MINUTES

 

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA                                                        BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

COUNTY OF HENDERSON                                                                                               SEPTEMBER 7, 2004

 

The Henderson County Board of Commissioners met for a regularly scheduled meeting at 6:00 p.m. in the Commissioners' Conference Room of the Henderson County Office Building.

 

Those present were:  Chairman Grady Hawkins, Vice-Chairman Larry R. Young, Commissioner Bill Moyer, Commissioner Charlie Messer, Commissioner Shannon Baldwin, County Manager David E. Nicholson, Assistant County Manager Justin B. Hembree, County Attorney Angela S. Beeker, and Clerk to the Board Elizabeth W. Corn.

 

Also present were: Budget and Management Director Selena Coffey, Fire Marshal Rocky Hyder, Planning Director Karen Smith, Risk Management Director Bill Byrnes, Finance Director J. Carey McLelland and Deputy Clerk to the Board Amy Brantley.

 

Absent was: Public Information Officer Chris Coulson.

 

CALL TO ORDER/WELCOME

Chairman Hawkins called the meeting to order and welcomed all in attendance.

 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Commissioner Young led the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag.

 

INVOCATION

David Nicholson gave the invocation.

 

DISCUSSION/ADJUSTMENT OF AGENDA

Chairman Hawkins added an item regarding Sales Tax as the first Discussion Item. He also added Discussion Item “F” – Delivery of Services.

 

Chairman Hawkins made the motion to accept the agenda as presented.  All voted in favor and the motion carried.

 

CONSENT AGENDA

Chairman Hawkins pulled Item “M” for some discussion. Chairman Hawkins made the motion to approve the consent agenda as presented except for Item “M”.  All voted in favor and the motion carried. The Consent Agenda then consisted of the following:

 

Tax Collector’s Report

Terry F. Lyda had submitted the Tax Collector’s Report dated September 3, 2004, for the Board’s information.

 

Petition for addition to State Road system

Staff had received road petitions to add roads to the State Maintenance system:

            1. Bradford Farm Road

            2. Bradford Hill Road

            3. Bradford Creek Road

            4. Lloyd Drive

 

It has been the practice of this Board to accept road petitions and forward them to NC DOT for their review.  It has also been the practice of the Board not to ask NCDOT to change the priority for roads on the paving priority list.

 

Request Public Hearing for Road Name

Rocky Hyder requested the Board to set a public hearing date for the following road names:

 

Proposed Name

Dalton Farm Road

 

Staff’s recommended date for the public hearing was October 4, 2004 at 7:00 p.m.

 

Request for Public Hearing on property address changes

Staff had submitted a request for a date and time for a public hearing for the purpose of approving property address changes for the period from February 1, 2004 to August 31, 2004.  Pursuant to NCGS 153A-239.1 counties must hold a public hearing on property address changes, therefore the Board conducts public hearings on a bi-annual basis to formally approve changes made in the previous six month period.

 

The County Manager recommended that the public hearing be set for October 4, 2004 at 7:00 p.m.

 

Henderson County Public Schools Financial Report – July 2004

This report was presented for information and consent approval.

 

Financial Report – July 2004

Cash Balance Report – July 2004

These reports were presented for information and consent approval.

 

The current month and YTD costs in the General Fund Non-Departmental line item were the annual property/liability and workers compensation insurance premiums paid to the NCACC Insurance Risk Pools for FY 2005. These costs were to be allocated out to departmental budgets in succeeding months.

 

The YTD deficit in the Revaluation Reserve Fund was primarily due to there being three payrolls in the month of July instead of the normal two pay periods.

 

The YTD deficit in the CDBG –Scattered Site Housing Project, the Mud Creek Watershed Restoration Project and the Mills River Sewer Capital Project were all temporary due to timing differences in the expenditure of funds and the subsequent requisition of State funds to reimburse those expenditures.

