053116wsa Agenda PackageHarnett County Board of Commissioners
Work Session
Tuesday, May 31,2016
9:00am
9:00 am Tax Department:
1) Request to contract with Pope Law Group to assist with delinquent collections
including foreclosures
2) Discussion regarding payment allocation; what order to apply payment to taxes
9:30 am Discussion regarding CCCC invoices
9:45 am Social Services' request to reclassify a SW II position to an IMCW II position
10:00 am Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Operations and User Policy
10:30 am General Services' request, 2016-2017 Community Development Block Grant Commerce
Fellows -Building Community through Capacity and Knowledge
10:45 am 2016/2017 Budget Discussion/questions
11:15 am County Manager's Update:
1) Tour ofNC 87 Corridor, Piedmont Natural Gas Follow-up
2) June 6, 2016 Regular Meeting agenda review
11 :30 am Closed session
12:30 pm Adjourn
**Immediately following the work session a representative from the Carolina Journal would like to
interview interested commissioners regarding the CON process for rural county hospitals.
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Board Meeting
Agenda Item
MEETING DATE: June 6, 2016
TO: HARNETT COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
SUBJECT: Contract with Pope Law Group to assist Tax Department with Delinquent
Collections work including Foreclosures.
REQUESTED BY: Keith Faulkner, Tax Administrator
REQUEST:
This request is for the Board to consider for approval contracting with Pope Law Group to
assist the Harnett County Tax Department with Delinquent Tax Collections including
Foreclosures. Pope Law Group would also serve as a legal advisor on matters pertaining to
the collection of property taxes. All associated fees pertaining to this service are remaining
the same as with the prior attorney. Therefore, no additional funding is needed.
FINANCE OFFICER'S RECOMMENDATION:
COUNTY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION:
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May 10.2016
From : Wiley J. Pope
To: Keith Faulkner. Harnett County Tax Collector
Subj: PROPOSAL FOR TAX ATTORNEY POSITION
I. I am s ubmitting for consideration by you and the Commissioners thi s proposal to
serve as a Special Tax Counsel for the County of Hamett.
1. The Tax Attorney's primary responsibility would be to assist the tax collector in
collecting delinquent ad valorem prope1ty taxes. In particular. this usually involves foreclosure of
delinquent parcels under NCGS *I 05-374. Additional duties would include serving as a general
legal advisor to the Tax Collector and/or his staff in routine matters pertaining to the collection of
property taxes under Chapter I 05 of the NC General Statutes.
3. I propose the following tenm for the County of Harnett 's Tax Attorney which
tem1s are identical to those cw-rcnt~v in place with Billy R. Godwin, who i s resigning due to
accepting employment in State Govemmcnt:
a. S750.00 monthl y retainer:
b. 5750.00 fee for I '1 parcel to be foreclosed owned by delinquent taxpayer(s) and
$150.00 for each additional parcel to be foreclosed owed by the same taxpayer(s):
c. 5% commission on sale of any parcel sold at foreclosure. This percentage i s set
by statute;
4. The tax office will submit parcels to be foreclosed (referenced by taxpayer and
parcel identification number). Once the title check on the parcels in question is completed and
the foreclosure complaint is drafted and ready for filing. a bill /invo ice will be sent to the County
(referenced by taxpa yer and parcel identification number).
5. I would maintain in m y trust account in the name of the county, funds to be
u sed for tiling fees. court costs. serv ice of process fee s. advertising and publication costs. These
tru st funds would be used to pay the above legal fee s and expenses as they accrue in lieu of
s ubmitting a reques t to the County for a check to cover theses costs. As this fund balance drops, I
would merel y submit a request (and an accounting for funds expended) to the Finance Department
and they can remit a check payable to me as Trustee for the uses set fo1th above.
6. All of the court costs (except the S750.00 retainer). including attorney fees. are
I
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recoverable-by statute -in the foreclosure action. Thus once rile ciril action is filed. the Counry
recoups its costs (and artomeyfees) in rile acrion irse((at rhc time thr! property is sold and/or paid
ofl by the raxpayer.
