider than that shown on the original bridge plan. The revised bridge plans as well as a plan
showing the curb and gutter approach and taper submitted to the Planning
Department on March 18, 2002, appear to meet the requirements of the Henderson
County Subdivision Ordinance as well as the conditions imposed by the Planning
Board at the time of Development Plan approval. Mr. Ball had submitted a revised cost estimate of $175,964.00
that reflects the changes in the design of the bridge. Such new estimate is $4,451.60 less than the
estimate used for the improvement guarantee for the bridge previously approved
by the Board of Commissioners.
Therefore, in addition to the request for an extension of the completion
date of the improvement guarantee, Waterside Properties would like the Board of
Commissioners to reduce the amount of the improvement guarantee for the
bridge. Including the required 25%
contingency amount, the new amount of the improvement guarantee, if approved,
would be $219,955.00, which is
$5,564.70 less than the amount of the letter of credit that has been posted for
the bridge construction project.
A draft
Performance Guarantee Agreement, which reflects the new completion date
requested by Waterside Properties, LLC, as well as a reduction in the amount of
the improvement guarantee, was presented for Board review. If both the extension request and the
request to reduce the amount of the improvement guarantee are approved,
Waterside Properties must submit an amended letter of credit reflecting the new
amount and having an expiration date of no less than 60 days after the new
completion date. The Assistant County
Attorney must review the amended letter of credit and certify the Agreement as
to form prior to its execution by the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners
and Waterside Properties.
County Manager=s
Recommendation
This is the
first extension request for the bridge construction project and the extension,
if granted, would not cause the developer to exceed the two-year maximum time
period for completion of the required improvements. Therefore, he recommended that the Board approve the request to
extend the completion date for the improvement guarantee for the bridge in
Oleta Falls to June 30, 2003, and that the Board allow the amount of the
improvement guarantee to be reduced to $219,955.00, subject to the developer
submitting an amended letter of credit for the new amount that expires no less
than 60 days after the new completion date and subject to the Assistant County
Attorney reviewing the amended letter of credit and approving it as to form.
New National
Medicare Ambulance Fee Schedule - Rural Mileage Rate - add-on by
David Nicholson
A new national
ambulance fee schedule from Medicare is set to begin its five-year phase-in on
April 1, 2002. A special congressional
provision that provides North Carolina with immediate implementation of full
in-county mileage begins April 1st as well. The new mileage rates are $5.47 per mile for
counties within a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and $8.21 per mile for
rural counties not in an MSA. Henderson
County is considered a rural county and would be able to charge the $8.21 per
mile rate. The county=s current fee
schedule is set at $7.50 per mile. The
County=s EMS fee schedule
must equal or exceed Medicare=s fee schedule including fees set for
mileage. The County=s trip rate of
$375 currently exceeds the rates set under the new ambulance fee schedule and
would not need to be changed at this time.
This request
was for the Board to consider increasing the County=s EMS fee
schedule for mileage from $7.50 per mile to $8.21 per mile to be equal to the
rural county rate under the new national Medicare ambulance fee schedule
effective April 1, 2002.
Chairman Moyer
then asked for comment on the two proclamations.
Proclamation -
Litter Sweep 2002
The weeks of
April 15-28 have been designated as ALitter Sweep@ in North
Carolina. All citizens are encouraged
to take an active role in making their communities cleaner and more beautiful
by picking up litter along roadsides.
Because the
Environmental Advisory Committee was charged with addressing litter in the
county, they respectfully requested that the Board support the Governor=s Proclamation
and encourage citizens of Henderson County to participate in the
Adopt-A-Highway program by contacting the Department of Transportation
Maintenance Department (693-9553) to reserve cleanup supplies and arrange for
pickup of orange litter bags.
As a part of
this effort, Mr. Nicholson suggested that the County write a letter to the
organizations thanking them for participating in this effort.
Chairman Moyer
read portions of the Proclamation. A
copy of the proclamation is included as a part of these minutes.
Proclamation -
National Nurse=s Week
Commissioner
Hawkins read portions of the Proclamation, a copy of which is attached as a
part of these minutes. The Proclamation
commends nurses for their dedication and willingness to be present and forever
steadfast in maintaining the light to shine on others who so desperately need
help, but may not always be in a position to offer thanks and
appreciation. The Proclamation declared
May 6-12 a celebration of nursing in Henderson County.
Chairman Moyer
made the motion to approve items AH@ and AI@.
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
NOMINATIONS
Chairman Moyer
reminded the Board of the following vacancies and opened the floor to
nominations:
1. Equalization
and Review - 1 vac.
