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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-13-2023 Fall Workshop1 October 13, 2023 IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FALL WORKSHOP October 13, 2023 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in a work session on Friday, October 13 2023, at 9:00 AM, at the Iredell County Cooperative Extension. Board Members Present Chair Melissa Neader Vice Chair Bert Connolly Scottie Brown Gene Houpe Brad Stroud, Sr. Staff present: County Manager Beth Mull, Deputy County Manager Susan Robertson, Finance Director Deb Cheek, Assistant Finance Director Caroline Taylor, Budget Analyst Daisy Lopez, County Attorney Lisa Valdez, and Clerk to the Board Amy Anderson. Welcome: County Manager welcomed and thanked everyone for their contributions to the information about to be presented. Call to Order: Chair Neader called the meeting to order. She explained the purpose of the workshop is for the Board to share in discussion and updates. The Board will not be hearing comments from the public. Invocation: Led by Chair Neader Pledge of Allegiance Court System Update Resident Superior Court Judge Joe Crosswhite gave an update on the Public Defender’s Office and Courthouse Space Needs. Judge Crosswhite said the County was fortunate enough to receive funding for a Public Defender’s Office. Currently, the County is served by court appointed attorneys who agree to take court appointed criminal cases. This list of court appointed attorneys continue to decline. Judge Crosswhite said there are 48 districts in the AOC. Iredell moves more criminal cases than all but six other divisions did. The Public Defender’s Office will be in place by January 2024 and should be able to take cases by summer 2024. They are allocated 12 assistant public defenders, 1 public defender, and support staff. The State will fund the reoccurring budget for salaries. The County is responsible for housing the Public Defender’s Office. Judge Crosswhite suggested the Public Defender’s Office needs a space similar to the District Attorney’s Office. 2 October 13, 2023 Judge Crosswhite and County Manager Beth Mull will meet with the Indigent Defense Services Director Mary Pollard on October 26, 2023 to discuss space needs. Pollard will also meet with local attorneys that day. Vice Chair Connolly expressed appreciation to Judge Crosswhite for his efforts in obtaining the Public Defender’s Office. Judge Crosswhite also outlined the space needs at the courthouse. The courthouse has just one courtroom that is acceptable to hold a jury. Chair Neader expressed appreciation to Judge Crosswhite for providing an update. School Capital Update Mitchell Community College Dr. Tim Brewer gave an update on the Public Safety Training Center for Mitchell Community College. Brewer explained that the City of Statesville has gifted the college 30 acres off Third Creek. Phase 1 of the Public Safety Training Center will include:  600x600 driving pad  Pre-engineered Burn Building Tower, with Sprinkler Connection  12,000 square feet classroom building (7 classrooms, 9 offices); includes showers/lockers, weight room, and kitchen  Long drive into property to accommodate BLET Driving Skills. The drive will also compliment the driving pad.  Interior Storage for 6 police cars and 2 fire apparatus (engine and ladders truck), set with training props and auditorium style possibilities; similar to a fire station set up.  1.5 mile running track around property (one mile outer loop with half mile inner loop). The above features are set to be funded by the $10 million bond previously approved by the voters. Brewer presented schematics of the property and the training facility. Brewer said the college would like to add an indoor firing range. The firing range would not be funded by the bond. Brewer outlined the next steps in the process. Mitchell Community College Board of Trustees are set to approve the acceptance of the property at an upcoming meeting. The selection and contract design team is set to start in February or March 2024 followed by the design and approvals. Dr. Brewer anticipated construction taking at least one year to complete. 3 October 13, 2023 Commissioner Houpe asked Dr. Brewer if the training would be open for County Volunteer Fire Department’s to use for training. Dr. Brewer said yes. That is the intent of having one centrally located training facility. Weathers Creek High School Mull said Iredell-Statesville Schools representatives were unable to attend because of the short notice however they sent an update. The design is finished and the project is set to go out to bid in January 2024. Mull went through the funding for the new high school. There was $80 million from the bond approved by the voters and in this current fiscal year the County plans to borrow an additional $40 million. The County will pay the debt service on the $40 million . To date there has been a little over $5 million spent on professional services (architecture fees) for the design. Chair Neader said the school system should understand that the $120 million is less the $6.5 million appropriated to the project initially for upfront costs. Mull said staff has explained that to ISS. Things have been done this way b efore so the school system should be familiar with the process. Mull went on to explain that the $80 million is a General Obligation Bond. The $40 million is a Limited Obligation Bond (LOB) being borrowed by the County. The two amounts of money will have separate interest rates. ISS New Elementary School Commissioner Houpe asked how involved the County should