HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch_21_2017_Regular_MinutesIREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PRE -AGENDA MINUTES
March 21, 2017
The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in pre -agenda session on Tuesday, March
21, 2017 at 5:00 PM, in the Iredell County Government Center (South Wing Conference Room),
200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC.
Board Members Present
Chairman James B. Mallory III
Vice Chairman Tommy Bowles
Gene Houpe
Jeff McNeely
Marvin Norman
Staff present: County Manager Ron Smith, County Attorney Lisa Valdez, Deputy County
Manager Beth Jones, Finance Director Susan Robertson, Assistant to the County Manager Ben
Stikeleather, and Clerk to the Board Retha Gaither.
CALL TO ORDER: Chairman James Mallory called the meeting to order.
ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA: County Manager Ron Smith made the following
adjustments:
Add: Closed Session — Personnel G.S. 143.-318.11 (a) (6)
Chairman Mallory asked to add Attorney Client G.S. 143-318.11 (a) (3)
ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
Request from the Finance Department for approval of Martin Starnes & Associates,
CPAs, P.A. audit contract for fiscal year ending June 30, 2017: Finance Director Susan
Robertson said Martin Starnes has submitted a required audit contract. The cost of the audit is
$47,650 which includes an increase of $3,900 over the prior year. Auditing will begin in April and
the LGC will approve invoices by the end of June 2017. The field work will be in May and June.
Upon completion of the field work they are engaged to prepare a major portion of the CAFR
(Comprehensive Annual Financial Report). The audit team members are never the same which
allows fresh eyes to review the County's financials. One concern brought forward is that state
auditors have expressed concerns about the audit of Medicaid. Iredell County did not have any
findings last year, but because Medicaid is an entitlement state-wide, for every case where an error
is found, Medicaid could pay $500,000 for an erroneous claim. Therefore, the number of required
case studies to be audited is increasing from 60 to 93 this year. Each review will take approximately
one hour. This also accounts for the fee increase as well.
Commissioner McNeely asked if this would continue to be an issue.
Robertson replied that she would not be surprised if there was an increase in the number
of case audits each year. NC Fast is a very complicated system and has been expanded to other
programs and therefore leaves a lot of room for error. Another major issue happens when a case is
transferred between counties.
March 21, 2017
Chairman Mallory said the state is requiring the core (paper) documents be forwarded to
the New Document Repository and asked if the new audits would solve some of the issues relative
to the Medicaid packets from other counties.
Deputy County Manager Beth Jones said that is the goal and intent. It is supposed to be a
system that can be uploaded and house the pertinent documents various counties will need.
However, it is not live yet.
Chairman Mallory requested Jones to follow the progress of this system especially with
counties that have the Northwoods system.
Commissioner Norman asked if everything with NC Fast is working in Iredell County.
Jones said it is better than it was, but still not perfect. Iredell County DSS is working better
due to the implementation of some internal measures.
Commissioner Houpe asked if staff numbers are adequate.
Smith said they have not asked for more employees but one reason is space. When DSS
branches out to Government Center South they will move some employees there.
Commissioner McNeely asked if additional staff will be needed for the move.
Jones said the plan is to move 15-16 employees. Once that is done there will be a re-
evaluation of needs.
shifts.
Chairman Mallory suggested that DSS may need to research the possibility of different
This item was placed on the consent agenda.
Request from the Planning staff to review and discuss zoning related to certain
intersections established with countywide zoning in 1990: Planning Director Matthew Todd
said there have been issues where zoning lines don't match property lines which causes
complications with permitting. The main problems are the rural intersections. In 1990, when
countywide zoning was created, the consultant drew square blocks, 200-300 feet in diameter, at
crossroads in rural areas. One particular problem surfaced last year when the applicant requested
to rezone the additional acreage but it did not get through the process. However, the commercial
building was able to build on the small portion that was zoned business. The Planning Board
wondered if this is something that should be addressed. Staff tried to identify as many sites as
possible. There are easily 30 sites with an area zoned where the lines don't match. The Planning
Board discussed how to begin such a project. Could it be possible to offer owners free rezoning?
Barry Oak Road and Mocksville is an intersection identified with one property zoned two different
ways. One piece of property with a house has been paying taxes as residential. But other properties
are paying residential and commercial taxes. Todd said there was no "easy fix." If one property
owner did not want to rezone back to residential then the problem would not be solved.
