HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly_19_2005_Briefing_MinutesIREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
BRIEFING MINUTES
JULY 19, 2005
The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in Briefing Session on Tuesday,
July 19, 2005, at 5:00 p.m., in the Iredell County Government Center (South Wing Conference
Room), 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC.
Present were:
Sara Haire Tice, Chairman
Vice Chairman Godfrey Williams
Steve D. Johnson
Ken Robertson
Absent: Marvin Norman
Staff present: County Manager Joel Mashburn, Deputy County Manager Susan
Blumenstein, Assistant County Manager Tracy Jackson, Communications Director David
Martin, 911 Coordinator Betty Dobson, Tax Administrator Bill Doolittle, Health Director
Donna Campbell, Environmental Health Supervisor Kelly Sheeks, Social Work Program
Administrator Lisa York, and Clerk to the Board Jean Moore.
CALL TO ORDER by Chairman Tice.
Request from the Iredell-Statesville School System for Permission to Purchase
Land at a cost of $1,412,000 for Future Needs in the Mt. Mourne Area: Kay Fulp, the
finance officer for the school system along with Rob Jackson, the construction director,
requested permission to purchase approximately 71 acres of property located at 518
Presbyterian Road (between Hwy. 115 and Shearer's Road) in Mooresville, NC, to be used for a
new combination elementary/middle school. Jackson said Phase I & II studies had been
completed, and no areas of concern were found. He said sewer was not an issue either. Mr.
Jackson said excess property would remain after the school(s) were built, and the current plans
were to partner with another agency or governmental unit and use the land for recreational uses.
He said the new school(s) would not replace Mt. Mourne Elementary.
Fulp said the agenda material indicated the acreage was 70.6 acres, but there would be
an additional five hundredth of an acre.
Director of Finance & Administration Susan Blumenstein said that due to the school
system's request, Mt. Mourne was listed in the October bond documents in case there were any
savings realized.
County Manager Mashburn added that the school system would use fund balance to
purchase the land (Mt. Mourne site). He said that if the bonds were successful, and proceeds
remained, the school system desired to reimburse itself (school system) the $1.4 million.
Commissioner Williams said he had concerns that some individuals, who might be
working towards getting the bonds approved, would be upset if their neighborhood school
wasn't improved, especially if the facility was listed on the ballot.
Mrs. Blumenstein said the bond laws were specific on how the money could be used.
She said the money had to be directed towards the listed schools; however, there might not be
enough funds for all of them. Blumenstein said this was done in case the bids came in lower
than anticipated, then the funds could be used on the listed schools having a lower priority or
need.
UPDATE ON SENATE BILL 508 OR HOUSE BILL 648 (SHORT TITLE:
EXEMPT BUILDERS' INVENTORY) FROM THE TAX ADMINISTRATOR: Tax
Administrator Bill Doolittle shared a spreadsheet on the potential loss of tax revenue should
Senate Bill 508, currently pending in the General Assembly, be enacted. Doolittle said the
legislation would reduce the county's tax revenues by exempting assessed tax value on
properties that were partially developed but unsold by builders. He estimated that in the first
year, if the legislation passed, Iredell County would lose approximately $1,382,822 (includes
the incorporated areas, fire districts, and the Mooresville school district). Doolittle said the
amount only included estimates for single family residentially, improved property. He said it
did not include manufactured homes, commercial/industrial property, or vacant lots in
subdivisions. Doolittle said the proposed exemption included vacant lots in subdivision, and
this exemption could extend up to five years. He said the latest information on the
legislation revealed that it might be attached to the state's budget and this would
eliminate any committee action.
UPDATE ON HOUSE BILL 1638 (SHORT TITLE: 911 SERVICE
TAXES): Emergency Services Director Tracy Jackson, Communications Director
David Martin, and 911 Coordinator Betty Dobson explained concerns over House Bill
1638.
Dobson said the proposed legislation would abolish the present method of
collecting 43¢ on each phone line by the telephone companies, and it would, instead,
require the county to levy a special use tax for 911 service. She said the legislation
would also require that all existing 911 fees be spent before new assessments could be
made.
