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HomeMy WebLinkAbout092721 wsmHARNETT COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Minutes of Work Session September 27, 2021 The Harnett County Board of Commissioners met in work session on Monday, September 27, 2021 at 9:00 am in Training Room 103A, Harnett County Resource Center and Library Building, 455 McKinney Parkway, Lillington, North Carolina. Members present: W. Brooks Matthews, Chairman Lewis W. Weatherspoon, Vice Chairman Barbara McKoy, Commissioner Mark B. Johnson, Commissioner Matt Nicol, Commissioner Staff present: George Wood, Interim County Manager Dwight Snow, County Attorney Kimberly Honeycutt, Finance Officer Melissa D. Capps, Clerk Harnett County Board of Education Members Present: Mr. Duncan Jaggers, Chairman Mr. Don Godfrey, Vice Chairman Staff Present: Mrs. Vivian Bennett, Board Member Mr. Jason Lemons, Board Member Mr. Joey Powell, Board Member Dr. Aaron Fleming, Superintendent, and Secretary to the Board Charlie Bullock, Board Attorney Ms. Tammy Johnson, Board Clerk Chairman Matthews called the Harnett County Board of Commissioners meeting to order at 9:00 am. Chairman Jaggers called the Harnett County Board of Education meeting to order at 9:00 am. Commissioner Johnson led the Pledge of Allegiance and invocation. The following agenda was before the Board of Commissioners: 1. Call to order - Chairman W. Brooks Matthews 2. Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation - Commissioner Mark Johnson 3. Administer Oath of Office to Jaime Bell-Raig, Deputy Clerk, Attorney Snow 4. Joint Meeting with Harnett County Board of Education and Redistricting Consultant in Training Room 103A September 27, 2021 Work Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Pagel of 5 5. Rose & Associates, Consultant for Economic Development Strategic Plan — Final Review and Q&A 6. Discuss Sandhills Center Resolution requesting a statutory exemption to expand the number of voting board members, Commissioner Nicol 7. Discuss Partial Demolition at 599 Airport Road, Barry Blevins 8. Discuss request to schedule a public hearing on the 5311 Community Transportation Program (CTP) which provides rural transit systems grant funding for administration and capital needs to provide on -demand transportation for rural counties in NC, Barry Blevins 9. Discuss Lighting Rehab Change Order for Harnett Regional Jetport, Barry Blevins 10. Discuss DSS Teleworking Request, Paul Polinski 11. Recommendation on Water and Sewer Allocation Policy (additional information will be made available on Monday), George Wood and Steve Ward 12. County Manager's Report- George Wood, Interim County Manager A. October 4, 2021 Regular Meeting Agenda Review B. Review applications to serve on Boards and Committees C. Upcoming meetings and invitations 13. Closed Session 14. Adjourn Dwight Snow, County Attorney administered the oath of office to Jaime Bell-Raig, Deputy Clerk. Attorney Craig Schauer with Brooks Pierce joined via Zoom to discuss redistricting with the Board of Commissioners and the Board of Education. Attorney Schauer provided information regarding current population and current district maps. Attorney Schauer stated based on the 2020 census there is substantial inequity and there is a need to rebalance them. Attorney Schauer presented a draft joint map for Board of Commissioners and the Board of Education. Mr. Morrison, demographer, joined via Zoom. Mr. Morrison provided information regarding the 2020 census and reviewed the before and after district maps. The Zoom call was interrupted. Chairman Matthews recessed the meeting at 9:27 am. Chairman Matthews called the meeting back to order at 9:33 am Chairman Jaggers called for a motion to adjourn the Harnett County Board of Education meeting. Board member Powell made a motion for the Board of Education to adjourn, Vice -Chairman Godfrey seconded the motion. While in discussion Chairman Jaggers stated that we are not prepared for this meeting and the lawyers are clearly not prepared for this meeting. The Board of Education was not provided any information to look at prior to the meeting and the maps that were provided to the Board of Commissioners are not legible enough to see the detail of the September 27, 2021 Work Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 2 of 5 maps to be able to clearly understand them. Motion carried. The Harnett County Board of Education adjourned at 9:33 a.m. Coley Price, Assistant County Manager, provided a summary of the process and the draft Economic Development Strategic Plan. Kathleen Rose with Rose Associates will be joining us to do a final review