 

The County Services Building Project deficit was due to architectural fees, demolition/abatement and utilities relocation work performed at the former Carolina Apparel Building. It was anticipated that those costs would be recouped from financing proceeds for the project.

 

Governor’s Highway Safety Program

The Board was presented a grant application from the NC Governor’s Highway Safety Program for a grant to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department. The amount of the grant was $10,000 and required no match.

 

Approval of Order Granting a Special Use Permit for Expansion to a Pre-existing Mining &

Extraction Operation for Hooper’s Creek Quarry #SP-02-01 (Revised) & Approval of Order Denying Related Variance

The Board reconvened previous quasi-judicial public hearings held on January 15, 2003 and March 3, 2003 at its meeting on August 18, 2004, to consider application #SP-01-02(Revised) for a Special Use Permit for the expansion of a preexisting mining and extraction operation known as Hoopers Creek Quarry, and to consider a related application for a variance from the fencing requirements for the expansion.

 

Immediately following the hearing, the Board voted to approve the Special Use Permit for the expansion of the quarry with the expansion having to meet all of the requirements specified in the Zoning Ordinance. The Board requested that staff bring back a draft order consistent with the findings, conclusions and the decision made by the Board regarding the Special Use Permit application. In addition, the Board denied the related variance application. An order granting the Special Use Permit and an order denying the Variance were provided for the Board’s consideration.

 

Referral of Application for a Special Use Permit for Leoni’s Mountain Lake Homes, a Proposed Planned Unit Development (PUD) [Application #SU-04-01, Submitted by Mr. Todd Leoni]

Mr. Todd Leoni had submitted an application (#SU-04-01) for a Special Use Permit for a proposed Planned Unit Development (PUD) to be known as Leoni’s Mountain Lake Homes. The proposed PUD property was located off South Lakeside Drive and Bonner Street, across from Lake Osceola. The property is a 12.01-acre tract located in a County R-20 Zoning District (Low Density Residential).

 

Section 200-33F of the Henderson County Zoning Ordinance requires that an applicant for a PUD have a pre-application conference with the Planning Board and Planning Department Staff prior to submitting a Special Use Permit application. Following the pre-application conference, the applicant may submit a Special Use Permit application to the Board of Commissioners in accordance with Section 200-70 of the Zoning Ordinance. Section 200-33F also requires that the applicant submit a development plan to the Board of Commissioners and a copy of the plan to the Planning Board for review and recommendations. Sections 200-56 and 200-70 of the Zoning Ordinance require that the Board of Commissioners refer applications for Special Use Permits to the Planning Board for review and recommendations prior to a public hearing.

 

On August 17, 2004, the applicant’s agenda conducted a pre-application conference with the Planning Board and Planning Department Staff as required by Section 200-33F of the Henderson County Zoning Ordinance. On September 1, 2004 the Planning Department received Special Use Permit application materials which had already been supplied to the Board of Commissioners Office.

 

Mr. Nicholson recommended that the Board of Commissioners refer application #SU-04-01, submitted by Mr. Todd Leoni for a Special Use Permit for a PUD, to the Planning Board for review and recommendations.    

Proclamation – Henderson County Benefit Toy Run Parade Day

The Board had approved similar proclamations in the past applauding those who participate in this charitable event. They were requested to proclaim Saturday, November 20 as Henderson County Benefit Toy Run Parade Day. 

 

Big Sweep Day Resolution

The Board had approved similar resolutions in the past urging citizens to do their part to restore the beauty and function of our lakes and streams by volunteering to participate in the Big Sweep event. They were requested to declare September 18, 2004 as Big Sweep Day in Henderson County. 

 

BRCC Technology Education and Development Building – Agreement

An Agreement regarding the BRCC Technology Education and Development Building was approved by the Board on August 18, 2004. Because such an agreement must be approved by Resolution, a Resolution to ratify the August 18, 2004 approval of the Agreement was presented for the Board’s consideration.

