MINUTES
STATE
OF NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF
COMMISSIONERS
COUNTY
OF HENDERSON OCTOBER 18, 2004
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 Grady Hawkins, Vice-Chairman Larry
Young, Commissioner Bill Moyer, Commissioner Charlie Messer, Commissioner
Shannon Baldwin, 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, Budget and Management Director Selena Coffey,
Paralegal Connie Rayfield, and Public Information Officer Chris S. Coulson. Deputy
Clerk to the Board Amy Brantley was present through nominations.
CALL TO ORDER/WELCOME
Chairman Hawkins called
the meeting to order and welcomed all in attendance.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Commissioner Moyer led
the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag.
INVOCATION
David Nicholson gave the
invocation.
DISCUSSION/ADJUSTMENT OF AGENDA
Commissioner Baldwin
requested an addition under Discussion Items as “E – Cemeteries/grave sites”
There were no other
adjustments.
Chairman Hawkins made the motion to accept the agenda as
amended. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
CONSENT AGENDA
Chairman Hawkins made the motion to accept the Consent
Agenda as presented. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Minutes
Draft minutes were
presented for the Board’s review and approval of the following meeting(s):
September 20, 2004, regular meeting
Tax Collector’s Report
Terry F. Lyda, Henderson
County Tax Collector, had presented the Tax Collector’s Report dated October 18
for the Board’s information.
Tax Releases
A list of 64 tax release
requests was submitted for the Board’s approval.
Tax Refunds
A list of 11 tax refunds
was submitted for the Board’s approval.
Cane Creek District – Extension
Staff had submitted a
routine sewer line extension for the Board’s information only. No action was required.
The applicant (Bagwell
Subdivision or Windsor Aughtry) had requested permission to construct
approximately 2,452 linear feet of 8” gravity sewer line to serve their 62 lot
residential subdivision.
The sewer line extension
will connect to an existing CCWSD Sewer Line.
Upon completion of the sewer line extension, the applicant will deed the
sewer system to Henderson County. The Applicant will bear the entire cost of
the project.
The proposed residential
development will generate approximately 18,600 GPD of domestic wastewater,
which has been approved for treatment by MSD.
The wastewater allocation is not part of Henderson County’s 1.35 MGD
allocation. The allocation will come
from MSD’s reserve and the applicant will have to pay the MSD facility fees.
The Henderson County
Utilities Department recommended approval of this application being conditional
upon the following:
Applicant complying with the sewer use ordinances of
Henderson County and
MSD and the rules and regulations of the Utilities
Department.
The sewer line extension
is considered routine since the allocation request will come from the MSD
reserve, no funding is requested by the applicant, no annexation is
involved.
County Manager, David
Nicholson, had approved the request.
Transfer Station Expansion
The volume of solid
waste being processed currently at the Henderson County Transfer Station has
grown since the Transfer Station was constructed in 1997. Data indicates that in 1998 flow was 37,000
tons, while in 2004 flow is estimated to be 63,000 tons. Because the Transfer Station is approaching
its maximum capacity, it is time to begin planning for the addition of the
second bay.
When the transfer
station was originally designed and constructed, the addition of a second bay
was anticipated; therefore the Station was designed and placed to accommodate
the second bay. Additionally,
preliminary design work was done for the second bay at that time.
Staff believes it would
be advisable to proceed to negotiate a contract with the engineering firm that
originally designed the Transfer Station, Cam, Dresser, and McKee (CDM), as
they have already performed the preliminary design work, and collected the
necessary data to design the second bay.
They are very familiar with the site, and would require much less time
to complete the design of the second bay than another firm would. Additionally, they provided excellent service
to the County previously.
NCGS 143-64.32 allows the
Board to exempt itself from the bidding requirements for design services. A resolution had been prepared to accomplish
this exemption, and was presented for the Board’s consideration on this
project.
Fletcher Fire & Rescue Loan
Fletcher Fire and Rescue
is planning to build a sub-station in the Naples area along the Asheville
Highway. The department plans to borrow $1,400,000 to refinance the main
station at a lower interest rate, and for construction of the sub-station. First Citizens Bank and Trust Company will
provide financing at an interest rate of 3.92% for sixteen years with an annual
payment of $114,000.
The refinance and
construction project was discussed with the Fire & Rescue Advisory
Committee on June 21, 2004, resulting in a favorable recommendation by
unanimous vote.