and answer any questions. Commissioner Nicol provided information regarding the Sandhills Center Resolution requesting statutory exemption to expand the number of voting board members. Consensus of the Board was to add the Resolution to the consent agenda for the next regular meeting. Ms. Kathleen Rose joined via Zoom. Ms. Rose reviewed the Economic Development Strategic Plan Implementation Action 5 -Year Plan. Discussion included job creation, workforce development, equity, diversity and inclusion. Consensus of the Board was to add the adoption of the updated Economic Development Plan prepared by Kathleen Rose of Rose Associates to the consent agenda for the next regular meeting. Barry Blevins, General Services/Regional Jetport Director, provided information regarding the hanger located at 599 Airport Road. An all -wood structure was added during Warren Investment's tenure and it does not meet building code and was never permitted. After conferring with Development Services, it is determined at the very least a one-hour wall must be installed to lease. Additional interior work would be needed for a leasable condition. Cost of one-hour installation is approximately $24,400. The Jetport Committee recommends demolition as a viable solution at an approximate cost of $13,740. Staff recommends using approximately 1,150 SF for additional aircraft storage. The Board discussed and requested this item be brought back to the October 26" work session to allow time for the Advisory Commission to meet and for staff to gather information regarding cost to use the hanger versus the cost of a mobile trailer. Parking was also discussed. Mr. Blevins also provided information regarding a public hearing to be scheduled for October 18'" on the 5311 Community Transportation Program (CTP) which provides rural transit systems grant funding for administration and capital needs to provide on -demand transportation for rural counties in NC. Mr. Blevins provided an update on staffing for HARTS. Mr. Blevins reviewed information regarding a change order for Precision Approach and County of Harnett's construction contract for the Airfield Lighting Rehabilitation and AWOS Replacement Project. The change order is to provide additional funds for adding excavation to increase the elevation at the Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) equipment site and needed excavation for Runway 23 Runway End Identifier Lights (REIL) installation. Staff is hoping to have the final amount of the change order prior to the October 4'" meeting. If information is not received by the 4'", the item will be pulled from the agenda. September 27, 2021 Work Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 3 of 5 Paul Polinski, DSS Director, shared information regarding a request that the Harnett County Board of Commissioners allow Harnett County DSS employees to telework. This will allow us to reduce the number of employees in the office and help cut down on the possible exposure to COVID. Individual units have divided their employees into separate teams that will rotate weekly. There will be an average of 50 employees teleworking each day. Since August 2021 we have had 11 employees test positive for COVID and 27 quarantine at home due to being contacts with someone who tested positive. There will be no cost to the county for this request. The DSS lobby will remain open and services for our citizens will not be hindered in any way. DSS Management will be in the office during this time. Employees' productivity will be monitored by Management through the use of NC FAST, Northwoods Systems, day sheets, and weekly reports. Consensus of the Board was to add this item to the consent agenda for the next regular meeting. George Wood, Interim County Manager reviewed a memo (Attachment 1) to the Board regarding the water and sewer capacity allocations policy. In response to new legislation in June 2020, the County amended its Water and Sewer Ordinance on November 20, 2020, effective on January 1, 2021. That policy change placed a cap of 100 lots allocations in a subdivision at a time; the developer or homebuilder paid when the building permit is issued (per state law); and he could get another 100 lots when 50% of the first 100 lots' building permits have been issued. This allocation cap is tied to phases of development. There is currently no time limit for the developer/builder to use the lot allocation. Some larger developers feel the new policy puts a burden on them. They can't do multiple phases simultaneously. They cannot sell large numbers of lots at one time to large, national homebuilders. Mr. Wood and Steve Ward, Harnett Regional