February 17, 1997 - 7:00 PM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Recessed)

February 17, 1997The Johnston County Board of Commissioners resumed regular session on Monday, February17,1997, at 700 oclock pm in the auditorium of the Cooperative Extension building, 806 North Street,Smithfield, North Carolina, with the following membersPresent Norman C Denning, Chairman, James W Cash, Vice Chairman, Jerry F Wood,Cookie Pope, Thomas M Moore, and James H Langdon, JrAbsent Eleanor N CreechAlso Present Richard B Self, County Manager, and Joyce H Ennis, Clerk to the Board; SmithfieldMayor Joe Hobbs, and Smithfield Town Council membersChairman Norman C Denning called the County Commissioners meeting to order SmithfieldMayor Joey Hobbs called the Smithfield Town Council to order Following the invocation and openingremarks by Chairman Denning and Mayor Hobbs, the following issues were discussed1 Wholesale Water RatesThe two boards discussed the need to determine wholesale water rates between the County andthe Town Mayor Hobbs pointed out that both entities depend on each other for water, and will most likelyalways be emergency backup for one another He spoke of the excess water the Smithfield Plant has, andstated the Town would like for the County to make a commitment to purchase water from Smithfield forfuture needs, rather than expand the new plantFollowing further discussion, it was agreed that a committee from both boards would meet withthe engineers and managers to try to come to an agreement on wholesale water rates2 Wilsons Mills Water CustomersMayor Hobbs stated the Town of Smithfield was asked in 1986 to provide operation andmaintenance of the Wilsons Mills water facilities Now that the County has a water plant and a utilitiesdepartment, the County wants to take these customers back He stated, in his opinion, the County shouldcompensate the Town for this loss of revenueThe Board of Commissioners pointed out that originally the County provided water to theWilsons Mills area through a Community Development Block Grant and County appropriations At thattime, the County was not in the retail water business and contracted with the town to provide this serviceuntil such time the County could make other arrangements Now, however, none of this is relevant asWilsons Mills is incorporated, and has formally asked the County to provide retail water service for theirtown3 Jones Brothers Water TankThe two boards discussed the fact that Smithfield needs continued use of the Countys JonesBrothers Water Tank to stabilize the water pressure on the north side of town The Board agreed to checkwith the engineers and find a way for the town to draw water from the Countys tank, through use of aspecial valve4 Joint Use of County Owned Water LinesMayor Hobbs questioned the action recently taken by the Board of Commissioners concerninguse of county -owned water and sewer lines He questioned why the County allows Wake and Harnettcounties and the Town of Dunn to use the lines, but will not let Smithfield use county lines to sell waterto KenlyThe Board explained the arrangements with Wendell, Dunn and Harnett County were made topurchase water for county useReference Policy adopted November 4, 1996 - Book 20, page 4255 Water DistrictsThe two boards discussed the need to establish a policy concerning purchase of water districtfacilities in the event a town annexes into a water district6 Parks and RecreationMayor Hobbs noted that citizens living outside of the city limits utilize the towns parks andrecreation programs as much as town citizens, and this causes a stress on their budgets He asked theBoard to consider allowing service district areas around the towns that would establish boundaries forsupport of both recreation and emergency servicesChairman Denning stated the County recognizes the concerns of emergency services, and hasalready authorized a study on rescue operations in the County The Board expects a report in the nearfuture and, based on that report, plan to address this issueCommissioner Thomas M Moore asked if non -town participants in the recreation programs payan additional fee Mayor Hobbs stated that a separate fee is charged out of town participantsCommissioner J H Langdon noted that the County has done a good thing with recreation in thepast, but the growth in the County is creating changes and the Board will need to look at the matterCommissioner Cookie Pope noted the Board of Commissioners plan a retreat for the purpose of addressinggrowth concerns throughout the County7 Extraterritorial JurisdictionMayor Hobbs noted the town, since annexing West Smithfield Sanitary District, does not haveextraterritorial