Fletcher Fire &
Rescue respectfully requested the Chairman sign the prepared letter to First
Citizens Bank and Trust Company.
Mr. Nicholson
recommended that the Board approve this request based on the vote of the Fire
and Rescue Advisory Committee’s action.
Budget Amendment
A proposed budget
amendment was presented for the Board’s review and approval to place funds back
in the departmental budgets as requested by the Board of Commissioners at their
October 4 meeting to cover the cost of bonuses to be awarded to employees
during the current fiscal year. These
funds were originally appropriated in the General Fund Budget (Human Resources
Department) to cover the cost of beginning to implement the results of a
compensation study that will be conducted in the current fiscal year, but would
be deferred for funding until Fiscal Year 2006.
Therefore, no new funds are required in the current budget to cover the
cost of paying employee bonuses in the current fiscal year.
Deed of Release
The Board was presented
with a Deed of Release, releasing the County’s security interest in a
residential property that was going to be receiving improvements as a part of
the Scattered Site Housing Program being administered by the County as part of the
Community Development Block Grant. The
property owner had indicated that she no longer wishes to participate in the
Program and she requested that the Deed of Trust which secures the monies that
would have been spent from the Grant be released.
No monies from the Grant
have been spent on this property.
The County Attorney had
prepared the Deed of Release and requested that the Board approve it. The
County Manager also recommended approval.
Request for Extension of Improvement Guarantee for The Homestead
at Mills River, Phase I
On March 17, 2004, the
Board of Commissioners approved an application submitted by The Homestead at
Mills River, LLC, and River Oaks Joint Venture, LLC, for an improvement
guarantee for Phase I of a subdivision known as The Homestead at Mills
River. As required by the Performance
Guarantee Agreement for the improvement guarantee, the developer posted with
Henderson County a surety performance bond in an amount of at least
$1,807,500.00 to cover the cost of completing improvements in The Homestead at
Mills River, Phase I, including earthwork, road construction, installation of
erosion control measures and storm drainage work. The actual amount of the bond provided to the
County was $1,886,250.00. The Agreement
also required that the required improvements be completed by October 31,
2004. The expiration date on the bond is
December 31, 2004.
The Planning Department
has received a letter from Scott McElrath, Manager of The Homestead at Mills
River, LLC, requesting that the County extend the deadline for completing the
improvements specified in the original Agreement by eight (8) months. The proposed new completion date would be
June 30, 2005. Mr. McElrath’s letter
states that wet weather and the need to blast rock have delayed progress in
completing the improvements. Section
170-39 of the Subdivision Ordinance allows the Board of Commissioners “upon
proof of difficulty” to grant extensions to completion dates for improvement
guarantees for a maximum of one additional year, provided that the time between
initiation and completion of the improvements does not exceed two years.
If the Board of
Commissioners agrees to extend the completion date for the improvement
guarantee for The Homestead at Mills River, Phase I, staff had prepared for the
Board’s consideration a draft Performance Guarantee Agreement which reflects a
new improvements completion date of June 30, 2005, and requires submittal of an
amendment to the surety performance bond showing an expiration date not earlier
than 60 days after such new improvements completion date. The new Performance Guarantee Agreement must
be executed by the relevant parties if the Board approves the extension
request.
The County Manager
expressed that 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 Homestead at Mills River, Phase I, to June 30,
2005, provided that an amended surety performance bond is submitted in
accordance with the new Performance Guarantee Agreement.
NOMINATIONS
Notification of Vacancies
The Board was notified
of the following vacancies which will appear on the next agenda for
nominations:
1.
Apple
Country Greenway Committee – 1 vac.
2.
Hendersonville
Planning Board – 1 vac.
Nominations
Chairman Hawkins
reminded the Board of the following vacancies and opened the floor to
nominations:
1.
Cable Franchise Renewal
Advisory Committee – 6 vac.
There
were no nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
2.
Community Child
Protection Team – 3 vac.
There
were no nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
3.
Hendersonville Board of
Adjustment – 1 vac.
There
were no nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
4.
Hendersonville Planning
Board – 1 vac.
Commissioner
Young nominated Steven Orr. There were no other nominations. Chairman Hawkins made the motion to accept
Mr. Orr by acclamation. All voted in
favor and the motion carried.
5.
Juvenile Crime
Prevention Council – 4 vac.