 

Item “M” - Water and Sewer Line Extensions (pulled for discussion)

Chairman Hawkins noted that the City of Hendersonville had requested County comments on a proposed water line extension and proposed sewer line extension. The water line extension project would extend an existing water line on General Hill Road, off NC 225. The sewer line extension would serve Custom Pak, which is located on Ridge Road and possibly some other nearby properties. Neither of the requests was in conformity with the County Comprehensive Plan.

 

Bill Moyer stated that the sewer line would serve Dana Elementary School, and would allow several businesses in the area to remain in business. Chairman Hawkins stated that extension of the waterline would be an extension into a rural agricultural area, one of the areas specified in the CCP for limited growth. Water and sewer lines invariably bring growth with them. These were the first major requests since the Board

 

adopted the CCP, and Chairman Hawkins felt people should know that the Board was considering compliance with that plan when making such decisions. Commissioner Moyer reminded the Board that as soon as the Water and Sewer Master Plan was in compliance with the CCP, then requests would go to the Water and Sewer Advisory Committee who would review those requests and inform the Board as to their compliance with the CCP. Chairman Hawkins made the motion to approve Item “M” as presented. All voted in favor and the motion carried.    

 

NOMINATIONS

Notification of Vacancies

The Board was notified of the following vacancies which will appear on the next agenda for nominations:

 

1.                Environmental Advisory Committee – 1 vac.

 

Commissioner Moyer informed the Board that there would be an additional vacancy upcoming on the EAC due to the recent unexpected death of Dennis Honnold.

 

Nominations

Chairman Hawkins reminded the Board of the following vacancies and opened the floor to nominations:

 

1.                Hendersonville Board of Adjustment – 1 vac.

There were no nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.

 

2.                Juvenile Crime Prevention Council – 4 vac.

There were no nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.

 

3.                Mountain Area Workforce Development Board – 4 vac.

There were no nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.

 

4.                Nursing/Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee – 1 vac.

Chairman Hawkins nominated Nuala Fay for reappointment to position #8.  There were no other nominations. Chairman Hawkins made the motion to accept Mrs. Fay by acclamation. All voted in favor and the motion carried.

   

5.                Planning for Older Adults Block Grant Advisory Committee – 3 vac.

There were no nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.

 

6.                Senior Volunteer Services Advisory Council – 1 vac.

There were no nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.

 

7.                Solid Waste Advisory Committee – 1 vac.

There were no nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.

 

IMPORTANT DATES

Board of Commissioners’ Meeting Dates

Chairman Hawkins asked the Board their preference for upcoming meeting dates and times since several Board members had expressed a desire to go to evening meetings. Commissioner Young stated that he preferred meeting at 6:00. There was discussion about which evenings worked best for the Board, and what effect a change to evening meetings might have on some of the County’s senior drivers. Commissioner Moyer stated that they changed the mid-September meeting in order to try a new schedule, and did not feel future meeting dates should be changed prior to trying out that fist change. He did suggest however, changing the time of the October 4th meeting from 5:30 to 6:00. Additional discussion regarding the meeting schedule would be held at the September 20th meeting. Chairman Hawkins made the motion to change the October 4th meeting time from 5:30 to 6:00. All voted in favor and the motion carried.

Set Quasi-Judicial Public Hearing on Vested Rights Application #VR-04-01 for WAWF, LLC (aka P.I. Storage, Inc.)

On August 18, 2004, the Planning Director received an application and site plan for a statutory vested right under Chapter 189 of the Henderson County Code from Mr. William L. Barnwell.  The application was for a proposed storage facility being constructed at 4001 Asheville Highway (the “subject property”).  The subject property had frontage on both Asheville Highway (US Highway 25 North) and Ferenvilla Drive.  WAWF, LLC, owned the subject property.

