June 17, 1985 - 7:30 PM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Recessed)

TheJohnston CountyBoard ofCommissioners reconvened in regular sessionMonday, June17, 1985, at730 pm,in the Commissioners Room, Johnston CountyCourthouse,Smithfield, NorthCarolina,with the following members presentNorman C Denning, Chairman, Frank B Holding, Vice Chairman, JamesW Cash, Howard Benton and John M Booker, DVMMembers Absent NoneAlso present Kramer Jackson, County Manager and Budget Officer, EleanorN Creech, Clerk to the Board;County staff present George Johnson, Sheriff, Freddy Narron, ChiefDeputy, Bob Atkinson, Chief Detective, Ed Daughtry, Deputy; and Ben Niblock,Director, Department of Social ServicesThe Chairman called the meeting to order and the following businesswas transacted1 Sheriff Addresses 40 Hour Work Week and Budget RequestSheriff Johnson spoke addressing the problem regarding the Supreme Courtruling that law enforcement officers are subject to the Fair Labor StandardsAct which requires overtime pay for a l l hours worked over 40 hours per weekHe expressed concern about the effect this new ruling will have on his officeand his departments services to the people of this county The Sheriff stated,I cant say stop after 40 hours a week, with emergencies; and when I gotinvestigations going you have got to keep going; and we are going to be forcedto abide by the new federal guide lines He emphasized to the board the FederalDepartment of Labor intends to enforce the ruling of the Supreme Court, andit is his understanding the new law was effective as of April 15, 1985, witha mandate of October 15, 1985 4Freddy Narron, Chief Deputy, spoke addressing the hours worked by eachdeputy; averaging 60 hours per week just to attempt to maintain services asthey are now He stated further; to telI the Sheriffs Department to cut backon hours worked would mean to cut back on services; and it is impossible tocut hours without additional employees He said to the board that , he is proudof the job they are doing, but not satisfied, would like to be able to do moreHe continued; i f anyone can tell us how to do a l l we must do in less time, itwould be welcomed The Sheriff and the Chief Deputy emphasized that it_ is absolutelyimpossible for them to carry out all of their judicial responsibilities, to protectthe citizens of this county; and to enforce the law working 40 hours a week withthe number of deputies they now haveCommissioner Frank B Holding questioned that the deputies are working60 hours a weekThe Sheriff stated that State law enforcement officers have already cutback to 40 hours a week, however, his department can not be compared withState officers and the Highway Patrol The Sheriff says he is only trying to maintainservices and not fall any further behind The Sheriff strongly emphasized thatsociety dictates what is going to happen and what I am going to do; and thelaw says what I must doThe Budget Officer had presented a work sheet summary of overtime workby the Sheriffs Department which showed an annual overtime cost of 286,473,or the number of employees required to eliminate overtime work would be elevenat an annual cost of 365,431In a lengthy discussion of this issue, the board agreed the Sheriffs Officeneeds help, however, they did not favor eleven new deputies The Chairman sayshe is willing to consider giving the Sheriffs Office more deputies, and joinedby Commissioner Holding, they are not willing to pay an unlimited amount ofovertime The Chairman continued that it is not the boards intentions that thedeputies be abused , but the Commissioners have to answer to the taxpayersof the countyCommissioner Holding stated that alternatives are to work with some overtime;some compensatory time; and give the Sheriff some additional manpower He furtheremphasized the county board may have to adopt a resolution limiting the deputiesto a 40 hour work weekCommissioner Benton stated; you cant do it , you can not hold the deputieswork week to 40 hours ; it is clear that the county has one or two choices; overtimepay or more manpower Commissioner Benton along with the other board members,told the Sheriff he is doing a good job , however, realize this good job wi l lnot solve his problemCommissioner JohnMBooker said that manpowerforthe Sheriffs Officehas been a problem theeightyears he has been on theboard; the Sheriff needsmore deputies; the boardwillhave to face this problem; asthenew law is changingall the rules and itwillhave to be accepted anddealtwith CommissionerBooker indicated that iftheboard gives the Sheriff morebecause the Sheriffsdeputies it will beimpossible to give each deputyan automobileThe board agreed the Sheriffs Office is to be commended for the job theyare doing with the number of employees they have In agreeing the SheriffsOffice needs additional deputies, the board did not specify an exact number atthis timeEd Daughtry,Deputy, speaking onbehalf of the deputies,andhimself,stated they do putin many, many hours ofovertime, we are facedwiththe newlaw and we mustdo something about it,however, he related ifhisneighboror anyone calls forhelp Im going, nomatter how many hoursIveworkedHe continued that the public has already adjusted to other than maximumservicesbecause the SheriffsOffice has not had whatit should for yearsThe Board of Commissioners in conclusion instructed the County Managerto make an investigation and study of other counties comparing in size and populationto Johnston County to see how they intend to handle the new Supreme Court ruling2 Salary IncreasesBen Niblock, Director, Department of Social Services, expressed appreciationto the Board of Commissioners for their continued support Mr Nib lock askedthe board to consider a 98 percent salary increase for county employees, ifthey consider a 98 percent salary increase for county paid school teachers{IIr1iJune 17, 1985 Continued3 Legal Opinion from County Attorney - Fair Labor Standards ActMr Jackson told the board he had asked for a legal opinion on the newSupreme Court ruling from the County Attorney, he had not yet responded MrJackson stated, in his opinion, a county law enforcement officer can work 171hours a month, every officer has to keep a record on file; if they work over171 hours they must be paid overtime Mr Jackson said he was not suggestingwhat the board should do; just giving them alternatives to consider4 Budget Work SessionThe County Manager spoke briefly on the 98 percent salary increase requestedby the Board of Education for county paid school teachers; stating he had beenasked by county employees to remind the Board of Commissioners they wishedto be treated as the school personnel in respect to salary increasesIn discussion of the proposed budget; the board tentatively added theKenly Library request of 15,000 back to the budget; and construction of an officebuilding for the Farmers Home Administration; a figure of 160,000 had been con-sidered for this building In discussion of this proposed figure, the board askedthe County Manager to try and come up with a more realistic figure; and tosee if he could get more money for rent than the proposed 750 per square footThe board also talked about bulk container sites and containers for thesesites They asked the County Manager to get prices on 40 cubic yard containers,as opposed to the 30 cubic yard containersThe board took no official action on any items of the 1985 -1986 ProposedBudget at this meetingUpon a motion by Commissioner John M Booker, duly seconded by CommissionerJames W Cash and carried by unanimous vote, the board recessed until Monday,June 24, 1985, at 730 pm1Norman C Denning, ChairmanEleanor N CreechClerk to the Boarda5DetailsAnnotationsEntry PropertiesModified11192013 14947 PMCreated4162003 15711 PMTemplateMinutesFieldsMinutes - TypeRecessedMinutes - Date6171985Book17