HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 18 2001 Regular MinutesIREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
REGULAR MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 18, 2001
The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in Regular Session on Tuesday,
September 18, 2001, at 7:00 p.m., in the Iredell County Government Center, 200 South Center
Street, Statesville, NC.
Present: Chairman Sara Haire Tice
Vice Chairman Steve D. Johnson
Tommy E. Bowles
Karen B. Ray
R. Godfrey Williams
Staff Present: County Manager Joel Mashburn, County Attorney William P. Pope,
Finance Director Susan Blumenstein, and Clerk to the Board Jean Moore.
CALL TO ORDER by Chairman Tice.
INVOCATION by Rev. Donna Smith, Associate Pastor for Fairview United Methodist
Church.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG was led by the following Iredell County
employees:
Tim Warren, Emergency Communications
Brian Reeves, Sheriff's Department
Chuck Gallyon, Fire Marshal
Scott Bowling, Emergency Medical Services
"God Bless America" was sung by the Rev. Smith.
MOMENT OF SILENCE: A moment of silence was observed out of respect for the
thousands of innocent Americans who were either killed or injured as a result of the terrorist
attacks that occurred on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. (The attacks included the hijacking of
four civilian aircraft with two of them crashing into the World Trade Center in New York City,
one of them crashing into the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and the fourth crashing outside of
Pittsburgh, PA.)
RECOGNITION OF BOY SCOUTS: Boy Scout Troop 330, affiliated with Centenary
United Methodist Church in Mt. Ulla, NC, was recognized and thanked for attending the
meeting.
ADJUSTMENTS OF THE AGENDA: OTION by Chairman Tice to approve the
following agenda adjustments.
Revision - A Request to Refer to the Iredell County Planning Board a Proposed Solid Waste
Ordinance Amendment in Reference to Abandoned or Junked Vehicles (During the
briefing, the board agreed to refer the amendments to the planning board.)
Added: - A Request to Include Iredell County in House Bill 108 , "An Act to
Authorize Counties to Require the Payment of Delinquent Property Taxes Before
Recording Deeds Conveying Property"
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0.
PUBLIC HEARING
Chairman Tice declared the meeting to be in a public hearing.
CONSIDERATION OF THE ACCEPTANCE AND USAGE OF A LAW
ENFORCEMENT BLOCK GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $36,812, WITH A LOCAL
MATCH OF $4,090, FOR THE PURPOSE OF PURCHASING A REVERSE 911
INTERACTIVE COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM: Sgt. Neil Hayes said the
sheriff's department desired to purchase the Reverse 911 system with funds available from a
block grant. Hayes said the system would be beneficial because of its ability to reach a large
number of people in a short period of time. Hayes said the system could be used in many
different circumstances, e.g., the location of children or Alzheimer's patients that had wandered
away from home, and the notification of impending hazardous conditions (forest fires). Sgt.
Hayes said communities would be alerted through a recorded telephone message.
No one else spoke.
Chairman Tice adjourned the public hearing.
MOTION by Commissioner Ray to approve Budget Amendment 6A for the acceptance
and usage of a law enforcement block grant in the amount of $36,812, with a local match of
$4,090 to be derived from drug -seized funds, for the purpose of purchasing a Reverse 911
System Interactive Community Notification System.
items.
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0.
OTIO by Commissioner Bowles to approve the following eight (8) consent agenda
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0.
1. REQUEST FROM LOWE'S COMPANIES, INC., FOR THE RELEASE OF
ZONING AND SUBDIVISION JURISDICTION TO THE TOWN OF MOORESVILLE
(see briefing minutes)
2. A REQUEST TO REFER TO THE IREDELL COUNTY PLANNING BOARD A
PROPOSED SOLID WASTE ORDINANCE AMENDMENT IN REFERENCE TO
ABANDONED OR JUNKED VEHICLES (see briefing minutes)
3. REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF A WET DETENTION POND, A CASH
BOND, AND AN OPERATION/MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT FOR JOHN
LEGGETT, 1086 RIVER HIGHWAY, MOORESVILLE, NC (During the briefing, Planning
Supervisor Ron Smith stated the owner had requested final approval of these three items. He
said Mr. Leggett's pond had been completed and inspected in accordance with Section 507 of the
Iredell County Watershed Protection Ordinance. Smith said a $2,093.75 bond had been filed
with the county to cover the cost of future maintenance and repairs.)
4. REQUEST FOR ABANDONMENT OF ROAD MAINTENANCE FOR A
PORTION OF SR 1897-IVEY OAK ROAD DUE TO A REALIGNMENT PROJECT:
(Smith said during the briefing that Division 12 with the North Carolina Department of
Transportation had requested the maintenance abandonment of 3000 linear feet due to an
improvement project.)
5. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF THE AUGUST 2001 REFUNDS AND RELEASES
& A REQUEST TO INCLUDE IREDELL COUNTY IN HOUSE BILL 108, "AN ACT TO
AUTHORIZE COUNTIES TO REQUIRE THE PAYMENT OF DELINQUENT
PROPERTY TAXES BEFORE RECORDING DEEDS CONVEYING PROPERTY"
The releases and refunds were
Releases
$97,142.66
County
75,240.04
Solid Waste Fees
24.00
E. Alex. Co. Fire #1
13.63
Shepherd's Fire #2
232.58
Mt. Mourne Fire #3
225.95
All County Fire #4
5,647.02
Statesville City
2,702.43
Statesville Downtown
0
Mooresville Town
10,019.28
Mooresville Downtown
0
Mooresville School
2,733.61
Love Valley
187.62
2
Harmony 0
Troutman 116.50
Refunds
County
900.50
Solid Waste Fees
45.00
E. Alex. Co. Fire#1
0
Shepherd's Fire #2
0
Mt. Mourne Fire #3
0
All County Fire #4
102.27
Statesville City
333.05
Statesville Downtown
0
Mooresville Town
39.90
Mooresville Downtown
0
Mooresville School
0
Love Valley
3,690.97
Harmony
0
Troutman
0
$ 5,111.69
(The briefing minutes describe the House Bill 108 request.)
6. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF A LEASE AGREEMENT WITH THE NORTH
CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES FOR
OFFICE SPACE AT THE AGRICULTURAL RESOURCE CENTER TO BE USED FOR
FORESTRY SERVICES (This lease will be for 504 square feet of office and storage space, to
be used by the North Carolina Forestry Service, in the new Agricultural Resource Center located
at 444 Bristol Drive, Statesville, NC.)
7. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF BUDGET AMENDMENT #7 TO (1)
RECOGNIZE ADDITIONAL REVENUE FROM SALES TAXES AND REPAYMENTS
FROM MUNICIPALITIES AND (2) TO AUTHORIZE THE PAYMENT OF AN
AUDITOR'S FEE Blumenstein said during the briefing that CPA Robert Segal had reviewed
sales tax refund requests for local government agencies and nonprofit groups in the county. She
said the CPA had found that $40,921.42 was due to Iredell County for 1997, 1998, and 1999.
Blumenstein said the budget amendment would reflect the additional revenue and authorize the
CPA's payment of $16,368.56 (40%) for the discovery.
8. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 4, 2001 MINUTES
OF CONSENT AGENDA -------------------------------------
CONSIDERATION AND/OR APPROVAL TO PARTICIPATE WITH THE
NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS (NCACC) IN A
LAWSUIT AGAINST THE UNITED STATES HEALTH CARE FINANCING
ADMINISTRATION (HCFA) REGARDING AMBULANCE REIMBURSEMENT
REGULATIONS: Mashburn said that currently North Carolina's Medicare reimbursement rate
was $100 per trip. He said this was "at the very bottom nationally." Mashburn said the national
average was $300, and the state of Oregon received the highest amount at $600 per trip. He also
said North Carolina, Tennessee, and parts of Rhode Island were the only states that did not
receive in -county mileage on top of the reimbursement rate. Mr. Mashburn said the North
Carolina Association of County Commissioners was filing a lawsuit and had requested financial
participation from the counties. He said the goal would be to obtain a court order compelling the
HCFA to follow a law enacted by Congress in 1997. Mashburn said the law authorized that a
new fee schedule be implemented by January of 2000; however, the HCFA had failed to comply.
Mashburn said that if a new national ambulance fee schedule could be implemented, North
Carolina counties and private EMS providers would net nearly $20 million per year.
Mashburn said the amount needed from the county to participate in the lawsuit was
$2,767. He said that if the lawsuit were successful, the county might receive an additional
$328,658 in Medicare reimbursements, and $32,411 in Medicaid payments.
Attorney Pope said he understood that if the NCACC won the lawsuit, the counties could
expect their reimbursements in a 5.3 day time period.
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OTION by Commissioner Johnson to participate in the lawsuit against the United
States Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) with a financial contribution of $2,767 to
be derived from funds in the legal expense line item.
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES OCCURRING ON
BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
Personnel Advisory Committee (2 announcements): The terns for Bob Foster and
Jerry Burgdofer expire in October.
APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS & COMMISSIONS
Adult Care Home Communitv Advisory Committee (3 appts.): No nominations were
submitted, and Chairman Tice move to postpone these three appointments until the
October 2, 2001 meeting.
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0.
Statesville Board of Adjustment -Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (I appt.): No
nominations were submitted, and Chairman Tice moved to postpone this appointment until the
October 2, 2001 meeting.
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0.
Recreation Advisory Board (I appt.): Commissioner Johnson nominated
Herb Morron.
No further nominations were submitted and Chairman Tice move to appoint Morron by
acclamation.
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
UPDATE ON THE SOCIAL SERVICES REQUEST OF AUGUST 21, 2001, TO
RETAIN A CAROLINA ACCESS POSITION AND A FRAUD INVESTIGATOR
POSITION DUE TO THE LOSS OF STATE FUNDING: Blumenstein said that in August,
the DSS Director had requested to retain a Carolina Access Position and a Fraud Investigator
Position. She said the request had been made due to the state cutting finds. Mrs. Blumenstein
said the request was approved contingent upon the funds to retain the positions being available
in the social services budget. Blumenstein said the department had $80,000 in lapsed salary
funds for July and August. She said about one-half of the $80,000 was county funding.
Blumenstein said the amount needed for October I through June 30 was approximately $36,000.
She said the positions could continue with this amount.
COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT: The manager distributed a written activity report.
He also reminded everyone about the Agricultural Resource Center's Open House on Sunday,
September 30, 2001, at 2:00 p.m. Mashburn said the festivities would be open to the public.
ADJOURNMENT: Chairman Tice move to adjourn the meeting at 7:40 p.m. NEXT
MEETING: Tuesday, October 2, 2001, 5:00 p.m. (briefing) and 7:00 p.m. (regular meeting) in
the Iredell County Government Center, 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC.
VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0.
Approved:
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Clerk to the Board