MINUTES. The Town of Manteo Board of Commissioners held their Regular session in the Manteo Town Hall meeting room December 5, 2018 at 6:30 p.m.

Transcription

1 MINUTES The Town of Manteo Board of Commissioners held their Regular session in the Manteo Town Hall meeting room December 5, 2018 at 6:30 p.m. The following members were present: The following members were absent: Also present at the meeting were: Mayor Bobby Owens Commissioner Darrell Collins Commissioner Nancy Peele Commissioner Hannon Fry Commissioner Christine Walker Commissioner Eddie Mann Commissioner Richie Burke Town Manger Kermit Skinner Asst. Town Mgr. /Finance Shannon Twiddy Town Clerk Becky Breiholz Planner Melissa Dickerson Town Attorney Wyatt Booth Mayor Owens called the meeting to order 6:30 pm followed by a moment of silent meditation and the Pledge of Allegiance. SUBJECT: Adoption of Agenda as presented or amended-amend the agenda to move the Mayor s agenda item Town Commons to the beginning of the agenda and to add to the Finance Officer s agenda discussion of the Town Personnel Classification Grade Schedule for the IT Specialist position. MOTION: Commissioner Collins seconded by Commissioner Walker to approve the agenda as amended was approved by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Fry, Burke, Mann, Collins, Walker and Peele. Noes: None. Absent: None SUBJECT: Adoption of the items on the Consent Agenda as presented or amended. MOTION: Commissioner Burke seconded by Commissioner Walker to approve the Regular November 7, 2018 minutes and the Joint Planning Board meeting November 13, 2018 on consent agenda as presented was approved by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Fry, Burke, Mann, Collins, Walker and Peele. Noes: None. Absent: None Mayor Owens wanted to thank and recognize the Special Events Committee for a wonderful tree lighting event downtown and the outstanding job they did. Commissioner Burke thanked the Committee and Town staff. 1

2 MAYOR S AGENDA SUBJECT: Discussion of Town Commons-Dare County Chair Bob Woodard and Dare County Manager Bobby Outten were present to inform the Board how excited they are to enter into a partnership with the Town for the Town Commons project at the old Dare County Administration building site. They met with Mr. Skinner and Mayor Owens and would like to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Town. Both Mr. Skinner and Mr. Outten will work on the MOU. The County Board of Commissioners have already approved the plan and the County has set aside some funds for the demolition of the building. They would like to do the whole project as a single project with demo and development of the property. They will seek grants to help with the whole project from demolition to completion and it will all be coordinated by funding. They need an architecture plan in place in order to seek grants. MOTION: Commissioner Collins seconded by Commissioner Burke to approve the Town Manager work with the County to develop a MOU; Motion was amended to allow the Town Manager to enter into a contract with a designer was approved by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Fry, Burke, Mann, Collins, Walker and Peele. Noes: None. Absent: None PRESENTATION- Dare County Toy Run-Representatives from the Dare County Toy Run presented the Board with a plaque for all the help the Town of Manteo provided in the toy run. They raised over $32,000 for kids for the County. PRESENTATION-and request from Michael Tillett to promote OBX Rod and Custom Car Festival. Michael Tillett stated that their mission is to create, promote and produce an event for the automotive enthusiast in a family friendly environment. Mr. Tillett commented that for 2018 they have adopted two primary charities that they will support. Both Charities are registered 501 C3 Non Profit that provide support to the community. One is the Children and Youth Partnership for Dare County, which connect parents and children to community programs that promote healthy growth within the family environment; and the other will be the Dare County Motorsports Charity Group, which is a major supporter of Christmas Cheer to the underprivileged children in Dare County. They would like the following closures for Friday, May 3, 2019 from 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm: Christmas tree parking lot; weather tower parking; parking spaces on Fernando Street beside the boathouse; Magnolia Pavilion for Arts and Crafts; Magnolia Pavilion parking spaces; boat ramp parking lot and all parking spaces on both sides of Budleigh Street from Pioneer Theatre/108 Budleigh to Queen Elizabeth Street. They are anticipating cars in downtown Manteo on Friday during the First Friday event. There would be no street closures. They will have a second day of this show on Saturday, May 4 th at the Sound Side Pavilion in Nags Head. Commissioner Collins asked Commissioner Burke, who is the Special Events liaison, if they could work with the car festival and Commissioner Burke responded yes. PRESENTATION-Audit by Dowdy and Osborne-Teresa Osborne-Mrs. Osborne presented the Board with an overview of the audit for FY ending June 30, They conducted the audit in 2

