March 15, 2002 - 8:30 AM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Special)

10 815 March 15 , 2002 The Johnston County Board of Commissioners held a Board Retreat on Friday , March 15 , 2002 , at 8 30 am at the Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center on Devil’s Racetrack Road SR 1009 near Bentonville , North Carolina , with the following members present Present James H Langdon , Jr , Chairman , Cookie Pope , Vice Chairman , Thomas M Moore , Allen L Mims , Jr , Wade M Stewart , Fred Smith , and W Ray Woodall 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 The Chairman called the meeting to order and turned the meeting over to facilitator , Debra Henzey , who reviewed with the Board the proposed agenda 1 Report by County Manager on Accomplishments Since Last Retreat County Manager , Rick Hester , updated the Board on what has been done in response to issues that were addressed at the previous board retreat in February 2001 lt; Aggressive stance on collecting delinquent taxes lt; Separate Board of Equalization and Review appointed lt; New Tax Administrator lt; Property Maintenance Standards established lt; 800 mhz radio system purchased for fire and rescue services , which has enhanced communications lt; First hazard mitigation plan in NC adopted lt; Recreation Grant program revised and updated lt; Expansions to water wastewater treatment facilities , and continued support for new water districts lt; Continued local support of school system lt; 77 million referendum for Schools and Community College approved lt; Additional acreage adjacent to landfill purchased to add to life of the facility ; began plans for long - range reclamation plan to involve recreational opportunities lt; Joint project with Smithfield for library expansion and County office space in old Belks ’ building lt; New Planning Director lt; Inventory of natural areas and open space in the County lt; Land Development Ordinance amended and updated including new policy for cell tower requests lt; County ordinances codified lt; Agreement with Davenport , Inc for financial advice and support lt; Moving forward with plans and specifications for new Agriculture Center lt; Significant Savings in interest due to Bond Rating Upgrade on last bond sale Mr Hester went on to mention that the County still faces challenges ahead in the areas of EMS funding , infrastructure improvements upgrades , facilitation of industrial expansions , short and long - term evaluation of finances and the implementation of the 2003 property revaluation 2 Economic Development in the County The Board heard from Michael deSherbinin , Economic Development Director , and Linwood Parker , chairman of the Industrial Development Advisory Committee , on the economic future of the County Mr Parker pointed out as a rural County , the focus was originally on industrial and manufacturing concerns ; however , with the tremendous growth and changes that have happened recently in our County , a much broader picture must be considered We now need to look at a five - sided economy that includes farming , manufacturing , medical , travel & tourism and home building He noted education continues to be a major concern in that we must provide a work force capable of the more advanced job opportunities Recently a committee of 25 citizens from around the County met to look at the future of economic development Many ideas were discussed , and it was the consensus of the group that it is important to work with our existing industries as they consider expanding their operations Mr de Sherbinin agreed and noted his office is experiencing changes in their policies in accordance with the broader five - sided view of economic development Communications are more open as the focus shifts from what had been primarily industrial recruitment to commercial businesses and other types of industries Page816 3 Revaluation Update Tax Administrator , Pat Goddard , introduced Dale Campbell and his wife Gail who work for CLT , the company doing the County’s 2003 property revaluation She explained the County’s records were in bad shape following the previous revaluation , and therefore , a great deal of work has been required to update the data before the new information can be put in place Mr Campbell noted that each property in the County will be visited twice , once to do a walk around and verify measurements of structures , and a second time to consider preliminary land prices and structure values His company has delineated 522 neighborhoods , which will provide a better basis for comparables and make it easier to assess accurate and fair values Commercial and industrial properties are also being reviewed using both visits to the property and income as criteria for valuing In response to comments from the Board , Ms Goddard agreed that with the growth in the County , it will be important to move toward a more frequent revaluation , perhaps every four years in the future Whether this would be better managed in - house or by contract would depend on a number of factors She spoke of the schedule of values for the upcoming revaluation that must be adopted by the Board in the near future , and suggested it would be beneficial for at least a committee of Commissioners to meet with Mr Campbell a couple of times to better understand how these values were determined and what they will mean in the overall revaluation process Board members agreed the entire Board needs to attend these meetings 4 Planning Issues - Open Space Requirements The Board discussed with Planning Director , Steven Finn , the existing