July 27, 1987 - 10:00 AM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Special)

The Johnston County Board of Commissioners met in special called sessionrequested by the Johnston Technical College Board of Trustees Monday, July 27, 1987, at10 oclock am, Commissioners Room, Johnston County Courthouse, Smithfield, NC, withthe following members presentNorman C Denning, Chairman, Frank B Holding, Vice Chairman, James WCash, Howard Benton and John M Booker, DVMMembers absent NoneAlso present Richard B Self, County ManagerThe Chairman called the meeting to order and the following business wastransactedJohnston Technical College - Auditorium Building ProjectThe Chairman recognized John Shallcross, Trustee and Chairman of the AuditoriumBuilding Committee; Mr Shallcross addressed the boardThree years ago Johnston Technical College received a 12 million grant for alearning center In that proposal was a 200 seat auditorium A group of local citizensdecided to expand it to 600, 800 or 1,000 seats and a private fund raising effort beganand produced 15 million; classrooms, library learning center and a cooking facilityadded at the far side and auditorium expanded to 1,000 seatt capacity The originalbudget was 27 million, the Board of Trustees advertised and bids were opened at 44million The Board of Trustees must decide what can be built based on which alternatescan be included; funds short in the amount of 817,132The Board of Trustees is hoping for a 500,000 grant from the North CarolinaGeneral Assembly; a serious problem if that money is not appropriated; 200,000 fromMotel Occupancy Tax, and 117,132 from the countyContracts cannot be let until funds are committed by the countyDiscussionCommissioner Howard Benton was concerned about efforts for additional contri-¦146July 27, 1987 Continuedbutions or pledges; Mr Shallcross stated no effort has been made The Board ofTrustees have 30 days from bid opening to accept or reject the bids, some bidders willnot extend the period; he stressed the electrical bidder has made a 50,000 error in hisbidCommissioner John M Booker asked what is involved in the project and howlong will construction take Mr Shallcross replied, dressing rooms, storage rooms, alearning center, auditorium, classrooms and kitchen facilities; Dr Tart added, fourclassrooms, one of which is supplied with a kitchen to teach food courses as well assupply food for events in the auditorium; about 18 months for constructionIn response to concern from the Chairman regarding the amount received frompledges; Dr Tart stated about 725,000 out of the 15 million has been received, mostis spread over a 5 year periodCommissioner James W Cash asked what the trustees are asking from thecounty; Mr Shallcross replied 150,000; anticipating 500,000 from the General Assemblyand 200,000 from the tourism taxCommissioner Frank B Holding says he favors giving 150,000 to 200,000 innext years budget 1988 -1989 fiscal year and stated, the county has put very fewdollars in Johnston Technical College over the yearsCommissioner Benton says there is opposition and concern about using taxdol I ars for the auditorium, taxpayers relate it to being a Smithfield project; MrShallcross says it is not a Smithfield institution, most of the funds may have come fromSmithfield, but it is a county wide project Commissioner Benton continued, that theauditorium is disassociated with Johnston Tech; 35 to 40 people have contacted him whoare against the projectCommissioner Holding added, with 4,000 to 5,000 students, currently enrolled ifour constituents are going to have a technical college, they are going to have tosupport it; the auditorium is part of the project, the county has only put 10 into theproject, and the additional request is only 12 , that is a small fraction of the costChairman Denning stated that Johnston Technical College has given us as muchas we have put into it; we are undertaking a courthouse project that some people areagainst, but we need it because of lawsuits; the school system is in bad shape Im forthe auditorium, but the percent of people using it will be very small; it would even besmall if applied only to the 4,000 to 5,000 students there We all want to see itcompleted, but this budget and next years budget are hard pressed to keep the taxrate down I will support the board, but I concur with rNir Bentons thoughts; we aregoing to be criticized on this project; that raises a lot of concern Im not opposed,but I dont know where we will get the moneyThe Technical College Board of Trustees is asking the county for a totalappropriation of 600,000, instead of the original request of 450,000, which Mr Shallcrosssays is a small amount when compared to education He says they need to have a firmconirr i tMEnt frorr the county The County Mianager advised that 150,000 is budgeted thisyear, the other 300, 000 to be budgeted next yearCommissioner Benton asadditional money appropriated by the county Mr Shallcross did not objectThe board agreed to postpone any decision on this request until the regularmeeting on Monday, August 3rd, the Chairman set 1030 am on the agenda for furtherNorman C Denning, ChairmanEleanor N CreechClerk to the BoardfiIfdecision2Social Services - BudgetAmendmentCommissioner John MBooker moveda budget amendment beapproved torecognize 7,060 Child Day Care funds in DSS to be expended in the eight 8week periodCommissioner Frank BHolding secondedthe motion which carriedby unanimousvoteUpon a motion by Commissioner HowardBenton, duly seconded byCommissionerJohn MBooker and carried, theboard adjournedNorman C Denning, ChairmanEleanor N CreechClerk to the BoardfiIfDetailsAnnotationsEntry PropertiesModified11192013 12601 PMCreated4142003 84237 AMTemplateMinutesFieldsMinutes - TypeSpecialMinutes - Date7271987Book18