7 Additionally, Ms. Carolyn Wilson. Mr. Godwin's current paralegal, has been
hired by me and will begin her job with Pope La w Group, PA once Mr. Godwin begins his new
job. Ms. Wilson is especially sk illed and experienced in handling al l aspects of the tax
foreclosures process as this is one of her primary duties with Mr. Godwin and she will
bring that experience and kn ow ledge with her to my office. Also, I am wil ling to
assume responsibility on the va rious pending foreclosure cases th at will not be concluded
before Mr. Godwin assumes hi s ne\.v job.
8. I would be happy to answer any questions regarding this proposal that you have
and sho uld you desire.
9. Work can begin immediately up on approval by the board of commissioners. If the
foregoing meets with their appro\·al. I wi ll prepare a sta nd ard engagement letter incorporating all
of the tenns conta ined herein and forward to Mr. Jeffries for execution.
Again. we are plea sed to have thi s opportunity to wo rk with you. Please ca ll me anyt ime if
you have any questions or concems.
Best regard s.
Very trul y yo ur s .
.,
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Gina Wheeler
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Gina,
Keith Faulkner
Thursday, May 19, 2016 12:43 PM
Gina Wheeler
Paula Stewart
FW: Allocation of Payment of Taxes
Here is Chri s' opinion based on my question to him on the topic of how to allocate tax payments . Hope this is helpful.
Thanks,
Keith
From: Mclaughlin, Christopher B [mailto:mclaughlin@sog.unc.edu]
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2016 9:30AM
To: Keith Faulkner <kfaulkner@harnett.org>
Subject: RE: Allocation of Payment of Taxes
That seems to be the best approach, but seeing as those area also county taxes I th in k the county has the right to give
preference to its "regular" taxes if it so desired.
Chris
UNC
't (. tfOOI 01
(, 0\ l H' \II !loO I
Christopher 8 . Mclaughlin
Associate Professor of Public Law and Government
School of Government
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Campus Box 3330, Knapp-Sanders Building
Chapel Hill , NC 27599-3330
T: 919.843.9167 F : 919 962 0654
www .sog .unc ed u
E malls sent to or from this e-mail address that relate to the School of Government's work are public records and may be subject to
public access under the North Carolina public records law.
From: Keith Faulkner [mailt o:kfaulkner@harnett.org]
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2016 9:14AM
To: Mclaughlin, Christopher B <mclaughl in@sog.unc.edu >
Subject: RE: Allocation of Payment of Taxes
Do you think taxes should be applied to the special districts such as fire districts proportionately also in order to be fair
to all taxing jurisdictions?
From: Mclaughlin, Christopher B [mai lto:mclaughlin@sog.unc.edu ]
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2016 9:04AM
To: Keith Faulkner <kfaulkner@harnett.org>
Subject: RE: Allocation of Payment of Taxes
1 053116wsa HC BOC Page 5
I think the county can decide for itself how to apply a taxpayer absent instructions from the taxpayer. The Board could
adopt a resolution directing the taxpayer to use a certain procedure . My only concern if the county is collecting town
taxes it should not pay itself before paying the town; payments toward county and town taxes should be proportional
and of equal priority.
Chris
UNC
'( 11001 U l
(,0 \ I H" "I ' I
Christopher B McLaughlin
Associate Professor of Public Law and Government
School of Government
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Campus Box 3330 , Knapp-Sanders Building
Chapel Hill , NC 27599-3330
T : 919 .843 .9167 F: 919 .962 .0654
www so q .unc .~9lJ
E-mails sent to or from this e·mail address that relate to the School of Government's work are public records and may be subject to
public access under the North Carolina public records law.
From: Keith Faulkner [mai lto:kfaulkner@harnett.org]
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2016 8:42AM
To: Mclaughlin, Christopher B <mclaughlin@sbg.unc.edu >
Subject: Allocation of Payment of Taxes
Chris,
Sorry to bother you but is there anything in the General Statutes that talks about in what order to apply payment to
taxes. I know we should apply payment to interest, penalties, and fees first, but after that should the remaining payment
be applied proportionately to the County, Town, and Fire District taxes. That seems like a fair way to do it. Is there
anything that says payment should be allocated to special districts first? Would the Board have the authority to do a
resolution to allow this kind of allocation?
Thanks for your help.
