June 8, 2020 - 6:00 PM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Special)

10 417 Meeting of the Johnston County Board of Commissioners June 8 , 2020 Special Meeting The Johnston County Board of Commissioners met in special session Monday , June 8 , 2020 at 6 00 pm in the Second Floor Meeting Room of the Public Library of Johnston County and Smithfield located at 305 E Market Street in Smithfield , North Carolina The following members were present Present Chairman Ted G Godwin , Vice Chairman Chad M Stewart , Jeffrey P Carver , Larry Wood , Tony Braswell , Patrick E Harris , and RS “ Butch ” Lawter , Jr Absent None Also Present County Manager Rick J Hester , Clerk to the Board Paula G Woodard , Finance Officer and Assistant County Manager J Chad McLamb , and County Attorney Jennifer J Slusser Chairman Ted G Godwin called the meeting to order at 6 00 pm and announced the purpose of the meeting is to discuss the proposed Fiscal Year 2020 - 2021 County budget and related budget matters 1 Special Olympics of Johnston County Carolyn Stafford , Volunteer Coordinator for the Special Olympics of Johnston County , addressed the Board and requested funding to support their activities Ms Stafford stated the number of athletes participating in the Special Olympics is increasing every year and they have a total of 13 different sports She spoke on some of their past sporting events including tennis , equestrian , and alpine skiing Ms Stafford reported because of the COVID - 19 Pandemic , they were unable to hold spring games this year and the summer games have also been canceled Ms Stafford stated with the new year coming , their goals and plans have changed due to the pandemic and they are awaiting guidance from the CDC and the International Committee on how to move forward She noted they are trying to continue activities virtually wherever possible Upon questions by Chairman Ted G Godwin , Ms Stafford stated they serve over 650 participants She stated they do have other funding sources , but that has also been impacted by the pandemic Ms Stafford noted many people cannot donate as much as they normally would because they are out of work due to the pandemic She asked the Board to consider providing funding to support their activities in the coming year 2 My Kids Club Wendy Kelly , Board of Directors Member for the My Kids Club of Johnston County , addressed the Board Ms Kelly thanked the Board for their past support to My Kids Club She introduced Executive Director Alison Gammage to provide more information regarding their funding request Ms Gammage stated her role in My Kids Club is to offer a strategic approach to addressing the needs of Johnston County’s youth in partnership with the school system , principals , administrators , teachers , and other community members Ms Gammage stated the needs of the youth in Johnston County include education , food and nutrition , civic engagement , character education , support , and hope She stated they have been able to continue offering services remotely during the COVID - 19 Pandemic and spoke on some of those activities Ms Gammage stated since Hurricane Matthew in 2016 , they have been working on a new building She noted their old building had to be demolished due to effects from Hurricane Matthew Ms Gammage stated the new building is estimated to cost 155 million and is planned for construction next to the original site Ms Gammage stated they have begun their capital campaign and have received two letters of strong commitment Ms Gammage stated they envision a community building that will be accessible to the public as well as the children Ms Gammage asked the Board to consider making an additional commitment of 75,000 towards the project which will be added to the previously allocated 25,000 for a total of 100,000 She offered to answer any questions Commissioner Larry Wood asked when they hope to have the new facility open Ms Gammage stated at the present , there are many unknowns , but they are hopeful the facility can open as soon as possible Page418 June 8 , 2020 – 6 00 pm Continued Jean Kelly , Board of Directors Member , spoke in support of Ms Gammage and their request Ms Kelly stated she has been on the Board of Directors since 2006 and has watched it grow She asked the Board to consider donating to their cause Shirley Cohen , Board of Directors Member , stated as a retired educator , she has always worked with children and it is her mission to help others and to teach children how to help others Ms Cohen spoke on the importance of strengthening relationships so that no matter what the circumstances are , we can overcome anything 3 Public Library of Johnston County & Smithfield Library Director Renita Barksdale thanked the Board of Commissioners for their support and she thanked Finance Director Chad McLamb for helping them recently to make sure they are being fiscally responsible for the Library Ms Barksdale stated the Library serves a population of 178,000 and partners with their affiliate libraries in Benson , Four Oaks , Kenly , Princeton , and Selma Ms Barksdale spoke on some of the programs offered by the Library and presented the following statistics ? Items checked out – 312,628 ? People visited the Library – 205,147 ? Library Cardholders – 96,326 ? Public Computer Sessions – 88,419 ? Children Attending Library Programs – 9,270 Ms Barksdale thanked the Board for their investment in the Library , which helps support and provide resources for the community Library Board Chairman Jeff Jennings stated they appreciate the support from the County Commissioners Mr Jennings stated this has been an interesting year and they appreciate the guidance from Finance Director Chad McLamb and County Manager Rick Hester Mr Jennings also briefly spoke on some of the virtual activities they have continued to offer during the COVID - 19 Pandemic 4 Partnership for Children of Johnston County Partnership for Children Executive Director Dr Dwight Morris shared information with the Board on their work with grade level reading He recognized their staff and Board of Directors for their work and support to the Partnership for Children Dr Morris stated their Committee for the Grade Level Reading Campaign was established in 2019 to develop a community solutions action plan for the County Dr Morris stated they have leaders from the faith community , parents , education , and businesses involved in the campaign He stated the campaign was charged with improving key indicators for grade level reading which include kindergarten readiness , school attendance and summer learning loss Dr Morris stated in the last nine months more than 52 community members have engaged in this process in an effort to map out current resources , identify any gaps , set goals , and identify short and long term strategies Dr Morris stated even though COVID - 19 has impacted their timeline , they have continued to work to have a plan in place by the end of the summer Dr Morris stated the Partnership has continued to promote a number of literacy efforts around the County and raised over 18,000 to build four story walks He stated they have delivered more than 160,000 books to more than 10,500 children since December of 2017 Dr Morris stated they are asking the County to continue its support of their programs as well as contribute to new initiatives with a total allocation of 50,000 for this coming fiscal year Monique Boyd spoke on the work of the Grade Level Reading Campaign and stated research has shown that if students who have a lower socioeconomic background are reading at grade level by third grade then there is a better chance they will go on to college , start a career , or enter the military Ms Boyd stated it is the hopes of the campaign to create a more productive society 5 Harbor Executive Director Kay Johnson addressed the Board and stated Johnston County is ranked third in the State of North Carolina for domestic violence , behind Wake and Guilford Counties She stated the numbers continue to increase and unfortunately , during the COVID - 19 Pandemic they have seen an increase withPage419 June 8 , 2020 – 6 00 pm Continued individuals coming to them for assistance with domestic violence protection orders Ms Johnston stated in 2018 - 2019 , they served over 689 individuals with domestic violence protection orders Ms Johnson stated their advocates have continued to work even through the COVID - 19 Pandemic to support those that need assistance Ms Johnson stated the crisis calls in 2018 - 2019 were over 1,000 and 122 sexual assault victims received assistance Ms Johnson stated they are looking forward to the implementation of their sexual assault nurse examiners program , which is a collaboration with Johnston Health and Johnston County Public Health She stated through this collaboration , they now have a sexual assault coordinator with Harbor and ten contract nurses that are trained and ready to assist victims Ms Johnson thanked all the volunteers that work with Harbor and noted in 2018 - 2019 they had over 3,892 volunteer hours Ms Johnson spoke on the rise in human trafficking and stated they are seeing an increase in victims coming to them for assistance She spoke on the difficulties of working with human trafficking situations and stated they have developed a program that they will begin to look for grant funding to support Ms Johnson stated they are asking for an increase in funding this year because they have already been notified that the Governor’s Crime Commission grant funding will be decreased by 37 She stated more funding is also needed to address noncongregate sheltering recommendations due to COVID - 19 Ms Johnson also noted that some of their fundraisers this year had to be canceled due to COVID - 19 which has resulted in a 45,000 loss for the first and second quarters of FY 2020 - 2021 Ms Johnson stated domestic violence will not stop and Harbor must continue to support those in need At the inquiry of Commissioner Chad M Stewart , Ms Johnson stated Harbor is tracking information as it relates to human trafficking when individuals needing