be in the design of future schools. Mull said ISS formed a steering committee made up of members of the Board of Education, Board of Commissioners (Chair Neader & Vice Chair Connolly), ISS Staff, and county staff to help decide process, architect, and delivery method of the new elementary school. The Steering Committee will start meeting in October 2023. Mull said the Board set aside $10 million to help start the elementary school project. In September 2023, ISS Board of Education approved to request design funds from the commissioners. The commissioners approved $3.5 million for design costs. Mull noted the $3.5 million for design funds comes from the $10 million. Any of the unspent funds will go towards the construction of the elementary school. The school system plans to utilize an existing school design as a starting point. The potential site is Parkertown Road property. ISS has said the site has some challenges but is in the area to ease the overcrowding at Shepherd, Troutman, and Lakeshore Elementary Schools. 4 October 13, 2023 Vice Chair Connolly said the County provides the money and wants to make sure there is a good end product. Commissioner Houpe said in the past the Board has been blamed for some of the costs and upkeep of the schools. Houpe feels it is important for the Board to be a part of the due diligence. County Attorney Lisa Valdez said the Board has very limited role, if no role and authority in dictating or directing on how the facility is designed. Valdez said some of the larger urban counties do make a concerted effort on the front end when there is land acquisition. Assistant Finance Director Caroline Taylor provided and went over estimated Ad Valorem taxes per .01 collected through FY45. The spreadsheet also includes all debt issuance. The current debt issuance for ISS will roll off in FY39. The spreadsheet includes the GO Bond and LOB for the new high school. Mull and Taylor provided an update on the updated Capital Improvement Plan for education. The plan was recently updated by Tim Ivey. Mull said the school system’s timeframe does not align with the County’s. The new elementary school was slid to FY26-27 because that is when the County will have the cash for the project. Mull noted ISS has other needs including a new middle school that they have listed for FY26-27. The County has not planned for the new middle school. Mull further noted the indoor firing range for Mitchell’s Public Safety Training Facility is also not listed on the Capital Improvement Plan. Mull said the Board will need to look at that. The CIP is a living breathing document and is updated re gularly depending on the needs. Commissioner Houpe said within the State budget some counties were allocated funding for a new courthouse and athletic fields. Mull said she is typically contacted about the County’s needs, however was not this year. Going forward, once the Board identifies the County’s needs during the Winter Retreat, Mull will send a list of those needs to the legislators. Commissioner Houpe would like to be more aggressive. Houpe asked the legislators about the funding. Some municipalities in the County have fulltime lobbyists in Washington and Raleigh. Houpe suggested piggybacking off of that and advocating for county funding. The lobbyist are in ears throughout the year. Houpe suggested possibly investing in a lobbyist Mull said the Strategic Planner & Public Information Officer can help address those concerns rather than funding a lobbyist. Vice Chair Connolly said the Board needs to push out the needs to the legislators and they need to do the work they were elected by the people to do. Connolly has an issue with using tax dollars funding a lobbyist. 5 October 13, 2023 Mull said the Strategic Planner & Public Information Officer can help the County in an informational campaign to the legislators letting them know what the County’s needs are. Commissioner Stroud said the Board is elected to listen to the concerns and needs of the people of Iredell County just as the legislators. Stroud said the legislators have not contacted the county departments to see how proposed laws would effect the County or its citizens. He said it would be nice to receive a courtesy call on what is in the pipeline for the General Assembly. Commissioner Houpe said the County has lobbyist through the NCACC. Personnel Update Employee Health Clinic Human Resource Director Sandra Gregory explained that the County is now under contract with Synergy Healthcare and it will go in effect December 4, 2023. Gregory introduced Synergy Healthcare Senior Director of Corporate Recruiting Dean Kiradjieff. Mull said the Board shared a desire to take the clinic to 40 hours per week and to offer a 24/7 telehealth option. The County has several 24 hour departments and staff who work third shift making it difficult to get into the clinic. Having a telehealth option is important when the County has around the clock staff. Mull said staff issue a request for bid for those specifications and Synergy was able to offer the increased hours and telehealth option. The current provider could increase hours but not the telehealth option. Kiradjieff gave a brief background on Synergy Healthcare. The company was founded in 2012 and headquartered in Denver, NC. The company currently has six notable local government clients. Kiradjieff said Synergy will provide the following:  Annual health risk assessment  Physicals, preventive and primary care for eligible employees, dependents (ages 3 plus), and retirees  Treatment of acute/episodic care  Chronic disease management, treatment and education.  