Commissioner Houpe asked how big the problem is.
Commissioner McNeely said the Dollar General built on Highway 115 was the third time
it had happened in a short period of time.
March 21, 2017 2
Vice Chairman Bowles said Dollar General has been given special permission for a smaller
septic system.
Commissioner McNeely said the state allows them the same septic system as a two-
bedroom mobile home.
Todd said it would require a lot of staff to rezone each and every area like this. It would be
a lengthy process, probably stretching out over several years.
Commissioner McNeely feels property owners should be given the option. Owners are
being charged way too much on taxes.
Todd believes this will draw a lot of attention to something that can't be fixed in the long
run. If it is offered as an option it would only take one owner to say no.
Commissioner McNeely said the property owners were never asked when the zoning was
done
Todd said the zoning was put into place before the land use plan, which was common
throughout the State. These nodes were picked because they are on a US and/or state route. From
a development stance, would you want to slow development by three months or would you want
to have some areas that are zoned for commercial uses?
Chairman Mallory said the work may not be worth the outcome
Todd said this request is for direction of whether to move forward with offering rezoning
or to leave it alone.
Chairman Mallory asked if any of the nodes are absolutely inconsistent with what the
desired development would be.
Todd said the intersection at Barry Oak and Mocksville Highway is a prime example. It is
not in the plan to be commercial.
Chairman Mallory asked if it is worth reviewing to see if there are one or two areas that
are really egregious or just wait until they self -identify.
Vice Chairman Bowles asked if a fee would be charged when a property is self -identified.
Commissioner McNeely suggestion to rezone down to RA for free or if they wanted all of
their property rezoned up to NB then there would be a fee.
Todd said Planning staff is recommending to leave things as they are.
Commissioner McNeely asked if it would be possible to make some type of motion that
would allow those property owners to sign off on rezoning down to RA without the Board hearing
every single case.
Todd said no.
The majority of the Board feels it should be left alone. However, an official motion will be
made at the regular meeting.
March 21, 2017
Request from Tax Administration for approval of February refunds and releases:
Everything was in order.
This item was placed on the consent agenda.
Releases for the month of February 2017
Monthly Total $ 52,625.14
Breakdown of Releases:
County
$
28,095.23
Solid Waste Fees
$
-
Statesville Solid Waste Fees
$
600.00
Mooresville Solid Waste Fees
$
-
Davidson Solid Waste Fees
$
E. Alex. Co. Fire #1
$
-
Shepherd's Fire #2
$
113.26
Mt. Mourne Fire #3
$
18.81
All County Fire #4
$
1,308.83
B&F Fire #5
$
13.60
Statesville City
$
-
Statesville Downtown
$
-
Mooresville City
$
19,114.50
Mooresville Downtown
$
-
Mooresville School
$
3,360.91
Love Valley
$
-
Harmony
$
Troutman
$
-
Davidson
$
Refunds for the month of February 2017
Monthly Total $0.00
Breakdown of Refunds:
County
Solid Waste Fees
Statesville Solid Waste Fees
Mooresville Solid Waste Fees
Davidson Solid Waste Fees
E. Alex. Co. Fire #1
Shepherd's Fire #2
Mt. Mourne Fire 43
All County Fire 44
B&F Fire #5
Statesville City
Statesville Downtown
Mooresville City
Mooresville Downtown
Mooresville School
Love Valley
Harmony
Troutman
Davidson
March 21, 2017 4
NC Vehicle Tax System Refunds
February 2017
Breakdown of NCVTS Refunds:
County
$
(177.14)
E. Alex. Co. Fire # 1
$
Shepherd's Fire #2
$
Mt. Mourne Fire #3
$
(5.15)
All County Fire #4
$
95.92
B&F Fire #5
$
Statesville City
$
(16.93)
Statesville Downtown
$
-
Mooresville City
$
(918.36)
Mooresville Downtown
$
-
Mooresville School
$
(338.04)
Love Valley
$
-
Harmony
$
Troutman
$
-
Davidson
$
-
Monthly Total
$ (1,359.70)
Request from the Clerk to the Board for approval of minutes from the meeting on
March 7, 2017: There were no corrections.
This item was placed on the consent agenda.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Chairman Mallory asked the Board to review the resolution for SB 126, which is the bill
that would effectively reduce sales tax distribution from 99% down to 90% based on the tier 3
rating. This would be a reduction of approximately $800,000 per year.
