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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch_1_2011_Regular_MinutesIREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MINUTES MARCH 1, 2011 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday, March 1, 2011, at 7:00 P.M., in the Iredell County Government Center (Commissioners' Conference Room), 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. Board Members Present Chairman Steve Johnson Vice Chairman Marvin Norman Renee Griffith Frank Mitchell Absent: Ken Robertson Staff present: County Manager Joel Mashburn, County Attorney Bill Pope, Deputy County Manager Tracy Jackson, Social Services Director Yvette Smith, Health Director Donna Campbell, Code Enforcement/Special Projects Director Lynn Niblock, Animal Services Manager Chris Royal, Transportation Director Ben Garrison, and Clerk to the Board Jean Moore. CALL TO ORDER by Chairman Johnson INVOCATION by Chairman Johnson PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ADJUSTMENTS OF THE AGENDA: OTION by Commissioner Griffith to approve the agenda with the following adjustment: Addition: Closed Session for Personnel — G.S. 143-318.1 Ha) (6). VOTING: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. APPOINTMENT BEFORE THE BOARD Bryan Duncan, the Executive Director of I -CARE, Inc., Discusses the Agency's Anti -Poverty Plan Prior to Submission to the N. C. Office of Economic Opportunity: Mr. Duncan said state statutes required for the board of commissioners to be informed about the anti- poverty plan, and this requirement had been emphasized by the new state director. He said the former director's interpretation of the law was that as long as the members of I -Care's Board of Directors were informed, there was no reason for a presentation to the county commissioners. Duncan said I -Care had existed since 1965 as a result of the Economic Opportunity Act, and in the early 1980s, the Community Services Block Grant Program (CSBG) was created under the Reagan administration. He said the program required counties to offer low-income citizens methods to achieve self-sufficiency. Duncan said the CSBG money was the core funding of the 1,100 community action agencies across the nation, and it totaled about one-tenth of I -Care's funding, with the largest program being Head Start. Duncan said that for every dollar of federal funding received from CSBGs, about nine dollars were leveraged through local collaboration. He said the CSBG was implemented as a case management program, and I -Care employed 2.5 staff members to supervise two programs. Mr. Duncan said the three year anti -poverty plan was developed based on a family -needs survey sent to 441 families in the community a couple of years ago. He said a 27% response rate was achieved, and the results indicated that Iredell County needed to focus on employment opportunities, affordable housing, transportation, money management, affordable day care, educational opportunities, homelessness, home ownership, affordable medical care, substance abuse youth services, domestic violence, and gang affiliation. Duncan said each category was ranked, and employment opportunities were seen as the major need (57% respondents). He said the plan was drafted to address the majority of the needs, and the citizens were also allowed to list any programs not mentioned on the survey. Duncan said the full allocation ($168,924) for Iredell County was being requested. He said in regard to CSBG performance outcomes, that in the last year, ten families were moved above the poverty level with an average change in annual income of $16,286.00, and ten clients had been placed in employment, seven of which included medical benefits. Duncan said the average wage rate was $8.54, and 18 participants completed educational and/or training programs with nine securing standardized housing and 26 being provided with emergency assistance. Mr. Duncan said the work was accomplished in a down - economy, and it closely compared to the pre -economic decline years. Commissioner Griffith mentioned the annual report submitted by the agency. She asked about the fund balance ($288,704.09) and the cash on hand. She asked why the agency was applying for the CSBG funds with this amount of money available. Duncan said a large portion of the fund balance had to be used for a debt inherited from the previous administration. He said that in the past five years, the debt had greatly decreased. Griffith asked if social services provided some of the same services as I -Care. Duncan said yes. Griffith mentioned the Head Start expenditures. She said based on the number of children served, and the financial allotment, it appeared the average cost per child was $7,800. She asked the current market rate in Iredell County to serve a child in this age range. Duncan said subsidy ran between $650 and $700 a month. Griffith said the average market rate was $5,000 a child. She said using this rate it appeared that $431,000 more (over a private facility) was being spent per child. Griffith said this was being mentioned due to "tight budgeting," and an agency