April 22, 1999 - 6:30 PM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Special)

10 389 April 22 , 1999 The Johnston County Board of Commissioners met in special session on Monday , April 22 , 1999 , at 6 30 pm in the Emergency Operations Center , Johnston County Law Enforcement Center , Smithfield , North Carolina , with the following members Present James H Langdon , Jr Chairman , Cookie Pope , Vice Chairman , Jerry F Wood , Eleanor N Creech , Thomas M Moore , Allen L Mims , Jr and Wade M Stewart Absent None Also Present Rick Hester , Interim County Manager , Joyce H Ennis , Clerk to the Board , and John R Massey , Finance Officer Chairman Langdon called the meeting to order , and the following business was transacted County Department Presentations 1 Maintenance Department Cliff Coffey , Facilities Superintendent , informed the Board he supervises 29 employees , all of whom work as either maintenance personnel or housekeeping with the exception of one administrative assistant At present his department is responsible for 14 different buildings Two additional facilities will soon be added when the new jail is completed and Central Permitting is relocated In addition to general building repair , his department is responsible for making sure all systems in these facilities are in working order including water , sewer , electric , fuel , boilers , air conditioners , emergency generators , fire alarm systems , elevators , etc They also are in charge of the telephone system , yard maintenance , and in some cases key systems Mr Coffey noted that although he is not asking for additional personnel , the two new facilities will place stress on his staff There is one electrician on staff that performs minor electrical work , but most of the employees are unskilled In response to a question from Commissioner Thomas M Moore about the possibility of consolidating maintenance for schools and county buildings , Mr Coffey commented the County's operation is fixed with central location in Smithfield , while the school maintenance is mobile Commissioner Moore stated he would like for the proposed performance audit to look at this and see if it would be cost efficient if one County organization could perform this work for both systems 2 Finance Administration Legal FINANCE John R Massey , Finance Officer , informed the Board the Finance Office is a support agency for all County departments and as a result serves the public indirectly He has a staff of five people , and his budget is combined with Administration and Legal The Finance Department processes all accounts payable checks for County Government except for three agencies , HAPP , Jobs Training and Mental Health They submit monthly sales tax reports , track fixed assets for the County , process purchase orders , process payroll for all County agencies except Job Training and Mental Health approximately 650 employees , file all payroll reports and make necessary deposits ; prepare W - 2 forms , process workmen's compensation claims , prepare various surveys and unemployment reports The Finance staff also provides all accounting functions for the County except for Mental Health , HAPP and Job Training ; makes all deposits ; posts all budget amendments and prepares all bank reconciliations , providing each department with a monthly printout of their department budget with current balances They maintain 32 different funds , work closely with auditors during annual audit , make adjusting entries at year end for the auditors , work with the indirect cost auditor on indirect cost allocations , and draw grant funds when available Last year the Finance Office did the accounting and prepared financial statements for all 24 rural fire departments All money for the County is invested by the Finance Office to insure safety , liquidity and thePage390 best yield available , and reports are submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission yearly on the County's debt Mr Massey noted he works closely with the County Manager in preparing the proposed annual budget for the County , a process that begins in January when departments present their requests for the coming year He noted several things have had a great impact on the work load of the Finance office , specifically water districts , the child day care program through Social Services , and the change in auditors He commented the County received the CAFR Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting for years ending June 1993 and June 1994 , and indicated he would like to try for this prestigious award again He also noted he plans to look at each department's financial operations more closely and provide more financial information to the Board on a regular basis In response to a question from Board members , Mr Massey stated he was not pleased with how his staff was classified in the MAP's study , and is working with the Department of Human Resources on making some corrections ADMINISTRATION Interim County Manager , Rick Hester , noted that since the Board understands the role of Administration , he would only make note of the request for an additional full - time employee to help with clerical work as well as assist the Attorney A temporary was hired in February , and staff is asking that this position be made permanent LEGAL Attorney Mark Payne spoke briefly about his one - person department and noted he needs the administrative support help addressed by Mr Hester He commented he is working with all departments , agencies and authorities , and as a staff attorney has a goal to provide preventive law for the County He stressed that some of the legal work such as services for Child Support , Mental Health and Social Services is still being done by an outside attorney , and this will need to continue as this work requires a great deal of time Also , in some cases other specialized attorneys are used such as bond counsel