October 3, 2011 - 6:00 PM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Rezoning)

10 559 Meeting of the Johnston County Board of Commissioners October 3 , 2011 6 00 pm The Johnston County Board of Commissioners met in regular session Monday , October 3 , 2011 at 6 00 pm in the Commissioners Meeting Room , Johnston County Courthouse Annex , Smithfield , North Carolina The following members were present Present Chairman Allen L Mims , Jr , Vice Chairman Jeffrey P Carver , Cookie Pope , Wade M Stewart , W Ray Woodall , DeVan Barbour , and Tony Braswell Absent None Also Present County Manager Rick J Hester , Clerk to the Board Paula G Woodard , County Attorney David F Mills , and Paralegal Deputy Clerk Melissa A Daughtry Chairman Allen L Mims , Jr called the meeting to order at 6 00 pm and the following business was transacted 1 Johnston County Bar Association – Portrait Committee Request Antoan Whidbee , Attorney at Law and Johnston County Bar Association Portrait Committee Member , addressed the Board regarding a request to place a portrait of the late Honorable District Court Judge Robert Anderson in the Old Superior Courtroom Courtroom 4 of the Johnston County Courthouse Mr Whidbee informed the Board that 2011 marks the tenth anniversary of Judge Anderson’s passing and the Johnston County Bar Association appointed a committee to plan a commemoration Judge Anderson was the first African American District Court Judge for Johnston , Harnett , and Lee Counties Judge Anderson practiced law for more than 25 years , primarily in Johnston County , and was appointed to serve in the Eleventh Judicial District in June of 1999 Mr Whidbee provided the Board with a background on Judge Anderson’s life as well as the positive influence he had on the community before his unexpected passing in November 2001 Mr Whidbee stated that Judge Anderson was an advocate for the people of Johnston County and felt it was his duty to use his law license to benefit the citizens Mr Whidbee shared with the Board his personal association with Judge Anderson and spoke on his admiration of Judge Anderson’s ability to always be fair and a gentleman Mr Whidbee stated he is unsure of the exact criteria needed in order for a portrait to be placed in the Old Superior Courtroom ; however , he is confident that Judge Robert Anderson’s portrait should be hung along with the existing portraits Mr Whidbee informed the Board that the Bar Association has raised the funds necessary to commission the portrait of Judge Anderson and has also coordinated with Chief District Court Judge Andy Corbett as well as Clerk of Superior Court Will Crocker on the placement in the Old Superior Courtroom Mr Whidbee stated the Bar Association is in the process of scheduling a ceremony for the portrait placement to be held sometime during November 10 – 14 , 2011 Mr Whidbee presented a resolution adopted by the Johnston County Bar Association supporting the commission and placement of Judge Anderson’s portrait and he asked the Board of Commissioners to adopt a similar resolution approving the request Chairman Allen L Mims , Jr stated he personally knew Judge Anderson and that he was a fine gentleman Chairman Mims stated the Board is not concerned about the placement of Judge Anderson’s portrait in the Old Superior Courtroom ; however , he asked that the Bar Association Committee come up with possible criteria for future portrait requests and share the information with the Board of Commissioners Chairman Mims stated the criteria would provide guidance to the Board for future requests Upon a motion by Commissioner Tony Braswell , seconded by Commissioner Cookie Pope , and carried by unanimous vote , the Board adopted the following resolution approving the placement of a portrait of the late Honorable District Court Judge Robert Anderson in the Old Superior Courtroom Courtroom 4 in the Johnston County Courthouse RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE COMMISSION AND PLACEMENT OF A PORTRAIT OF THE LATE JUDGE ROBERT ANDERSON INTO THE JOHNSTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE WHEREAS , 2011 marks the tenth anniversary of the passing of Judge Robert Anderson , the first African American District Court Judge presiding in Johnston County ; and WHEREAS , the Johnston County Bar Association appointed a committee to study and plan a memorial for the late Judge Robert Anderson which both celebrated his life and commemorated his years of service to the people of Johnston County ; andPage560 October 3 , 2011 – 6 00 pm Continued WHEREAS , the Johnston County Bar Association has raised the funds necessary to commission and hang a portrait of Judge Robert Anderson in the Johnston County Courthouse ; and WHEREAS , the Johnston County Bar Association committee , in cooperation with Clerk of Superior Court Will Crocker , has determined that the portrait of Judge Robert Anderson should be hung in Courtroom 4 of the Johnston County Courthouse in conformity with the hanging of portraits of previous judges ; and WHEREAS , the family of the late Judge Robert Anderson