 

Chapter 189, the County’s Vested Rights Ordinance, implements the provisions of NCGS 153A-344.1, which provides the ability for a landowner to establish a statutory vested right for a development project through the approval of a site specific development plan.  The Vested Rights Ordinance requires that the Board of Commissioners hold a public hearing on the application and that such hearing be held within 45 days of its submittal.  Therefore, the Board must hold a hearing on Mr. Barnwell’s application on or before October 1, 2004. Ms. Smith pointed out however, that the applicant had requested that the Board waive the 45 day requirement.

 

Chairman Hawkins suggested the Board schedule a Special Called Meeting for the purpose of holding the quasi-judicial public hearing on vested rights application #VR-04-01. Chairman Hawkins made the motion to set a Special Called Meeting for Vested Rights Application #VR-04-01 for 6:00 on October 14, 2004. All voted in favor and the motion carried.  

 

Set Date to Resume Quasi-Judicial Public Hearing on Vested Rights Application

#VR-03-01 by Glade Land Fund, LLC, for the Proposed Fox Glen Planned Residential Development

At the Board’s meeting on March 17, 2004, the Board learned that Glade Land Fund, LLC, had requested that the Board table its vested rights application (#VR-03-01) for the proposed Fox Glen Planned Residential Development (see Attachment 1).  A quasi-judicial public hearing on the application (which was to be a continuation of a hearing that began on January 14, 2004), had been scheduled for March 22, 2004.  The Board decided to cancel the March 22, 2004 hearing. 

 

Glade Land Fund, LLC, had submitted a letter indicating that it now wanted to proceed with the vested rights application for Fox Glen (see Attachment 2).  The Board was therefore requested to schedule a date to resume the quasi-judicial hearing on vested rights application #VR-03-01. 

 

The hearing must be held and advertised in accordance with the County’s Vested Rights Ordinance (Chapter 189 of the County Code) and the Board of Commissioners’ Rules of Procedure for Quasi-Judicial Proceedings.  The Vested Rights Ordinance requires that a hearing be held within 45 days of submission of a vested rights application.  If the 45-day rule carries over to a reactivation of a vested rights application, the Board would have to hold a hearing on the application on or before October 15, 2004 (45 days from the September 1, 2004 date on which the County received the most recent letter from Glade Land Fund, LLC). 

 

Chairman Hawkins suggested the Board schedule a Special Called Meeting for the purpose of holding the quasi-judicial public hearing on vested rights application #VR-03-01. Chairman Hawkins made the motion to continue the Quasi-Judicial Hearing for #VR-03-01 for 6:00 on October 5, 2004. All voted in favor and the motion carried.  

 

SALES TAX

David Nicholson informed the Board that he had learned that only cities eligible for Powell Bill funds could receive Sales Tax distributions. The Powell Bill distributes funds to municipalities for street improvement and other transportation projects. In order to be eligible for Powell Bill funds, cities must levy and collect a property tax and for cities incorporated after January 1, 2000 appropriate funds for four of eight designated services within that law.

 

Mr. Nicholson expressed concern with regards to the Town of Mills River. It was his understanding that the Town did not file the form with the State in June to request Powell Bill funds. Mr. Nicholson had received budgetary information from the Town, but could not assure the Board that the Town met its obligation in order to have received a share of the Sales Tax for Fiscal Year 2003-2004. He suggested that a letter be sent from the County to Mills River asking them to review the General Statutes concerning this matter and to request verification from the NC Department of Revenue as to their eligibility for FY 2003-2004.

 

Chairman Hawkins suggested that this matter also be discussed later under “Legislative Goals”, because there seems to be no check from the State on whether newly incorporated Towns qualify to receive funds. There followed some discussion on how Flat Rock was affected by this law. Since it was unclear whether or not additional municipalities might be affected, Commissioner Moyer suggested finding out how they might all be affected before sending any correspondence. There followed additional discussion about the specifics of Powell Bill funds and the Statutes as they relate to Sales Tax. It was the consensus of the Board to have Mr. Nicholson send correspondence to the NC Department of Revenue asking for clarification on the Powell Bill, budgeted incorporation services and the eligibility for sales tax.  

