090914ss HARNETT COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Minutes of Special Session
September 9,2014
The Harnett County Board of Commissioners met in special session on Tuesday, September 9,
2014, in the Commissioners Meeting Room, County Administration Building, 102 East Front
Street, Lillington,North Carolina.
Members present: Joe Miller, Chairman
Gary House, Vice Chairman
Jim Burgin, Commissioner
Beatrice B. Hill, Commissioner
Gordon Springle, Commissioner
Staff present: Tommy Burns, Harnett County Manager
Joseph Jeffries,Deputy County Manager
Dwight Snow, County Attorney
Jennifer Slusser, Senior Staff Attorney
Kimberly Honeycutt, Finance Officer
Margaret Regina Wheeler, Clerk to the Board
Chairman Miller called the meeting to order at 9:00 am. Vice Chairman House led the pledge of
allegiance and invocation. The following agenda was before commissioners:
1) Energy Efficiency Discussion
2) Legislative Goals
3) EMS Discussion
4) Jerome Pope's request for Rail Trail Easement
5) County Manager's Report
6) Regular Meeting Agenda Review
Chairman Miller acknowledge Senator Ronald Rabin who was present in the audience. Other
guest present were Board of Education members Vivian Bennett and Kevin Gregory,
Superintendent Tom Frye, Assistant Superintendent Stan Williams and the Director of Harnett
County Schools Facilities Management John Birath.
Seneca Jacobs,Esq.,P.E. with Locklear, Locklear&Jacobs,PLLC, gave a presentation on
performance contracting. Mr. Jacobs said performance contacting is where 1) energy efficiency
improvements are made; 2)monthly savings on utility bills (water, electric, sewer& gas)is used;
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Harnett County Board of Commissioners
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and 3)to finance and pay for improvements (new light bulbs,boilers, chillers,HVAC equipment,
roofing, windows, etc.) He explained how this would work in practice,by law, construction and
contracts. Mr. Jacobs reviewed why some would choose to use this approach, who has used it,
safeguards and guarantees as well as cost. Alysa Watkins with Schneider Electric—Square D, an
Energy Services Company(ESCO)interested in participating in performance contracting, added
to Mr. Jacob's presentation. Mrs. Watkins said performance contracting is basically reallocating
money that you are currently giving to the utility companies and putting it back into your own
infrastructure. She said the savings are guaranteed and noted that there are no change orders in
performance contracting as it is a fixed price contract with no upfront money. She responded
that they have looked at solar but typically that doesn't self-fund. Mrs. Watkins offered for
Schneider Electric to do a feasibility study for Harnett County Schools and Harnett County
Government at no cost to the County just to see what the savings could be. Discussion continued
regarding this issue.
Harnett County Engineer Amanda Bader listed several reasons why her program does not think a
guaranteed performance savings contract would be feasible at this time. Mrs. Bader highlighted
staff's energy saving measures planned and in practice. She assured the Board that Harnett
County endeavors to make energy conservation a priority in planning for new facilities and in the
implementation of new equipment for existing facilities. Mrs. Bader shared her philosophy and
brief description of the approach of ESCOs. She recommended that the County continue to
move forward in energy conservation maximizing labor force and equipment they have already
invested in. She recommended that a baseline profile initially be established.
Mr. Birath highlighted some energy conservation efforts by the Board of Education staff which
includes light fixture replacements,replacing units with higher efficiency units as the need
arises,behavior modification, and continuously monitoring and adjusting baseline building
automation systems. Mr. Birath said it is an on-going process where staff is continually trying to
do with what they have. He said the new school was designed to be over 30%more efficient
than a baseline school and that facility would set the standard moving forward. Mr. Birath also
reported that Harnett County schools recently, in working with the power company, surveyed all
of their electric meters and made adjustments to the rate schedules applied to them which saved
approximately$30,000 a year by changing the rate structures.
Mr. Gregory responded that the schools could realize the biggest energy savings if they could get
every school under energy control where they can monitor expenditures. Mr. Frye said this is
really about a financing option and most certainly there would be savings by changing some of
the HVAC control systems. Mr. Frye said the School Board has indicated that they are amenable
to a"third-party"but have not made a commitment. Mrs. Watson said the biggest thing the
school districts will need is the County's support. Commissioner Burgin said if we do this he
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would like to see the study done for community college buildings and county buildings as well.
It was the consensus of the Harnett County Board of Commissioners to move forward with a
feasibility study by Schneider Electric at no cost to the County.
The group discussed the following legislative goals to submit to the NC Association of County
Commissioners for the 2015-16 biennium:
1. Allow counties to use E-911 funds for E-911 needs other than equipment;
2. Continue to lobby for counties to receive the maximum allocation from lottery funds;
3. Allow counties the same authority as municipalities regarding recreational fees
charged to developers;
4. Provide relief for rural hospitals;
5. Change system of funding DOT projects to assist rural counties,which are negatively
impacted under the current funding system;
6. Support the public behavioral health managed care organization model currently in
place with an emphasis on local treatment facilities.
7. Allow counties the flexibility to charge a school impact fee where districts are
overcapacity,with fees to be used solely for the identified impacted area.
8. Allow counties to participate in the state health plan;
9. Clarify sales tax distribution by county rather than zip code;
Mr. Burns will also solicit legislative goals from Harnett County department heads. Mr. Coggins
from Representative David Lewis's office said they are working on the E-911 fund issue.
Emergency Services Director Gary Pope and EMS Division Chief Ricky Denning sought
approval to move a county medic to a Coats Grove Fire and Rescue truck. Mr. Pope said they
have done the same thing in other districts; it works well and will save everyone money. It was
the consensus of the Board for Mr. Pope to continue negotiations with Coats Grove Fire and
Rescue regarding putting a county medic on their truck.
Mr. Pope also mentioned the Fire Academy and the EMS Academy at Harnett Central High
School. He said they are looking at moving the Fire Academy over to the western side of the
county next year and hope to eventually have it throughout the whole county. He noted that the
N.0 Department of Public Instruction would like to have a MOU stating support of these
programs within schools. Mr. Pope requested permission for Harnett County Emergency Service
to support these programs. He said these programs are really a big help; kids are graduating
from high school with certifications. He said for children that don't want to go to college and
want to go straight into the work force this is a great opportunity. It was the consensus of the
board that Mr. Pope move forward working out the details for sponsorship of these programs.
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Mrs. Slusser brief the Board regarding a request for a rail trail easement. Mrs. Slusser noted in
October 2011,the Board of Commissioners approved a grant of easement to Mrs. Janet Lucas
however at that time, Jerome Pope was not granted and easement as believed. A map was filed
in December 2011 that showed the easement that Mr. Pope is requesting. It was the consensus of
the Board to add this issue to an upcoming consent agenda.
Sheriff Rollins reminded the group of his upcoming demonstration of exploding targets. Staff
noted that the Auditors are here and have started our annual audit. Mr. Burns mention that he
and Mr. Jeffries would be attending continuing education classes the following Monday and
Tuesday. Mr. Burns reviewed the proposed September 15, 2014 regular meeting agenda.
Commissioner Springle moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:12 am. Commissioner Burgin
seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
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APPROVED APRIL 5,2021
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