MINUTES
WATAUGA COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2005
The Watauga County Board of Commissioners held a regular meeting on Tuesday, January 18, 2005, at 7:00 P.M. in the Board Room of the Watauga County Courthouse.
PRESENT: Jim Deal, Chairman
William R. Winkler, III, Vice-Chairman
David Blust, Commissioner
Keith Honeycutt, Commissioner
Winston Kinsey, Commissioner
Andrea Capua, County Attorney
Robert E. Nelson, Jr., County Manager
Anita Fogle, Clerk to the Board
Chairman Deal called the meeting to order at 7:07 P.M. welcoming those in attendance.
Commissioner Honeycutt offered a prayer.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Chairman Deal called for additions or corrections to the December 21, 2004, regular meeting minutes and the December 21, 2004 closed session minutes.
Commissioner Honeycutt, seconded by Commissioner Kinsey, moved to approve the December 21, 2004, regular meeting minutes and the December 21, 2004, closed session minutes as presented.
VOTE: Aye-5
Nay-0
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Chairman Deal called for additions and/or corrections to the January 18, 2005, agenda.
County Manager Nelson requested to add the following to the agenda: after agenda item # 8, a Community Development Block Grant Public Hearing Request from Mr. Joe Furman and an Emergency Watershed Program Amendment from Mr. David Tucker and after item # 10, a Sheriff’s Department Grant Request from Detective Troy Cook.
Chairman Deal requested to add a Charter Communications Rate Increase Discussion under Miscellaneous Administrative Matters.
Vice-Chairman Winkler, seconded by Commissioner Blust, moved to approve the January 18, 2005, agenda as amended.
VOTE: Aye-5
Nay-0
FISCAL YEAR 2003/2004 AUDIT PRESENTATION
Mr. Bryce Holder of Holder, Powell & Associates reviewed the County’s Fiscal Year 2003/2004 audit. He discussed the general fund fund balance and noted the overall tax collection rate was good. In addition, Mr. Holder commended all County Department Heads, management, and staff. Mr. Holder also recommended that the Board consider adding a staff position of Grant Administrator to handle the increasing number of grants awarded to Watauga County and to seek additional grants.
This report was for information only and therefore no Board action was required.
WATAUGA COUNTY LIBRARY RESOLUTION REQUEST
Ms. Mary Sizemore, Regional Director, of the Appalachian Regional Library System, proposed a resolution in support of increased State funding to public library programs. Ms. Sizemore shared statistics with the Board documenting the need for additional funding.
Chairman Deal requested that local statistics for Watauga County Library be added to the resolution.
Vice-Chairman Winkler, seconded by Commissioner Honeycutt, moved to adopt the resolution as amended.
VOTE: Aye-5
Nay-0
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION “CHOOSE AND CUT” PROGRAM UPDATE
Mr. Jim Hamilton, representing Cooperative Extension, and Ms. Diane Deal, representing the “Choose and Cut” Program, gave reports on their programs and the positive impacts that agriculture and the Christmas tree industry had on the area.
This report was for information only and therefore no Board action was required.
FORECLOSED TAX PROPERTIES (5) SALE REQUEST
Mr. Kelvin Byrd presented five properties which went through the upset bid process that concluded with a ten day period in which no upset bid was received on the properties as listed below.
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Parcel ID
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Property Description
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Acres
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High Bidder
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Bid Amt.
|
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2859-80-0858-000
|
Horseshoe Ridge
Lot 108
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.47
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Powder Horn Mtn. POA
Deep Gap, NC
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$750.00
|
|
2859-31-4341-000
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LaurelRidge
Lot 53
|
.52
|
Powder Horn Mtn. POA
Deep Gap, NC
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$750.00
|
|
2859-50-8483-000
|
Bright Penny
Lot 35
|
.73
|
Carroll James Short
Blowing Rock, NC
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$950.00
|
|
1878-88-0455-000
|
Devils Den
Lot 63
|
.26
|
BEFC Inc.
Blowing Rock, NC
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$900.00
|
|
2904-40-9792-000
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Off Profit Road
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1.00
|
David McClune
Boone, NC
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$3001.00
|
Commissioner Honeycutt, seconded by Commissioner Kinsey, moved to accept the high bids and approve the sale of the properties as listed above contingent on the County Attorney’s drafting and executing the appropriate documents.