Blood and laboratory analyses  Prescriptions  Care coordination and referrals as needed  20-30 minute appointments  Dedicated nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant, medical office assistant, and physical therapist. Synergy focuses entirely on getting members the right care, at the right time, at the right price. The company has an improved scheduling system which allows patients 6 October 13, 2023 to make appointments online. Although the clinic will allow walk-ins patients with an appointment will receive priority. The Wellness Clinic will continue to conduct Turnover & Exit Interview Results Gregory said the turnover rate has decreased since September 2023. Gregory attributes this to benefits the Board graciously approved last year. Gregory said Exit Interviews are now conducted over the phone however there are still no shows. Unfortunately, some do not want to participate. O ut of the Exit Interviews results show that only 4% employees left because of pay/benefits. Gregory said there were 182 hires from January 1, 2023 – September 30, 2023; 31 of those have resigned within the same time frame; 67 of the new hires participated in the Onboarding survey. Apprentice Program Gregory gave an update on the Apprentice Program. Currently, ECOM, EMS, DSS, and Solid Waste participates in the program with a combined total of 20 participants. The following departments will soon start in the program:  Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center  Animal Control  Tax Office  Vehicle Services  Solid Waste  Health Department Vacancy Report Gregory said vacancies have declined from 141 to 98 since February 2023. Gregory went through recruitment strategies that HR is currently using. Job postings are on Indeed, govjobs.com, Chamber of Commerce, county website and facebook page, Employment Security Commission, Colleges, local radio stations, and the PEG channel. Now hiring signs for vacancies and the Apprenticeship Program have been posted around the County. DSS Remote Work Policy Update Donna Rufty gave an update on the Remote Work Policy at the Department of Social Services. Employees Quality Assurance will pilot the program as they do not have client or coworker contact. Quality Assurance currently works a flex schedule so they will work from home two days, flex day, and two days in the office. Rufty said Family and Children staff will begin hybrid work schedule on November 2. 7 October 13, 2023 Fairground Update Mull presented a draft from the consultant. The consultant did intensive assessments on the current facility, property, and drainage. They held community engagement meetings. Mull went over the conceptual design as recommended by the consultant. Potential Phase 1 could include barns, exhibit halls, offices, and leaving the existing arena and midway. Potential Phase 1 alternate could be the new arena. Mull said the committee discussed in length the importance of being able to continue using the fairground during the construction phases. The project will be a slow and incremental approach. Mull then covered the executive summary. The estimated construction cost is $57,613,863. Since the project is going to be phased in the consultant broke the costs down for each summary. The estimated costs are as follows: office/exhibit hall $5,352,640; exhibit hall $5,344,154; arena $12,283,149, agricultural center (multipurpose) $14,812,743; barns $6,104,728; site work $13,716,448. Commissioner Houpe asked about the time limitations on the State funding for the project. Mull said the State provided $10 million in funding and the County has $6 million reserved. Mull is not aware of any time restrictions on the State funding. Cheek said the first $5 million was received last month and is acc ruing about $55,000 in interest. The other $5 million was just approved in the budget. Commissioner Brown said the State is not likely to provide more funding if the $10 million is not used to start the project. Commissioner Houpe asked if the cost of site work is included in the estimated cost per phase. Mull said there is minimal site work for the arena. Most of the site work is retention ponds and moving of dirt. The site work also includes a greenway bridge, parking lots, and roads. Mull said there will need to be some type of parking around the arena. Dropping in the arena will likely mean that one of the exhibit halls will need to be removed but now that the State has approved the additional $5 million the Board could decide to add the exhibit hall back in. Vice Chair Connolly said if the current location is not the right site for the fairground then the funding should not be put towards the project until the right site is found. Staff will check into the timeframe for the State funding and follow up with the Board. 