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HomeMy WebLinkAbout080123 wsHARNETT COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Minutes of Work Session August 1, 2023 The Harnett County Board of Commissioners met in work session on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, at 9:00 am, in the Commissioners Meeting Room, Harnett County Resource Center and Library, 455 McKinney Parkway, Lillington, North Carolina. Members present: Matthew B. Nicol, Chairman William Morris, Vice Chairman Barbara McKoy, Commissioner Lewis W. Weatherspoon, Commissioner W. Brooks Matthews, Commissioner Staff present: Dwight Snow, County Attorney Brent Trout, County Manager Kimberly Honeycutt, Finance Officer Jaime Bell-Raig, Deputy County Clerk Chairman Nicol called the Harnett County Board of Commissioners meeting to order at 9:00 am. Vice Chairman Weatherspoon led the Pledge of Allegiance and invocation. The following agenda was before the Board of Commissioners: 1. Call to order — Chairman Matt Nicol 2. Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation — Commissioner Lewis W. Weatherspoon 3. North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) Youth Summit; Tim Mathews, Cooperative Extension Director 4. Discuss a request to approve a license change for ESRI Mapping Software Small Government Enterprise; Ira Hall, Chief Information Officer 5. Discuss a request to continue our membership in the North Carolina Cardinal Consortium; Joanna Cox, Assistant Library Director 6. Discuss a request regarding an amendment to a current contract with Republic Services; Chad Beane, Solid Waste Director 7. Report of 2022-2023 Tax Settlement; Christine Wallace, Tax Administrator and Amy Bain, Deputy Tax Collector 8. Discuss authorization to charge the Tax Administrator with the collection of FY 2023/2024 Tax Levy; Christine Wallace, Tax Administrator 9. Discuss a request to approve a change in the Harnett County School employee member of the Administrative Appeals Board for School Bus Stop Arm Violations; Christopher Appel, Senior Staff Attorney Harnett County Board of Commissioners Work Session Minutes August 1, 2023 Page 1 of 7 10. Discuss a request from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) regarding Buddy Barefoot Road; Christopher Appel, Senior Staff Attorney 11. Discuss a request from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) regarding Currin Road; Christopher Appel, Senior Staff Attorney 12. Discuss a proposed agreement to issue an appropriation of funds in the for form of debt forgiveness to the Harnett County Economic Development Partnership; Dwight Snow, County Attorney 13. Discuss the appointment of voting and ex-officio members to the I-95/i-40 Crossroads of America Economic Development Alliance Board of Directors; Brent Trout, County Manager (previously tabled from the July 11, 2023 work session). 14. Review applications to serve on Boards and Committees. 15. County Manager's Report — Brent Trout, County Manager • Consider requests from North Carolina Department of Transportation concerning the addition of road to the state's secondary road system: i. Atkins Village Phase 3 ii. Harvest Grove iii. Mason Pointe iv. Mel's Meadows v. Sierra Village at Overhills Section 1, Phase 1 vi. South Creek Phase 1, 2 and 3 vii. Stetson viii. Sweetwater • August 7, 2023 Regular Meeting Agenda Review • Upcoming meetings and invitations 16. Closed Session 17. Adjourn Tim Mathews, Cooperative Extension Director, spoke regarding the Youth Summit and 4H and introduced Miss Genevieve Fleming to speak to the Board regarding her experience with 4H. Miss Fleming will be Harnett County's Youth Delegate at the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners Annual Conference. She expressed her appreciation for the opportunities that 4H has provided to her and discussed the need for more programming to create more opportunities and interest for the community. Ira Hall, Chief Information Officer, requested the Board approve a license change the ESRI Mapping Software. Mr. Hall elaborated with some explanation as to what these license changes will do for GIS Mapping and increase the functionality of the website for the citizens. Commissioner Matthews inquired about the cost and the frequency of the cost and inquired what is included in the pricing package. Consensus of the Board was to place this item on the next consent agenda. Harnett County Board of Commissioners Work Session Minutes August 1, 2023 Page 2 of 7 Joanna Cox, Assistant Library Director, request the Board approve continuation of the membership in the North Carolina Cardinal Consortium. Consensus of the Board