MINUTES BURKE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PRE-AGENDA MEETING

Transcription

1 49 MINUTES BURKE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PRE-AGENDA MEETING The Burke County Board of Commissioners held a pre-agenda meeting on Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 3:00 p.m. The meeting was held in the Commissioners' Meeting Room, Burke County Services Building, 110 N. Green Street, Entrance E, in Morganton, N.C. Those present were: COMMISSIONERS: STAFF: Jeffrey C. Brittain, Chairman Johnnie W. Carswell, Vice Chairman Wayne F. Abele, Sr. Scott Mulwee Maynard M. Taylor Bryan Steen, County Manager Paul Ijames, Deputy County Manager/Finance Director James R. Simpson, II, County Attorney Kay Honeycutt Draughn, Clerk to the Board CALL TO ORDER Chairman Brittain called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Chairman Brittain reviewed the following amendments to the agenda: Consent Agenda - Additions: Comm. Dev. - Accept Recreational Trails Program 2018 Grant NCDOT - Resolution Supporting Intersection Improvements at Hwy 70 & Tex's Fish Camp Road Consent Agenda - Removal: Comm. Dev. Amendment OVNHT Funding MOA- Duke Energy and Burke County (Place Holder) Items for Decision Addition: Co. Mgr. - RFQ Jail Special Inspection Services (Place Holder) Motion: To approve the agenda as amended. RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Wayne F. Abele, Sr. Commissioner AYES: Jeffrey C. Brittain, Johnnie W. Carswell, Wayne F. Abele, Sr., Scott Mulwee and Maynard M. Taylor PRESENTATIONS BCPS - PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL DATA FOR THE PERIOD ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2017 Keith Lawson, Finance Officer for Burke County Public Schools (BCPS), thanked the Board of the opportunity to give the mid-year financial update for BCPS and said the mid-year point is a good indicator of how BCPS is going to end their fiscal year. He then reviewed the following information: Page 1

2 50 Mr. Lawson said BCPS funds various charter schools outside of Burke County and virtual charter schools. He also said the use of fund balance should decrease and none should be utilized this year. Mr. Lawson said the special revenue fund consists primarily of daycare operations, local grant awards, and Pre-K tuition programs. Mr. Lawson also noted the negative impact that House Bill 13 will have on the school system, which will require BCPS to hire 25 additional teachers and spend upwards of $1.65 million. He thanked Vice Chairman Carswell and Commissioner Mulwee for allowing him to attend a meeting with the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners and talk about the issues surrounding House Bill 13. Mr. Lawson also responded to questions from the Board.

3 51 Page 2 PBHM - UPDATE FROM PARTNERS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT Tara Conrad, Regional Director of Community Operations with Partners Behavioral Health Management provided an update on Partners activities for the period ending September 30, She said the reason the first quarter is being presented and not the second is due to providers not reporting their billing until mid-february. This space is intentionally left blank. WPCC - PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL DATA FOR PERIOD ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2017 Sandy Hoilman, WPCC Chief Financial Officer, presented an overview of the College s financial data for the period ending December 31, 2018 as follows: This space is intentionally left blank.

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5 53 SCHEDULED PUBLIC HEARINGS-NONE CONSENT AGENDA BOE - AUTHORIZATION FOR PAYMENT OF ELECTION EXPENSES Trossie Wall, a member of the Board of Elecitons, thanked the Board for the $4, that was needed to host a portion of the City of Hickory s election for residents of Burke County who also Page 4 reside in Hickory. That budget adjustment brought the BOE FY budget to $403, Mr. Wall apologized to the Board for staff not completing the necessary purchase orders needed for the Hickory election and subsequent runoff election. Mr. Wall said the State determines who their vendors are for election supplies and the associated costs, which the BOE does not receive until after the election. Pursuant to the County s Purchasing Policy, Section 4-b, Department Responsibilities, a purchase order must be obtained for products or services costing $500 or more. Due to procedural oversight and the workload associated with overlapping elections (City of Hickory Primary Election in October and Burke County Municipal Election in November 2017), the Elections Director failed to obtain three (3) purchase orders for goods or services related to these elections. (The third requisition was actually entered into the financial software, but the submittal process was not finalized.) Payment of the expenses totaling $12, cannot be made without Board approval. Vendor Amount Election Systems & Software $2, Election Systems & Software $6, Owen G. Dunn Co., DBA Printelect $4, Total $12, Mr. Wall also responded to several questions from the Board.