jurisdiction in that direction He pointed out the General Assembly would allow, withCommissioner approval, a two mile ETJ now that Smithfield has over 10,000 residents He continued thathe feels the Town could do a better job than the County in controlling planning and zoning in these areasChairman Denning disagreed and stated, in his opinion, since the County can now provide all thenecessary planning, zoning and inspections for county citizens, ETJ is no longer necessary Hecommented that he believes placing rural citizens in the ETJ of any town, is making second class citizensout of them because they are not allowed to vote for the town officials who have planning authority overthemCommissioner Thomas M Moore stated that in his opinion the County is doing a good job in theareas of planning, zoning and inspection, and he also questioned the need for ETJ He pointed out theCommissioners are concerned about all the citizens in the County, including those in the towns andsurrounding areas8 Inspections of County Owned FacilitiesChairman Denning asked why Smithfield has recently rescinded approval for the County toinspect its own building projects within the town, especially without notifying the County that there wasa problemMayor Hobbs stated he feels the Town needs to control the permitting process and inspectionsin order to control what goes on with construction, even if it is the Countys Courthouse building Hestated he personally had complaints from merchants in the downtown areaTown Councilman, Tom Bell, commented he had originally voted to allow the County to do itsown inspections, however, the town staff came to the council with a list of problems, and he felt he hadto vote to rescind this policy He agreed that the issue might need to be looked at further He did notelaborate on the problems the towns staff listedIt was agreed by everyone that there needs to be better communication between the two boards9 County Owned Property - Impact on TownMayor Hobbs asked how much more property the County plans to buy around the Courthouseas these purchases take money from the towns tax base He suggested the County should build parkingdecks and build upward add additional stories to building projects in lieu of purchasing additionalproperty He specifically complained of the parking problems in the downtown area because ofCourthouse trafficChairman Denning pointed out the properties bought in the past few years have mostly been vacantbuildings with low tax values He stated, in his opinion, the County employees and other persons who cometo Smithfield on Courthouse business contribute much more revenue to the town than any loss realized bythe County purchasing property surrounding the Courthouse He also pointed out the County landscapesand makes overall improvements to the property it purchases In relation to parking problems, he noted thatsome of the vehicles in the County parking lots belong to people who park there early each morning and carpool to Raleigh and Research TriangleCommissioner James W Cash stated that in his opinion, it has been to Smithfields advantage tobe the County Seat and have the Courthouse and County offices located in its downtown He noted thatCounty Government, along with the hospital, is one of the largest industries in the County, and certainly alarge utility customer for the town He noted other municipalities in the County would no doubt like to havethe County Seat moved to their areaClosing Remarks by Mayor Hobbs and Chairman DenningIn closing, Mayor Hobbs thanked everyone for coming to the meeting He noted there are some areasof disagreement, but nothing that cant be worked out with better communicationsChairman Denning commented that the Board of Commissioners would like to help Smithfield easesome of its problems, and look forward to working together in the future He noted he is very proud ofSmithfield, and enjoyed meeting with the Town CouncilTown of Smithfield Adjourns10 Engineering Agreement - McGees Crossroads Elementary SchoolUpon a motion by Commissioner Cookie Pope, seconded by Commissioner Thomas M Moore andcarried by unanimous vote, the Board authorized McKim and Creed to proceed with the engineering forMcGees Crossroads Elementary SchoolThere being no further comments, Commissioner Thomas M Moore moved the Board recess until700 pm Monday, February 24, 1997 at the Wilsons Mills Elementary School Cafeteria at which time theywill meet jointly with the Johnston County Board of EducationNorman C Denning, ChairmanJoyce K Ennis, ClerkDetailsAnnotationsEntry PropertiesModified11192013 123050 PMCreated422003 80110 AMTemplateMinutesFieldsMinutes - TypeRecessedMinutes - Date2171997Book20