There were no
nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
2. Juvenile
Crime Prevention Council - 3 vac.
The District
Attorney=s office had
submitted a candidate for position # 4, Athena Brooks.
Commissioner
Messer made the motion to suspend the rules and appoint Athena Brooks to
position # 4. All voted in favor and
the motion carried.
3. Henderson
County Board of Health - 2 vac.
There were no
nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
4.
Nursing/Adult Care Community Advisory Committee - 5 vac.
There were no
nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
5. Western
Carolina Community Action - 1 vac.
Commissioner
Gordon nominated Madeline Royes.
Commissioner Gordon made the motion to suspend the rules and appoint
Madeline Royes by acclamation. All
voted in favor and the motion carried.
6. Community
Child Protection Team - 1 vac.
There were no
nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
7. Planning
Board, Henderson County - 4 vac.
Commissioner
Hawkins nominated Leon Allison, Corbin Williams, and Larry Blair.
Commissioner
Ward nominated Paul Patterson and Tedd Pearce.
Chairman Moyer
nominated Kevin Keefe.
A vote will be
taken at the next meeting. The floor
remains open for further nominations.
8. Zoning Board
of Adjustment, Hendersonville City - 1 vac.
There were no
nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
9. Zoning Board
of Adjustment, Fletcher - 1 vac.
There were no
nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
WCCA -
Community Services Block Grant
Western
Carolina Community Action is applying for the continuation of the Community
Service Block Grant. They receive these
funds annually based on a five-year application cycle from the Department of
Health and Human Services= Office of Economic Opportunity.
David White
from WCCA was present to answer any questions.
David distributed two hand-outs.
I did not receive a copy of either.
Mr. White
addressed briefly the Community Services Block Grant which helps support
several programs aimed at pulling families out of poverty including the
Employment Plus Program, Individual Development Accounts Program, and the
Garden Program.
Employment
Plus Program has had a lot of success over the years in placing folks into
jobs, pulling them above the poverty line.
Individual
Development Accounts Program - Pat Malinak is our Henderson County (she was
present) Supervisor for the Block Grant and was instrumental in submitting
grants to the Federal Government for this program. We have received those grants and have been funded. It is the
first Individual Development Account Program in Henderson and Transylvania
Counties. Families have been selected
to participate in this program. Pat
Malinak came forward, informing the Board that we have had the Block Grant
since 1982. This is the fourth year of
a five year cycle of goals. The
contract speaks of the intake and referral of 1,000 persons per year. Last year they saw 3,837 people so they are
over target. They committed to help 375
unemployed persons (over 5 years) to maintain a job for 90 days. Last year they helped 80 persons keep a job
for 90 days. Of that the contract
allows them to keep up to 25 persons for a year in attempts to help them
maintain a stable job. They went over
contract again with 29 persons. 45
persons were raised above the poverty level last year. The Individual
Development Accounts have enabled four families to open their first savings
account to buy either a house, start a business, or go further in their
education. These four families represent
nine children.
Chairman Moyer
made the motion to approve the filing for continuation of the WCCA Community
Services Block Grant. All voted in
favor and the motion carried.
APPROVAL OF
ORDINANCE TO GRANT A DEVELOPMENT VESTED RIGHT - Lakewood RV Resort
At the Board=s March 11,
2002 meeting, a quasi-judicial proceeding was concluded to consider the
granting of a development vested right for the final phase of Lakewood RV
Resort. At that meeting, the Board
voted to adopt an ordinance to grant the vested right and directed that a
written ordinance, consistent therewith, be brought back for approval by the
Board.
Presented for
the Board=s consideration
was an Ordinance to Grant a Development Vested Right for the final phase of
Lakewood RV Resort.
Angela Beeker
reviewed the proposed Ordinance with the Board as well as proposed revisions to
that Ordinance. She also reviewed and
discussed briefly the exhibits attached to the Ordinance.
Findings:
AJ@ needs to be
modified to read (fifth line) Ahowever Drive 1 and Drive 2 as shown on
the Plan would be insufficient to accommodate the typical response to a medical
emergency ...@
AK@ needs to be
modified accordingly, deleting Aand Drive 3" in three places.
There was
evidence for fire suppression services about a pond and a pool - on page 3
under AI@ delete Aof
approximately gallons@
The motion to
approve contained five conditions which are listed on page 5 at 3.3. In AC@ under 3.3 the same correction about Drive 3 needed to be made deleting Aand Drive
3".
Commissioner
Hawkins raised a question on page 1 about the agreement concerning the planting
of the Leland Cypress Trees along the southern border of the property
addressing the concerns over spray drift and noise.