she was familiar with provided the services for $4,800 a year. She asked if I -Care could curb the expenses, and mentioned that by using the market rate, about 86 more children could receive services. Griffith also mentioned the $18,000 spent on travel expenses for training. Duncan said the federal government stipulated the number of children that could be served, and the same was true for the training dollars. He said in reference to the average cost for the services, a question would need to be answered on whether the private facilities offered the full complement of services provided by Head Start, for example, dental, vision, and speech. Duncan said these services elevated the program's costs. Griffith asked, due to the children being low-income, if they didn't receive these services from Medicaid and social services. Duncan said in some cases, but not all. Griffith asked what would happen if the board of commissioners voted no on the anti- poverty plan. She said the commissioners' role was somewhat unclear. Duncan said the commissioners' role was simply for review. He said I -Care's Board of Director's provided either approval or disapproval of the plan. Commissioner Mitchell asked if the weatherization program was only for low-income individuals owning their homes or was the service provided to people who rented. clients. Duncan said rental properties were assisted. Mitchell asked if I -Care repaired heating systems for landlords who rented to low-income Duncan said yes, but the landlord was responsible for 50% of the costs. Mitchell asked why taxpayer funds were being used to assist landlords who were making money on renting the properties. Duncan said I -Care operated by the rules provided by the State of North Carolina, and there was no flexibility. Mitchell said he understood that if a person bought a "run down" home with a purpose of renting it to someone, the owner could approach I -Care for assistance. 2 Duncan said this was correct, assuming the person qualified. Mitchell said this would be true even if the landlord was substantially wealthy, I -Care would pay 50% of the costs. Duncan said according to the rules, the assistance was attached to the tenant. Mitchell said this was a bad type of program. He said the landlord should be fixing his own house, not the taxpayers. Griffith said the anti -poverty plan indicated that 50 families would be served with the $168,000. She asked if more families could be assisted. Duncan said the plan stipulated the agency would serve at least 50 families per year, and last year 57 were assisted. He said this averaged about $3,100 per family. OTION by Commissioner Norman to approve the request. VOTING: Ayes — 3; Nays — 1 (Griffith) PUBLIC HEARING Chairman Johnson declared the meeting to be in a public hearing. Consideration of the Proposed FY 12 North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Community Transportation Program Grant Application: Transportation Director Ben Garrison said a resolution was needed to allow him to submit an FY 12 application to the state for administrative and capital funding. He said $260,000 was being requested in administrative funding, and this required a 15% local match (derived from mileage surcharges and fares). Garrison said $201,900 would be requested in capital funding, and there would be a 10% local match (derived from mileage surcharges and fares). He said the capital funds would replace three lift vans with three conversion vans and a replacement server. Garrison said the capital amount was different from the public hearing notice due to the NCDOT requiring electronic records which necessitated the purchase of a scanner. Mr. Garrison pointed out that the state had emphasized the FY 12 funding would be contingent upon what occurred in Raleigh and on the federal level. Griffith asked if the grant was the only way to obtain the funds. She asked if the money had been set aside in tax dollars, and the only method to receive it was through the DOT application. Garrison said that for rural transportation, this was correct. He said the administrative funds were 80% federal; 5% state; and 15% local with capital being 80/10/10. Chairman Johnson asked what constituted a capital expense. Garrison said some office equipment, vehicles, and advanced technology (servers, software, computers), but the funds were primarily used for vans in Iredell County. No one else desired to speak, and Chairman Johnson adjourned the hearing. OTION by Commissioner Mitchell to approve the resolution as requested. VOTING: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Request from the Mooresville Graded School District for Approval to Submit an Application for North Carolina Education Lottery Proceeds: Finance Director Susan Blumenstein said that when Certificates of Participation were issued for Mooresville in 2006 and 2008, it was not anticipated that lottery proceeds would be used for the debt service. She said that due to the declining sales tax proceeds; however, lottery funds ($530,505) were budgeted for this year's debt service payment. 