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HomeMy WebLinkAbout070913ssmHARNETT COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Minutes of Special Session July 9, 2013 The Harnett County Board of Commissioners met in special session on Tuesday, July 9, 2013, in the Commissioners Meeting Room, County Administration Building, 102 East Front Street, Lillington, North Carolina. Members present: Jim Burgin, Chairman Gary House, Vice Chairman Beatrice B. Hill, Commissioner C. Gordon Springle, Commissioner Member absent: Joe Miller, Commissioner Staff present: Tommy Burns, County Manager Joseph Jeffries, Deputy County Manager Tony Wilder, Deputy County Manager Dwight Snow, County Attorney Kimberly Honeycutt, Interim Finance Officer Margaret Regina Wheeler, Clerk to the Board Chairman Burgin called the meeting to order at 9:00 am. Commissioner Springle led the pledge of allegiance and invocation. The following agenda was before commissioners: 1. Request for Road Closure — portion of Parrish Street in Buies Creek, Jennifer Slusser 2. Alcohol Sales Proposition — Grove Township, Jennifer Slusser 3. Summerville Bunnlevel Fire & Rescue's Request to purchase a 1998 American LaFrance/General Pumper Tanker with equipment for $90,000, Gary Pope 4. Recreation Fee Text Amendment, Mark Locklear 5. Finance Officer's Report, Kimberly Honeycutt 6. County Manager's Report, Tommy Burns Senior Staff Attorney Jennifer Slusser introduced Ms. Kelly Stewart, a student from UNC Chapel Hill, who is working for the County as an intern this summer funded through a SECU grant. July 9, 2013 Special Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 1 of 6 Mrs. Slusser presented a request for road closure of a portion of Parrish Street in Buies Creek. Mrs. Slusser noted this is an undeveloped unopened .2 acre section of road. She noted Mr. Stancil was present, representing SHC Holdings, Inc., who are attempting to do some type of multi -family development. Mrs. Slusser reported that Campbell University is in agreement with the proposed road closure. Mrs. Slusser sought direction from the Board, noting if they wished to proceed, direct mail notices would need to be mailed to any adjourning property owners with Campbell University and SHC Holdings owning everything except for one small parcel. Commissioners would also need to have a public hearing and adopt a resolution. Mark Locklear, Interim Director for Planning Services, stated the request was okay from a planning perspective. It was the consensus of the Board to move forward with this request as presented. Mrs. Slusser presented a request for an alcohol sales election in the Grove Township. She noted Harnett County Board of Election's Director Claire Jones and Mr. Lane Gregory were present. Mr. Gregory contacted the County due to business owners in that area being interested in proceeding with the sale of beer and wine to be more competitive in the Grove Township. Mrs. Slusser said the Board of Commissioners can call for an election for alcohol sales if they choose to. Staff believes the November election would be the most appropriate time to do this, if the Board so chooses, given the Town of Coats will already be having municipal elections. Mrs. Jones said adding this to the ballot would increase costs a couple of thousands of dollars for additional ballots and polling workers to cover the whole Coats Precinct. Mrs. Slusser said it is required that the population voting on this be comprised of more than 20% of the total County population to move forward and in this particular situation it is at 20.338%. If commissioners wish to proceed they would need to approve a resolution to put this on the ballot and then that election would be held in conjunction with the November elections. Mrs. Slusser said a public hearing is not required by statute but has typically been held. Previously the Town of Coats failed liquor by the drink and mixed beverage but do allow the sale of beer and wine. Mr. Gregory addressed the Board, saying his business is on the edge of the Harnett/Johnston county line surrounded by businesses who legally sale beer and wine. Mr. Gregory told the Board that Mrs. Slusser has been great to work with. It was the consensus of Board to move forward with this request as presented. Chairman Burgin asked Mrs. Jones what the cost would be to add the 1/4 cent sales tax referendum to the ballots in the upcoming November election. Mrs. Jones said it would cost approximately $36,000 given each polling location would need to be open. Mrs. Jones said that decision would need to be made 60 days prior to the election. July 9, 2013 Special Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 2 of 6 Vice Chairman House said he thinks we need to wait until we have a regular election given we have already paid $40,000 for this once before. Commissioner Hill also said she believes we need to wait. Commissioners requested clarification