Commissioner
Gordon suggested that revisions be made and then sent to the Attorney and the
Board approve it on the consent agenda of the next meeting.
Ms. Beeker
raised a question about the 45 day period.
The hearing was concluded on March 11.
The Board would have 45 days from March 11 to deliver a written
decision. April 17 is right on that
date. The Board has a workshop
scheduled for April 11. She asked if
the Board would like to add this issue to that agenda. It was the consensus of the Board to do
so.
Commissioner
Hawkins made the motion to accept the Ordinance with the changes as indicated.
There continued
to be discussion of the Ordinance.
Chairman Moyer raised a question about B2 on page 1 concerning the
Leland Cypress Trees and addressing the concerns over spray drift and noise. The minutes from that meeting will be
verbatim because it was a quasi-judicial proceeding. Commissioner Hawkins asked Ms. Beeker to check the record on this
issue.
Chairman Moyer
asked that this issue then be brought back to the Board on Thursday, April 4 at
the meeting at 4:00. The Board will take care of it first
thing. He asked Ms. Beeker to check the
question raised and get a revised draft to the Board for Thursday.
UPDATE ON
PENDING ISSUES
Update on
E-Communities Program
David Nicholson
stated that the E-Communities Committee has been meeting monthly. Henderson County received a $10,000 planning
grant from the Rural Internet Access Authority. Henderson County is putting no money into this and neither is
North Carolina. The Public Schools are
involved as well as the Community College, Louis Williams & Sons, Pardee
Hospital, and BellSouth. There are also
representatives from the Churches, the Chamber of Commerce, Town of Fletcher,
and non-profits.
The Committee
is working with a consultant, John Howell. He is assisting in writing the
plan. The deadline has been extended
for writing the plan, to the end of May (additional 30 days).
Mr. Nicholson
stated that the Committee has now met four times. The last meeting was spent reviewing the surveys that were
inserted into the newspaper. They
received a large number of the surveys back.
The surveys cover a wide range - from people who don=t want a
computer and feel that a computer is of the devil to people wanting to know if
there is a place where they can purchase a used computer because they can=t afford a new
one. The Committee will take the
surveys and do a community profile about Internet access. They will then develop a strategic plan that
looks at our needs in the future. Mr.
Nicholson stated that they are now eligible for an implementation grant up to
$50,000. The Biltmore Institute is
working on something along this line as is the Western Education Consortium
working with Congressman Taylor. One of
the Committee=s goals is to
try to get all the people working on something like this in the same room, to
make sure everyone is working together.
Mr. Nicholson
stated that the next Committee meeting is the third Friday of this month and at
that meeting they will view the first draft of the plan. They will get a hard copy and an electronic
copy which will be put up on our website.
The Board should see this sometime in May.
MILLS RIVER - this was an
add-on
Chairman Moyer
asked Commissioner Gordon to update the Board on the Mills River Incorporation
and the study going on.
Commissioner
Gordon stated that Mills River is studying the issue of Incorporation and they
have formed some subcommittees to look at details of what might be
involved. She had talked with some of
the members of those groups and had been asked to help them get some accurate
information to use in the decision making process. Mr. Nicholson and she were asked to attend a subcommittee meeting
April 25 to go over issues that would be relevant with County Government such
as what would county government continue to do and what would become municipal
services for Mills River. She stated
that she would be glad to take any Board input to the up-coming meeting.
Chairman Moyer
asked if the Board wished to take a position on the Mills River Incorporation
issue? Following discussion, it was the consensus of the Board to not take a
position at this time but to help them get good information to make their
decision on.
Mr. Nicholson
suggested making the Commissioners copies of the Incorporation Statutes. They have changed since Flat Rock
incorporated. He stated that there is a financial issue and there is an
administrative issue of the enforcement of county ordinances within
municipalities.
INFORMAL PUBLIC
COMMENTS
There was none.
MEDIACOM - this was an
add-on
Commissioner
Ward discussed a letter the Board had received from Mediacom. Apparently the letter had gone out to all
the commercial establishments in Hendersonville. The letter read AIt was brought to our attention that your
cable television account has been billed at the family residential rate while
at the location of a place of business.@
He wondered how a company could make a mistake like that. It also read AWe will bill you at a commercial cable
rate for accounts not at residences@.
Mr. Ward stated that his biggest concern was that the commercial rate
for basic cable is $52.00 a month with a rate of $16.00 per month for any
additional television. He had received
calls from places like Lowes, Home Depot, Rexs, companies that might have 25
televisions and would be assessed $16.00 for each television.
Commissioner
Hawkins suggested sending a letter to Mediacom asking them for a clarification
about when this got started. He had
received several calls also.