2045 Plan Update 8 October 13, 2023 Planning Director Matthew Todd gave an update on the 2045 Horizon Plan. The plan is set to be presented to the Board at the December 5, 2023 meeting. Short Term Rental Text Amendment Discussion Mull said at their last meeting the Board held a public hearing for the text amendment and tabled the item for further discussion. Todd said the latest draft includes two slight changes; a permit would be revoked for one year before being eligible to be approved for a new permit for STR; language was added to read a standard notice of violation is up to 30 days. Todd noted this change would be for all zoning violations. Mull said the Board has received several emails regarding the text amendment. She aske d if the Board had any additional questions. Valdez added there was clarification on the occupancy added to the text amendment. The language will now read two persons per bedroom plus two. Valdez said the Board could add the caveat that children under three not be included particularly because the occupancy restrictions were based on septic tank code. Commissioner Houpe asked about the feedback from the attorney who spoke during the public hearing. Valdez provided a copy of the letter from the attorne y and the Board also received an email from Mr. Hannon. Valdez was aware of the Wilmington case in which was sighted in the letter and what was and what was not addressed in the case. Valdez believes the County is in line with the Wilmington case in what was allowed. There is a reference in the letter about owner’s restrictions on the government’s ability to require STR owners to obtain a permit. This was narrowed in the Wilmington case. Valdez said the Wilmington case was very clear as the government’s authority from a zoning perspective and development standards. She said the text amendment focuses more on parking, referencing the noise ordinance, and things that are traditionally addressed within land use. Valdez noted there still may be the opportunity o f litigation because local governments in NC have been sued a number of times. There is a current case in Chapel Hill. As cases are decided on the Board may have to revisit the text amendment. Valdez feels the text amendment was written in line with the st atutory authority and existing case law. There are other jurisdictions that have an occupancy cap in their ordinances. Valdez is not aware of those being tested from a litigation standpoint. The argument as a property owner does not have occupancy requirement as a single family residence. While some would like the Board to do more Valdez feels that is unreasonable at the current time. There are aspects of the ordinance that is going to be very difficult for staff to enforce. The expectation of the enforcement from the proponents of the ordinance is greater than reality. Planning staff is not on-call 24/7 to respond to incidents. The Sheriff’s Office does not enforce the zoning ordinance. 9 October 13, 2023 Commissioner Houpe said it would be helpful for the property owners to be more proactive when renting out STR. Commissioner Brown said it is important to protect Lake Norman. Commissioner Stroud said a property owner could build a four bedroom home but a septic system to accommodate 40 people. Valdez explained that she and Todd discussed adding the language regarding if a septic tank allows for a greater occupancy should that in fact be permitted. Commissioner Stroud agreed with adding the language. The Board discussed the ordinance being a good starting point and the need of it being a living document and amended as situations dictate. Mull said the Planning Department will not become a 24 -hour department to address concerns. The noise ordinance issue will continue to be handled by the Sheriff’s Office. Wrap-Up Commissioner Houpe asked how often the market study is done. Mull said a complete market study, including job descriptions, is done every four years. A market study is done every two years. An internal study is done in those off years. Therefore, some type of study is done every year. Commissioner Houpe expressed importance of staying ahead of the market. Mull thanked the Board for addressing the compression issue. Robertson said it is always important to do an across the board salary scale adjustment and merit. If not, new employees are brought in where current employees are creating a compression issue. Commissioner Stroud encouraged the Board to look at their priorities. The Board discussed the space need for the Public Defender’s Office. The Public Defen der will also serve Alexander County. Alexander County will potentially need to help fund the space. Mull said the Government Center’s new ADA entryway project has become a little more pressing because the new owner of the Vance Hotel has started work and mentioned a three- story parking deck. Staff has not seen the plans for the parking deck but it will reach the concrete pad and will likely create some access issues. Mull said that pushes the need for the additional parking spaces. The Board has already appropriated the $2.3 million in the CIP, however a gas line needs to be relocated. Mull asked the Board for approval to have the gas line relocated before the other work begins. Mull noted the owner of the Vance Hotel will share conceptual drawings. 10 October 13, 2023 The Board agreed. Chair Neader asked about handicap parking. Mull said once work begins on the Vance Hotel the ramp and alley will close. Therefore, grading and sloping will be done in order to create a drive to the back of the facility. Commissioner Stroud said a few parking spots will be lost. Chair Neader asked to discuss a possible retreat date. Mull said budget packets will be sent out in December and receive them back in February 2024. The Board typically has a retreat in November unless there are new board members coming on board. A date was not set. Chair Neader would like to speak with legislators before they go back into session. Vice Chair Connolly asked to discuss the two year term on the Board. Commissioner Stroud suggested the issue should be voted on by the voters. Valdez said the Board will need to approve a resolution with the question for the ballot. Valdez will follow up with the Elections Director Susie Jordan to see when the resolution is due in order to be on the March 2024 ballot. MOTION by Commissioner Houpe to adjourn at 2pm. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0