Water Director, also reviewed information regarding Harnett Regional Water Treatment Plant, North Harnett Wastewater Treatment Plant and South Harnett Wastewater Treatment Plant capacities. Mr. Wood stated you had asked that staff look at a possible amendment to the current policy. In reviewing information, the Staff has developed this proposed policy change for your consideration. This policy recognizes that we have a very limited amount of wastewater treatment plant capacity left. The proposed policy changes would be made by amending the Water and Sewer Ordinance on pages 28-30. The changes would be: 1. Increase the number of lots in a development that can receive a water or sewer capacity allocation from 100 to 200. 2. If a separate agreement is requested for land subdivisions that exceed 200 lots, the developer or builder can receive up to an additional 200 lots, provided they agree to escrow the full fee amount for those additional lots. 3. The escrowed lots shall be drawn down first, followed by the first 200 that were allocated. 4. 200 additional lot allocations may be requested when 50% of the 400 total lots' building permits have been issued. If that occurs, the developerlbuilder could have as many as 400 allocated but not yet tributary lots in his inventory. 5. If at least 50% of the lot water or sewer allocations have not been drawn down (a building permit issued) within four years of the developer obtaining the Authorization to September 27, 2021 Work Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 4 of 5 Construct Permit to install the water or sewer infrastructure for the subdivision, HRW can rescind the remaining lots' allocations. This protects the County from a developer who receives a lot of allocations, but fails to build in a timely manner. This would free that capacity for a developer who was actually building within a reasonable time -frame, not stockpiling allocations for future use. Our NHWWTP capacity is at a premium, and needs to be allocated in a fair manner to active developers/builders. If the Board agrees with this policy, we would have the Senior Staff Attorney prepare the necessary ordinance to amend the current ordinance containing our water and sewer allocation policies. This ordinance change would require a public hearing. Additional discussion included ARPA funding and the CIP. Consensus of the Board was to put this item on the October 20h work session. Mr. Wood provided an update on the Economic Development Director advertisement, the County Manager selection process, City of Dunn's moratorium, and a proposal from Sanford Holshouser site evaluation for Edgerton Park for $11,000. The draft agenda for the October 4, 2021 meeting was reviewed, as well as the applications to serve on Boards and Committees. Commissioner Nicol moved to adjourn the meeting at 12:16 pm. Commissioner Johnson seconded the motion that passed unanimously. U10 TRAM ff s.QU�Q12 Me&sa D. Capps, Clerk lo'the Board September 27, 2021 Work Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 5 of 5 ATTACHMENT 1 Harnett Office of the County Manager C 0 U N T Y N www,harnett.org George Wood Interim County Manager PO Box 759 455 McKinney Parkway Lillington, NC 27546 September 23, 2021 Memo to: Board of Commissioners ph: 910-893-7555 From: George A. Wood, Interim County Manager` Re: Recommendation on Water and Sewer Capacity Allocations Policy New legislation was adopted by the NC General Assembly in June, 2020, effective on January 1, 2021. That legislation forbade cities, counties and water authorities from requiring a subdivision developer to pay for water and sewer system development fees at the time the water provider allocated capacity in its plants and lines/pump stations. This saved developers hundreds of thousands of dollars in front-end costs. If the developer sold his lots to one or more homebuilders, the fee payments fell on them, not the developer. If the developer, on the other hand, also were the homebuilder, he would have to pay the fees, but NOT until he got a building permit to construct the house. That could defer his cost for one or more years. Prior to that legislation, developers had to pay the system development fees when they received the allocations. This change highly incentivized developers to get water and sewer allocations as soon as possible, particularly since many cities and counties have limited plant, line and pump station capacities. Again, when they get the allocations, there is no cost to them for tying up this capacity. Consequently, without any restrictions it could lead to quickly allocating the remaining capacities in our Water Treatment