Keith
2 053116wsa HC BOC Page 6
Board Meeting
Agenda Item
MEETING DATE: June 6, 2016
TO: HARNETT COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
SUBJECT: Reclassification of a SW II position to an IMCW II position
REQUESTED BY: Paul Polinski, Director Harnett County DSS
REQUEST:
Harnett County Department of Social Services is asking that the Board of Commissioners
allow the reclassification of a vacant Social Worker II position (grade 67 $3 7,164) in the
Work First Unit to an Income Maintenance Caseworker II position (grade 63 $31,405) in
Adult Services. There would be a saving of$5,759.00 between the two positions.
The reclassified position would serve as the lead Transportation Coordinator for the
Mediciad Transportation Unit in Adult Services.
This request does not require new funds in the budget ofDSS.
The North Carolina Office of State Human Resources has approved the reclassification of
this position and the job description.
FINANCE OFFICER'S RECOMMENDATION:
COUNTY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION:
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NORTH CAROLINA OFFICE Of STATE HllMAN RESOLIRCES
POSITION ACTIO!"J FORM, PD-118
INSTRUCTIONS
I. Submit this form and a copy of the position description (PD-102) for all requests (except abolishment of a
position) to OSHR by email attachment. or US Mail (DO NOT FAX). Electronic signatlJies are acceptable.
2 Complete Sections I, 2, 3, 4 and 5, including signature of County official, if required.
3 . Attach a copy of the organization chart as it will look if the classification request is approved. Indicate on the
chan the position to be reviewed.
I . Agency : Harnett County Department of Social Services Date Submitted:
Uni t/Sec tion: Adult Services Unit Location (City):
Contact Name · Mr. Edwin Bass Phone Number :
2. Basic Position Information : (Complete for all actions)
Current Classification : Reclassjficatjon from SW II to an IMCW II
March 23. 2016
Lillington. NC
91 0-8 I 4-6688
Type of position: X Permanent 0 Te mporal)': End Date: -----0 Part-time. hours /week: __
Name and classification title of immediate supel'\oisor: Mr. Edwin Bass. Social Work Supervisor Ill
~Vacant Name ofO Incumbent ·
3. Position Action : Requested Effective Date : April I. 20 16
0 Es tablish Ne" Position : Requested Clao;sification :
Salary Grade Approved Sa lary Range : $ -------------
X Reallocate : Proposed Classification : JMCW Ill NI:.MT Coordinator Position #: / ~ 2. -S'"'
Approved Salary Grade: §J_ Approved Salary Range : S 3 1.405 -37,685
0 Abolish : Existing Position Cla~sification ----------Position#:
-l . EXPLANATION : (State the reason for the requested action . Identi fy special project positions.)
A current SW II position in Work First Employment is being reallocated and downgraded to an IMCW IJ position in
the Adult Services Unit du e to a continual increase in Non-Emergency Medical Transportation requests.
5. AUTUORIZA TION BY LOCAL DEPARTMENT: Thi s request has been oflicially authorized and suflicient
fund s udgeted d app,oved for use .
6. ,5
0
~
Approved Classification : :J /11 C W =rr-==
Action Revised and Approved (reason o;';verse)
Action Request Disapproved (rea~on on rever~e)
(Continue on reverse side or additional sheet if needed)
County Oflicial (if applicable)
Position 11.
Effective Date :
Date
qft I If' r 1
""' !if2W.::
053116wsa HC BOC Page 8
Medicaid Transportation Coordinator/
Income Maintenance Caseworker II
I. PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE POSITION
Employee in this position is the team lead in the Medicaid Transportation Unit. This position is
responsible for arranging transportation through the Harnett County Area Transit System
(HARTS) or through individual vendors providing transportation reimbursement for Medicaid
clients. The employee assists families with medical transportation to and from scheduled
medical appointments as the agency works with them to meet their medical needs. Clients are
referred through Medicaid, Work First, Food and Nutrition Services Program, Adult Services
Unit and other programs or agencies for the primary purpose of providing medical transportation
assistance to clients who are receiving Medicaid. An employee in this position is responsible for
the process of determining and re-determining applicant/client eligibility in a County Department
of Social Services (1) for a single income maintenance program which includes the intake,
processing, and review functions; (2) performing one of the above functions for three or more of
the Income maintenance programs; (3) serving as a lead worker at least 25 percent of the time
over Income Maintenance Caseworkers I involved with one or two of the Income maintenance
programs and performing one or two of the intake processing or review functions in the income
maintenance programs. Work at this level includes such tasks as the interviewing of clients to
obtain required information, completing initial applications, verifying the information obtained,
determining eligibility or completing scheduled program reviews. The employee must explain
program(s) requirements and options and advise or refer clients to other program services as
appropriate. The employee with lead worker responsibilities require greater familiarity with
program policies and processing functions in order to correct any errors detected during second
party reviews. This position carries an average of 2000 cases for Medicaid Transportation.
