February 23, 2001 - 8:00 AM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Special)

10 476 February 23 - 24 , 2001 The Johnston County Board of Commissioners began a Board Retreat on Friday , February 23 , 2001 , at 8 00 am , and ended the retreat at 12 00 pm Saturday , February 24 , 2001 The meeting was held at the Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center on Devils Racetrack Road near Bentonville , Johnston County , North Carolina , with the following members present Present James H Langdon , Jr , Cookie Pope , Thomas M Moore , Wade M Stewart , Allen L Mims , Jr , Fred J 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 Facilitators , Debra Henzey and Donna Warner , introduced themselves and went over the ground rules and proposed agenda for the retreat 1 Minimum Housing Kim Reeves , minimum housing inspector from Cumberland County , presented information about her County’s Minimum Housing Code She explained that she and two other inspectors cover the entire county enforcing both the housing code and an Abandoned , Nuisance , and Junked Motor Vehicle Ordinance A five member Housing Appeals Board , established by the Board of Commissioners , hears appeals and grants extensions to property owners for bringing sites into compliance Ms Reeves noted approximately 95 of the cases achieve compliance , and only a few structures are actually demolished each year because they are not worth repairing Board members agreed this is something they would like to look into for Johnston County Chief Building Inspector , Pete Thompson , suggested the Board might want to look at the International Housing Maintenance Code , which the State is considering adopting in the future Following discussion , the Chairman asked staff to work on a proposed minimum housing code and nd report back to the Board at the April 2 meeting Staff was also asked to look at Cumberland County’s Abandoned , Nuisance , and Junked Motor Vehicle Ordinance to see if this is something Johnston County might want to have 2 Tax Penalties Interim Tax Administrator , Jack Williford , and Pat Goddard , who will join the County as the new Tax Administrator on March 19 , 2001 , discussed with the Board the General Statutes regarding tax penalties Mr Williford noted the law is clear that only the Board of Commissioners , or a board designated by the Commissioners , has the authority to compromise or forgive certain tax penalties that are set by the NC Machinery Act He specifically referred to penalties from tax discoveries Commissioner Fred Smith spoke of the inequity in the way penalties are handled between the average citizen who fails to pay his property taxes on time and a company that is discovered to have failed to list certain property for taxes He maintained all citizens should be treated the same Board members discussed possible policies they might want to put into place ; however , after discussion , it was the consensus of the Board that the County would adopt a general policy for all situations , and that policy would be to simply “ follow the law ” 3 Water Sewer Authorities - Discussion Engineer Tim Broome and Utilities Director , Haywood Phthisic , provided information about the County’s water , wastewater and solid waste operations , outlining where the County is and where it plans to be in 10 years Page477 Concerning water , Mr Broome noted the County is gradually establishing water districts over most of the County Currently the County’s Central Wastewater Treatment Plant provides bulk treatment for the towns of Smithfield , Selma , Pine Level and Four Oaks , and the County has an arrangement with the Town of Clayton for some wastewater treatment ; however , there is no policy to provide widespread sewer service across the County The County landfill should last for many years with a new lined cell proposed for the near future Mr Broome provided information showing the advantages and disadvantages of a county wide water & sewer agency , and noted the different ways such an agency or authority could be structured Commissioner Fred Smith stated the Board needs a vision on where the County wants to go and how to provide for a better quality of life for its citizens , which he suggested is all tied to infrastructure He stressed that in any discussion about the future of water and sewer in the County , it needs to be clear that there should be no impact on general fund revenues He suggested the Board needs to revisit their sewer policy and find a way to offer residential sewer service that is financially feasible He also suggested the County needs to look at the concept of a regional approach and take the lead in discussions with the towns In response to a comment from Commissioner Wade M Stewart about how opening up sewer service might affect the problem of urban sprawl , Commissioner Smith suggested that urban sprawl is actually created by a lack of sewer service Commissioner Tom Moore suggested the first step for a regional approach should be in consolidating the wastewater treatment plants throughout the County Many of the towns are facing a crisis in wastewater treatment capacity and will have to make some decisions soon Commissioner Smith suggested that staff needs to prepare a 50 year plan for wastewater , since in his opinion , in that period of time everything west of Interstate 95 will be a metropolitan area , and the County needs to be planning for that growth now In further discussion , the Board agreed to use the quarterly meetings with town officials to open up dialogue about the possibility of consolidating wastewater service in the County 4 Mission Statement & Goals for the County Reviewed The Board reviewed the mission statement and goals that were adopted in 1998 , and agreed to amend the final goal to read as follows C Continue effective and efficient use of all County revenues to provide necessary services for the citizens Following discussion , the Board asked staff to display the mission statement and goals in the Courthouse 5 Funding for Recreation Grants and Non - Profits The Board discussed various ways to determine how much money will be allocated for recreation grants and non - profit organizations in the County budget Commissioner Fred Smith pointed out that taxpayers ’ money needs to be used for the “ public purpose , ” and questioned if all the non - profit organizations funded last year qualify He suggested the Board might consider setting a percentage of the budget for these items ahead of time , then give only to the most qualified Looking at the list of non - profit appropriations from last year , it was agreed that some of the items really need to be line item entries , such as the Library and Council on Aging Other appropriations that were made last year were one - time allocations Following discussion , it was agreed that the Chairman , County Manager and Finance Officer would eliminate anything that should be considered separately as a line item and look carefully at the remaining items to see if they pass the public purpose test , and then report to the Board with funding recommendations As for recreation grant funding , it was noted the new program calls for a screening committee to evaluate the applications and make recommendations to the Board concerning award of grants and funding procedures Commissioners Allen Mims , Cookie Pope and Fred Smith were appointed to this committee Page478 6 Update of the Davenport Financial Study David Rose with Davenport & Company LLC , provided the Board with a preliminary report on the County’s financial status He addressed issues concerning the County’s debt capacity , the possibility of refinancing or restructuring opportunities for existing debt , the opportunity to upgrade the bond ratings , and the need for a comprehensive capital improvements plan that considers all long range needs for County government In discussion , the Board asked Mr Rose , among other things , to consider all the long range obligations on the tax dollar and to look at new debt being spread over a longer period of time It was stressed the County needs a plan that would not include a tax increase It was agreed that Davenport & Company would proceed with the study and report back to the Board prior to the budget 7 Off - Premise Beer Sales The Board agreed to consider putting off - premise beer sales back before the voters in November , 2001 The Clerk was asked to place this on the agenda in August for the Board’s consideration 8 Teacher Supplements Board members agreed that a top priority is to get teachers ’ supplement pay increased to help keep qualified teachers in the County It was agreed the Board will need to discuss this and school capital needs with the School Board in the near future The County Manager noted he would be using the agreed upon formula of growth in student population plus inflation in figuring the amount for school current expense funds in the proposed budget In evaluating the retreat , Board members stated they enjoyed this opportunity to express individual ideas and openly discuss issues that are very important for the County It was agreed the Board should have a retreat at least once a year There being no further business , Commissioner Cookie Pope moved the Board adjourn Commissioner W Ray Woodall seconded the motion , which carried by unanimous vote ________________________________ James H Langdon , Jr , Chairman ___________________________ Joyce H Ennis , ClerkPage