supports this method for celebrating the life and service of Judge Anderson ; and WHEREAS , the committee has received favorable response from the community at large as to this project ; and WHEREAS , the commemoration of Judge Robert Anderson is significant to the history of Johnston County ; and WHEREAS , the Johnston County Bar Association has also planned a ceremony for the hanging of the portrait ; and WHEREAS , the Johnston County Bar Association has requested the Johnston County Board of Commissioners to support and approve the portrait hanging of the late Judge Robert Anderson NOW , THEREFORE , BE IT RESOLVED , that the Johnston County Board of Commissioners supports and approves the hanging of the portrait of the late Judge Robert Anderson in Courtroom 4 of the Johnston County Courthouse as well as the planned ceremony for the hanging of the portrait by the Johnston County Bar Association rd Adopted this the 3 day of October , 2011 2 Public Comments None 3 Public Hearing Rezoning and Special Use Requests Advertised – In The Smithfield Herald – September 21 and 28 , 2011 Certified letters were mailed to adjoining property owners on September 19 , 2011 Notices were posted at the locations on June 1 , 2011 for Case 11 - 11 and July 5 , 2011 for Case 11 - 15 The Chairman opened the Rezoning Hearing for Case 11 - 11 Case 11 - 11 Petition to rezone 228 acres located at 10556 Cleveland Road SR 1010 in Cleveland Township from General Business GB to Agricultural Residential AR Tax ID 06F04028 Owner Applicant Samuel R and Becky A Harris Planning Director Berry Gray stated the petition is to rezone 228 acres located at 10556 Cleveland Road SR 1010 in Cleveland Township from General Business to Agricultural Residential Mr Gray reported the property owner rezoned the site to General Business in 2008 in order to market the property as a commercial use ; however , the owner has not been able to sell the site The applicant wishes to rezone the property back to Agricultural Residential due to tax reasons Mr Gray stated there is still an existing house on the property and there would be no conflict with the actual use , if the rezoning is approved Applicant Becky Harris asked the Board to approve the rezoning to Agricultural Residential for tax reasons Mr Gray reported the Planning Board recommended approval There being no further comments , the Chairman closed the Rezoning Hearing for Case 11 - 11 Decision on Rezoning Case 11 - 11 Case 11 - 11 Petition to rezone 228 acres located at 10556 Cleveland Road SR 1010 in Cleveland Township from General Business GB to Agricultural Residential AR Tax ID 06F04028 Owner Applicant Samuel R and Becky A Harris Commissioner Cookie Pope moved the Board approve rezoning case 11 - 11 to rezone 228 acres located at 10556 Cleveland Road SR 1010 in Cleveland Township from General Business to Agricultural Residential Commissioner W Ray Woodall seconded the motion , which carried by unanimous vote Rezoning Case 11 - 15 - Petition to rezone 1 acre located at 14391 NC Hwy 39 in O’Neals Township from Agricultural Residential AR to General Business – Special Use District GB - SUD Tax ID 11M01039 Owner Charles and Sandra Watkins Applicant Kelvin Brown It was determined that the applicant was absent for Case 11 - 15 Page561 October 3 , 2011 – 6 00 pm Continued Upon a motion by Commissioner Jeffrey P Carver , seconded by Commissioner Tony Braswell and carried by unanimous vote , the Board tabled Rezoning Case 11 - 15 until the November 7 , 2011 6 00 pm meeting 3 NC Stop Torture Now – Presentation Chuck Fager , 223 Hillside Avenue , Fayetteville , North Carolina , submitted to the Board a written monthly summary of recent events that his organization believes indicates the accountability of those who kidnap and abuse detainees domestically and internationally He stated that Allyson Caison and Christina Cowger would be addressing the Board with a PowerPoint Presentation as well as other information The Commissioners were provided with a binder of information titled “ The Other Faces of Aero Contractors ” Christina Cowger , 1021 Gardner Street , Raleigh , North Carolina , reviewed the following PowerPoint Presentation with the Board concerning Abou Elkassim Britel Aero Contractors hangar where rendition aircraft have been serviced Abou El - Kassim Britel before extraordinary rendition and torture , and today During these interrogations … I was handcuffed , blindfolded , and severely beaten on all parts of my body I was threatened with even worse forms of torture , including having my genitals cut off and “ bottle torture ” a torture technique whereby a bottle is forced into the victim’s anus Additionally , my interrogators threatened to harm my wife in Italy and my sisters who lived in Morocco - - declaration of Kassim Britel N379P , Gulfstream V Secretly transported Kassim Britel on May 23 , 2002 , from Pakistan to Morocco January 30 , 2007 • “ Condemns the extraordinary rendition of Italian citizen Abou Elkassim Britel , who was arrested in Pakistan in March 2002 by the Pakistani police and interrogated