Chairman
Hawkins nominated Doug Jones. There were
no other nominations. Chairman Hawkins made the motion to accept
Mr. Jones by acclamation. All voted in
favor and the motion carried.
6.
Library Board of
Trustees – 1 vac.
Chairman
Hawkins said he had talked with Mr. Tom Orr who is already on two Boards. Chairman Hawkins withdrew Mr. Orr’s name from
nomination. There were no further
nominations at this time. Chairman Hawkins made the motion that Joy
Perry be accepted by acclamation. All
voted in favor and the motion carried (Ms. Perry was nominated on 10/4/04).
7.
Mountain Area Workforce
Development Board – 1 vac.
There
were no nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
8.
Planning for Older
Adults Block Grant Advisory Committee – 2 vac.
There
were no nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
SOLID WASTE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (SWAC) REPORT
Bill Ramsey, Chairman of
the SWAC, presented their annual report to the Board. He stated that the Committee had worked very
effectively with the County Engineer, Gary Tweed. They have met quarterly. Many of their members are completely dedicated
to the betterment of our solid waste situation in Henderson County.
Mr. Ramsey started by
reviewing their two principal objectives determined for them by the Board of
Commissioners:
They
have explored websites and publications on the topic. They met with Land of Sky representatives on
the topic. To date, their search has yet
to offer any answers for Henderson County.
Worldwide, only a few waste-to-energy technologies are being
tested. The technology is proving
difficult as related pollution issues and the economies must be satisfied. If and when a technology emerges, as it
appears likely it must, the available waste stream in a rural county like
Henderson is not likely to support the investment required to use it. The committee will continue to search for
answers.
Conclusion – It is unlikely that any
non-traditional method of solid waste disposal will be available to Henderson
County over our long-term planning horizon.
SWAC
has communicated with and encouraged its registered Adopt-A-Highway member
organizations to participate twice a year in the North Carolina Clean Sweep drives. Reports from the DOT indicate that
participation in these events has increased the twice a year pick-up
volume. Mr. Ramsey thanked those who
have participated and stated they would seek to add more participating groups
to the program.
The
closing of the Stoney Mountain Corrections facility permanently eliminated the
most effective and available litter pick-up labor. We lost approximately 120 full man-days of
monthly litter pick-up with that closing.
Committee
members have had contact with law enforcement agencies and have been informed
that other law enforcement priorities and the difficulty of actually catching
anyone in the act of littering severely limits enforcement effectiveness. Rarely are littering tickets written. Our best hope is to inform and inspire the
public. If the public curtails
littering, we will enjoy a dramatic reduction in the need for pick-up.
Conclusion – The County is likely to
see litter persist at the level now evident.
Mr. Ramsey briefly
reviewed some additional SWAC objectives and conclusions:
Prospects for Regional
Co-Operation.
Conclusion – Henderson
County must solve its own solid waste disposal problem. Transfer to South Carolina landfill
location(s) is the only obvious answer for the next several years.
Enterprise Economics.
Conclusion – Henderson
County needs to revise or replace the Enterprise approach.
Recycling Needs and
Economics.
Conclusion – The County
Engineer has a plan for improving the recycling capability and reducing
operating expense. We should consider
that plan. Henderson County should
promote the establishment of a regional MuRF.
We must reduce our operating and hauling expenses if recycling is to
survive.
Facilities Needs.
Conclusion – We need a
second scale to handle the needs of those exiting the site. We need a second transfer bay to keep up with
the projected growth in tonnage. We could make these improvements at the
present Stoney Mountain location; however, we should also consider creating a
second transfer location in the southern part of the county. A new location would make disposal trips
shorter for waste haulers and reduce Stoney Mountain highway and site
congestion.
Franchising of Waste
Haulers.
Conclusion – The County
should study the regulations of haulers and consider revisiting the franchising
issue. Those services that do not operate appropriate equipment should be
required to do so.
Public Education.
Conclusion – We need to
organize an active effort to educate the public. Unless this effort is successful, the waste generating
public will not understand the existing program or be ready to adapt to and
fund needed changes in the future.
Mr. Ramsey stated that
for the time being we appear to be alright but there are many things that could
go wrong and it’s probably time to start looking at alternatives.
WORK FIRST BLOCK GRANT PLAN
Patti Leonard reminded
the Board that in accordance with the State biennial planning schedule,
Henderson County Department of Social Services had prepared a recommended Work
First Block Grant Plan for FY 2005-2007.
