October 6, 1986 - 7:00 PM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Joint)

JOINT MEETINGJOHNSTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSandJOHNSTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATIONOctober 6, 1986SPECIAL SESSIONTheJohnston County Board ofEducation met injoint sessionwith the Boardof CountyCommissioners on Monday, October6, 1986, at700 pm,in the AssemblyRoom of theSchool Administration OfficeChairmanWade H Stephenson,Vice ChairmanR SherwodParker, RoysterMartin, JimmyFlowers, Kenneth Jones,Chairman NormanDenning,ViceChairman FrankB Holding,Dr John Booker, HowardBenton and JamesW Cashwerepresent for themeetingWELCOMEChairman Stephenson welcomed the County Commissioners and others who werepresent for the meeting Chairman Stephenson stated the purpose of the meeting isto discuss the methods of financing school constructionNorman Denning responded it was a pleasure for the Board of County Commissionersto meet with the Board of Education and interested citizens present He stated hethought it was good for the two boards to get togetherINVOCATIONKenneth Jones gave the invocationJoint Meeting - Board of Commissioners and Board of Education contChairman Stephenson reported the Board of Education did adopt a Long RangePlan and a copy was mailed to the County CommissionersChairman Stephenson opened themeetingfor commentsfrom the board membersand county commissionersall of this saleswhich would amount to 32 million a year - -buttax money for a period ofJimmy Flowers stated if moneywas noobject, we could have had a betterLong Range Plan but we ,based the LongRange Planon whatwas best for the childrenand best for the taxpayers of JohnstonCountyJimmy Flowersalso stated there wasnothing wrong with neighborhood schoolsif youcould affordto put enough money inthe school He stated there must be around 500students ina school to get most outof the dollar When you get less than500 ina school youstart having combinationclassesCash stated, Idont think any of us wouldoppose givingKenneth Jones inquired as to how much money the sales tax would generateKramer Jackson responded it would generate 3,200,000 Mr Jackson also reported fiftycounties had adopted the one -half cent sales tax authorized by the General Assemblyin 1986 He further stated he projected twelve months from now between 95 and 99 countieswi 1 I have adopted the one -half cent sales taxHoward Benton stated, I have no problem with giving the schools all the salestax with possibly two little exceptions; two items which the County Commissioners aregoing to have to address -- around 210,000 I think if Kramer cannot come up withthat much money from other sources, I think we should consider that in the first install-ment of sales tax If Kramer can find money, we will give 100 Norman Denning stated, Our board has talked one on one and as a groupmany times about your problems I have not found a member of our board who didnot have about the same feeling We want to help--but that is not getting the jobdone He further stated 32 million is a lot of moneyCommissioner Holding also mentioned the meeting scheduled for Thursday, October9, 1986, in Raleigh with Governor Jim Martin Mr Holding stated the school constructionneeds are not unique in Johnston County; it is a statewide problem I think the respon-sibility of spending all this money is going to be on the school board and you needto make the best decision you possibly can makeCommissionerFrankHolding stated,I am willing to commitall of this saleswhich would amount to 32 million a year - -buttax money for a period offour or fiveyears I dont think oneboard can commititsfuture boards, butI thinkwe all supportthis plan and want to seenew schools builtboundaries Dr Booker also expressed a concernin Johnston CountyWe are talking in goodfaith There is a needand we all seeBookeritasked if the building program would eliminate combination classesLong RangePlan maintains the highschool attendanceboundariesCommissionerJamesCash stated, Idont think any of us wouldoppose givingbut that theall of the sales taxand theprevious sales taxto Capital OutlayCommissionerNormanDenning alsostated he was in favor ofgiving the salestaxKenneth Jones inquired as to how much money the sales tax would generateKramer Jackson responded it would generate 3,200,000 Mr Jackson also reported fiftycounties had adopted the one -half cent sales tax authorized by the General Assemblyin 1986 He further stated he projected twelve months from now between 95 and 99 countieswi 1 I have adopted the one -half cent sales taxHoward Benton stated, I