by US and Pakistani officials , and subsequently rendered to the Moroccan authorities and imprisoned in the detention facility Temara ’ • “ Emphasises that the criminal investigations in Italy against Abou Elkassim Britel were closed without any charges being brought ” N379P was based at Aero Contractors headquarters , Johnston County Airport , and operated by Aero Contractors pilots and mechanicsPage562 October 3 , 2011 – 6 00 pm Continued Today , it is clear that these operations have fostered greater animosity toward the United States , undermined our intelligence - gathering efforts , and added to the risks facing our troops serving around the world - - General John Shalikashvili , former chair , Joint Chiefs of Staff , and 11 other high - ranking military leaders , Jan 4 , 2005 Torture It probably killed more Americans than 9 11 The reason why foreign fighters joined al - Qaida in Iraq was overwhelmingly because of abuses at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and not Islamic ideology Abou El - Kassim Britel before extraordinary rendition and torture , and today - - Major Matthew Alexander , conducted 300 interrogations of prisoners in Iraq , April 26 , 2009 Allyson Caison , 312 N Massey Street , Selma , North Carolina , read a letter addressed to the Board of Commissioners from Khadija Anna L Pighizzini , the wife of Abou Elkassim Britel , dated September 15 , 2011 , that was included in the binder of information presented to the Board Note Minutes amended per Board action at the January 3 , 2012 6 00 pm meeting to include the text of the Pighizzini Letter , as follows Allen L Mims , Jr Chairman Jeffrey P Carver , Vice - Chairman Wade M Stewart Cookie Pope W Ray Woodall DeVan Barbour Tony Braswell September 15 , 2011 Dear Johnston County Commissioners , I am writing you from Italy I am the wife of Abou Elkassim Britel , a victim of an “ extraordinary rendition ” conducted by the CIA in May 2002 Previous to the rendition flight , my husband was illegally detained and tortured in Pakistan , and interrogated there by US agents My husband , an Italian - Moroccan citizen , was flown from Islamabad , Pakistan , to Rabat , Morocco , and detained there secretly I had no news of him for almost one year My husband was released without charge in February 2003 , but when he tried to return to our home in Italy using his Italian travel document , he was again taken away by Moroccan intelligence He was held in secret and tortured for another 4 months , during which time I searched for him to no avail Moroccan authorities denied having him in custody , while the Italians simply did not respond Only in 2006 , as a result of the filing of an Italian investigation , did I obtain the documents proving how the Italian Government has been complicit in this affair My husband was put on trial in Morocco in the period immediately following the Casablanca suicide - bombing attacks of 2003 It was a trial with no protections , conducted in haste and fury He was sentenced to 15 years in prison , despite the fact that he was an Italian citizen and had emigrated to Italy in 1988 , leaving his university studies to provide for his family On appeal , his sentence was reduced to 9 years , and the Moroccan Supreme Court rejected an appeal despite the obvious irregularities The judges gave no weight to statements about the secret detention to which he had been subjected ; they simply ignored them From September 2003 to April 14 , 2011 , when he was suddenly released by a royal pardon , Kassim was incarcerated in Morocco , often in grim conditions He struggled greatly to maintain self - respect and the dignity of being human and Muslim , and to obtain the minimum necessities of decent food , health care , books and newspapers , and contacts with his family Starting in 2003 , I made 30 trips to Morocco to support my husband I have written thousands of emails and letters to many authorities to seek justice To publicize the case , I created the website “ Justice for Kassim ” in English http wwwgiustiziaperkassimnet page_id 105 and have worked in order to support myself and Kassim PagePage pageNumber5563 October 3 , 2011 – 6 00 pm Continued Many organizations have concerned themselves with the story of my husband , including the European Parliament , the United Nations , the ACLU , Amnesty International , Human Rights Watch , the International Federation for Human Rights FIDH , Al - Karama [ which means Dignity ; a human rights NGO based in Geneva ] , the Moroccan Human Rights Association AMDH , Ennassir a prisoners ’ rights NGO , and Fair Trials International However , all this has not yet served to bring about justice in his case After his release this spring , we returned to our home in Bergamo , Italy , re - entering life here in absolute silence , other than a few newspaper articles No one has felt obliged to ask us whether we need help We are exhausted by more than nine years of repeated injustices and deprivations For your country that believed in striking out at Muslims as terrorists , forsaking the very principles on