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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNovember_3_2008_Special_MeetingIREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES NOVEMBER 3 2008 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in Special Session on Monday, November 3, 2008 at 12 Noon, in the Iredell County Government Center (Commissioners' Meeting Room), 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. Board Members Present Chairman Marvin Norman Vice Chairman Sara Haire Tice Steve Johnson Godfrey Williams Absent: Ken Robertson Staff present: County Manager Joel Mashburn, County Attorney Bill Pope, Deputy County Manager Susan Blumenstein, and Clerk to the Board Jean Moore. CALL TO ORDER by Chairman Nonnan. INVOCATION by Commissioner Johnson. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE APPROVAL OF A LETTER OF INTENT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION PROGRAM: County Manager Joel Mashburn said information had been received about the availability of funding to address foreclosures, high cost loans, delinquency rates and housing vacancy rates. He said that in order to apply for the funding, a Letter of Intent was needed. David MacPherson, with the Statesville Housing Authority (SHA), said the funding was targeted towards two groups: nonprofits and governmental entities. He said federal CDBG funds were funneled to the states and then to the counties. MacPherson said the SHA desired to apply for $5 million to demolish the vacated Davis Hospital site on West End Avenue. He said no funds would be needed from the county, but the SHA might contribute to the project. MacPherson said all grant funds had to be expended within four years. He said the former hospital site consisted of four acres and after abatement/demolishment of the structures, housing units (approximately 28) would be built. Commissioner Johnson said he assumed that if the full $5 million was not received, the SHA would scale back the project. MacPherson said this was correct. MOTION by Commissioner Johnson to allow the county manager to sign a letter of intent to participate in the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. VOTING: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON A FINAL ASSESSMENT RESOLUTION FOR THE LANGTREE AT THE LAKE SPECIAL ASSESSMENT DISTRICT (Property currently owned by Langtree Properties, LLC, Richard W. and Pamela M. Howard, David Jacobs and Peggy S. Jacobs, S&S Family Limited Partnership, Atrium at the Lake, Inc., and the John Q. Hammonds Revocable Trust with the Properties being at/near the Intersections of Langtree, Alcove, Mecklynn, Caldwell Woods Roads, and Interstate 77, in the Davidson Township, along with additional land if contiguous by land or water in Iredell County, North Carolina): County Manager Joel Mashburn said a final assessment resolution for the Langtree project had previously been provided by the Langtree attorney (David Parker). He said the county attorney and staff had met with Local Government Commission representatives to resolve some issues and even after the meeting, there were still unanswered questions, especially in regards to future obligations of the county. He said a different resolution had been drafted by the county's representatives, since the last meeting, and it contained language providing the county an opt out, if at a later date, a decision was made to not go forward with the assessment project. Attorney Bill Pope said discussions had been occurring with the bond counsel in New York, plus the attorney there had been discussing the issues with the Local Government Commission. He said a different resolution had been drafted; however, it failed to contain language the developer wanted. Pope said neither the bond counsel nor the LGC were prepared to recommend the developer's language. He said it appeared the meeting might need to be adjourned until the minor discrepancies could be resolved. Pope said the discrepancies were not a reflection on the project itself rather it came from the fact that this type of assessment was the first one in North Carolina and everyone was being extra cautious. Commissioner Williams asked the timeframe needed to resolve the resolution. Attorney David Parker said the language could probably have been worked out today. He said the developers were being asked to provide feasibility studies to the county either in tandem with, or before, the studies were provided to the LGC. Parker said the issues could be resolved within a week. He said the LGC was enthusiastic about the project; however, they wanted to make sure everything was in order. Commissioner Tice asked Pope when the matter should be reviewed again. Attorney Pope suggested a week, or Monday, November 10 at noon. Commissioner Johnson asked, in the event of default, was everyone satisfied the county had no exposure. Attorney Pope said he was satisfied there would be no legal exposure, but there might be some risk of reputational taint if a default occurred. He said, however, most bond holders would probably prefer this type of assessment document when it was compared to other financings, such as installment financings where the collateral held by the bond holder was a school, or some special use project. Pope said the only item that would be senior to this obligation was federal and state taxes. He said the real question was "Is the property going to be worth as much as the tax bill?" Pope said there could be a scenario where it might not, but that was difficult to imagine. He said the developer might possibly owe a huge amount of federal and state taxes, and these debts would have priority over county taxes but this was remote. Commissioner Johnson asked if the LGC meeting revealed if the bonds for this project would impact the county's future borrowing capacity or credit rating. Deputy County Manager Blumenstein said the county's capacity to borrow was based on eight percent of the assessed value. She said that if the assessed value increased, then the capacity to borrow rose too; however, this didn't necessarily mean the county could afford more debt with the current tax rate. Blumenstein said further, it didn't mean the county could afford more with current tax rate debt issued at 80% of the assessed value. Attorney Parker said he understood the bonds did not count against the cap. Blumenstein said this was correct -- the revenue bonds did not reduce the cap. Commissioner Williams asked about the bond rating if there was a default. Attorney Parker said there would be no impact. He said the bonds were not secured with anything but the real estate with all of the improvements. Parker said that at full build out, there would be a maximum of $46 million secured by $800 million worth of property. 2 Commissioner Johnson said the matter of reputational taint would be an opinion from someone. Commissioner Tice said she didn't feel this would be a problem. She said criticism had been voiced before about past financings and bond transactions but the board had suffered no ill effects. MOTION by Commissioner Tice to adjourn the meeting to Monday, November 10, 2008, at 12 Noon. VOTING: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. Approval: 3 Clerk to the Board