6 54 CLERK - APPOINTMENT TO WPRTA TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY BOARD Kay Draughn, Clerk to the Board, reported Burke County appoints four (4) members to the WPRTA - TAB (Western Piedmont Regional Transit Authority - Transportation Advisory Board). The appointment of Roxanne Powell, Senior Services Director, to Seat No. 3 is requested for a 2-year term ending December 31, COMM. DEV. - AMENDMENT - OVNHT FUNDING MOA - DUKE ENERGY AND BURKE COUNTY This item was removed from the agenda. COMM. DEV. - AWARD CONTRACT FOR FONTA FLORA STATE TRAIL - NEW TRAIL CONSTRUCTION Shane Prisby, Operations Manager, reported the Community Development Department applied for and received a $100,000 Recreation Trails Program grant from North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) for trail construction on the Fonta Flora State Trail. This project is for the construction of 6.4 miles of new trail on the Lake James State Park - Paddy's Creek Section from NC 126 near the Linville Bridge to the site of the new Cove Bridge. The Board of Commissioners approved the grant contract at their November regular meeting. A Request for Proposal was posted to the County Website on January 10 th, 2018 and sent directly Page 5 to the following companies: Tri-State Company, Inc.; Trail Dynamics LLC; Benchmark Trails, Inc. Bids were due on February 2, Two (2) bids were received from Tri-State Company, Inc. - $124, and Trail Dynamics, LLC - $124, Mr. Prisby recommended the contract be awarded to Tri-State. Commissioner Taylor asked why Community Development is not using the cheaper 2 plastic lumber that lasts 100 years. Mr. Prisby said they would look into it. TAX DEPT. - ORDER TO ADVERTISE 2017 DELINQUENT REAL PROPERTY TAXES Dawn Hutchins, Revenue Collections Supervisor, presented the following information and Order to Advertise 2017 Delinquent Property Taxes: Pursuant to N.C.G.S , the Tax Collector shall report to the governing board the total amount of unpaid taxes for the current fiscal year that are liens on real property. Category Annual Budget Amount Collected YTD Balance to Collect % Collected Current Year Taxes $44,685, $40,508, $4,177, % Delinquent Taxes $710, $404, $305, % Late List Penalty $285, $149, $135, %

7 55 Category Annual Budget Amount Collected YTD Balance to Collect % Collected Property Tax $40,220, $38,347, $1,873, % Motor Vehicle Tax $4,464, $ 2,160, $2,304, % Under this statute, the Board orders the Tax Collector to advertise these tax liens on all unpaid real property. Also, a notice must be sent to the owner of record. This notice shall be sent at least 30 days before the advertisement is to be published, to the last known address. These notices state that the owner s name will be advertised if taxes are not paid in full by February 28, The Tax Office mailed these notices during January Notices warning of the upcoming lien advertisement is scheduled to be published in the News Herald on Sunday February 4, February 11, February 18 and February 25, Those who have not paid real estate property taxes in full by Wednesday, February 28, 2018, will be advertised. The lien advertisement will then be published in the News Herald on Sunday, March 11, BURKE COUNTY NOTICE 2017 UNPAID REAL PROPERTY TAXES Notice is hereby given that the Burke County Tax Collector will publish the annual Tax Lien Advertisement of Real Property for 2017 County Taxes, during the month of March. To avoid advertisement of your Real Property and avoid additional cost, you are requested to pay these 2017 Taxes and Interest no later than Wednesday, February 28, Page 6 This Delinquent Tax Notice that is required to be sent before advertising in the newspaper, also now serves as the Debt Setoff (DSO) Notice for Burke County. The notice is noted on the front of the delinquent notice and the actual notice is on the back (see delinquent sample). This process saves the County and taxpayers additional cost for staff time and postage. TAX DEPT. - TAX COLLECTION REPORT FOR JANUARY 2018 Dawn Hutchins, Revenue Collections Supervisor, presented the Tax Collection Report for January 2018 as follows: Category Annual Budget Amount Collected YTD Balance to Collect % Collected Current Year Taxes $44,685, $40,508, $4,177, % Delinquent Taxes $710, $404, $305, % Late List Penalty $285, $149, $135, %