The employee in this position will also coordinate the use of the agency vehicles by agency
employees, schedule maintenance and repair on all the agency vehicles. The worker must
maintain the vehicle and mileage logs, accident/incident reports, and safety inspection for all
agency vehicles.
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UAS operations may be conducted at public events per departmental request. Public events constitute
and open forum and as such photographs and video may be collected. At no point during a public event
is the UAS permitted to hover or loiter directly overhead of gathered attendee's.
Data collected by the UAS will be considered reference only. However efforts will be made to provide
accurate data.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS
UAS operations as they pertain to Emergency Management and Public Safety are overseen by the
Emergency Services director and fall outside the bounds of General Use.
Imagery or Video collected in support of Emergency Services will be used and held in accordance with
the guidelines by with Emergency Services currently manage all sensitive or confidential material.
In the event of extreme circumstances Emergency Services may request the use of other departments
UAS. Any operations conducted under the auspice of Emergency Management will fall to the oversight
of the Emergency Services Director.
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Board Meeting
Agenda Item
MEETING DATE: June 6, 2016
TO: HARNETI COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
SUBJECT: Commerce Fellows Harnett 2016 Program FY16-17
REQUESTED BY: Barry A. Blevins
REQUEST:
General Services Director, Community Development requests the Board of Commissioners
consider and approve an application to the NC Dept of Commerce, Rural Economic
Development Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding program. As a
condition to apply, the Board is requested to hold a public hearing for public comments on
CDBG funding including this program. The Commerce Fellows I Building Community
through Capacity and Knowledge program (Commerce Fellows Harnett 2016) is a
colloboration among Rural Economic Development division, East Carolina University and
UNC-Chapel Hill. The Dept of Commerce will offer grants to local governments to enable
local governments to engage in high-quality professional development and training with an
eye toward improving opportunities for LMI indviduals. These funds are designed to
facilitate capacity-building and will enable local administrators to participate in professional
development courses. The grant amount requested is $30,063 with a 10% match ($3,063).
FINANCE OFFICER'S RECOMMENDATION:
COUNTY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION:
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Board Meeting
Agenda Item
M EETING DATE : June 6, 2016
T O: HARN ETT COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
SUBJECT: Commerce Fellows Harnett 2016 Program FY16-17
REQUESTED BY: Barry A. Blevins
REQUEST:
Ge neral Services Director, Community Development requests the Board of Commissioners
consider and approve the updated Harnett County Language A cce ss Plan as required by the
NC D ept of Commerce, Rural Economic Development CDBG program in order t o a pply for
funding .
FINANCE OFFICER'S RECOMMENDATION:
COUNTY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION:
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The County of Harnett is a rural county lying between the Raleigh-Cary Metropolitan Statistical Area
(MSA) to the north and the Fayetteville MSA to the South. Likewise, the Dunn Micropolitan Statistical
Area is located in Harnett County. The county has a total population of 125,730 of which 25,344 live
within the five towns of Angier, Coats, Dunn, Erwin and Lillington . The five member Harnett County
Board of Commissioners is the governing body, with responsibilites of budget, zoning and planning
issues, promoting growth and improving the quality of life for citizens of Harnett County . The top five
employers are Harnett County Public Schools, Harnett Health System, Harnett County Government and
Food Lion Distribution Center. The County of Harnett is the home of the newest medical school in North
Carolina, the Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine located in Buies Creek. Additionally,
the university has a Law School, School of Nursing, and the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences.