 

INFORMAL PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were none.

 

Statement of Intention for the Work First Program

State law requires each county, biennially, to submit a County Work First Block Grant Plan to the Division of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The SFY 2005-2007 Plan was due to the State November 1, 2004. Each County Board of Commissioners is required, by statute, to:

Ø      Notify the State as to whether the county selects standard or electing status. Notification includes documentation of majority vote and the Chairman’s signature. That information was due to DHHS by September 30, 2004.

Ø      Appoint a member of the Board of Commissioners to the Workfirst Planning Committee.

Ø      Approve the Work First Planning Committee membership.

 

Chairman Hawkins had attended the Work First workshop, and it was the recommendation of that Committee to continue as a standard county. Commissioner Moyer made the motion to remain a standard county. All voted in favor and the motion carried.

 

Architectural Plans for County Services Building

David Nicholson reminded the Board that for the past several months, County staff had been working with Calloway, Johnson, Moore and West Architects in the design of the County Services Building. Mr. Nicholson noted that with regard to the actual construction of the building, the cost of steel had risen considerably. Therefore, a variety of alternative ways for designing the building were being considered to determine the most cost effective design.

 

Mr. Nicholson then introduced Alan McGuinn of Calloway, Johnson, Moore and West Architects. Mr. McGuinn explained that the design of the building was an “L” shaped building. He showed a variety of different drawings which showed the location of the departments to be located within the building. Located on the first floor were: Inspections, Planning and Zoning, Utilities, Elections, Property Addressing, Fire Marshal, Veteran’s Services, Environmental Health and the Health Department. Located on the second floor were: Social Services, Human Resources, Budget and Finance, County Manager, County Attorney and Board of Commissioners. There were also several areas where future expansion had been planned.

 

Mr. McGuinn explained that they were on schedule for the project. Bids were scheduled to be due in March, 2005 with the construction closeout being July 7th, 2006. Construction was anticipated to take 14 – 15 months. He stated that with respect to construction costs, the original construction budget was for $11,612,000 with a recommended 10% contingency. The recent increase in building materials appeared to have eroded that contingency money, and Mr. McGuinn suggested adding an additional 3-5% for contingency. The exterior of the structure is planned to be a metal building, with a metal stud construction with brick on a portion of the building and stucco on a portion of the building to make it look more appropriate to a government building.  

 

Mr. McGuinn then discussed the number of parking spaces, stating that they had a minimum of 320 and a goal of 350. The current plan reflected 373 parking spaces, with the possibility of expanding to 390. Chairman Hawkins questioned whether the project was still within budget, assuming the use of the contingency. Mr. McGuinn stated that they did foresee using the contingency and recommended adding an additional 3-5% contingency. Chairman Hawkins also asked whether the power line move was shown on the chart. Bill Byrnes, Risk Management Director, stated that Duke Power planned to have the power line moved by mid-May 2005. 

 

Commissioner Baldwin stated that recently some issues had come up with regards to programming. He questioned how space needs were derived, stating that he understood a study had been done for the other building which had been used and expanded upon. Mr. McGuinn answered that they had started with the existing program which had been done on the existing building. That programming was analyzed, then the architects met with every department about their space needs.

 

Commissioner Young questioned the number of parking spaces required by the City of Hendersonville per 200 square feet. Mr. McGuinn answered that the City would require 300 parking spaces for the building, so there was parking above what they would require. Commissioner Moyer stated that he did not feel that was an adequate way to look at the parking situation, since several very busy departments would be located in the building. He referenced a letter received from DSS stating that their department alone needed over 250 spaces. He felt that if all the departments’ needs were added up, the parking space needs would be closer to 500. Chairman Hawkins disagreed, stating that he had worked on those figures with the county manager. There followed much discussion about how many of the employees assigned to the departments were out of the office, occasional programs such as one-stop voting, Commissioners’ Meeting needs and the daily number of clients for DSS and the Health Department would affect the needed spaces.  