Smith suggested to join in with other counties to support this resolution.
Commissioner Houpe asked if Stikeleather would send this to the legislators.
Chairman Mallory suggested to send a letter to the Speaker of the House and the
Representative from Lincoln County who is on the finance committee.
This will be discussed further at the regular meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
County Manager Ron Smith commented that the tour of ECOM was scheduled as a result
of a request at the Winter Retreat. The tour will demonstrate how equipment works together with
simulcast, consoles, radios, towers, etc.
CLOSED SESSION
MOT10N by Commissioner Norman to enter into Closed Session at 5:55 PM.
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0
Following the Closed Session the Board recessed at 6:40 PM until the regular session at
7:00 PM.
March 21, 2017
IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
REGULAR MINUTES
March 21, 2017
The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, March 21,
2017, at 7:00 PM, in the Iredell County Government Center (Commissioners' Meeting Room),
200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC.
Board Members Present
Chairman James B. Mallory III
Vice Chairman Tommy Bowles
Gene Houpe
Jeff McNeely
Marvin Norman
Staff present: County Manager Ron Smith, County Attorney Lisa Valdez, Deputy County
Manager Beth Jones, Finance Director Susan Robertson, and Clerk to the Board Retha Gaither.
CALL TO ORDER by Chairman Mallory.
INVOCATION: Chairman James Mallory asked everyone to bow their heads for a
moment of silence.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE led by Chairman Mallory.
PRESENTATION OF SPECIAL RECOGNITION & AWARDS
(None)
ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA
County Manager Ron Smith made the following adjustments:
Add: Closed Session — Personnel G.S. 143-318.11 (a) (6) and Attorney -Client G.S. 143-
318.11 (a) (3)
OTION by Commissioner McNeely to adopt the agenda as adjusted.
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0
APPOINTMENTS BEFORE THE BOARD
Request from ECOM to proclaim the month of April as National 9-1-1 Education
Month and April 9-15 as National Telecommunicator Week: Adrian Foster, Tara Default, and
Star Wolf, who are members of the Iredell County Emergency Communications Public Relations
Committee, were present to ask the Board to acknowledge the National Public Safety
Telecommunicators Week. It is designed to show appreciation to telecommunicators. There are
three municipalities in Iredell County who employee telecommunicators, who work behind the
scenes daily to protect citizens.
Commissioner Houpe expressed his appreciation for this group and their work.
Commissioner McNeely expressed his thanks for the critical job these employees do.
March 21, 2017
Chairman Mallory said none of the Sheriffs Office, Police Department, fire departments,
rescue, EMS, paramedics, etc. would show up without being dispatched appropriately and timely
by the 9-1-1 telecommunicators. Mallory expressed his appreciation for their "unseen but not
unheard"job.
PROCLAMATION
National 9-1-1 Education Month
April 9-15, 2017 National Telecommunicator Week
April 2017
WHEREAS, 9-1-1 is nationally recognized as the number to call in an emergency to receive immediate
help from police, fire, emergency medical services, or other appropriate emergency response entities; and
WHEREAS, 9-1-1 was designated by Congress as the national emergency call number under the Wireless
Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-81); and
WHEREAS, the ENHANCE 911 Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-494) established enhanced 9-1-1 as a high
national priority as part of our Nation's homeland security and public safety; and
WHEREAS, people of all ages use 9-1-1, and it is critical to educate the public of all ages on the proper
use of 9-1-1; and
WHEREAS, a growing segment of the population, including the deaf, hard of hearing, deaf -blind, and
individuals with speech disabilities increasingly communicate with nontraditional text, video and instant messaging
communications services and anticipate that these services will be able to connect directly to
9-1-1; and
WHEREAS, thousands of 9-1-1 calls are made every year by children properly trained on the use of 9-1-1,
resulting in lives saved which underscores the critical importance of training children early in life about 9-1-1; and
WHEREAS, there is widespread misuse of the 9-1-1 system, including prank and non -emergency calls,
which can result in costly and inefficient use of 9-1-1 and emergency response resources.