If funded, our choice for attending the program is Mrs. Anna C. Peele. She is a 17-year veteran of
Harnett County government and for the last 3.5 years, Mrs. Peele worked community development (CD)
projects through the General Services department. Over the past 3.5 years, Mrs Peele provided
oversight of Scattered Site Housing (CDBG), Urgent Repair and two (2) Single Family Rehabilitation
(NCHFA) projects. Mrs. Peele attended UNC School of Government's Community Development
Academy and NC Community Development Association conferences. She continues efforts to expand
the Community Development division by exploring other opportunities for low-moderate income
families in infrastructure improvement, housing rehabilitation, economic development and county
sponsored initiatives.
Our current CD operations include advertising to the community through various local non-profit
organizations that funds are available for housing repairs or adding needs to our 'needs' database.
Additionally, there may be an opportunity to provide locally funded emergency utility connection, but
overall we are a reactive department with visions to be more proactive and expand opportunities in the
community. Capacity building for our department is gaining successful partnerships in the community to
develop not only rehabilitation funds for low-moderate income (LMI) families but try to connect those
same families to economic opportunities as well. We believe we can gain that capacity building through
professional development and experiences. The successful application will allow Mrs. Peele to develop
the necessary tools needed to expand the departments' footprint in the community. Broad exposures
and experiences to grant writing, strategic planning, budgeting, program evaluation, policy analysis and
leadership development will help define our role within the community while maintaining core CD
opportunities such as housing rehabilitation. This program will benefit Mrs. Peele professionally and
personally for tool development and experiences that gain valuable knowledge.
The community benefits through this program by gaining another professionally trained advocate who
can build long lasting partnerships or provide additional resources through which to help guide or
connect persons to other resources . The community and local governments of Harnett County benefit
by having that one -stop for connecting persons to resources .
Funds acquired through the Commerce Fellows program will be spent towards East Carolina University
tuition ($17,500), Travel ($1,500), Lodging ($1,500), Meals ($830). In addition, we anticipate employing
a part-time employee on a monthly schedule ($6,000) to supplement existing open grants and
development and help execute Mrs. Peele's program development, outreach efforts, development plans
and strategies. Finally, we anticipate seeking reimbursement for administration efforts, ie-payment
053116wsa HC BOC Page 19
processing, legal review (if any), application processing, advertisement for public hearings, program
oversight.
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Rural Economic Development
COMMERCE
PROGRAM STATEMENT
2016-2017 Commerce Fellows
Building Community through
Capacity and Knowledge
The Commerce Fellows I Building Community through Capacity and Knowledge is offered through funding
available from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding
program. CDBG funds are available to assist local governments with projects that enhance the vitality of
communities by providing decent housing and suitable living environments and expanding economic opportunities.
These grants primarily serve persons of low-and moderate-incomes. All CDBG-funded activities must meet one of
the three national objectives of the program: l) benefiting low-and moderate-income persons, 2) preventing or
eliminating blight, or 3) meeting other community development needs having a particular urgency. Grantees must
be prepared to carryout activities as a result of the Commerce Fellows program that will benefit low-and
moderate-income (LMl) individuals and families.
The State recognizes that strong leadership at the local level can enhance the opportunities available to LMI people
and the Commerce Fellows program has a special emphasis in that area. As a result, the State, as a part of its
consolidated planning process, identified the expansion of its partnership with North Carolina universities to expand
the capacity building program. The Commerce Fellows I Building Community through Capacity and Knowledge
program is a collaboration among the NC Department of Commerce Rural Economic Development Division CDBG
program, East Carolina University (ECU) and UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government (UNC SOG). The
Department of Commerce will offer grants to local governments to enable local governments to engage in high-
quality professional development and training with an eye toward improving opportunities for LMI individuals.
These grants are designed to facilitate capacity-building and will enable local administrators to participate in
professional development courses/seminars at one of the above-named Universities.
Community development is a strong focus of the Commerce Fellows program. While each University will structure
their own course offerings for this grant program, all programs will offer content on grant writing and
administration, budget and finance , planning and economic development. There will be special emphasis on
capacity building and CDBG administration in the context of effective local government administration of programs
and design of effective community and economic development programs. Grantees will be required to submit a final
product, which will be due at the end of the grant term.
The Commerce Fellows partnership will provide holistic community development training opportunities for local
government administrators. Local governments may select to participate in one program at either East
Carolina University, or UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government.