if this vote could be held during a primary election or general election. Mrs. Jones noted the 1/4 cents sales tax referendum was previously on the ballots in 2007, 2009 and 2010. Commissioner Springle said he thinks we need to get this money as soon as possible. He noted the Board is meeting with the School Board soon and a better job needs to be done promoting the sales tax increase. Chairman Burgin mentioned discussions he has being having with Board of Education Chairman Chuck Levorse. Chairman Burgin said he feels like the sales tax increase failed in the past because citizens were afraid they would also increase property taxes. Gary Pope, Director of Emergency Services, presented Summerville Bunnlevel Fire & Rescue's request to purchase a 1998 American LaFrance/General Pumper Tanker with equipment for $90,000. President Leo McDonald, Chief Melvin Yow, Treasurer Robert West and Fire Marshal Jimmy Riddle were present. Mr. McDonald addressed the Board regarding this request. He said the used truck meets qualifications and noted a new truck would cost $450,000. Chief Yaw said the truck, capable of hauling 6 men and being used as a mutual aid truck, should work for them for 10 to 12 years. Mr. Pope also noted this equipment would help with their ISO rating and they would be getting rid of some older equipment. It was the consensus of Board to put this request on the consent agenda for their upcoming meeting. Mr. Locklear presented a recreation fee text amendment for discussion. Mr. Locklear reported staff was asked to put together a text amendment that would allow developers to receive credit for recreational amenities they chose to put in their developments. He noted we currently charge $500 recreation fee per lot in Harnett County for all the subdivisions that came into existence after this was put in place. NC General Statute permits the County to collect the recreational fees which can only be used to purchase land. Mr. Locklear said this seems like a simple text amendment on the surface but is very complicated. The proposed amendment was denied by the Planning Board the previous week. In the proposed text amendment, developers must enter into a written agreement with the County and submit a certified cost estimate for the proposed or existing recreational amenity to receive credit against the recreation fee. Mr. Locklear reported that the proposed text amendment would also give credit to existing developments who had already installed recreation amenities. The proposed text amendment also states developers would only receive 50% credit for amenities if they were not open to the public however if they are open to the public and membership is July 9, 2013 Special Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 3 of 6 required it shall be at a fair market prices and in no case shall it be greater than 50% of the fee that is paid by the development's residents. Mr. Locklear and Mrs. Slusser talked about the process staff might use to administer this program. The proposed amendment also states "All amenities must meet the definition of Recreational Open Space, be permanently maintained by owners of the amenity and/or Home Owner's Association, and be approved by the Zoning Administrator prior to receiving credit. If the amenity is eliminated, removed, or closed to the public then the developer must repay the credited amount." Mr. Locklear said no credit will be given for open space as developers are already given credit when we they are given "higher density". Mr. Locklear said active recreational amenities are defined in the Unified Development Ordinance. Mr. Snow suggested staff further define active recreation verses common area or open space. Mr. Jeffries said it would require special legislation to change how the recreational fees collected can be used. He believe the original intent of the statute was to encourage developers to build recreational amenities. Mr. Jeffries noted the lease for the West Park is paid out of the Anderson Creek and Johnsonville Recreational Funds which these credits would impact. It was the consensus of the Board to consider giving credit for recreational amenities from this point forward but not going back to existing developments who had already installed recreation amenities. Commissioners pointed out that any recreational fees collected were spent on recreation. Staff will take the revised text amendment back to the Planning Board for consideration. Mr. Jeffries reported that Planning Services have preliminary approved 1000 new lots on top of everything else. He said there are 800 to 900 homes built in Harnett County per year. Chairman Burgin asked if we could request that developers show us how they plan on taking care of the additional students before approving any additional lots. Mr. Locklear said they could require a school impact analysis or include this in the approval process however Mr. Jeffries shared concerns