8 56 These two items below make up the current year taxes above. Category Annual Budget Amount Collected YTD Balance to Collect % Collected Property Tax $40,220, $38,347, $1,873, % Motor Vehicle Tax $4,464, $2,160, $2,304, % TAX DEPT. - RELEASE REFUND REPORT FOR JANUARY 2018 Dawn Hutchins, Revenue Collections Supervisor, presented the Release Refund Report for January 2018 as follows: Tax System Refunds and Releases Report Amount Rebilled Amount Net Release Refund Amount Releases (TR-304) $ $ $ $0.00 VTS Refunds over $100 Refund Amount Adjustments $ COMM. DEV. - ACCEPT RECREATIONAL TRAILS PROGRAM 2018 GRANT CONTRACT Page 7 Shane Prisby, Operations Manager, reported with the Board of Commissioner s approval, the Burke County Community Development Department has applied to and has received a $100,000 Recreation Trails Program grant from North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) for trail construction on the Fonta Flora State Trail. This grant requires a 25% match which will be coming from the Duke Energy CRA (Comprehensive Relicensing Agreement). This project will cover trail construction from the Linville Bridge along NC 126 in the DOT Right-of-Way. In order to receive the money, the Board of Commissioners must approve the grant agreement. In response to a question from Commissioner Taylor, Mr. Prisby said the 25 percent match has been included in this year s budget. NCDOT - RESOLUTION SUPPORTING INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS AT HWY 70 & TEX'S FISH CAMP ROAD Brenden Merithew, Division 13 Senior Planning Engineer, reported NCDOT studied the intersection of Hwy 70 & Tex s Fish Camp Road and determined that improvements are warranted. Mr.

9 57 Merithew said while the NCDOT was doing a bridge replacement project, a temporary signal was placed at the intersection, which garnered a positive reaction for citizens. The NCDOT has received funds to install a traffic signal at no cost to the County. In order to request funds from the NC Board of Transportation, the Board must pass a resolution in support of this improvement project. Commissioner Taylor spoke in support of the intersection improvements, noting the intersection in conjunction with nearby railroad tracks create a safety issue. ITEMS FOR DECISION BOC - ORDINANCE TO ALLOW THE SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES BEFORE NOON ON SUNDAYS AT LICENSED PREMISES - SECOND READING Chairman Brittain said, the Board held a vote on this ordinance in December, and while it was approved, it did not pass unanimously; therefore, it has to be voted on again pursuant to GS 153A-45. CO. MGR. - RFQ JAIL SPECIAL INSPECTION SERVICES County Manager Bryan Steen reported when the County undertakes large construction projects, special testing is needed. To meet the anticipated construction start date of March 1, an RFQ (Request for Qualifications) was issued on January 23, 2018 for special inspection services for the new county jail which are outside the scope of normal services provided by county building inspectors. The inspection services included in the RFQ are: verification of soils, excavation and fill, reinforced concrete, inspection of structural steel fabricators, structural masonry, welding, high-strength bolting & steel frame inspection, sprayed fire-resistant materials, seismic resistance, etc. The responses are due back on February 9, 2018 by 4:00 p.m. The most Page 8 qualified firm will be recommended to the Board at the regular meeting on February 20, The cost of the special testing has been included in the estimated jail proceeds debt financing. Commissioner Taylor suggested mold, mildew, and cancerous causing materials be added to the inspection list. REPORTS FINANCE - COUNTY FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE PERIOD ENDING DEC 31, 2017 (PLACE HOLDER) Paul Ijames, Deputy County Manager/Finance Director, reported due to the time constraints brought on by the jail financing deadlines, he was unable to have the financial report ready, but it will be presented at the regular meeting. Mr. Ijames said one issue the Board will need to address is the mounting medical costs for inmates at the Burke-Catawba District Confinement

10 58 Facility. Mr. Ijames further reported the Local Government Commission approved the jail financing this afternoon. COUNTY MANAGER SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS (PLACE HOLDER) County Manager Steen said the accomplishments for 2017 will be presented to the Board at the regular meeting. OTHER DISCUSSION ITEMS Chairman Brittain reminded everyone of the budget presentation meeting on Friday, February 23, 2018 at 8:30 a.m. in the Commissioners Meeting Room. ADJOURN Motion: To adjourn at 3:49 p.m. RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Maynard M. Taylor, Commissioner AYES: Jeffrey C. Brittain, Johnnie W. Carswell, Wayne F. Abele, Sr., Scott Mulwee and Maynard M. Taylor Approved this 20 th day of March Page 10