The State requested the plan be submitted on or before November 1, 2004.
Henderson County’s Work
First Planning Committee had worked on and reviewed the plan. The Board of Social Services plans to review
the plan at their meeting on October 19, prior to it being submitted.
Certification of the
Board of Commissioners’ majority approval of the plan, with the Chairman’s
signature, was what was requested.
Mr. Nicholson stated
that the plan must be submitted to the State by November 1, 2004. The Board of Social Services will not review
it until Tuesday, October 19, 2004. He
suggested that the Board approve the Plan contingent on the final approval by
the Board of Social Services. He also
suggested that the Board give the Board of Social Services some flexibility
should they wish to make some minor changes, as long as it doesn’t change the
basic Plan.
Chairman Hawkins made the motion to approve the Plan (with
date amendment as indicated by Ms. Leonard) contingent on approval by the Board
of Social Services at their meeting. All
voted in favor and the motion carried.
INFORMAL PUBLIC COMMENTS
He
likened the Planning Board of Henderson County to a benevolent dictatorship.
Mr. Vogel asked the Board to please hear the people and not destroy their
properties, do this county a favor and increase the tax base.
In
recent months they began a project to locate for purposes of memorials all the
Confederate Soldiers graves in Henderson County. In addition to that they decided to add in
all the Union Soldiers that they discovered in the course of that work.
When
they got to the field and began doing the research on the cemeteries, they
discovered a much larger problem due primarily to the condition of the
cemeteries and the abandoned state of many of them.
Mr.
Arrowood stated that they realize this is primarily a private property issue
and a family issue and that many of these cemeteries are in fact on private
land. In Henderson County we have 67
church-maintained cemeteries and 112 family cemeteries. The biggest problems are in the family cemetery
areas. Not only is this a family
responsibility but they feel it is a county responsibility that needs to be
brought to the attention of the Board of Commissioners.
As a
result of their findings, Mr. Arrowood read three proposals for the Board of
Commissioners:
“In
light of the deplorable conditions of cemeteries found in the course of SCV
survey efforts and the responsibility outlined in GS 65-1 through 65-3 we
hereby request that the County Board of Commissioners take the following steps:
1. Designate a specific county agency and individuals to assume responsibility
for the registration and preservation of cemeteries and note that
responsibility in those agencies’ and individual’s written job descriptions; 2.
Create a registry of all cemeteries in Henderson County and note the locations
of those cemeteries on deed plats and in the county’s geographical information
system (GIS); 3. Monitor the condition of cemeteries and assign county
employees as necessary to clean or to mark the boundaries of those cemeteries
that are endangered or in a state of abandonment.”
One of the male speakers
regarding cemeteries came forward to add an addendum to what he had previously
said. He stated that they also have a
Camp in Yancey County, the John Palmer Camp in Burnsville. They have been doing cemetery work for a
number of years. Their men have gone out
and located the boundaries of all the existing cemeteries with the GPS system,
which has enabled them to find the exact boundaries. Yancey County now has a database that allows
them to physically locate every cemetery so there is no dispute. He would like
to see that done in Henderson County as well with our GIS.
ONE NORTH CAROLINA FUND APPLICATION
Scott Hamilton addressed
the Board on this issue. The Henderson
County Partnership for Economic Development had requested that Henderson County
apply for a One North Carolina Fund grant for Raflatac, Inc. A copy of the Fund’s guidelines and
Procedures and the Local Government Development Form was included for the
Board’s review and information. The Fund
requires that a local government apply and then administer this grant. This program requires a local match. They plan to use the funds that Henderson
County had already pledged to Raflatac as an Economic Development Grant.
Mr. Nicholson informed
the Board that this program was changed a few years ago and now requires that
Henderson County apply and administrate the grant (the county that is home to
the industry). They will be using our grant to match funds from this State
account. He recommended that the Board
approve the filing of this application.
Following some
discussion, Chairman Hawkins made the
motion that the Board approve the filing of the application as requested. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
UPDATE ON PENDING ISSUES
Emergency Communications Charter
Staff had drafted a
charter and included it for the Board’s review and consideration.
Mr. Nicholson suggested
that the Board consider this as a “Notification of Vacancy” tonight so staff
could draft letters (for the Chairman’s signature) to the agencies to ask for
their representative for the committee. Hopefully we would have those responses
back for the next Commission meeting.