regarding adequate public facilities ordinances and the reversals Durham County are currently dealing with. The group discussed the pending settlement agreement with Mr. David Levinson, which states he has to pay recreational fees according to the 2007 standards, and believes he will seek an amendment to his settlement agreement if this amendment passes. July 9, 2013 Special Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 4 of 6 Chairman Burgin said he was appalled by recent comments made by a Planning Board member during a Planning Board meeting and apologized to Mr. Locklear for those comments. Chairman Burgin asked the County Attorney to look into the process of having a Planning Board member removed. Mrs. Honeycutt will provide commissioners with updated budget books and a copy of the fixed asset audit report. Mrs. Honeycutt noted she is working on finalizing the bank proposal to be put out around September and is starting to work on the proposal for the upcoming contract audit. She and Mrs. Slusser requested clarification regarding the contract audit, which will include construction contracts. Staff explained the internal review process currently in place for contracts which will soon be done electronically as well as working toward being able to accept and put out electronic signatures. Chairman Burgin asked about the status of the lockboxes and the need for central mail processing within the County. He asked that all county contracts be put on-line for review. Mr. Burns said staff is very concerned about the tropical storm that could be headed this way. He said the biggest concern is wind damage given the land is so saturated. He noted Gary Pope would be meeting with the Chiefs Association the following day to prepare for any issues. Mr. Burns reviewed the draft agenda for the upcoming July 15, 2013, regular board meeting. He shared an invitation with the Board for the Town of Coat's Open House for their new town hall on Thursday, July 11th from 6:00 pm until 7:30 pm. Mr. Burns reminded the Board of their upcoming joint meeting with the Harnett County School Board at 9:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, 2013, including lunch around 11:30 am. Commissioners are also invited to attend Duke Energy's presentation of the Duke Site Readiness Plan at 3:00 pm on July 18, 2013, in the Board of Commissioners meeting room. Mr. Burns notified commissioners of an upcoming meeting with Johnson County Industries (JCI) who currently occupy the HPE Building. Mr. Burns said staff is trying to work out a compromise with JCI and CCCC to better utilize that facility and help the programs run better. Mr. Burns noted at one time both programs were housed at the HPE facility and CCCC has the support of ARC. Mr. Jeffries spoke with Victoria Whitt, Sandhills Center LME, who requested application to get someone else to run that program if JCI were to leave. Sandhills currently administers some of the funding for that program. July 9, 2013 Special Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 5 of 6 Mr. Burns also noted he recently met with Amy Huntington regarding the proposed Veteran's Court and offered our support even though we can't commit any funding at this time. Chairman Burgin asked everyone to start thinking about what can be done about the drug problems in Harnett County. He said he would visit with the Sheriff soon to discuss this. Mr. Burns noted the Sheriff met recently with Cumberland County and Spring Lake to talk about drug trafficking problems. The group continued to discuss the prescription drug epidemic currently affecting young people. Chairman Burgin distributed a list of school needs previously discussed. He asked commissioners to send any other issues to Mr. Burns as staff prepares for the July 23rd joint meeting with the Harnett County Board of Education. Chairman Burgin said he has requested a meeting with the U.S. Department of Education via Renee Elimer's office. Commissioner Springle said he attends the BRAC meeting and confirmed with Mr. Greg Taylor that there was never any federal money promised for schools. He said Congressman Bob Etheridge included $50 million in a budget bill once which was later removed. Commissioner Springle said the problem is the way the impact money is funded with Harnett County getting 19% of the funding they should. Commissioners agreed to invite Mr. Taylor to the July 23rd meeting. Mr. Springle, who serves on the Board for Johnston -Lee -Harnett Community Action, said they have an $18 Million budget and do a tremendous job providing numerous services to the three counties. He noted they are an extremely transparent organization with all of their financial information on-line. Commissioner Springle moved to adjourn the meeting at 10:54 am. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion which passed 4 — 0. July 9, 2013 Special Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 6 of 6