VOTE: Aye-5
Nay-0
SUBDIVISION PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE
Mr. Joe Furman, Planning and Inspections Director, presented a subdivision performance guarantee for the Bishop’s Ridge PUD which was an irrevocable letter of credit from Central Carolina Bank for road paving pursuant to section 92 of the Subdivision Regulations.
Commissioner Blust, seconded by Commissioner Kinsey, moved to approve the subdivision performance guarantee as presented by Mr. Furman.
VOTE: Aye-5
Nay-0
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) PUBLIC HEARING REQUEST
Mr. Furman stated that CDBG Supplemental Funds were to be made available for repair of homes damaged by the hurricanes in September with Watauga County being one of eight counties given priority. Mr. Furman requested that a required public hearing be set for the February 7, 2005, Board meeting, as the application for the funding was to be submitted about February 15, 2005.
By consensus, the Board agreed, to set a public hearing for February 7, 2005, to allow for citizen comment regarding the application for CDBG Supplemental Funds as presented by Mr. Furman.
EMERGENCY WATERSHED PROGRAM AMENDMENT
Mr. David Tucker, USDA, presented an amendment to the Emergency Watershed Protection grant program as follows:
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Estimates for EWP – WataugaCounty # 3
|
|
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DSR #
|
Estimate
|
|
NFNR1
|
$ 8,000.00
|
|
LBC
|
$15,000.00
|
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Total
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$23,000.00
|
Commissioner Kinsey, seconded by Commissioner Blust, moved to amend the Emergency Watershed Program agreement to include the above listed properties.
VOTE: Aye-5
Nay-0
BUDGET AMENDMENTS
Finance Director Doris Isaacs presented the following budget amendments for Board approval:
Account # Description Debit Credit
153300-343300 NC Disaster Relief Funds $19,530
154199-449900 Unmet Needs-Hurricanes $19,530
The amendment recognized NC Disaster Relief Funds to address citizens unmet needs associated with hurricanes Ivan and Frances which were approved at the November 1, 2004, Board meeting.
Account # Description Debit Credit
103586-332004 State Senior Ctr. Funding $23,653
105550-426000 Office Supplies $1,130
105550-429200 Program Supplies $10,650
105550-431300 Travel-Client Transportation $600
105550-432100 Telephone $436
105550-432500 Postage $154
105550-434100 Printing $442
105550-449100 Dues and Subscriptions $61
105550-452000 Capital Outlay-DP Equip. $1,534
105550-469510 Cont.Services-Vol. Recognition $750
105550-469511 Cont.Services-Health Screening $2,700
105550-469514 Cont.Services-Instructors $5,196
The amendment recognized additional state funding for the Project on Aging Senior Centers and was approved at the November 1, 2004, Board meeting.
Account # Description Debit Credit
103300-341703 Elections-Technology Grant $45,394
104170-452000 Capital Outlay-DP Equip. $26,294
104170-451000 Capital Outlay-Telephone Equip. $10,432
104170-429000 Other Equip.-Technology Grant $8,668
The amendment recognized Board of Elections Technology grant received from the State of NC and approved at the December 6, 2004, Board meeting.
Account # Description Debit Credit
153300-349602 EWP-Federal $1,382,783
153300-349603 EWP-Federal-Engineering $345,696
153300-349604 EWP-State Match $345,696
154960-449900 Misc. Expenses-Engineering $345,696
154960-449901 Misc. Expenses-Other $1,728,479
The amendment recognized anticipated revenues and expenses associated with the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. The miscellaneous line-other was to be modified to identify specific categories of expenditures (debris removal, stream and slope stabilization, etc.) as the project progressed.
Account # Description Debit Credit
663910-391000 Proceeds of Install. Purchase Debt $375,000
667420-455000 Capital Outlay-Equipment $375,000
The amendment recognized proceeds of the installment purchase contract to finance the acquisition of a front end loader, roll-off recycling truck and a refuse truck. The financing was approved at the August 17, 2004, Board meeting.
Commissioner Blust, seconded by Commissioner Kinsey, moved to approve the budget amendments as presented.
VOTE: Aye-5
Nay-0
“JOBLINK APPRECIATION WEEK” PROCLAMATION REQUEST
Mr. Jim Atkinson, Chairman of the JobLink Career Center Management Team, discussed the JobLink program in WataugaCounty and requested the adoption of a proclamation naming JobLink Appreciation Week in Watauga County February 7-11, 2005.
Vice-Chairman Winkler, seconded by Commissioner Honeycutt, moved to adopt the “JobLink Appreciation Week in Watauga County” Proclamation as presented.