 

Commissioner Young referenced three letters recently received from the Board of Elections, the Board of Health and the Social Services Board. There followed considerable discussion about the possible reasons these letters were now being written and sent to the Board, and how the issues with those Boards might be resolved. The Board asked several questions of Mr. McGuinn regarding how he had worked with the departments in question to resolve their issues with the initial plans. The Board also asked several questions of Liston Smith, DSS Director, regarding how many parking places he currently had, how he computed how many he would need, and why it had taken to this point for the growth concerns to come to light.

 

There was then some discussion about the best configuration for entrances to the various departments within the building. Commissioner Moyer expressed concern about DSS and County Administration sharing the same entrance and hallway. David Nicholson stated that he had similar concerns about the entrance, and explained the various designs devised to address that issue. He also addressed the process taken to ensure that departments were aware of and satisfied with their designed space, stating that his departments were ready to go with the project. He reminded the Board though, that he had no supervisory or administrative responsibility for DSS, Elections or the Health Department – those departments do not work for the County Manager.

 

Chairman Hawkins expressed his concern over the timing of the receipt of the letters, stating that receiving them so late in the process seemed very suspect. He felt it was incumbent upon the Board to move forward with the project, noting the concerns in the letters. He asked Mr. McGuinn why he planned to wait until March to bid the project. Mr. McGuinn answered that they could try to accelerate that schedule, and could possibly have the construction documents ready by the end of the year. Chairman Hawkins felt the County should attend the December Local Government Commission meeting looking for the authority to borrow the money for the facility, and should be ready to go by early January.   

 

Commissioner Moyer felt that proceeding without further study, especially with regard to the entrance would be a mistake. He explained that there were occasionally situations where the building needed to be secured and there were occasional enforcement issues. David Nicholson stated that there were separate entrances planned for DSS to ensure safe ingress and egress, especially for children. Mr. McGuinn then went over the schematic drawings, pointing out traffic flows for various departments and exterior doors in addition to the main entrance/exit points.

 

There was additional discussion about the needed number of parking spaces. Mr. Nicholson stated that he would address parking for the various departments again. Commissioner Moyer stated that he was looking for a parking study on which the departments would sign-off agreeing to the average number of people who would be in the building at any one time, the average number of clients, the average number of visitors, etc. Commissioner Baldwin stated that he just needed to have faith in the process, know that the department’s needs had been assessed and there was adequate parking to address the needs. Mr. Nicholson stated that he felt that had been done, but was willing to look at it one more time.    

 

Chairman Hawkins asked that prior to the next Board meeting, Mr. Nicholson and Mr. McGuinn readdress the parking situation, and determine when the project could be ready to go out to bid. Mr. Nicholson noted that staff would already be having preliminary discussions with the Local Government Commission (LGC) in September for the school projects, and would address during that meeting what the County would be able to do in terms of financing. He pointed out that for the LGC to approve the financing, the County would actually have to have the bids in hand. He pointed out that the Board would also need to decide whether they wished to proceed with this on the same time schedule as the school projects, and whether they wished to do one COPs issue or a separate COPs issue. It was the consensus of the Board to bring this item back for further discussion at the next meeting. 

 

Legislative Goals

Mr. Hembree discussed some of the possible Legislative Goals for the 2005 session of the NC General Assembly. Chairman Hawkins had suggested a goal of clarification in terms of incorporation laws as they relate to Powell bills, the number of services the municipalities must provide, and how that impacts whether or not the municipalities receive sales tax.

 

Chairman Hawkins questioned whether removing restrictions on expenditures of 911 surcharges had been suggested before. Mr. Nicholson stated it had been requested previously, and that we continue to ask. Under “Growth Management”, Chairman Hawkins questioned the usefulness to Henderson County for either of the goals listed. He did feel that the “Public Notice Requirements” was a particularly good goal, because of how much money the County has to spend placing notices in the local media.