NOW, therefore, I, ,lames B. Mallory III, County Commissioner of Iredell, do hereby proclaim April
2017 as National 9-1-1 Education Month and April 9-15, 2017 as National Telecommunicator Week. I call upon all
government officials, parents, teachers, school administrators, caregivers, business leaders, non-profit organizations,
and the people of Iredell County to observe this month with training, events, and activities to educate the public on
9-1-1 and its services.
Dated this 21" day of March, 2017.
MOTION by Commissioner Norman to approve.
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0
Chairman Mallory said this Board has a commitment to help ECOM deal with the ever
increasing population of Iredell County which will increase the number of calls to 9-1-1. These
needs will be met with additional consoles and the move into a new emergency communications
center in early 2019.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
(None)
ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
County Manager Ron Smith summarized the Administrative Matters placed on the
consent agenda:
• Request from the Finance Department for approval of Martin Starnes & Associates,
CPAs, P.A. audit contract for fiscal year ending June 30, 2017.
March 21, 2017
• Request from Tax Administration for approval of February refunds and releases.
• Request from the Clerk to the Board for approval of minutes from the meeting on March
7, 2017.
OTION by Commissioner Houpe to approve the consent agenda.
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0
Request from the Planning staff to review and discuss zoning related to certain
intersections established with countywide zoning in 1990: County Manager Ron Smith said this
is a request from Planning staff to review zoning related to certain intersections throughout the
County. Staff is seeking direction from the Board on how to proceed.
Chairman Mallory said this deals with a number of intersections that were zoned as
Neighborhood Business in 1990. However, in many instances the subsequent adopted land use
plan did not include many of these areas as a commercial node. Some of the 200-300 foot drawn
blocks do not align with the property lines. Planning staff questioned if it would be appropriate to
research those properties and bring them into alignment. After some discussion and hearing from
the Planning Board it was the consensus that this would be a difficult exercise. Because the zoning
was done before the plan it would probably create more confusion to try to bring those into
alignment.
Commissioner McNeely stated, "I have difficulty with this thinking. To me, I feel like a
lot of people have been inflicted with unfair taxing of their land because it was put upon them, not
be their request, to have part of their land zoned commercial Neighborhood Business. Many years
they paid on it. I understand the conflict that comes from the Planning Board and also the Planning
Department that this would be very difficult. Although I still believe that I am the representative
of the people who elected me to guard them of their taxes and their tax dollars. So I feel like if
somebody wished to have their land rezoned, I think they alt to be allowed to get it rezoned and
lower down back to probably Agriculture Residential. To me, this also makes it difficult, I think,
for us to initiate our land plan for the fact that parcels, pieces of land that we're not sure exactly
what we wanted them to be at that time are now designated different than what they are zoned. So
we have a conflict with our 2030 Horizon Plan. I think anytime you have a conflict with the plan
that you are using to plan your county, you need to fix that conflict. I feel like we are not doing
our job by not fixing it. That's my opinion on it. So I feel strongly about this."
Vice Chairman Bowles said, "I understand where Mr. McNeely is coming from. This is a
very, very hard situation. It comes down to property owner's rights and how they are taxed. The
problem is that it has gone on for so long that I'm not sure you are going to be able to affectively
accomplish what the Planning Board has asked for our direction on, if you can't get 100%
participation. I'm not sure that at this particular point, that we can fix this problem without tying
up tons of staff time and insulting some of those folks out in our constituency. I think we alt to
move forward on a case-by-case basis and decide these issues as they come up. It is not going to
be easy but I feel like some of these folks have owned this property for many years zoned NB,
Neighborhood Business, and I think you are going to find a wide split from those who want their
property zoned back to residential and those who want to keep their property NB. With that I am
prepared to make a motion."
March 21, 2017 8
MOTION by Vice Chairman Bowles to leave as is and not make any changes to the zoning
and not zone anything back, but to take the public's interest in mind. If somebody comes and wants
their property zoned back then the Board needs to give it serious consideration, but not do a blanket
across the county.