3 accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States and the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards. The assets and deferred outflows of resources of the Town of Manteo exceeded its liabilities and deferred inflows of resources at the close of the fiscal year by $18,001,810. The governments total net assets increased by $1,526,772. This includes an increase in the governmental activities of $1,193,380 and an increase in the business type activities of $333,392. Both increases are due to revenues over expenses including depreciation on the full accrual basis. These increase were offset by reductions to previously reported net position to record the effects of the implementation of GASB 75 for retiree health insurance. The restatement for the governmental activities reduced beginning net position by $1,025,989 and the restatement for the business type activities reduced beginning net position by $303,664. She reviewed pages 14 and 15 of the audit and revenues exceeded expenses by $8,046. On pages 19 water and sewer fund the net income was $333,392 which was less than the previous year. She did not note any deficiencies in the audit. She had two recommendations that the Town use Encumbrance Accounting, which is not required but is strongly recommended, which would enhance the Finance Officer s ability to determine whether funds are available in the budget since funds would be encumbered or set aside in the accounting system as purchase orders are processed. The other recommendation would be on salary adjustments. They recommend the Board and staff to review the personnel policy to confirm which salary increases can be approved by management. The policy allows for cost of living increases for employees approved as part of the annual budget process, performance based merit increases based on an approved merit pay plan and increases for promotions and they identified two raises which did not to appear to fall into these approved categories. The Town is financially very sound. PUBLIC HEARING-to receive comments on the proposed water meter replacement project (NCGS and NCGS sole source contracting. Before the Public Hearing was opened Josh O Brien, Water and Sewer Superintendent gave the Board a brief overview of what has previously been discussed by the Board. This will allow them to have continuous communication and improve quality of customer service. We were denied grant funding because our rates were too low by $1.00 but we were able to secure loan funding. MOTION: Commissioner Fry seconded by Commissioner Walker to enter into a public hearing was approved by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Fry, Burke, Mann, Collins, Walker and Peele. Noes: None. Absent: None Comments: None. MOTION: Commissioner Collins seconded by Commissioner Fry to exit the public hearing was approved by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Fry, Burke, Mann, Collins, Walker and Peele. Noes: None. Absent: None. 3

4 PUBLIC COMMENTS-Town Manager Mr. Skinner commented that this is portion of the agenda where citizens can comment on anything that is not on the agenda. For items on the agenda the public will be given the opportunity to comment. Sarah Benson-Agona Street would like for the people to share ideas for the Town Commons and would like the demolition to be orchestrated after the planning. Some have talked about reclaiming some of the building and using that as part of the project, maybe using the front of the building. She would like the Board to make sure that they have a gathering before the demolition occurs. Person-did not identify himself, commented that he moved here 6 years ago and thinks that we should know why people want to move to Manteo and what direction we need to go. We need to know where we are going and that we get together and make a plan. A lot of things can be done without costing a penny to make things better. He described a town he lived in New England and how it developed was by people talking to people and this Town needs that. Sherry Wickstrom-Lord Essex and is delighted to be in Manteo, she came from Minnesota and Manteo is a magical place. She and her husband are preservationists and they went through the Architecture Review and that is what makes us different and not like cookie cutter developments. She asks the Board to stay committed to preservation. COMMISSIONER S AGENDA SUBJECT: Discussion and consideration of amendment to the GEACC Interlocal Agreement-At the Government Education Access Channel Committee meeting they voted to recommend an amendment to the Interlocal agreement that would allow the committee to approve the transfer of money between line items in the annual budget as long as it does not affect the total annual operating budget. In addition, it clarifies that funds in the contingency line item can be transferred to objects of expenditures as needed. Before taking effect, the amended Interlocal agreement must be approved by all 10 participating entities. MOTION: Commissioner Mann seconded by Commissioner Fry to approve the amendment to GEACC Interlocal Agreement was approved by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Fry, Burke, Mann, Collins, Walker and Peele. Noes: None. Absent: None Commission Mann gave an update on the televising of meetings and January is the projected start date and he spoke with Skip Wallace at the County who said he would assist in getting it set up. 4