for bond issues As staff attorney , he will supervise all outside legal work The Board thanked Mr Payne for the excellent job he is doing and noted it is very comforting to have him available not only for Board meetings , but also for consultation when needed Commissioner Allen L Mims , Jr added a special thanks to all the administration staff for assisting him since his election 3 Housing Assistance Payments Program HAPP Anne Eason , Director of HAPP , explained her agency administers a rental assistance program funded through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD They issue Federal Section 8 Program housing certificates and vouchers , with first priority to displaced disabled elderly and handicapped citizens in the County Currently they are serving 575 families throughout the County and have 450 families on a waiting list This program works very well for both the tenants and unit owners The tenants get to choose where they live , and pay rent based on their income The owner is assured he will get his rent since HAPP pays the remainder of the rent to the owner directly Due to Johnston County being in the same metro area as Raleigh - Durham , the agency pays fair market rent for qualified units The agency is self supporting and draws down Federal funding as needed , based on an approved budget with HUD They also assist in administering other housing programs including Community Development Block Grants and Home Buyer Assistance programs 4 Job Training Robert Davis , Director of Job Training , informed the Board the Johnston County Job Training office serves the economically disadvantaged adults and youths who do not have the necessary skills to obtain and retain permanent employment , and other individuals who have been permanently laid - off from their jobs or involved in plant closings The local agency , along with Wake County's Job Training Agency comprise the Capital Area Job Training Partnership Consortium They provide various servicesPage391 including referral , assessment , development of individual career plans , basic skills remediation , case management , adult high school GED , occupational skills training , job search assistance , job development and in certain cases , support services such as transportation and child care assistance One of the most successful services provided by the agency is the Summer Youth Employment Program which places disadvantaged youth in summer jobs The agency is primarily funded with Federal funds through the Job Training Partnership Act JTPA The NC Employment & Training Grant supplements training costs and provides support services , and the County provides 50,000 annually for administrative costs Johnston County Job Training works closely with other County agencies providing Job Fair assistance , grant application assistance , referral , coordination of services , special projects assistance , and benefits to clients The Capital Area Consortium far exceeded both the set performance standards and incentive standards set by the Federal Government through the JTPA Mr Davis spoke briefly of the Johnston County JobLink Career Center , which is the early stages of development and will be located at Johnston Community College in the near future The Center will customize and integrate services that will range from self - service to intensive counseling , using electronic sharing of information It will make services available to anyone interested , it will have stronger accountability and will be more flexible to address individual needs 5 Library Joyce Mitchell , Director of the Public Library of Johnston County and Smithfield , gave a brief history of the Public Library noting it was formed in 1966 when the County and Smithfield libraries merged The library is governed by a Board of Trustees made up six County appointed members and six Town appointed members Basically all citizens of the County are served either through the main library in Smithfield or other affiliated libraries across the County In addition to providing library books and other materials for its patrons , the library , which is now fully automated , runs a bookmobile throughout the rural areas of the County , offers meeting room space for citizens , and provides a courier system between libraries There are 12 full - time and 9 part - time employees The Public Library is funded through the State Aid to Libraries Fund , and also receives an annual allocation from both the County and the Town of Smithfield She noted they will be expanding their operation once renovations are completed to the adjacent old Belks building , which was recently purchased The Library is requesting a 5 increase in the County allocation for the coming year Even though they recently received a large donation from a private source , the Library Board of Trustees hopes to use the interest only on this project without disturbing the principal amount 6 Cooperative Extension Kenneth Bateman , County Extension Director , read to the Board the mission statement for his department and gave a brief history of extension services in Johnston County The County Extension Service , which is an agent of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service , is part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences of North Carolina State University , and NC A & T State University It is an extension of the education services of the universities He noted Cooperative Extension provides educational services in the areas of agriculture , natural resources , home economics , 4 - H , youth , and community rural development They offer various programs of interest to all citizens The local department operates under a memorandum of understanding between the universities and the Board of County Commissioners It is funded by state , Federal and county funds , with approximately 41 from the state , 18 from Federal funds and 24 coming from the