VOTING: Ayes -4; Nays— 1 (McNeely)
ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES OCCURING ON BOARDS & COMMISSIONS
(None)
APPOINTMENTS TO BOARD AND COMMISSIONS
(None)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Chairman Mallory said the Board discussed a pending legislation on SB 126 which is a
local option sales tax factor adjustment. In reviewing the impact that would have on the county,
Iredell would be one of the counties in the state that would lose revenues to the tune of $834,000
in just FYI 8 if this new formula is put into effect. This would apply for years to come and would
be a significant loss of revenues that otherwise would apply to the services needed by the citizens
of this county. The Board agreed to craft a resolution in opposition to SB 126 as follows:
RESOLUTION IN OPPOSITION TO
SB 126 — LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX FACTOR ADJUSTMENT
WHEREAS, Iredell County has invested a considerable amount of time and funding into supporting
economic development; and
WHEREAS, these resources were used to help increase the tax base of Iredell County; and
WHEREAS, SB 126 titled the Local Option Sales Tax Factor Adjustment would redistribute Article 40
sales tax revenue to other counties; and
WHEREAS, SB 126 reduces the percentage of Iredell County Article 40 sales tax revenue that stays in
Iredell County from 99 percent to 90 percent; and
WHEREAS, the Article 40 Local Option Sales Tax represents approximately 4.65 percent of Iredell
County's total general fund revenue; and
WHEREAS, this change would reduce general fund revenues by approximately $834,000 in FY 18; and
WHEREAS, the taxpayers of Iredell County citizens would have to either pay more ad valorem taxes or
receive less services because of this reduction; and
WHEREAS, the North Carolina General Assembly placed new taxes on Iredell County residents to
provide extra revenue for tier one counties in 2016; and
NOW THEREFORE LET IT BE RESOLVED that the Iredell County Board of Commissioners strongly
oppose SB 126 and any legislation that punishes the citizens of Iredell County for supporting strong fiscally
conservative values by reallocating revenue raised by Iredell County.
Adopted this 2I't of March 2017.
Commissioner Houpe stated the Board is adamantly against this bill as it takes the hard
earned money of tax payers and reallocates it others in the state. This would punish tax payers.
Commissioner McNeely agreed with Houpe and feels this is just one step closer to
socialism. This bill will take Iredell's tax dollars and give them to Mecklenburg and Guilford
County! He said it is difficult to understand their need. The General Governmental Task Force is
extremely against this finding. He suggested citizens call local legislators and complain.
March 21, 2017
Chairman Mallory said that a year ago a similar redistribution bill was introduced that
would have resulted in Iredell County losing almost $13 million over a five year period which did
not count the losses the municipalities would have had. That bill passed the Senate but was stopped
in the House. This current bill is another variation of the same philosophy. If there are counties in
need, and there are, that have difficulty in generating revenues to be able to pay for services, then
the State should address it through general appropriations and not through an income redistribution
scheme. Iredell County counts on a stream of revenue from year to year. These annual schemes to
interrupt the income flow is not helpful in terms of generating budget revenues.
MOTION by Commissioner Norman to adopt the resolution.
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0
PUBLIC COMMENT
No one from the audience wished to speak.
NEW BUSINESS
(None)
COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT
County Manager Ron Smith mentioned the following items:
• There will be NCACC regional meetings starting in April. The nearest meeting is in Burke
County on April 5. Representatives from the NCACC will be there to talk about any
pressing issues.
• County Assembly Day is May 10.
• Legislative updates were handed out to each member. These updates will continue while
legislation is in session.
• The Inmate Reduction Report has seen a spike in numbers.
• Partners Behavioral Health provided some comparison numbers/information with other
counties (as requested at the last meeting).
CLOSED SESSIONS
MOTION by Commissioner McNeely to call for a public hearing on April 4, 2017 at
7:00 PM regarding an economic development incentive not to exceed $1.7 million over a seven
year period for Project Sparrow based on a $66 million investment in Iredell County.
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0
MOTION by Commissioner Houpe to enter into Closed Session at 7:30 PM for Property
Acquisition G.S. 143-318.11 (a) (5), Personnel G.S. 143-318.11 (a) (6), and Attorney Client G.S.
143-318.11 (a) (3).
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0
The Board returned to open session at 9:15 PM. There were no other motions resulting
from the second Closed Session.
March 21, 2017 10
I_\I71[$1"130iu 1 oleo I
MOTION by Commissioner McNeely to adjourn at 9:16 PM. (The next meeting will be
Tuesday, April 4, 2017, 7:00 PM, in the Commissioners' Meeting Room, Pre -Agenda Discussion
at 5:00 PM in the South Wing Conference Room, Government Center, 200 South Center Street,
Statesville, NC)
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0
Date Approved
Retha C. Gaither, Clerk
March 21, 2017 I 1