Chairman Tice said Representative Karen Ray had indicated she would vote
against the bill. Mrs. Tice said proponents of the bill were saying that counties across
the state were "wracking" up on the fees, and this was one reason for the legislation.
Dobson said the law was very restrictive on how the 911 fees could be used.
Mrs. Dobson noted that Representative Ray was still listed as a sponsor of the bill.
Chairman Tice said Representative Julia Howard had also indicated she would
vote against the bill.
The county manager mentioned that when the fee first started, it was a $1 per
line, but it had been reduced to the 43¢.
REQUEST FROM THE TELCO COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION FOR A
LETTER OF ENDORSEMENT FROM THE COUNTY MANAGER FOR THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMUNITY CHARTER IN IREDELL COUNTY:
County Manager Mashburn said the Telco Community Credit Union, based out of
Asheville, NC had requested a letter of endorsement from him for a charter in Iredell
County. Mashburn said recently he found out that a letter from the county manager was
not a prerequisite for the charter.
The commissioners discussed the matter, and there was consensus to delete the
request from the agenda. The board members expressed concerns about endorsing one
credit union or banking institution over another.
Request from the Health Department for Approval of an On -Site Waste
Water "Experienced Based" Salary Hiring Scale Proposal and a Salary
Adjustment Proposal: Health Director Donna Campbell and Environmental Health
Supervisor Kelly Sheeks joined the commissioners to discuss this request.
Campbell said the health department had a goal to hire experienced sanitarians.
She said, unfortunately, Iredell County's environmental department had a "reputation
for having a high-volume workload with a higher complexity of sites" than some
counties.
Commissioner Johnson asked how many systems were approved in a day.
Campbell said one and half or two permits were issued in a day, but there were
finals, and other factors to be considered. She said a recent manpower study showed
that Iredell's department was right in line with other environmental departments.
Johnson said that if the salary proposals were approved, productivity would be
expected.
Campbell said productivity along with quality of work would be expected. Mrs.
Campbell mentioned the department's three interns, and the county's investment
($45,000) in them. She mentioned that during the "intern" period, the new sanitarians
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were recruited by other counties. Campbell said the permit backlog was improving and
this was due to the interns becoming productive along with a general slowdown in
requests from the public.
Sheeks said the backlog currently included 44 requests for the Statesville area,
which would take five and a half to six weeks, and Mooresville had 48 requests, which
would take about the same amount of time.
Campbell said that in the past, there had been a discussion about implementing
the salary plan in a periodic method; however, further study indicated there might be
some disparity between new hires and the existing staff. She said full implementation
was recommended, and a revised fee policy would be shared in August.
The salary schedules recommended for approval are as follows:
JULY 2005
PROPOSED ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
ONSITE WASTE WATER
EXPERIENCED BASED SALARY SCHEDULE
YEARS OF OSWW
EXPERIENCE
EHS
RECOMMENDED
SALARY
EHPS
RECOMMENDED
SALARY
EH Sur.I
RECOMMENDED
SALARY
INTERN HIRED
$35,000
NA
NA
INTERN AT
AUTHORIZATION
$36,000
NA
NA
1
$38,000
$42,500
$45,000
2
$39,000
$43,500
$46,000
3
$40,000
$44,500
$47,000
4
$41,000
$45,500
$48,000
5
$42,000
$46,500
$49,000
6
$42,500
$47,000
$49,500
7
$43,000
$47,500
$50,000
8
$43,500
$48,000
$50,500
9
$44,000
$48,500
$51,000
10
$44,500
$49,000
$51,500
11
$45,000
$49,500
$52,000
12
$45,500
$50,000
$52,500
13
$46,000
$50,500
$53,000
14
$46,500
$51,000
$53,500
15
$47,000
$51,500
$54,000
16
$47,500
$52,000
$54,500
17
$48,000
$52,500
$55,000
18
$48,500
$53,000
$55,500
19
$49,000
$53,500
$56,000
20
$49,500
$54,000
$56,500
****If there is an annual Iredell County Across -the -Board raise, this schedule would
increase by that percent.
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ADJOURNMENT: Chairman Tice adjourned the briefing session at 6:25 p.m.
Approval:
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Clerk to the Board