5 PLANNER S AGENDA SUBJECT: Discussion and consideration of recommendation from the Planning Board to solicit RFP s for a legal review of the Town Zoning ordinances. This was discussed at the joint meeting held November 13 th with the Planning Board. Public comments on the item were allowed. Angel Khoury-Mother Vineyard and property owner in Manteo, she quoted from a book on Small Town America and by controlling height there are no chain hotels; by controlling square footage there are no big box stores and by not allowing drive through there is no fast food. She asked that the Board vote No to changes to the zoning ordinance and restart the plan that has been used in the past. Contact the NC State School of Design on how to go forward. Town Attorney Wyatt Booth asked the Planner to provide a copy of the Town of Manteo Plan to the Commissioners. The plan was started in 2003 and adopted the current zoning ordinance in The Town went through the process and thought that because of changes to State law the Planning Board was to look at what ordinances were illegal. Mayor Owens commented that we have no intentions on changing the zoning ordinance and this is not about changing it, this about the State changing zoning laws that are no longer legal. Planner Melissa Dickerson gave an example about our Accessory Dwelling unit which has an owner/occupancy requirement and that is what is before the Board. Commissioner Collins does not think we should spend the money. Member from audience did not identify stated a legal review is broad and that the Board might want to clarify what this review encompasses. Tim Teeple commented that some people brought up hotels and drive thru and we are trying to figure out what the Board is trying to do. Bebe Woody-White Doe Inn and we have had zoning laws for many years and asked the Board to consider what the best is for the citizens of Manteo and what they want. They have been elected to do a job and represent the people. Gather information and not have an agenda of your own, need to take time, they need to think of the future and the infrastructure. You don t have to rewrite the ordinance; it is time for the Board to become leaders of our community. Get input from the community, look at the foundation and see where we want to go from there. John Adams-best way to begin is to revise the land use plan, this is premature. There is a waiting list at Harbor town for low income residents and the economic disparity needs to be assessed as it is evident that low income housing is inadequate. 5

6 MOTION: Commissioner Collins seconded by Commissioner Burk to not approve the recommendation from the Planning Board was approved by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Fry, Burke, Mann, Collins, Walker and Peele. Noes: None. Absent: None A recess was taken at 8:05pm. Mayor Owens called the meeting back to order at 8:15 am. FINANCE OFFICER AGENDA SUBJECT: Discussion and consideration of proposed meter replacement project (NCGS and NCGS sole source contracting)-a public hearing was held at the beginning of the meeting. The Board had been given a presentation at their March 21, 2018 workshop meeting by Ferguson and Sensus about meter replacement. The Board approved the Affordability Criteria, Financial information and Fund transfer which was required. We did not receive grant funds as our water and sewer rates are too low to qualify for this grant source; but we were awarded a loan. The project budget as submitted and approved to include all stages of replacement, engineering, design, administration, construction and engineering certifications required per conditions of the loan total $620,579. The debt service for this project if approved would be approximately $37,000 per year for a twenty year amortization at a rate of 1.93%. NCGS (a) stipulates that the town cannot contract for the purchase of apparatus, supplies, materials, or equipment requiring an estimated expenditure of public money for more than $90,000; except when (GS e (6) a needed product is available from only one source. NCGS further stipulates that project specifications containing a preferred brand alternate under this section must identify the performance standards that support the preference. Our current meters will no longer be available and we will have to spend $50,000 to upgrade that system if the Board chooses not to go with the project and we can continue to do what we have been doing but it will not provide the benefits discussed, it is a value judgement. The Board asked questions and Mr. O Brien explained that our current meter reading is drive by (requires an employee to drive) and reads the meter once monthly or quarterly, there are multiple re-reads; with the AMR system it reads every hour for reports, customer service is increased and consumption can be explained to customer hourly; reduces billing errors and disputes, reduces complaint calls and increase customer satisfaction. Date can aid in water conservation, seasonal customer usage available. With the current system there are communication issues since we only know after each read and staff required to verify no leak with high consumption. With the new meter system there will be billing flexibility; proactive maintenance verses reactive increases productivity in water staff and staff can be used for other maintenance needs. The current system has no leak detection where this one has instant notification alarms, reduces non-revenue water loss; reduces tampering and theft. Will have pressure modeling and modelling can improve water loss. The number one area of noticeable improvement would be seen in billing and customer service and provide services we don t currently have; leak detection, live reading from Town Hall, usage tracking per day, 6