was to place this item on the next consent agenda. Chad Beane, Solid Waste Director, requested the Board approve an amendment to the current Republic Services contract. This amendment will show an increase in cost due to an increase in hours to make services available for the citizens. Commissioner Matthews inquired about the frequency of the bid process for this contract. Mr. Beane responded that it goes out for bid every five years. Christine Wallace, Tax Administrator, and Amy Bain, Deputy Tax Collector, presented the tax settlement for the 2022 tax year. Ms. Bain spoke about what was billed versus what has been collected by the Tax Department. Ms. Bain presented the 2022 Annual Settlement Overview which reflected the total charges for the 2022 Tax Levy and the total collections for the 2022 Tax Levy. Ms. Bain spoke about the breakdown of the collection percentages. Commissioner Weatherspoon inquired about the automobile tax bill collection percentage being less than 100% and Ms. Bain explained the process once the taxes are collected by the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Christine Wallace, Tax Administrator, requested the Board provide authority to the Tax Administrator to collect taxes on the remaining unpaid balances back to ten years and it allows for any adjustment, changes, or additions that have been made to the tax record. It also declares a first lien on any real property in all taxing jurisdictions within the County. The Order allows the Tax Administrator the ability to levy upon the property and to sell any real or personal property should it be delinquent. Ms. Wallace is requesting a motion to allow the Tax Administrator, Christine Wallace, the ability to collect any real, personal and public services taxes for the 2023/2024 levy year. Consensus of the Board was to place this item on the next consent agenda. Thomas Royer, Assistant Staff Attorney, requested the Board switch the voting member, Uriah Parker, and the alternate member, Tommy Stewart. Mr. Parker's schedule has made it difficult to attend and Mr. Stewart has been attending as the alternate. Commissioner McKoy inquired about the term, which was indicated to be a three-year term. Consensus of the Board was to place this item on the next consent agenda. Thomas Royer, Assistant Staff Attorney, request the Board approve a resolution opposing the abandonment of public road from the secondary road system, Buddy Barefoot Road. This item was tabled from the July 17, 2023, regular meeting. The legal department is seeking input from the Board on going back to NCDOT to request repairs be made to the road and open it back up. The road is relied on significantly by farmers and the loss of the road would impact the landowners in the area. The resolution is requesting the NCDOT repair the road. Chairman Nicol made mention of the need for the road because of emergency services. Commissioner McKoy inquired about how many houses were on the road, which was confirmed to be farmland. Harnett County Board of Commissioners Work Session Minutes August 1, 2023 Page 3 of 7 Commissioner Matthews made mention of the response time for emergency services and sees the necessity in making the request. Commissioner Morris mentioned the closing of the road would increase the travel time by five miles to get from one side of Buddy Barefoot to the other. Steve Ward mentioned the need for access for HRW in the event there were necessary repairs to be made along the road. A property owner spoke about the communication between the NCDOT and the property owner. He mentioned a bad spot in the road that is irreparable without several millions of dollars in repairs but could still be a functioning road for the purposes of HRW repairs and local property owners. The property owner spoke about turning the property into a park. Commissioner Matthews confirmed with the property owner that the park was a concept for the property. Consensus of the Board was to add the resolution opposing the abandonment of public road from the secondary road system, Buddy Barefoot to the consent agenda. Thomas Royer, Assistant Staff Attorney, request the Board approve a resolution regarding an abandonment of a portion of Currin Road. The landowners have requested abandonment of the portion of Currin Road and NCDOT are in agreement. Commissioner Weatherspoon stated he was approached by two property owners, and they would like to have the road closed due to dumping on the road. Commissioner Weatherspoon moved to add the resolution to the consent agenda. Commissioner McKoy inquired who was responsible for barricading the road. Commissioner Weatherspoon added that the