which it is based , we don’t exist We have no right to anything , yet at the heart of our story there is an illegal act of the United States People should not be secretly deported ; families should not be left in anguish Please know that extraordinary rendition causes severe trauma I am told that my husband will heal ; I hope desperately for this to be true , for him and for me , but the experience of other survivors demonstrates that the damage remains The evil that we experienced has scarred us deeply We are tired , and incredulous that human beings can suffer so much while others remain totally indifferent Every day I see Kassim suffer Despite the treatment , he continues to be holding himself back Every little appointment makes him tired He often remains in silence for hours , and has difficulty communicating with anyone He is forced to repress the rage that he feels and that he is frightened of Often he paces up and down the long hallway in our house and I know that he feels that he is still in prison He thinks of his ruined reputation and his lost employment , and asks himself what he will do in the days to come , what will we live on My husband tries to follow a daily schedule , something I greatly admire , because he insists on doing so no matter how sad and difficult some days may be I don’t know how to help him any further , for daily life feels burdensome to me and I believe I am suffering a depression similar to his We feel alone Our sustenance is faith Even today , despite the obvious innocence of my husband , who is an Italian citizen with a clean record , neither the USA , nor Italy , nor Morocco has considered righting this wrong We know that nothing can return these stolen years , projects that we could not achieve , life lost We are changed , disillusioned , and severely tried by so much harm … and the listener is not like the one who suffers I am sending you a photo of my husband taken recently Kassim is trying desperately to find an equilibrium that he will not be able to maintain if justice is not realized , and I am with him You have the choice to do something positive I hope you will want to participate Better still , permit me to suggest that it is your duty to participate Aero Contractors , which transported my husband to secret detention and torture on behalf of the CIA , has its headquarters in North Carolina And Abou Elkassim Britel was not an isolated case victims like him are innumerable , and many of them are still disappearing Thank you for your attention Kind regards , Khadija Anna L Pighizzini Mr Fager thanked the Board for hearing the presentation and appeal by NC Stop Torture Now and asked the Board to call for an investigation into the activities of Aero Contractors which is located at the Johnston County Airport PagePage pageNumber6563a October 3 , 2011 – 6 00 pm Continued Chairman Allen L Mims , Jr stated the circumstances of Abou Elkassim Britel are sad ; however , he stated that the Commissioners do not have any jurisdiction over Federal and International laws Chairman Mims added it would seem to him that NC Stop Torture Now should be addressing their Congressmen in Washington in that he did not believe the Commissioners had any authority over the matter Mr Fager responded that they have contacted members of Congress repeatedly and at this point it appears that Congress and the White House are closed to appeals on the matter Mr Fager stated they will continue to make appeals but they also must look elsewhere He added that they are not appealing to other counties in North Carolina because Johnston County is where Aero Contractors is located Commissioner Jeffrey P Carver stated in his research of the materials provided by NC Stop Torture Now , he is not convinced that activities occurred in Johnston County Commissioner Tony Braswell commented that if the investigative arm of Congress would not address the matter , then he could not see where the Johnston County Commissioners could do anything Mr Fager stated it appears that there are strong interests that do not want accountability to come to light He added that an important part of the issue is located in Johnston County and he cannot think of seven people that know more about Johnston County than the Commissioners Mr Fager stated Johnston County could be where something begins if a few officials would begin to ask questions Commissioner Wade M Stewart stated that he is a Commissioner for Johnston County and he sees and hears the reports of children in Johnston County being abused and until such time as he can figure out a way to prevent child abuse in Johnston County , then that matter is where his focus will be Commissioner Stewart stated there is too much work to be done in Johnston County 4 Manager Reports and Comments None 5 Board Reports and Comments None There being no further business , Commissioner Tony Braswell moved the Board adjourn Commissioner Cookie Pope seconded the motion , which carried by unanimous vote The meeting adjourned at 7 15 pm Allen L Mims , Jr , Chairman Paula G Woodard , Clerk to the BoardPage