7 information and context for billing when dealing with customer complaints; water department proactive operations versus current reactive system. Information without context is information. Information with context becomes a tool. Could better understand usage in the system to more effectively flush hydrants to quickly improve water quality. Commissioner Mann is not if favor of this and thinks the money would be better spent by replacing water lines, it is a great gadget but the money is better suited to updating the water system. Commissioner Collins is there is grant funding for water line replacement. Mrs. Twiddy responded we are seeking grant funding for the replacement of the Queen Elizabeth lift station and for the Hammock Village lift station and that we will be applying for all grant funding for any projects that have been identified. MOTION: Commissioner Collins seconded by Commissioner Mann to approve NOT to proceed with the project was approved by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Fry, Burke, Mann, Collins, Walker and Peele. Noes: None. Absent: None SUBJECT: Discussion of the Town of Manteo Personnel Classification Grade Schedule. As the Board is aware our IT Specialist Steve Jozik will be leaving December 21 st. Mrs. Twiddy and Mr. Jozik have completed five (5) interviews to fill the vacant position this week. The current IT Specialist Grade 14 is with a beginning salary of $49, Out of the five candidates they have interviewed four have requested higher than grade salary requirements. Salaries requested ranged up to $80,000 per year. Staff asks the Board to consider amending the Salary Classification Grade schedule to amend the Information Technology posit to a Salary Grade 16 for a hiring range of $54, and a maximum range of $94, If approved Staff would like to extend an offer of employment before the end of this week to fill the position as quickly as possible with the best candidate possible. MOTION: Commissioner Walker seconded by Commissioner Peele to approve the change in the Manteo Personnel Classification Grade schedule for IT to 16 was approved by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Fry, Burke, Mann, Collins, Walker and Peele. Noes: None. Absent: None MAYOR/COMMISSIONER S CONCERNS/COMMENTS Commissioner Walker commented that a resident asked about the change in parking on Lord Essex and that some curb cuts have been made and that has messed up the parking between Mount Olivet and Jamie Daniels residence and is creating a hardship. Mrs. Dickerson explained that the property on the corner of Devon and Lord Essex was subdivided and the curb cut conveyed with the new lot. The whole sidewalk had to be removed to put water and sewer to the new house. The homeowner requested curb cuts for the older home directly from the contractor and she stated she was trying to work it out with the property owners. 7

8 Commissioner Collins would like the Board to start with a 20 year plan update that involves the community. Commissioner Fry asked Mrs. Dickerson to research and get some recommendations for the Board. Mr. Booth commented that the zoning ordinance was a direct result of the 20 year plan. Mrs. Dickerson will get with the Planning Board to review the plan and come back with suggestions. There being no further business to come before the Board or other persons to be heard a motion by Commissioner Mann seconded by Commissioner Fry the meeting was recessed at 9:30pm until December 7, 2018 at 4 pm was approved by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioner Peele, Walker, Burke, Mann, Fry, Collins. Noes: none. Absent: none. This the 5 th day of December 2018 ATTEST: Becky Breiholz, Town Clerk Bobby Owens, Mayor 8