Commissioner
Messer suggested asking about the impact if a business bought the whole
package, including Internet connection.
Chairman Moyer
stated that the Board would send a letter requesting a clarification. He asked Ms. Beeker to inform the Board of
their ability with respect to rates.
Ms. Beeker
reminded the Board that they can regulate broadcast basic. She raised one question - AWhat do you
mean by basic. Is that the broadcast
basic that you=re charging
$52.00 for or is it what would be considered family basic on a residential
bill?@ To regulate you have to show that they are
not subject to effective competition.
There is a test to determine whether they are subject to effective
competition. Her guess was that they
are not here in Henderson County because the other Cable Company is so small.
If they are not subject to effective competition already, then you just file a
paper with the FCC to say you want to be a rate regulator.
There was some
discussion regarding dish companies offering competition.
BRCC LETTER - this was an
add-on
Chairman Moyer
reminded the Board that at an earlier meeting the Board raised a concern with
respect to the baseball field that is being proposed by Blue Ridge Community
College, as to what the impact might be on the budget, particularly in light of
our budget situation for the year. A
letter was sent to the Community College.
A response was received from Dr. Sink, stating that the grant to them
covers all capital and all operating costs and there would be no effect on the
budget.
Commissioner
Ward stated that his concern was that the letter stated that the construction
and maintenance costs will be covered with private funds but it doesn=t state a
term. Dr. Sink could leave or retire
and he wondered about the Board=s obligation under NC State Statutes to
fund maintenance when a new Dean comes in or a new Board of Commissioners.
Chairman Moyer
stated that the amount of the grant produced sufficient capital and, with
investment, income from the trust to pay for all anticipated operating expense
in the future.
Ms. Beeker was
requested to review the Statute in question.
He asked her if there were any other steps the Board should take to
protect the Board so that we are very clear in the future regarding the Board=s
responsibilities.
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)(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 and Cane Creek Water and Sewer District v.
Asheville-Buncombe-Henderson
Water Authority; Buncombe County
and
City of Asheville [Henderson Co. File No. 01-CVS-344]
All voted in
favor and the motion carried.
PUBLIC HEARING
on the Closeout of CDBG (Community Development Block Grant)
Commissioner
Ward made the motion for the Board to go into public hearing. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Kate O=Hara stated
that this is the final hearing for the close-out of the community development
block grant project for Grove Hills Housing Development. She stated that this was a wonderful project
undertaken by Henderson County Habitat for Humanity with cooperation and
assistance from Henderson County. The
total amount of funding expended for the project was $167,018. This money was used for the infrastructure
for development of eighteen homes which are either occupied or will be occupied
by households that are low to moderate income.
The project is located in East Flat Rock. The grant was broken down into street improvements in the amount
of $78,419, flood and drainage facilities in the amount of $5,198, and water
improvements in the amount of $51,900. There was planning and administration
money in that also.
Kate O=Hara introduced
Malcolm McCormack who came forward to give a brief history of the project. Mr.
McCormack stated that they were required to construct 15 homes in the grant
timeframe but actually constructed 18 homes.
The 18th home is just being occupied this month. He felt this was a very successful
project. The funds were utilized to put
in the roads, streets, the water and the underground electric. This grant must be closed out before they
can apply for another one.
Mr. McCormack
stated that they have recently purchased some land, almost adjacent to the new
Clear Creek Elementary School off Stepp Road.
They plan to put about 50 homes on 32 acres in that vicinity over a
number of years. They need a CDBG grant
to help with the infrastructure. They
have the capacity to build about 8 homes a year. If they don=t get grant funds to help with the large
amount of infrastructure they will have to slow that build rate down
significantly. They plan to put this
grant together with Land of Sky.
Habitat is dealing with incomes in the 30-50% of median income and they
place families on the tax roles that would not otherwise be there. They offer 0% mortgage interest to allow the
families with such low income to move into homes.
Public Input
There was none.
Commissioner
Ward made the motion to close the public hearing. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Kate O=Hara informed
the Board that the State is not accepting applications for the housing
development program, they are all tied up in the scattered site
rehabilitation. She stated that it
would be awhile before moving along into the next project with Habitat. It might be late this year or early 2003
before accepting applications.
Chairman Moyer
congratulated Habitat on the completion of this project and for bringing
affordable housing to the people in our community who need it most.