county The remaining funds come from contracts and other sources In response to a comment about recent talk in Washington of cutting Federal funding and curtailing extension work , Mr Bateman stated , in his opinion , the challenge is to make the people at the Federal level realize what is being done for the citizens at the local level 7 Soil ConservationPage392 Kenneth York , Natural Resources Conservation Service NRCS District Conservationist , informed the Board that Johnston County Soil and Water Conservation Department is a unique organization Even though he is a Federal employee , he is a County department head supervising seven employees , some of whom are Federal employees , and some State and County paid personnel Last year the agency was authorized by the USDA NRCS to hire a temporary employee for five years to work with land on the Neuse River , assisting farmers in meeting the state required nutrient reduction goals Soil Conservation staff provides leadership in natural resources conservation practices , and administers cost - share programs , which address environmental concerns and help farmers install best management programs They work with the large livestock industry and even though they are not an enforcement agency , they have an agreement requiring them to notify the State about lagoon spillage Mr York noted several recent projects have directly affected the County 1 Stream debris removal following Hurricane Fran - he noted the stream debris removal was not as extensive as needed , but at least some of the worst areas were cleaned 2 Reorganization of the Moccasin Creek Drainage District - The Moccasin Creek Taxing District was set up originally in the 1960 s , and only those landowners that benefitted at that time were paying the taxes The District debt was paid , however , taxing for maintenance was finally proportioned among all parties affected by the Creek 3 Clean Water Management Trust Fund Grant for land application of pre - treated wastewater - Mr York stated he and Extension Agent Ken Bateman worked together getting commitments from farmers to accept land application 8 Tax Department Sterling Hancock , Tax Administrator , spoke to the Board about the Tax Department The major function of his department is to administer the ad valorem tax system , based on Federal , State and county laws He has a permanent staff of 25 and two full - time temporary positions , as well as part - time list takers All real and personal property is listed annually , property is assessed and bills are submitted and taxes collected The County also collects occupancy taxes and privilege taxes , and serves as a data repository for all other County agencies , as well as the public The County collects motor vehicle taxes , special district taxes , and taxes for most of the municipalities The department is funded from the County's general fund , however it generates some revenues through commissions on city collections , occupancy taxes and other fees In recent years , much of the money collections have been through a lockbox system , which has simplified matters as collections are automatically deposited when received In response to comments from the Board , Mr Hancock Stated he is asking for two new positions in order to proceed with in - house revaluation Concerning recent concerns about changes in farm use status for a number of taxpayers , Mr Hancock informed the Board the law requires the County to audit one - eighth of the farm use accounts yearly This practice was not done in Johnston County in the past When the practice was implemented recently , the staff began auditing those people in the system getting farm use that did not appear to have an application on file in the office When notified , some citizens did not realize they were getting farm use value on their property , and since they are not eligible , were upset when they received a bill for the difference in taxes for the past three years He assured the Board that proper notification was given these taxpayers , and every effort will be made to give extra time in servicing these accounts 9 Heritage Center Todd Johnston , Director of the Heritage Center , spoke to the Board briefly about the services offered by his department He noted the County has had a heritage center for approximately 30 years , however , it was called the Johnston County Room until recently The Center , which will be relocating in the Old First Citizens Bank Building as soon as renovations are complete , provides historical records and research materials which are used for genealogies and other historical research projects It is the repository of more than 400 private collections of books , account books and other collections relating to the County's local history Copies of all records previously microfilmed for the County are also kept at the Center They offer tours of historical properties , and hope to work more closely with the schools when they get into their new facility They will also be able to have rotating exhibits for public view PagePage pageNumber5393 Currently the Heritage Center is funded by approximately 78 County funds , with approximately 11 funding from endowments and another 11 from earn income , which includes sales and fees As the Center grows , hopefully there will be more endowments and a greater amount of earned income At present , the major fund raising efforts are being used on the capital improvements renovation project , however , once that is completed , the department should become more self - supporting The Board thanked each of the department heads for their presentations There being no further business , Commissioner Jerry F Wood moved the Board adjourn Commissioner Thomas M Moore seconded the motion , which carried by unanimous vote ____________________________________ James H Langdon , Jr , Chairman ______________________________ Joyce H Ennis , ClerkPage