There was much
discussion about the organizational structure of the E-911 center and who they
should report to, as well as politics and continuity of services.
Following discussion, Chairman Hawkins made the motion to approve
the proposed Charter as presented. A
vote was taken and the motion carried three to two with Commissioners Moyer and
Messer voting nay.
Public Transit Study
In a memo from Mr.
Nicholson to the Commissioners dated October 12 it states – “Today, County
staff met with Mr. Brian Piascik. Mr.
Piascik is a Senior Project Manager with URS Corporation. URS Corporation has contracted with the
French Broad MPO to complete a public transit plan that will provide the Board
of Commissioners various options in terms of operations and funding for our
local public transit system. Henderson
County must submit a plan that details the County’s plans for the future of the
public transit system to NCDOT no later than December 31, 2004.
As part of the planning
process, Mr. Piascik has scheduled a workshop to assist him in understanding
our local needs and priorities for public transportation. Twenty to twenty-five stakeholders will be
invited to participate in the workshop.
The agenda for the workshop will cover: 1) the benefits of the local
public transit system and jurisdictional structures of the local transit
system. The workshop will be held from 9
am until 1 pm on Friday, November 5th in the Commissioners’ Meeting
Room.
Mr. Piascik has asked
that County staff along with a County Commissioner participate in the workshop. It is requested that one Commissioner be
appointed to represent the Board at the workshop.”
Chairman Hawkins asked
if Commissioner Moyer might be willing to attend the workshop since he has been
very active with transportation issues.
CEMETERIES/GRAVE SITES – this
was an add-on by Commissioner Baldwin
Commissioner Baldwin
informed the Board that he has gone out and looked at a number of
cemeteries. He revisited the cemetery in
Hooper’s Creek with several people including Mr. Miller, Mr. Arrowood, and Dr.
George Jones. He named several cemeteries they visited.
Commissioner Baldwin
stated that many of them are not well kept.
Visiting these cemeteries makes you realize that the decendents of most
of these people have been scattered.
Many of these graves are from the original settlers that settled
Henderson County.
During some of these
visits, Commissioner Baldwin was made aware of the legislation on the books in
North Carolina that warranted review by the Board of Commissioners.
Commissioner Baldwin
stressed that the immediate need was to try to maintain what we have or try to
stop some of the destruction. The second
phase would be to maintain and improve and the third phase would be doing
something creative and creating a history trail throughout the county. He stated that our history is rich and is
deep. Not only is it about Appalachian
culture but it is also about Southern culture as well.
He expressed that there
were some good ideas in Mr. Arrowood’s proposal. He stated that we need to clearly understand
the law. He also felt that the Board
could do something this evening to begin the process.
Some discussion followed
from several Commissioners. It was suggested that the County Attorney research
the statutes and find what the Board’s responsibilities are and make a
recommendation to the Board.
The County Attorney
and/or the County Manager will report back to the Board of Commissioners at the
next Board meeting with legal responsibilities and an action plan.
IMPORTANT DATES
Chairman Hawkins
discussed the setting of the mid-month November meeting. Due to several other obligations, Thursday,
November 30 seemed the better date for Commissioners to have their second
meeting of the month. Chairman Hawkins made the motion to set the
second meeting in November for Tuesday, November 30 at 6:00 p.m. All voted in
favor and the motion carried.
There was the need to
set the meeting with Leadership Development of Henderson County. This consists
of high school students. They have
requested November 18 as the date. There
were three Commissioners who committed to being at the November 18th
meeting, Bill, Charlie, and Larry. The
meeting was tentatively set for November 18th, with the time to be
set later.
Angela Beeker discussed
her recently submitted resignation from Henderson County Government, effective
January 3, 2005. She read her resignation
letter, announcing her resignation publicly.
The Board was reminded
of a special called meeting for Wednesday to hold a Quasi-Judicial proceeding.
Commissioner Messer
discussed the need for a Cane Creek Water and Sewer Advisory Board meeting. He will
inform the Board of the date and time once the meeting is set.
CANE CREEK WATER & SEWER DISTRICT – no
business
CLOSED SESSION – none
ADJOURN
There being no further
business to come before the Board, Chairman Hawkins adjourned the meeting at
7:49 p.m.
Attest:
Elizabeth W. Corn, Clerk
to the Board Grady Hawkins, Chairman