PUBLIC HEARING
- Rezoning Application #R-01-02 (RC to R-20)
Tracy &
Gregory Garland, Applicants
Commissioner
Ward made the motion for the Board to go into this public hearing. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Josh Freeman
reminded the Board that the Henderson County Board of Commissioners scheduled
for this date a public hearing on Rezoning Application #R-01-02, which seeks to
rezone a 0.91 acre parcel of land from RC (Rural Conservation) to R-20
(Low-Density Residential). The Subject
Parcel of Rezoning Application #R-01-02 (Parcel Number 00967238592855) belongs
to Tracy and Gregory Garland, and is located along Souther Road just south of
the Town of Fletcher (see Attachment 1: Site Map). The Henderson County Planning Board initiated Application
#R-01-02 at its February 19, 2002 meeting in order to remedy an omission
associated with Rezoning Application #R-06-01, which was approved by the
Henderson County Board of Commissioners on January 7, 2002. The Subject Parcel of Application #R-01-02
was originally included as one of several Subject Parcels in Rezoning
Application #R-06-01. However, the
Subject Parcel was inadvertently dropped from consideration with Application
#R-06-01, and was subsequently not considered for rezoning at the January 7,
2002 Public Hearing regarding Application #R-06-01, at which time the other
Subject Parcels of Application #R-06-01 were rezoned from RC to R-20.
At its meeting
on February 19, 2002, the Henderson County Planning Board initiated Rezoning
Application #R-01-02 in order to remedy the aforementioned omission, and, based
upon the reasoning that it applied to Rezoning Application #R-06-01, voted to
send the Board of Commissioners a favorable recommendation on the request to
rezone the Subject Property from RC to R-20 (Attachments 2 & 3; Planning
Board Minutes Excerpt). The Henderson
County Planning Department supports this recommendation, based upon the same
reasoning that it provided regarding Rezoning Application #R-06-01. Please see Attachment 4: Rezoning
Application #R-06-01 Staff Report, for further information.
In accordance
with Section 200-76 of the Henderson County Zoning Ordinance and State Law, a
notice of public hearing was published in the March 22, 2002 edition of the
Hendersonville Times-News, and was scheduled to appear in the March 29, 2002
edition of the Hendersonville Times-News.
The Planning Department sent notices of the hearing via first class mail
to the applicants and the owners of property adjacent to the Subject Property,
and posted signs advertising the hearing on the Subject Property, on March 19,
2002.
Mr. Nicholson
recommended that following the public hearing the Board consider the Subject
Parcel (Parcel Number 00967238592855) from an RC Rural Conservation zoning
district to an R-20 Low-Density Residential zoning district.
Public Input
There was none.
Commissioner
Ward made the motion to close the public hearing. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Chairman Moyer
made the motion to approve the rezoning of the subject one piece of property as
stated above. All voted in favor and
the motion carried.
IMPORTANT DATES
Change Date of
a BOC meeting
Chairman Moyer
had sent a memo to the Commissioners concerning a possible change of the mid
May Commissioners= meeting.
Chairman Moyer and Commissioner Gordon are going to Mexico at the time
of the scheduled mid-month meeting.
Following discussion. Chairman Moyer made the motion to move the
mid-month (May 15) meeting to Thursday, May 23 at 9:00 a.m. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Request for
Public Hearing on Road Names
David Nicholson
informed the Board of a request to set a public hearing for the following list
of road names:
Renamed Roads
Edward Capps Drive to Sunset Crest Lane
Myrtle Hill Lane Walnut Heights Lane
Perez Lane Blue Sky Lane
Martin N. Lewis Lane Cori Drive
New Road Names
Jeans
Way
Old
Beddingfield Place
Lillian
Laurel Lane
Hoot
N Hollow Lane
Dogwood
Cottage Lane
Johnson
Valley Drive
Fay
Lane
They proposed
the hearing be set for April 17 at 11:00 a.m.
Commissioner
Ward made the motion to set the public hearing for April 17 at 11:00 a.m. for
here. All voted in favor and the motion
carried.
Economic
Development Incentive - proposed action
David Nicholson
asked for a motion to set a public hearing for the economic development
incentives for General Electric.
Commissioner
Messer made the motion to set a public hearing for 11:00 a.m. on April 17, 2002
to consider granting economic development incentives to General Electric in the
amount of $40,000 to be paid over a 5 year period for the retention of jobs at
their East Flat Rock plant. All voted
in favor and the motion carried.
Next Joint
Facilities Meeting
Commissioner
Hawkins informed the Board that the next Joint Facilities Meeting would be held
on April 11 at 1:00 p.m. It will take
place at the School Board office on Fourth Ave.
There being no
further business to come before the Board, Commissioner Hawkins made the motion
to adjourn the meeting at 7:30 p.m. All
voted in favor and the motion carried.
Attest:
Elizabeth W. Corn, Clerk to the Board William L. Moyer,
Chairman