3 Commissioner Griffith asked what the lottery money would have been used for had it not been budgeted for debt service. Blumenstein said other capital projects that Mooresville may have requested such as technology, equipment, or costs for the improvement/maintenance of the buildings. Griffith asked why the county wasn't trying to eliminate the debt rather than purchasing new items. Blumenstein said the debt far exceeded the lottery proceeds available. She said that because of the county's declining revenues during the last two years, Mooresville did not have anything available for annual capital projects such as roofs. MOTION by Commissioner Norman to approve Mooresville's request for the lottery proceeds. VOTING: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. Request for Approval of Budget Amendment #30 to Transfer Funds between Salary/Benefit Line Items to Contracted Services for Payments to NC State University for the Cooperative Extension Staff: Finance Director Blumenstein said Budget Amendment #30 did not require any new county funding as it was strictly for budget ordinance purposes. Blumenstein said previously the salaries and benefits for all but one full time staff member of Cooperative Extension had been paid 50% from county funds and 50% by NC State University. She said the one exception was a 100% locally -funded position that worked almost exclusively with the 4-H program. Blumenstein said the staff members were also previously considered employees of Iredell County and received a W-2 form for the 50% locally -paid share of the salaries set by NCSU. She said, however, a couple of years ago, NCSU changed the process. Blumenstein said now, newly hired staff members were 100% State employees, and the process was referred to as the "send -in" method. Blumenstein said NCSU paid 100% of the salary, and benefits, and then sent the county an invoice for the 50% share. She said the employees were now considered to be contracted agents due to there not being any federal or state withholding requirements. Blumenstein said that as of January 2011, the county had been required to transition all Cooperative Extension staff members to the "send -in" method. MOTION by Commissioner Mitchell to approve Budget Amendment #30. VOTNG: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. Request from the Social Services Department for Approval of Budget Amendment #31 to Recognize Additional Funds for Child Day Care, Crisis Intervention, the Domestic Violence Program, and Special Children's Adoption: Social Services Director Yvette Smith said the following programs had received additional funding: Child Day Care @ $235,930 Crisis Intervention @ $359,717 ($50,000 extra was received yesterday) Domestic Violence @ $7,583 Special Children's Adoption @ $12,000. Griffith asked how many children were on the day care waiting list. Smith said 1.100. Griffith asked how many children would be served by the $235,930. Smith said the money would assist with the current population. She said 1,300 were currently being served, and additional funds were previously requested from the state. Griffith asked if this meant the department would have spent more had the money not been received. Smith said this was correct, and some type of plan would have been created to reduce the population. 4 MOTIO by Commissioner Norman to approve Budget Amendment #31 with the additional $50,000 for Crisis Intervention. VOTING: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. BA#31 3/1/2011 Acco rrt # TO recognize additiond funds in the DSS Departnent in the fdloving programs: Chid Care, Crisis Intervention, Domestic Violence and Special Children's Adoption. Current CharW Amended BA# 0210 General Fund DESCRIPTION CURRENT CHANGE 104630450016 Child Care (5,834,180) (235,930) (6,070,110) 104630 450022 Crisis Intervention (226,810) (359,717) (586,527) 104630 450025 Domestic Violence (21,978) (7,583) (29,561) 104630 450009 Special Children'sPclophon (60,000) (12,000) (72,000) 105630 504601 Child Care 5,834,180 235,930 6,070,110 105630 554201 Crisis Intervention 226,810 359,717 586,527 105630 554625 Dor eshcMolenoe 21,978 7,583 29,561 105630 553010 Special Children's Acloplion 161,888 12,000 173,888 Request from the Health Department for Approval of Budget Amendment #32 to Accept Emergency Preparedness Funds of $21,970 for H1N1 Implementation: Health Director Donna Campbell requested approval to accept additional emergency preparedness funds. She said the funds would be used to (1) offset CTY Connect System costs (2) replace a failing immunization refrigerator and (3) provide additional security for storage areas. Commissioner Mitchell said the board of health unanimously approved the request at a recent meeting. MOTTO by Commissioner Mitchell to approve Budget Amendment #32. VOTING: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. Cty BA# 32 Purpose: To allocate State PHER grant revenues and expenditures ICHD 1f - BA# 0210 REVENUE LINE(S) DESCRIPTION CURRENT CHANGE AMENDED 10493514 440003 4519 BT Emergency Preparedness -$40,000.00 -$21,970.00 -$61,970.00 EXPENSE LINE(S) DESCRIPTION CURRENT CHANGE AMENDED Maintenance and Repair - 