APPLICATION DEADLINES AND SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS
The Application materials are available on the NC Department of Commerce Rural Economic Development
Division website at www.nccommerce.com/rd and each University program website:
East Carolina University: http://www.ecuinnovate .org/
UNC School of Government: http://www.sog.unc.edu/training package
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All applications will be submitted to the NC Department of Commerce. Applications must be received by 5:00
p.m. on June 15, 2016. No application or relevant submission materials will be accepted after the deadline date and
time; all relevant signatures must be in place when application is submitted.
Complete Applications Should Be Submitted To:
Ella Limehouse
North Carolina Department of Commerce, Rural Economic Development Division
For Postal Delivery: 4346 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4346
For Overnight Delivery: 301 N. Wilmington Street, Raleigh, NC 27699
919-814-4681
Ella.limebouse@nccommerce.com
DESCRIPTION OF TRAINING PROGRAMS
Local government should select one training program at either East Carolina University or University of
North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Government. Below are descriptions of the programs available at each
university.
COMMERCE FELLOWS AT EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
The Commerce Fellows Community Capacity Building program at ECU provides technical assistance, capacity
building, training and community development consultation to local governments across North Carolina. The
program includes community level engagement by faculty and staff, and an on-campus training curriculum in grant
administration and public management that covers a range of related topics including:
Grant Writing
Strategic Planning
Budgeting
Program Evaluation
Policy Analysis
Leadership Development and
Economic Development.
The program offers specific training relative to the Community Development Block (CDBG) Program, its
application process and its administrative requirements. Participants will engage with faculty, professional
economic development staff and other local government practitioners to enhance their existing skill sets and build
greater administrative and management capacities for their respective communities. Training sessions for
Commerce Fellows ECU will be held monthly for a full academic year on the campus of ECU in Greenville, NC .
Eligible Applicants for Commerce Fellows at ECU
All North Carolina counties and small cities are eligible to apply for the Commerce Fellows at ECU except for the
24 entitlement cities that receive funds directly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD). These directly-funded cities include: Asheville , Burlington, Cary, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Concord,
Durham, Fayetteville, Gastonia, Goldsboro, Greensboro, Greenville, Hickory, High Point, Jacksonville,
Kannapolis, Lenoir, Morganton , New Bern, Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Salisbury, Wilmington, and Win ston-Salem.
The three HUD-designated urban counties of Wake , Mecklenburg, and Cumberland, are also not eligible to apply.
Co mmerce Fellows-North Carolina Departm ent of C ommerce FY 2016-2017 2
053116wsa HC BOC Page 22
Eligible Expenses for Commerce Fellows at ECU
Grants of$50,000 are available to local governments to enable one employee per local government to participate in
the Commerce Fellows program at ECU and to carry out eligible CDBG planning activities; including:
• Personnel expenses associated with carrying out the Commerce Fellows program (local government
payroll employees only)-Timesheets are required as documentation of time spent working on the
Commerce Fellows program.
• Commerce Fellows training tuition
• Travel, lodging and meal expenses associated carrying out the Commerce Fellows program-requires
full documentation of actual expenses including travel logs and receipts.
• Administration of grant-up to 10% of total grant amount.
• Planning costs associated with application preparation (up to $3,500 maximum) -requires proper
procurement of services.
COMMERCE FELLOWS AT UNC-CHAPEL HILL SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT
The UNC SOG's Commerce Fellows Training Package is composed of sought-after School courses that address
the breadth and depth of issues related to community development. The series will provide Commerce Fellows
grantees with the flexibility to build the skills of the many actors involved in North Carolina's community
development efforts.
Training Package
The training package includes 8 seats in 5 in-person courses (see below for details), for a combined total of 381
classroom contact hours. Overnight accommodations for the 8 seats are included in the price of the training
package. The package also includes 4 online training series (composed of21 webinars/modules); the online
offerings provide another 26 hours of training. Grant recipients can send different employees or elected officials to
the offerings in the package. Webinars and modules can be viewed locally in a classroom setting, allowing
numerous officials from the county and its municipalities to benefit from these resources.
