March 7, 2003 - 8:30 AM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Special)

10 243 MEETING OF THE JOHNSTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS March 7 , 2003 The Johnston County Board of Commissioners met in retreat on Friday , March 7 , 2003 , at 8 30 am at the Lee House , 1115 Industrial Drive , Smithfield , NC , with the following members Present James H Langdon , Jr , Chairman , Cookie Pope , Vice Chairman , Thomas M Moore , Allen L Mims , Jr , Wade M Stewart , W Ray Woodall , and Jeffrey P Carver Absent None Also Present Rick J Hester , County Manager , Joyce H Ennis , Clerk to the Board , Mark Payne , County Attorney , and John R Massey , Finance Officer , Pat LaCarter , Facilitator The Chairman called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone He turned the meeting over to Facilitator , Pat LaCarter , who reviewed with the Board the proposed agenda , and went over the suggested ground rules for the retreat 1 Johnston County , “ A County of Progress ” - Video The Board saw a new video that was recently produced to highlight Johnston County Government The video gives an overview of the progress that is being made in County departments and agencies , including the new Land Use Center , water and wastewater projects , new technology in Communications , and plans for a bio - tech skills training center in the Clayton area It will be made available to Board members and department heads for use in speaking engagements , and will be placed on the County’s web site 2 Update on Revaluation Tax Administrator , Pat Goddard , recognized Sheila Garner from her staff and Dale Campbell , CLT project manager , for the hard work they have done on the revaluation project She also thanked the GIS and MIS departments for their assistance Ms Goddard noted the informal hearings have been completed with the exception of a few that are scheduled for early next week , and the process will now begin of reviewing the appeals Citizens will be st notified of the results beginning March 21 Her office will then be making preparations for the 2003 Board of Equalization and Review She noted approximately 17 of the taxable accounts were appealed , which is , in her opinion , reasonable considering the growth in the County and the fact that the valuation notice for the first time this year included an appeal form that could simply be mailed back to the County In reviewing the types of appeals that were made , the number on vacant land was about the same as on improved property Most of the land appeals were for small tracts of less than five acres If citizens are not satisfied with the results of their informal appeal , they can have their case heard by the Board of Equalization and Review The Tax office will help them prepare their appeal E & R hearings will be held in the Land Use Center beginning in April and will continue until complete Concerning the Land Use Program , Ms Goddard noted her office has received 617 applications from people who are currently not in the program , and more is expected This represents approximately a 12 increase in the number of parcels that are under deferment Land use deferment reduces the tax base significantly In response to comments from the Board members , Ms Goddard noted that open space was valued at 20 of the base neighborhood value 3 Recreation Grants Commissioner Allen L Mims , Jr asked the Board if they had any input on the Recreation Grant program for the upcoming year He noted the application form was revised last year , and the process seemed to work well He asked the Chairman to either appoint a new screening committee , or replace former Commissioner Fred Smith on the existing committee consisting of him and Commissioner Cookie Pope Following discussion , Commissioner Jeff Carver was appointed to serve with Commissioners Mims and Pope on this committee Page244 March 7 , 2003 Continued Commissioner Mims noted that recreation grants require matching funds He suggested the Board might want to consider requiring a match from non - profit agencies who receive County funding The Board agreed to consider this beginning next fiscal year 4 e - Government in Johnston County - Superior Customer Service for the Future MIS Director , Leslie Stanfield , gave a presentation on the new services the County is offering the citizens via technology She noted that citizens today want to be able to conduct business with their local government while sitting in their homes , at their convenience , with almost immediate response It is estimated that 34 of the World’s population depends on the Internet as the primary mode of access to government The County’s web usage continues to increase daily During the month of February , there was an average of 1500 different visitors daily and 1,000,000 hits clicks The Board’s minutes are among the top documents that are searched on a regular basis Other popular documents and pages on the web are those with information concerning Planning and Public Utilities , tax parcel card lookup , obituary and newspaper headline search through the Heritage Center , and the community calendar New additions include the discussion forums for Planning and Heritage , live inspections results , GIS downloadable maps , and on - line bill payments for Public Utilities A number of new features will be available soon including live discussion on - line chat and more interactive applications The new County video shown earlier in the meeting will be on the web through streaming video within the next few days Anything the citizens traditionally have to wait in line for , the MIS Department wants to make