 

Commissioner Messer questioned the sales tax that was scheduled to roll back from the Governor and the General Assembly, stating that could happen soon. Justin Hembree stated that the top two things on the Association’s Legislative Goals for any session deal with a revenue menu and protections for local revenues. He discussed protecting that ½ cent sales tax so it wouldn’t revert back to the State. Commissioner Moyer stated that the ½ cent sales tax was due to sunset at the end of December, but the clear message coming from the legislature was that they were not going to consider a revenue menu. He stated that what they would consider though, was putting the burden on the counties to pick up the additional ½ cent sales tax after it sunsets. He felt one of the major goals should be the ability to pick up the ½ cent sales tax starting January 1st if we need it.

 

Chairman Hawkins spoke in favor of three goals dealing with collection of motor vehicle taxes. He then questioned one of the goals dealing with land rent studies, asking what land rent studies were. Justin Hembree stated that it was his understanding that the State was supposed to do studies every year to determine the value of land rented out primarily for agricultural uses. Over the past year the State had not performed those studies, so the Assessor’s Office was using old figures while trying to come up with a formula to update those figures. The goal was to ask the legislature to fund the Department of Revenue to do the studies because local governments were seeing a significant loss in revenue based on the value of rent being provided.

 

There followed discussion about several additional goals on the proposed list, including the definition of a “charitable hospital” and the need for a “Transfer of Development Rights Program”. Chairman Hawkins asked Mr. Hembree to condense the list based on the conversation, with the additions of the incorporation laws and the ½ cent sales tax. David Nicholson requested the addition of a goal dealing with primary runoffs, discussing the exorbitant cost to the County for holding a primary runoff. Commissioner Moyer made the motion to approve the list of legislative goals with the addition of the three items suggested and submit it. Commissioner Moyer amended his motion to delete the goal regarding “charitable hospitals”.  All voted in favor and the motion carried.

Non-Profit Grant Agreements

Selena Coffey presented 17 contracts to the Board for consideration. Fifteen of those had been on the last agenda, and there were two additional contracts on which the organization had requested revisions to the contracts. Several issues on the contracts had been raised by the Board at the previous meeting. One of those was a numbering issue - four of the contracts had been amended and had an additional numbered paragraph which  dealt with clarification of the application/contract.

 

Chairman Hawkins suggested for all the contracts, issuing a letter stating that the audit only dealt with the county funds. David Nicholson stated that in some cases audits of the county funds would be very simple, while others would be more difficult. He explained that such audits would likely be in the case where the county felt there had been a misappropriation of funds. Commissioner Baldwin disagreed, stating that he felt the audits should show what the county’s funds had allowed them to do it terms of an outcome or service. Mr. Nicholson stated that he felt the annual report would accomplish that goal. Angela Beeker felt that it might be good to clarify that if it was necessary to audit an organization’s entire records to see how the county’s funds were spent, we would have the right to do that. Chairman Hawkins suggested sending out a letter to all the non-profits to clarify that.      

 

There was then discussion about a clause in the contract which stated that the Board of Commissioners had the right to appoint an ex-officio member to the governing board of the agency. ECO had requested that clause be stricken because it would require ECO to revise their by-laws. Commissioner Moyer stated that we were reserving the right to do that with each organization, though to many the county contribution was a very small part of their budget. He did not feel that asking for the right to that ex-officio member was necessary or appropriate. Commissioner Baldwin agreed that the Board should not try to control how the organizations were providing the services, he just wanted to make sure the County was getting the most they could for the money spent. It was the consensus of the Board that in the letter being sent out, explaining that it was not the Board’s intent to exercise that right this year, and that it would not be included in future contracts. Chairman Hawkins made the motion to approve the contracts with the stipulation that the County correspond as indicated to all the agencies. All voted in favor and the motion carried.   