landowners would be responsible for the barricading. Commissioner Morris added that the DOT would come and add tiling to close the road off. Commissioner McKoy expressed concern regarding NCDOT abandoning these roads and they should be maintaining these roads. Chairman Nicol requested the road be pulled up on GIS to get a view of the location of the road. Upon seeing the road, the consensus of the Board was to add the resolution to the consent agenda. Dwight Snow, County Attorney, requested the proposed agreement to issue an appropriation of funds in the form of debt forgiveness to the Harnett County Economic Development Partnership. Mr. Snow stated the previous Board on April 6, 2020, entered adopted a resolution which authorized a conveyance of real property by private sale. The real property involved was a 26.41acre tract in the Brightwater subdivision which was designated as lots 6-16 of the Brightwater subdivision phase 3. The Board through the Economic Development department had gotten a marketing appraisal which determined the property value was $1,567,500.00. On April 6, 2020, the County with the HC Properties Corporation, now HC Economic Development Partnership, entered into a property transfer and appropriation agreement. County agreed to sell to the Partnership for the appraised price. Property was deeded to the Partnership and County financed the deal with the partnership where the partnership issued a Promissory Note to the County for the purchase price plus 3% interest from the date of the note. Note was secured by a first deed of trust on the 11 lots. Partnership would take possession of the lots and improve, maintain, and market the lots for economic development purposes pursuant to the guidelines in the transfer agreement. Partnership had the option of requesting debt forgiveness under part of the agreement. Mr. Snow read section 5 from the Appropriation and Transfer Agreement which states that Harnett County can chose to forgive all or a portion of any payment on the debt on the Harnett County Board of Commissioners Work Session Minutes August 1, 2023 Page 4 of 7 note as an appropriation of those funds to the partnership. Any such appropriation of these funds shall be under the authority and in compliance with state law. The appropriation of these funds shall be used for the public purpose and promoting economic development within the County. Currently the County has now become aware that the Partnership has entered into a real property purchase and sale agreement with Harnett Health System, Inc. The property will be transferred to Harnett Health and the directors have met and are coming to the Board with a proposal concerning the sale of this property and the possible sale of the property. Mr. Snow introduced Angie Stewart to speak. Ms. Stewart introduced Phyllis Godwin, Partnership Chair, Jake Mays, Partnership Treasurer, and Jerry Milton, member of the Partnership. Ms. Stewart further stated this is a request for the Board to forgive the debt per the appropriation agreement. The Partnership would propose that they repay to the county out of those proceeds forgiven, a loan that was given to the partnership to support their operation. The project they are entering would include in short term an $8 million investment and 55 jobs with an average wage of $80,000.00. The long-range plan would include multi -million -dollar other projects in the medical arena and approximately 250 jobs and the same $80,000.00 average wage. Ms. Stewart stepped aside to let the members of the partnership speak. Phyllis Godwin spoke and stated that with the forgiveness the partnership would be able to pay the $367,000.00 plus dollars and would clear out a loan with the partnership. Ms. Godwin stated they were aware it would not completely clear the balance but that the partnership would take the balance and pay it out over a four-year period to clear that balance out. Ms. Godwin requests the forgiveness of the loan to be able to put back into the county and to promote the county and possibly be able to bring more industry in. Commissioner McKoy made mention of the agreement and the loan repayment and further discussed creating jobs and her concern with no guarantees on bringing those jobs. Ms. Godwin responded that the partnership would like to start clearing and get the Edgerton site ready to make it more interesting to those that want to relocate and without the funds there is no way to make the site ready. The consensus of the Board was to add it to the agenda as a separate item for the purposes of a public hearing. Mr. Trout, County Manager, discussed the appointment of voting and ex-officio members