Plant, Wastewater Treatment Plant, sewer lines and pump stations. We are already seeing developers push to get larger numbers of lot allocations. In response to the new legislation, the County amended its Water and Sewer Ordinance on November 20, 2020, effective on January 1, 2021. That policy change placed a cap of 100 lots allocations in a subdivision at a time; the developer or homebuilder paid when the building permit is issued (per state law); and he could get another 100 lots when 50% of the first 100 lots' building permits have been issued. This allocation cap is tied to phases of development. There is currently no time limit for the developer/builder to use the lot allocation. Our records show that from July, 2019 to today (about 26 months) we have had 45 requests for water and/or sewer capacity allocation permits. Of that number, only Woodcroft Subdivision at 230 lots has exceeded 200 lots. Now we are getting requests for 1,200 lots, 1,000 lots, and even 2,800 lots. Some larger developers feel the new policy puts a burden on them. They can't do multiple phases simultaneously. They cannot sell large numbers of lots at one time to large, national homebuilders. As you recall, we discussed this issue with Doug Bean, retired Director of the Charlotte -Mecklenburg Utilities Department. CMUD had, and continues to wrestle with the same issue. In looking at this matter, you need to be aware of our available WWTP, pump station, and sewer line capacities; and WTP, water distribution lines, storage tanks, and booster pumps capacities as well. strong roots • new growth Looking at the spreadsheet (Exhibit A) on the following page, you have ample water capacity, with only 16 MGD of a 42 MGD WTP being used. The water issue for a developer is whether the distribution lines, booster pumps, and storage tanks can accommodate his capacity allocations requests for his specific development, meeting volume and pressure requirements. The issues with sewer capacities are far more restrictive. The area of most rapid growth, and anticipated growth is in the northern and northwestern sections of the county. Unfortunately, as Exhibit A shows, the North Harnett Wastewater Treatment Plant that serves that area has 5.6 MGD of actual flow to a WWTP with 7.5 MGD capacity. In addition, there are 1.72 MGD of allocations that have not yet been built, but have been permitted. Together, the current flows and additional allocated flows would put the plant at 7.32 MGD, leaving only .18 MGD (180,000 gallons per day) of unallocated capacity. That is why the Board of Commissioners have adopted the NRWWTP Capacity Upgrade Project to design and construct a 9.0 MGD upgrade, bringing the total treatment capacity of the plant to 16.5 MGD. The NC Department of Environmental Quality only considers actual flows in determining when a county must plan, then construct a plant addition. We are in the planning phase. Once we get the authorization to construct permit from NCDEQ and finalize financial commitments from our partners we could go to bid and award a construction contract. This process is estimated to take 3 to 4 years to bring this plant capacity online. The first key issue is this: how quickly are the already allocated lots going to be constructed and occupied? If they come online before the new addition is completed, then we run the risk of bumping up to our NPDES permit limits. Hopefully, NCDEQ would work with us if the plant is under construction. The second key issue is that during this 3 to 4 years construction time, you are being asked to issue still more water, and particularly sewer plant allocations for new subdivision proposals. As mentioned above, you are now attracting national homebuilders who typically want to develop very large subdivisions, with multiple phases that contain different housing options. We have had discussions recently on a 1,200 lot subdivision, a 2,800 lot subdivision, and a 1,000 lot subdivision. Our currently proposed capacity allocation in the WWTP expansion is 2.6 MGD, bringing Harnett County's total capacity to 5.22 MGD. As Exhibit A shows, Harnett County already has flows and NYT of 3.0 MGD. So, the proposed expansion would have only 2.22 MGD for Harnett County remaining. We are not exceeding the 7.5 MGD total plant capacity only because some of our partners in the plant are not using their full allocation YET. I stress YET because both Fuquay-Varina and Angier are growing rapidly, and they have the most allocated lot capacities not yet tributary (no house built). This increases the likelihood that we will exceed the 7.5 MGD existing plant capacity before the plant expansion comes online. The