assistance contact them 6 Smithfield Rescue Mission Executive Director Ben Olsen provided the Board with a list of projects and capital needs and asked the Board of Commissioners to consider allocating 24,000 from the County Mr Olsen reported last year , the Rescue Mission served 215 individuals and provided 7,225 nights of lodging He stated this year has been great and stressful at the same time while dealing with COVID - 19 and the issues it has created Mr Olsen stated they have increased their health and safety procedures for both the clients and staff to minimize exposure He stated currently they can only accept clients who test negative for COVID - 19 Mr Olsen reported there is a bigger need for cooked meals so they are now taking meals out into the community where they are needed Mr Olsen reviewed their list of needs with the Board and offered to answer any questions 7 Department of Solid Waste Services Rick Proctor , Director of Solid Waste Services , reported the construction and demolition debris C & D st landfill cell is nearing capacity soon Mr Proctor stated effective July 1 , staff would like to begin limiting disposal at the C & D cell to dump trucks only and send all other customers with that type of debris to the regular municipal solid waste MSW landfill cell at the regular MSW rate He noted that construction and demolition debris is now considered a component of municipal solid waste Mr Proctor explained that as the C & D cell fills to capacity the area is becoming more restrictive and it is more of a safety issue when there is a lot of traffic at this cell He stated once the C & D cell is completely full , then all traffic would be directed to the MSW cell Mr Proctor stated staff believes the C & D cell will reach its capacity by the end of August , but would like to continue sending dump trucks only with construction and demolition debris to that cell until it is full He noted those trucks would pay the C & D rate during that time Upon a question by Commissioner Larry Wood , Mr Proctor stated back when the C & D cell was originally constructed , the liner standards were more stringent ; however , today the rules have changed and such cells can be constructed at the same standards as a MSW liner Mr Proctor stated because the standards are now the same , there is no reason to construct a new separate C & D cell Mr Proctor also stated there are no benefits to separating out the construction and demolition debris from municipal solid waste At the inquiry of Chairman Ted G Godwin , Mr Proctor stated the point of separating the dump trucks from pedestrian traffic in the immediate future are for safety reasons as the C & D cell area becomes full Upon questions by Commissioner Butch Lawter , Mr Proctor stated staff knew the C & D cell was getting close to capacity and therefore has been planning for the additional waste in the MSW cell Page420 June 8 , 2020 – 6 00 pm Continued 8 Parks , Greenways , and Open Space Coordinator – Cleveland Area Property Parks , Greenways , and Open Space Coordinator Adrian O’Neal reported on two grant opportunities that he is working on for the County in an effort to assist with the possible purchase of land for future parks and recreational opportunities Mr O’Neal stated he has submitted one application to the Parks & Recreation Trust Fund program and will be working to complete a second for the Land and Water Conservation Fund Mr O’Neal reported on property located at the corner of Matthews Road and Polenta Road in the Cleveland area of the County that could be preserved for a park or other recreational opportunities He stated the land consists of 77 acres and is fairly level Mr O’Neal stated the property needs a Phase 1 environmental assessment and a current survey as part of the proper due diligence Mr O’Neal stated he will keep the Board informed as to the status of the grant funding 9 Other Comments Chairman Ted G Godwin stated the Board would be holding a final meeting on June 15 , 2020 at 6 00 pm in the Library to consider adoption of the budget County Manager Rick Hester stated a representative from the Tobacco Farm Life Museum did not attending tonight’s meeting ; however , they did send in a request for 1,000 to help purchase new computer equipment 10 Conference Call with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services At the inquiry of Commissioner Tony Braswell , County Manager Rick Hester reported on a conference call that he and Health Director Dr Marilyn Pearson had with Dr Mandy Cohen , Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services , earlier in the day Mr Hester stated Dr Cohen is reaching out to some of the counties that have seen an increase in positive COVID - 19 cases to offer additional support for testing and contact tracing There being no further business , Commissioner Chad M Stewart moved the Board adjourn Commissioner Patrick E Harris seconded the motion , which carried by unanimous vote The meeting adjourned at 7 05 pm Ted G Godwin , Chairman Paula G Woodard , Clerk to the BoardPage