Courses
• Community Deve lopment Acade my I March 14-16, 2017 & April 11-13 , 2017 I 2 seats ( 42 contact hours per
participant)
• Development Finance Toolbox I September 21-22, 201612 seats (14 contact hours per participant)
• Muni c ip a l a nd Coun ty Admini stra ti on I September 2016 -May 2017 I I seat ( 175 contact hours over 8
months) Participants must apply to this course by July 1, 20/6; the course is not open to elected officials
• Bas ic Eco no mic Deve lopment I July 25-28, 201611 seat (28 contact hours)
• Effecti ve Supe rvi sory M a nage me nt I July 1 1-15 , 20 16; August 15-19, 20 16; November 14-18, 2016 (locations
TBD) I 2 seats (33 contact hours per participant)
On-Demand Modules and Webinars (single viewing with unlimited participants)
• P lanning and Deve lopment Reg u lation Modu le s I (4.5 contact hours per participant)
• Human Capital Matters Webinar Series 1 (7.5 contact hours per participant)
• Open Meetings Law Web inar Series I (4.5 contact hours per participant)
• Publ ic Record s law Webinar Series I (9.5 contact hours per participant)
Eligible Applicants for Commerce Fellows at UNC SOG
The School of Government's training package is available for all municipal and county governments outside of
Comm erce Fellows-North Carolina Department ofCommer ce FY 2016-201 7 3
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CDBG Entitlement counties that do not receive CDBG Entitlement Funds.1 Partnership is required: All municipal
applicants must partner with their respective county, identifYing officials from the county government and
potentially municipal governments within the county to participate in the training series. All county applicants
must partner with municipalities in the county, identifYing officials from municipal governments within the county
to participate in the training series.
Eligible Expenses for Commerce Fellows at UNC SOG
Grants of $50,000 are available to eligible applicants (see above) to enable eight (8) seats in five (5) in-person
courses and to carry out eligible CDBG planning activities; including:
• Personnel expenses associated with carrying out the Commerce Fellows program (local government
payroll employees only)--Timesheets are required as documentation of time spent working on the
Commerce Fellows program.
• Commerce Fellows training tuition ($25,000 tuition includes courses and lodging)
• Travel, and meal expenses associated carrying out the Commerce Fellows program (lodging included in
tuition)-requires full documentation of actual expenses including travel logs and receipts.
• Administration of grant-up to 10% of total grant amount.
• Planning costs associated with application preparation (up to $3,500 maximum) -requires proper
procurement of services.
EXPLANATION OF CDBG REQUIREMENTS
Commerce Fellows applicants must certify that, if funded, they will comply with all applicable laws and requirements of the
CDBG program.
Per the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, the CDBG program has certain federal and state
requirements that must be met. Local government project administrators should be familiar with the Act, along with rules
published in the Federal Register under 24 CFR Part 570 and NC Administrative Code requirements of 4 NCAC Subchapter
19L (NC Community Development Block Grant Program).
1. Citizens Participation
In order to meet the minimum requirements for citizen participation during the application phase, the applicant must hold one
public hearing to obtain citizens' comments prior to its submission to Commerce. The public hearing notice must be
published at least once in the non-legal section of a newspaper having general circulation in the area. The notice must be
published at least 10 days but no more than 25 days before the date of the hearing.
The notice of public hearing to obtain citizens' views must also contain a description of the proposed activities to be carried
out, including the total costs of the activities. The public hearing must be conducted by the governing board of the applicant.
A publisher's affidavit of the notice and minutes of the hearing signed by the town, city or county clerk must be submitted to
Commerce.
Applicants must certify in their application that they are following a detailed citizen participation plan which provides for and
encourages citizen participation at all stages of the project, from initial design and application through implementation and
closeout. This plan must provide for reasonable and timely access to meetings, information, and records; provide technical
assistance to groups representative of low and moderate income persons that request assistance; provide for public hearings at
all stages of the community development program; provide timely written answers to written complaints; and provide for the
needs of non-English speaking persons.
1 The following local governments are not eligible to apply: NC Entitlement Counties (Cumberland, Mecklenburg, and Wake) and all
municipalities within these counties, and Entitlement Cities (Asheville, Burlington, Cary, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Concord, Durham,
Fayetteville, Gastonia, Goldsboro, Greensboro, Greenville, Hickory, High Point, Jacksonville, Kannapolis, Lenoir, Morganton, New
Bern, Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Salisbury, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem).
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