VOTE: Aye-5
Nay-0
SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT GRANT REQUEST
Detective Troy Cook with the Sheriff’s Department requested approval to submit an overtime resources grant application to the Governor’s Crime Commission for Fiscal Year 2006 beginning July 1, 2005. The grant was to be the same as in Fiscal Year 2005, in the amount of $29,993.09 and was to require a 25% local match in the amount of $7,498.27.
Vice-Chairman Winkler, seconded by Commissioner Kinsey, moved to approve the submission of the overtime resources grant application to the Governor’s Crime Commission.
VOTE: Aye-5
Nay-0
MISCELLANEOUS ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
A. Discussion of February and March Meeting Dates – County Manager Nelson stated that the first Monday meeting in February was scheduled for the 7th and the second meeting was to fall only eight days later on the third Tuesday, February 15, 2005. The County Manager stated that the same schedule was to occur in March with the first meeting scheduled on the 7th and the second meeting scheduled on the 15th. Historically, when this has happened, the second meeting has been moved to the following Tuesday to allow time for agenda preparation.
The Board agreed, by consensus, to set the second February meeting for February 22, 2005, and the second March meeting for March 22, 2005.
B. Boards and Commissions – County Manager Nelson stated that Mr. Alex Jernigan, Regional Ombudsman at High Country Council of Governments, had recommended the reappointment of Ms. Wanda Branch to the Watauga County Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee.
Commissioner Kinsey, seconded by Commissioner Blust, moved to reappoint Ms. Wanda Branch to the Watauga County Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee.
VOTE: Aye-5
Nay-0
County Manager Nelson stated that each Commissioner was to appoint a representative to serve as a member of the Boone Fire Board. Commissioner Kinsey appointed Mr. John Rawls to the Boone Fire Board with consensus from the Board.
County Manager Nelson stated that the Western North Carolina Local Government Caucus was formulated to ensure both equal funding and equal representation from the State and Federal Government for the western most counties. A Commissioner representative from each county was requested to be a member of the Caucus.
The Board, by consensus, appointed Chairman Deal to the Western North Carolina Local Government Caucus.
County Manager Nelson stated that a vacancy existed on the High Country Council of Governments Workforce Development Board. By consensus, the Board appointed Dr. Richard Jones to the Workforce Development Board contingent upon his acceptance.
C. Charter Communications Rate Increase Discussion – The County Manager stated that Charter Communications had notified the County of an increase on monthly cable rates with the new rates being as follows: $35.04 for Expanded Basic service, $55.99 for Big Pkg. and Equivalent Pkgs., $68.99 for Bigger Pkg. and Equivalent Pkgs., and $71.99 for Biggest Pkg. and Equivalent Pkgs. with the modem lease at $5.00 per month. Per the County’s Cable Ordinance the Board had the option to request a Charter representative to appear at a Public Hearing to allow citizen input regarding the rate increase. The Board of Commissioners, due to an FCC ruling, was not allowed to regulate local cable rates.
By consensus, the Board set a public hearing for the February 22, 2005, Board meeting and requested a Charter Communications representative be present to allow citizen comment regarding the new cable rate increases.
D. Announcements – County Manager Nelson announced that the Soil and Water Conservation Office invited the Board to a Breakfast on Monday morning, February 7, 2005, at 7:30 A.M. for a presentation on Soil and Water Conservation.
County Manager Nelson announced that “I Have a Dream Week” was January 15-23, 2005, as proclaimed by the Watauga County Board of Commissioners at the November 1, 2004, Board meeting.
County Manager Nelson announced that an Emergency Watershed Program meeting was scheduled with residents in the affected White Laurel development for Thursday, January 20, 2005, at 6:00 P.M. in the Commissioners Board Room. Board members attendance was not required, however it was a public meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
CLOSED SESSION
At 8:26 P.M., Commissioner Blust, seconded by Vice-Chairman Winkler, moved to enter Closed Session to discuss Attorney/Client Matters, per G. S. 143-318-11(a)(3), and Personnel Matters, per G. S. 143-318-11(a)(6).
VOTE: Aye-5
Nay-0
Commissioner Honeycutt, seconded by Vice-Chairman Winkler, moved to resume the open meeting at 9:13 P.M.
VOTE: Aye-5
Nay-0
ADJOURN
Chairman Deal adjourned the meeting by consensus at 9:13 P.M.
Jim Deal, Chairman
ATTEST:
Anita J. Fogle, Clerk to the Board