April 30, 2003 - 7:00 PM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Special)

10 280 MEETING OF THE JOHNSTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS April 30 , 2003 The Johnston County Board of Commissioners met in special session on Wednesday , April 30 , 2003 , at 7 00 pm at the Smithfield Fire Station , 111 South Fourth Street , Smithfield , NC The purpose of the meeting was to hold a public hearing on the proposed extension of several fire service districts The following members were present Present James H Langdon , Jr , Chairman , Cookie Pope , Vice - Chairman , Allen L Mims , Jr , Wade M Stewart , W Ray Woodall , and Jeffrey P Carver Absent Thomas M Moore Also Present Rick J Hester , County Manager , and Joyce H Ennis , Clerk to the Board The Chairman called the meeting to order and opened the 7 00 pm scheduled public hearing He invited anyone who wished to address the Board on the proposed extension of the following fire service districts to six miles as allowed by NCGS 153A - 300 et seq Smithfield , O’Neals , Beulah , Boon Hill and Brogden Chairman Langdon explained that properties included in the six mile extension , would become taxpayers for that fire district However , the insurance savings the property owners would receive by being in a rated fire district should offset the fire taxes He also reviewed a comparison of fire insurance premiums on homes valued at 100,000 and 150,000 to the fire district tax at the highest rate of 8 cents The comparison showed a significant savings Paul Whitehurst , Deputy Fire Marshal , pointed out the areas to be included in the six mile extension for each of the five fire districts Commissioner Allen L Mims , Jr asked if these extensions went into some of the areas currently served by out of county fire districts Mr Whitehurst responded that staff did not recommend this since these homeowners are getting a better insurance deduction by being a part of the district they are in The best rating for anyone in the sixth mile area is a 9S , and some of these people are in districts rated 5S or 6S The main objective is to do what is best for the property owners Commissioner Allen L Mims , Jr pointed out that he expects the fire district taxes to go down this year because of the increase in property values with Revaluation Norman Johnson , Fire Chief for the Smithfield Fire Department , suggested that when the Board looks at fire district tax requests , they consider that the needs of those departments that provide first responder and paramedic services are greater than those who provide fire services only Erwin Stewart , of Four Oaks , noted that he owns vacant property near Devil’s Racetrack Road that does not have road frontage and is partly covered by water He requested the Board consider excluding properties such as his from fire districts , especially since a fire truck would have no road on which to access the property After some discussion about the legality of excluding property from taxes , Chairman Langdon asked Mr Whitehurst to look into this There being no further comments , the Chairman closed the public hearing Upon a motion by Commissioner Cookie Pope , seconded by Commissioner W Ray Woodall and carried by unanimous vote , the Board adjourned __________________________________________ James H Langdon , Jr , Chairman _____________________________ Joyce H Ennis , Clerk to the BoardPage