have no problem with giving the schools all the salestax with possibly two little exceptions; two items which the County Commissioners aregoing to have to address -- around 210,000 I think if Kramer cannot come up withthat much money from other sources, I think we should consider that in the first install-ment of sales tax If Kramer can find money, we will give 100 Norman Denning stated, Our board has talked one on one and as a groupmany times about your problems I have not found a member of our board who didnot have about the same feeling We want to help--but that is not getting the jobdone He further stated 32 million is a lot of moneyCommissioner Holding also mentioned the meeting scheduled for Thursday, October9, 1986, in Raleigh with Governor Jim Martin Mr Holding stated the school constructionneeds are not unique in Johnston County; it is a statewide problem I think the respon-sibility of spending all this money is going to be on the school board and you needto make the best decision you possibly can makeIn response to Dr BookersDr John Booker saidhe would not be against giving the schools theproceedsfromthe half -cent sales taxwhich would amount to 32 million a year - -butthat hehadmany questions about the Long Range Plan Dr Booker stated, Im notsayingitsnot a good plan, but Ithink it needs some revisions I think it needsto takeintoconsideration attendanceboundaries Dr Booker also expressed a concernovertheamount of funds placedin the Current Expense Budget for the schools DrBookeralsoasked if the building program would eliminate combination classesLong RangeIn response to Dr Bookersquestions,Dr Ellerberespondedas follows Buildingmaintenanceisa Current Expenseitem and with the oldbuildingswe have, alterationsand repairstothose buildings is a largepart of thecost forCurrent Expense Ifwe dont buildnew buildings can you notexpect thatto comedown, but expect itto go upDrEllerbe stated theLong RangePlan maintains the highschool attendanceboundariesDrEllerbe stated theplan probably will noteliminatecombination classes,but that theplanshould reduce thecombinationclassesFrank Holding stated he was for lifting the Court Order which deals withattendance boundaries Mr Holding asked Dr Ellerbe how long it would take to builda new school Dr Ellerbe stated a good rule of thumb is that it takes one year toplan and one year to buildFrank Holding told Dr E 1 i erbe he would like for him to send to Kramer Jacksoninformation telling exactly how much money is going into alterations and repairs JamesCash stated he would like for the information to also include what is spent on maintenanceL¦21Joint Meeting - Board of Commissioners and Board of Education ContdHubert Radford, North Johnston Representative on Long Range Plan, stated theywere ready for the school board to take the plans drawn up for the Selma Middle Schooland use for the middle school in the northern end of the countyWade Stephenson stated the Board of Education would meet in Regular Sessionon October 21, 1986, and the board would be better prepared to make commentsADJOURNMENTThe meeting adjourned at 820 pmWade H Stephenson, ChairmanJames H Ellerbe, EdD, SecretarybeJimmy Flowers stated he wasready and willing to request that theCourt Orderdone away withCommissioner Frank B Holdingstated, If you are in session,I would liketosee you say, We are going tospend 6 million and build two projects, and Iamlooking forward to reading it inthe paper - -tell the people- -and geton with itCommissioner Norman Denningstated, This Board of Commissionersis not goingtocome out here and help you draw up plans With the one -half cent salestax andanindication of the schools gettingthe money, I wou I d be looking forsomebody todraw up some plansJimmy Flowers stated, I amready to tell the County Commissionershow proudofthem I amRoyster Martin also thanked theCounty Commissioners for this meetingWade Stephenson stated, Thisis the first time we have had anythingto hangourhats onHubert Radford, North Johnston Representative on Long Range Plan, stated theywere ready for the school board to take the plans drawn up for the Selma Middle Schooland use for the middle school in the northern end of the countyWade Stephenson stated the Board of Education would meet in Regular Sessionon October 21, 1986, and the board would be better prepared to make commentsADJOURNMENTThe meeting adjourned at 820 pmWade H Stephenson, ChairmanJames H Ellerbe, EdD, SecretaryDetailsAnnotationsEntry PropertiesModified11192013 33208 PMCreated4142003 95436 AMTemplateMinutesFieldsMinutes - TypeJointMinutes - Date1061986Book18