open space requirements allowed in the Development Ordinance There were questions about what can and can not be used to meet current requirements , and when a developer might make a payment - in - lieu as an alternative plan It was noted in some cases , developers in meeting the requirements are leaving land that is totally unusable There is also a question about who is responsible for maintaining this property and who has liability A lengthy discussion ensued during which it was noted the Planning Department’s design manual needs to provide criteria to determine what is usable land and what is not Land that is dysfunctional should not be accepted as open space , and if the developer has no suitable land to offer , he should make payment in lieu A number of ideas were offered concerning responsibility and maintenance of open space It was noted the ideal situation would be a homeowners ’ association if one exists ; but if not , then the developer might donate the land to a conservancy It was even suggested the County might in the future need to consider creating a land trust with the developers contributing funds toward the upkeep and maintenance Mr Finn thanked the Board for their input and agreed his department needs to be more proactive in dealing with the developers in the determination of open space He stated he and his staff will work on some definitive criteria and guidelines for acceptable open space requirements 5 Public Assistance Programs Earl Marett , Director of Social Services , spoke of the public assistance programs offered through his department The costs of these programs continue to rise primarily due to the relaxing of eligibility requirements , especially for the elderly and disabled The most expensive program is , of course , medicaid The actual expenditures representing the County’s share for medicaid during the current year will be approximately 45 million The State is estimating the medicaid local share for 2002 - 03 at 62 million Their estimates are traditionally high , and the full amount will not be budgeted , however , this is a good indicator of the ever increasing burden for DSS programs being placed on the County’s tax dollars In addition to medicaid , funds for the special assistance program , work first , child care , transportation , and child welfare are also expected to increase significantly for the coming year 6 County Financial Information - Davenport & Company Darrell Hill with Davenport and Company , provided a report showing a snap shot of the County’s current and anticipated debt , and provided several options for financing the debt during the coming years The Board liked Option 2 , which pushes forward the issue date for future bond sales , and asked Mr Hill to rerun the figures with a five year extension to see if a budget commitment of 20 million per year would allow the debt to be serviced without a tax increase or a reduction to the fund balance Page817 In further discussion , Mr Hill spoke of the need for a 5 year capital improvements plan to outline significant future projects , which will help the County in their pursuit for improved bond ratings 7 Budget Issues County Manager , Rick Hester , and Finance Officer , John R Massey , spoke to the Board about the upcoming budget It was noted that in addition to the increased cost of medicaid and other mandated services , the County stands to lose up to 25 million due to the State withholding reimbursements and other previously anticipated revenues The Schools expect increased enrollment , which along with other increases associated with the opening of new schools , will impact their current expense budget , and the County’s debt service will reach 173 million this year All of these factors will present a challenge in balancing the budget Mr Hester noted that based on the Board’s instruction not to budget the 25 million State revenue referenced above , at present the preliminary budget has a shortfall of approximately 95 million The Board discussed the overall budget for general government and education , and noted everyone will have to work together this year The School Board has asked for a joint meeting with the Commissioners , and st th the Board agreed they could meet either the afternoon of April 1 or April 8 8 Residence Requirements for Employees and Appointees for Boards and Commissions The County Manager and Clerk reported on surveys taken by them in response to concerns expressed by Commissioner W Ray Woodall about residency requirements for employees and board appointees Mr Hester noted that out of 19 counties polled , 11 have a policy requiring all department heads to be county residents The Clerk reported she surveyed a number of local counties to see what their policy is on a residency requirement for board appointees , and found that most have similar language in their policy , which strongly encourages county citizens to apply Most counties surveyed , however , have at least a few appointees that work in the county but do not reside there Following discussion , Commissioner Fred Smith moved the Board revise the policy on board appointees to indicate that applicants must either live or work in the County , and instructed the County Manager to inform applicants for department head positions that county residency is strongly encouraged Commissioner Wade M Stewart seconded the motion , which carried by unanimous vote There being no further business , the Board adjourned __________________________________________ James H Langdon , Jr , Chairman _____________________________ Joyce H Ennis , Clerk to the BoardPage