available on - line if at all possible Ms Stanfield discussed with the Board the fact that citizens are now asking for e - mail access to the Commissioners A discussion ensued concerning how this could be accomplished to be satisfactory both to the public and the Board members She pointed out that it is important to understand that people who send e - mails expect a relatively quick response Following discussion , the Board agreed to allow MIS to make available on the web site the opportunity for the public to send e - mails to the Commissioners After thirty days , they will evaluate the program to see how this is working 5 Financial Update - Davenport & Company David Rose , financial consultant with Davenport & Company , addressed the Board concerning the County’s debt affordability He presented charts showing the existing debt service and the historical and projected demographics for the County Based on conservative estimates , and the need to keep the fund balance at a level that is recommended by the rating agencies , the County will no longer , beginning in 2004 , be able to use fund balance for budgeting purposes , and will , in fact need to add additional dollars Mr Rose went on to say that any new debt , such as an additional school bond issue , would require bond sales to be spread over at least a five year period in order to be feasible , and even this would put a burden on the fund balance for several years He pointed out Johnston County’s debt represents a high percentage of its expenditures He noted one of the next things the county needs to do is develop a comprehensive Capital Improvement Plan to include all aspects of County Government , which will provide a better overall picture of the County’s capital needs , and more accurate data for rating future debt 6 Update on Proposed Agriculture Center Tom Trowbridge with The Wooten Company , submitted the final design of the proposed agriculture office building , which would be built on County property off Hwy 210 near the Landfill He showed a rendering of the building , a floor plan , and a site plan that indicated where parking lots and landscaping would be located The steel building would be 32,858 square feet , which includes the auditorium which will seat up to 727 people The total cost estimate for construction would be 4,166,636 , with an estimated total budget of 4,751,35800 In discussion concerning the method of bidding the project , Commissioner Thomas M Moore stated , in his opinion , the project should be bid as both multi - prime and single - prime to insure that the County receives competitive bids Page245 March 7 , 2003 Continued 7 Update on the State Legislature and Reaction to Governor Easley’s Proposed Budget NCACC Executive Director , Ron Aycock , handed out copies of the 2003 - 04 Legislative Goals booklet prepared by the Association He explained several bills have already been introduced in the General Assembly that address some of these goals , and other bills are being worked on at this time Concerning the proposed budget presented by the Governor , Mr Aycock noted there are several concerns for counties , specifically the proposal to do away with the hold - harmless aspect of the ½ cent sales tax , which would hurt some small counties , and the reduction in School ADM funds for Capital Construction , which would amount to approximately 1 million for Johnston County Mr Aycock answered questions about several other bills or rumors of bills that may be introduced this year He noted that Senate Bill 160 , which was introduced in late February , would change the construction of county and city government from “ Dillon’s Rule ” to a type of “ Home Rule ” , which would , in effect , expand the ability of local governments to exercise authority without depending on the state to delegate the power Board Comments 8 Year - Round Schools Commissioner Allen L Mims , Jr suggested a study be done to determine cost savings with four - track year - round schools , with the information being made available to both the School Board and the Commissioners He pointed out the County could increase building capacity by 33 Commissioner Thomas M Moore agreed and noted Wake County , who has experience with this , seems to feel that education overall is improved He suggested that it makes no sense to have these buildings sit unoccupied for several months each year He also stated he would like to look into the way school maintenance is handled Following discussion , the Chairman agreed to talk with the School Board chairman about these issues 9 Residential Sewer Policy Commissioner Allen L Mims , Jr referenced a proposal from staff for a revised residential sewer policy He stated , in his opinion , the policy should continue to list at least some of the considerations the County would look favorable upon He pointed out that developers who get sewer might be willing to contribute to additional interchanges or other road improvement work Commissioner Thomas M Moore agreed and stated , in his opinion , this needs more study before a final decision is made 10 CP & L - Check Presented to County Marty Clayton with CP & L presented the Board a check for 2500 in recognition of the County’s Emergency Services He stated his company appreciates all the help they received during the recent ice storms There being no further business , Commissioner Allen L Mims , Jr moved the Board adjourn Commissioner Wade M Stewart seconded the motion , which carried by unanimous vote ________________________________________ James H Langdon , Jr , Chairman ____________________________ Joyce H Ennis , Clerk to the BoardPage