 

Strategic Plan & Comprehensive County Plan Implementation Schedules

David Nicholson stated that two things had happened in the past few months that had caused staff to relook at the Strategic Plan. First was the adoption of the County Comprehensive Plan (CCP). The question was how to take all the steps in the CCP and roll them into the Strategic Plan. Staff had brought to the Board one of the Board’s responsibilities associated with the Strategic Plan which was to determine the water and sewer extensions. At that time the Board indicated that they had talked about that issue as part of the CCP, and asked staff to find some way of integrating the Strategic Plan and CCP together.

 

Mr. Nicholson stated that he viewed the Strategic Plan as the work plan for the year, it is the overall project and underneath it is the specific actions to be taken. The Board had questioned how the Strategic Plan and the CCP fit together. Mr. Nicholson stated that the CCP had lots of details in it, lots of information about things the Board would like to accomplish. He saw no reason to repeat those details in the CCP, but to have them in the Strategic Plan as a reference point.

 

Mr. Nicholson had staff go through the Strategic Plan and tell him what had been done, what had not been done, and if done where was it done. The adoption of the CCP had accomplished a lot of things the Board wanted to complete this year to some extent. The process had resulted in a combined Strategic Plan and CCP Implementation Schedule. Chairman Hawkins felt that combining the documents into a single document to look at made logical sense. Ms. Coffey noted that the combined chart only included Phase I, which only went through 2007, making it more of a short term document.

 

Commissioner Moyer expressed some concern over the format, stating that not having the target dates in sequence made it difficult to sort and prioritize. David Nicholson stated that he had asked Mr. Hembree to sort and prioritize, and would bring that back to the Board if they approved the format. There was discussion about the “ongoing” target dates and the usefulness of that term. David Nicholson stated that staff would work on a priority list by date so they could start working on the issues.

Delivery of services

Chairman Hawkins stated that he wished to discuss the delivery of services in the mental health area. Within the community there had been several serious incidents involving mental health. Emergency rooms at both Pardee and Park Ridge were becoming inundated with mental health problems, and were poorly equipped to handle such problems. As a result, there was an unsatisfactory situation in the County. The Sheriff’s Department had communicated problems they were having with deputies spending so much time trying to get people into needed services. Chairman Hawkins had also tracked the large number of transports the Sheriff’s Department was making between the confinement facility and Broughton, which made serious demands on law enforcement and law enforcement personnel. He requested the Board challenge the County Manager within the coming month to look at some method of filling the gap.

 

David Nicholson stated that he already had some good news on that issue, when Trend books close on June 30, 2005 they will have a positive fund balance. He stated that he would like to have organizations such as Mountain Laurel, DSS, Health Department complete a grant type application to receive funds to provide mental health services. Chairman Hawkins asked David Nicholson to bring back more detail on solutions to the problem in October. Commissioner Young questioned whether other counties were having similar issues. David Nicholson answered that every county in the state was experiencing similar problems. One of the problems with finding private providers to provide services is that Medicaid rates had still not been received. There was additional discussion about how the jail was also being affected.      

 

Chairman Hawkins also discussed property addressing and the 911 system. The CAD system generated from property addressing is what operates the 911 system. Several counties operate those as a separate department, and he suggested looking at the organizational structure and trying to find ways in which to expand services in that area. He asked Mr. Nicholson to look at placing the 911 center under the control of the Emergency Management Department.  

 

CLOSED SESSION

Chairman Hawkins made the motion for the Board to go into closed session as allowed pursuant to NCGS 143-318.11 for the following reason(s):

 

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 a claim.

 

2. (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.

 

ADJOURN

There being no further business to come before the Board, Chairman Hawkins made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:22 p.m.  All voted in favor and the motion carried. 

 

Attest:

 

 

                                                                                                                                                           

Elizabeth W. Corn, Clerk to the Board                           Grady Hawkins, Chairman