three subdivisions mentioned above would be 5,000 lots. Each lot requires 360 GPD. That would require an allocation of 1.8 MGD, leaving only .42 MGD in available capacity in the expanded plant. That brings up the third key issue which is: should Harnett County reconsider how this proposed plant's capacity is to be allocated among the county and the three cities/towns? It also brings up the fourth key issue on allocations: how do we develop an allocation policy that caps allocations so that a few large developers don't come in and "capture" nearly all of the planned plant expansion capacity. Do you want a policy that essentially will cut out the smaller developers/builders in order to accommodate a few large developers? There needs to be a reasonable balance to accommodate both. The South Harnett Wastewater Treatment Plant has ample capacity. Only 6.585 MGD are utilized and allocated, out of a WWTP capacity of 15 MGD. The issues there are with sewer line and pump station capacities. North Harnett Wastewater Treatment Plant Entity Owning Harnett Regional Water Treatment Plant Current Entity Owning Allocated Current Planned Capacity Addition Capacity Capacity Capacity % Current Usage Harnett Reg Water 16.5 MGD 39% 7.2 MGD Holly Springs 10 MGD 24% 2.7 MGD Fort Bragg 8 MGD 19% 2.3 MGD Moore County 3 MGD 7% 1.1 MGD Johnston County 2.5 MGD 6% 1.2 MGD Fuguay-Varina 2 MGD 55% 1.5 MGD Total 42 MGD 100% 16 MGD North Harnett Wastewater Treatment Plant Entity Owning Allocated Current Planned Capacity Addition Ca aci Capacity Capacity % Current Usage NYT Flow Current + NYT & Resulting Total Capacity Harnett Reg Water 2.62 MGD 35% 2.5 MGD .5 MGD 3 MGD 2.6 MGD/5.22 MGD Fuquay-Varina 2.6 MGD 35% 1.5 MGD .65 MGD 2.15 MGD 3.4 MGD/6 MGD Lillington 1.2 MGD 16% .85 MGD .02 MGD .87 MGD 2 MGD/3.2 MGD Angier 1.08 MGD 14% .75 MGD .55 MGD 1.3 MGD 1 MGD/2.08 MGD Total 7.5 MGD 100% 5.6 MGD 1.72 MGD 7.32 MGD 9 MGD/16.5 MGD Note: Plant is operating at 75% capacity on a daily basis. When the 80% usage threshold is reached, NCDEQ will require expansion plans, and at 90% usage expansion construction should be underway. Not Yet Tributary (NYT) Flow is a planning tool to show future capacity allocation needs. HRW has submitted a Capital Project Ordinance to begin plant expansion. South Harnett Wastewater Treatment Plant Entity Owning Allocated Current Entity Owning Capacity Capacity Capacity % Current Usage NYT Flow Current + NYT Harnett Reg Water 5 MGD 33% 1.3 MGD .7 MGD 2 MGD Fort Bragg 10 MGD 67% 4.5 MGD .085 MGD 4.585 Total 15 MGD 100% 5.8 MGD 0.785 6.585 MGD You had asked that staff look at a possible amendment to the current policy. In reviewing the above information, the Staff have developed this proposed policy change for your consideration. This policy recognizes that we have a very limited amount of wastewater treatment plant capacity left. The proposed policy changes would be made by amending the Water and Sewer Ordinance on pages 28- 30. The changes would be: 1. Increase the number of lots in a development that can receive a water or sewer capacity allocation from 100 to 200. 2. If a separate agreement is requested for land subdivisions that exceed 200 lots, the developer or builder can receive up to an additional 200 lots, provided they agree to escrow the full fee amount for those additional lots. 3. The escrowed lots shall be drawn down first, followed by the first 200 that were allocated. 4. 200 additional lot allocations may be requested when 50% of the 400 total lots' building permits have been issued. If that occurs, the developer/builder could have as many as 400 allocated but not yet tributary lots in his inventory. 5. If at least 50% of the lot water or sewer allocations have not been drawn down (a building permit issued) within four years of the developer obtaining the Authorization to Construct Permit to install the water or sewer infrastructure for the subdivision, HRW can rescind the remaining lots' allocations. This protects the County from a developer who receives a lot of allocations, but fails to build in a timely manner. This would free that capacity for a developer who was actually building within a reasonable time -frame, not stockpiling allocations for future use. Our NHWWTP capacity is at a premium, and needs to be allocated in a fair manner to active developers/builders. If you agree with this policy, we would have the Senior Staff Attorney prepare the necessary ordinance to amend the current ordinance containing our water and sewer allocation policies. This ordinance change would require a public hearing. Please call me if you have any questions, comments, or concerns on this proposal.