10938511 532501 Equip $0.00 $300.00 $300.00 10938511 548000 Community Awareness $0.00 $9,935.00 $9,935.00 10938511 620000 Non -Depreciable Assets $0.00 $11,735.00 $11,735.00 Request for Approval to Add the Construction of a Barn and Ancillary Facilities to the Existing Iredell County Animal Control Facility Capital Project Ordinance: Lynn Niblock, the Director of Code Enforcement and Special Projects, said the animal control facility was nearing completion, and approximately $447,168 remained in contingency out of the project ordinance of $3,000,000. He said a barn, a driveway, and a pasture area were also needed, and he requested that these items be added to the project. Niblock shared the following cost estimate for the work. Iredell Count Animal Control Fat<--ility Barn Estimate Atam Estimated Cost Site Work $55,000.00 E=-cjuipment Rental $2,000.00 CnpimaaFinp $7,000.00 Buildin Materials $30,000.00 Electrica I $2-,C)00-00 Rlumbin $2,000.00 Fancin $1 1,500.00 Lab©r $44,000.00 Permits $660.00 Contin ..encY $10,000.00 Total I $ 1 64, 1 60.00 Chairman Johnson said the costs were only estimates, but he felt the site preparation amount was high. He said the topo layout lines indicated the area was not on a steep grade. Griffith asked why a barn was not included in the original submission. Niblock said, originally, there were concerns about the $3 million being enough for the facility. He said due to the economic climate, the bids came in under the architectural estimate. Griffith said it was understood the animals would have to be stationed at the old facility causing the employees to be split between the two locations, if the barn wasn't constructed. She asked if the land was available at the new site. Niblock said yes. County Manager Mashburn asked if the driveway would be paved or graveled. Niblock said graveled. Chris Royal, the Animal Services Manager, said the employees had to use the barn everyday. She said that in the past 24 months, the department had worked with the following animals: • 5 cows • 10 pigs • 34 horses • 77 goats • 47 chickens • 33 rabbits • 37 feathered fowls and a llama. Chairman Johnson said he didn't feel $55,000 would be spent on site work. He suggested that if the bids significantly came in under the $164,160.00, that an estimated cost on the driveway paving be included. Niblock said the paving could be listed as an alternate. Commissioner Mitchell said 77 goats and 34 horses was a high number. He asked if these had been neglected or were they dropped off. Royal said the department had to accept animals that were dropped off, plus some of them were neglected. She said stray horses had to be housed for 63 days, but if an owner surrender occurred, a rescue or adoptive agency could be called. MOTION by Chairman Johnson to allow the staff to bid the barn and ancillary facilities with a stipulation that figures on a driveway alternate be included. VOTING: Ayes- 4; Nays — 0. Request for the Immediate Termination of Two Food Vending Agreements with Bob Barton: Deputy County Manager Tracy Jackson said food vending agreements were approved last summer for the Hall of Justice and the Iredell County Government Center -South. 6 He said the vendor started providing the services, but as the winter progressed, the privilege fee payments were not paid. Jackson said the vendor owed the county $893 for the two sites. He said a request was being made for immediate termination of the agreements due to payment noncompliance. Chairman Johnson said it was assumed the vendor had been notified of the delinquency. He asked if a response had been received. Jackson said Mr. Barton had received a certified letter, plus a conversation with him occurred less than three weeks ago. OTION by Commissioner Mitchell to immediately terminate the two agreements with Mr. Barton. VOTING: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. Request for Approval of the February 15, 2011 Minutes: MOTION by Vice Chairman Norman to approve the minutes as presented. VOTING: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS & COMMISSIONS Animal Grievance Committee (1 appointment): Commissioner Griffith nominated D.J. Loyd. MOTIO by Chairman Johnson to close the nominations and to appoint Loyd by acclamation. VOTING: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. Reminder List: Nursing Home Advisory Committee: Commissioner Mitchell nominated Eric Carrillo. OTIO by Chairman Johnson to close the nominations and to appoint Carrillo by acclamation. VOTING: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. CLOSED SESSION: OTIO by Chairman Johnson at 7:50 P.M., pursuant to G.S. 143-318.11 (a) (5) - Property Acquisition and G.S. 143-318.11 (a) (6) — Personnel, to enter into closed session. VOTING: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. (RETURN TO OPEN SESSION AT 8:15 A.M.) ADJOURNMENT: OTION by Chairman Johnson to continue the meeting to the Winter Planning Session on Friday, March 4, 2011 at 8 A.M., and on Saturday, March 5, 2011 at the Agricultural Resource Center, 444 Bristol Drive, Statesville, NC. VOTING: Ayes — 4; Nays — 0. Approval: 7 Clerk to the Board