to the I95/I40 Crossroads of America Economic Development Alliance Board of Directors. Mr. Trout stated from the efforts made and the commitment we have entered into with the I95/I40 Crossroad of America Economic Development Alliance Board of Directors has provided Harnett County Board of Commissioners the opportunity to appoint one voting member and three ex- officio members. One of the three ex-officio members would be the economic development director once hired. The board would decide the remaining ex-officio members and voting member. The agreement would be a businessperson within the county. Commissioner Matthews mentioned his thoughts on the voting member position, he would like to be a part of the economic development partnership, someone who sits on the executive board, preferably the Chair. He further stated if the goal is to bring jobs and improve the product that the county has to offer business and industry that is looking to relocate or locate, Commissioner Matthews considers the communication between the alliance and the partnership is important. Chairman Harnett County Board of Commissioners Work Session Minutes August 1, 2023 Page 5 of 7 Nicol mentioned the Chair of the Partnership be the voting member and Commissioner Matthews would like to leave it up to the Partnership to recommend the voting member. Commissioner Weatherspoon questioned whether the Board of Commissioners would approve the recommendation of the partnership. Commissioner Matthews confirmed. Commissioner Weatherspoon mentioned Phyllis Godwin as the voting member and if she is not interested the Board would nominate another candidate. Commissioner McKoy provided clarification that the Partnership would make a recommendation to bring to the Board. Commissioner Matthews asked Mr. Trout about the time sensitivity of the appointment. Mr. Trout stated there was no rush because they have their current Board, but this appointment would be helpful in the ability to be a part of the steps going forward in the renovations. Commissioner Matthews asked Ms. Stewart when the partnership would next meet. Ms. Stewart confirmed the next meeting was on August 16, 2023. Ms. Godwin confirmed they would be able to make a recommendation coming out of that meeting. Commissioner Matthews would like to put the recommendation on the August 21, 2023, work session. Commissioner McKoy expressed her concern about jobs and the need to go into the schools and have the schools offer support in training. Consensus of the board was to add this to the August 21, 2023, work session to allow the Partnership to come up with a recommendation for the voting member for consideration by the board. Steve Ward, Harnett Regional Water, requested the Board approve several contract amendments for the FY2024 year. Mr. Ward stated even though the funds were appropriated in the budget ordinances that because of the threshold of these amendments he would like Board approval of the contract amendments. Consensus of the Board was to add it to the consent agenda. Chairman Nicol mentioned the application for the boards and committees. Chairman Nicol mentioned Mr. McKinney was currently serving on this board and that he is a valuable asset to the Board. Commissioner Morris moved to appointment Mr. Rickie Day. Commissioner McKoy questioned how many seats were open on the Board and Chairman Nicol confirmed it was only one vacancy. Commissioner Matthews moved to add as a separate item on the August 7, 2023, Board Meeting for discussion. Consensus of the board was to add this to the August 7, 2023, meeting. Chairman Nicol stated that the board had received an application from Mr. Matt Willis to serve on the Historic Properties Commission. The consensus of the board was to add Mr. Willis' appointment to the consent agenda. Brent Trout, County Manager, provided some clarity to streamlining these secondary road system requests, which will now be included in the County Manager's report which included adding multiple roads to the state's secondary road system. These road systems included Atkins Village Phase 3, Harvest Grove, Mason Pointe, Mel's Meadows, Sierra Village at Overhills Section 1, Phase 1, South Creek Phase 1, 2, and 3, Stetson, and Sweetwater. Consensus of the board is to add to the consent agenda. Harnett County Board of Commissioners Work Session Minutes August 1, 2023 Page 6 of 7 Chairman Nicol made a motion to adjourn at 10:11 am. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Weatherspoon and carried unanimously. Matthew B. Nicol, Chairman Jai e ell-Raig, Deputy Clerk Harnett County Board of Commissioners Work Session Minutes August 1, 2023 Page 7 of 7