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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-01-2023 1 August 1, 2023 IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PRE-AGENDA SESSION August 1, 2023 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in pre-agenda session on Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at 4:00 PM, in the Commissioners’ Meeting Room located in the Iredell County Government Center 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. 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, County Attorney Lisa Valdez, Finance Director Deb Cheek, and Clerk to the Board Amy Anderson. CALL TO ORDER: Chair Neader called the meeting to order. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA: County Manager Beth Mull went over the following adjustments: ADD: Attorney Client under Closed Session. ADD: VIII.5 Request from Emergency Communications for approval of the NC911 Board Secondary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Agreement for Mooresville Police Department. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Request from Emergency Communications for approval of the NC911 Board Secondary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Agreement for Statesville Police Department. ECOM Director Candy Miller requested the renewal of a two-year agreement that is in place with the North Carolina 9-1-1 Board to accept and disburse funds for the 911 portion for a secondary PSAP at the Statesville Police Department. This item was placed on consent. Request from Tax Administration to present the Annual Tax Settlement for 2022 along with Orders for Collection. Tax Administrator Bill Furches presented the 2022 Annual Tax Settlement and asked for approval of the Order for Collection. 2 August 1, 2023 2022 Taxes Real & Personal Levy $ l40,724,482.07 Motor Vehicles $14,712,502.54 Discoveries $2,459,849.22 Releases ($250,911.26) $157,645,922.57 Collections $156,708,241.24 2021 Outstanding Taxes: $937,681.33 Collection Rates: All Property 99.41% Excluding Motor Vehicles 99.34% Motor Vehicles 100.00% Delinquent Taxes: Collections FY22 $ 746,575 Delinquent Taxes FY14-FY22 $ 1,371,354 Prepaid Taxes: 2023 Taxes Collected $ 257,890 Collected $5,352,781 more in lredell County taxes than previous year — up 3.5% Collected $2,537,369 more than was budgeted — 101.63% of original budget Nineteen—year cumulative total $36,377,306 million over budgeted revenues Nineteen-year cumulative delinquent collections $30,971,567 Collected for all jurisdictions: 6-30-23 $245,335,219 ($7,672,941 more than FY22) Chair Neader thanked Furches for the thorough report. This item was placed on consent. Request from Clerk to the Board for approval of the minutes from the meetings on July 18 & 24, 2023. There was one correction to the attendance on the July 18, 2023 meeting. This item was placed on consent. County Construction Projects Update. There were no comments or questions regarding current projects. This item was placed on consent. Request from Emergency Communications for approval of the NC911 Board Secondary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Agreement for Mooresville Police Department. ECOM Director Candy Miller requested the renewal of a two-year agreement that is in place with the North Carolina 9-1-1 Board to accept and disburse funds for the 911 portion for a secondary PSAP at the Mooresville Police Department. 3 August 1, 2023 This item was placed on consent. IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MINUTES August 1, 2023 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at 6:00 PM, in the Commissioners’ Meeting Room of the Iredell County Government Center, 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. 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, County Attorney Lisa Valdez, Finance Director Deb Cheek, and Clerk to the Board Amy Anderson. CALL TO ORDER by Chair Neader. INVOCATION: Vice Chair Connolly led in the invocation. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE led by Chair Neader. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA: County Manager Beth Mull went over the following adjustments: ADD: Attorney Client under Closed Session. ADD: VIII.5 Request from Emergency Communications for approval of the NC911 Board Secondary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Agreement for Mooresville Police Department. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS & RECOGNITIONS (None) APPOINTMENT BEFORE THE BOARD (None) PUBLIC HEARINGS Public hearing to consider a request from Owner/Applicant Paul “Pete” Barger, of Barger Properties, LLC, to rezone approximately 50.32 acres along Old Airport Road for Southern Distilling Company aged-barrel storage. Planning Director Matthew Todd presented the proposed rezoning. The property is currently zoned Residential Agricultural Conditional Use 4 August 1, 2023 District. The property was originally zoned Single-Family Residential (R-20) when county-wide zoning was established in 1990. In 2001, the existing RA-CUD conditional use district was created in order to allow for an additional manufactured home subdivision. The applicant is requesting to rezone the property to General Business Conditional District. Staff supports the request due to location near airport, the 2030 Horizon Plan amendment to Employment Center- Industrial/Flex/Office remains consistent with City of Statesville’s future plans for the area, the conditions of the request aim to maintain safeguards for the surrounding landowners, and the limited use should generate minimal traffic impacts. Todd noted the development of the property would be on the Old Airport Road side of the property because of the floodplain. Chair Neader opened the public hearing. Pete Barger, applicant, spoke in favor of the rezoning request. Barger was born and raised in Iredell County and is excited for the opportunity to expand his business here. He expressed appreciation of the County’s support throughout the years. Barger gave a brief background of Southern Distilling. He said for every person the company employees they employee up to five people in the agricultural community. The rezoning would allow the company to provide aged-barrel storage. No one else wished to speak. Chair Neader closed the public hearing. The Board expressed appreciation to Barger for being a wonderful community partner specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. MOTION by Commissioner Houpe to approve the zoning map amendment, and to make a finding that said approval is reasonable and in the public interest and furthers the goals of the 2030 Horizon Plan because: Due to location near airport, the 2030 Horizon Plan amendment to Employment Center-Industrial/Flex/Office remains consistent with City of Statesville’s future for this area, the conditions of the request aim to maintain safeguards for the surrounding landowners, and the limited use should generate minimal traffic impacts. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 Iredell County PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT PLANNING STAFF REPORT REZONING CASE # 2307-1 STAFF PROJECT CONTACT: Leslie M. Meadows EXPLANATION OF THE REQUEST This is a request to rezone a parcel of land along Old Airport Road, approximately 50.32 acres, from Residential Agricultural Conditional Use District (RA-CUD) to General Business 5 August 1, 2023 Conditional District (GBCD). This request is conditional per the submitted application. Specific GB uses and conditions shall be imposed as attached to the request. OWNER/APPLICANT OWNER/APPLICANT: Paul “Pete” Barger, Barger Properties, LLC PROPERTY INFORMATION ADDRESS/LOCATION: Old Airport Road, west of Deerfield Estates. More specifically, PIN#: 4723675694.000. SURROUNDING LAND USE: The surrounding area, in most all directions, remains residential in nature; with exception of a couple GB properties to the west. SIZE: The total acreage to be rezoned includes approximately 50.32 acres. EXISTING LAND USE: Vacant, heavily wooded. ZONING HISTORY: Part of the airport area rezoning, the property was originally zoned Single-Family Residential (R-20) when county-wide zoning was established in 1990. In 2001, the existing RA-CUD conditional use district was created in order to allow for an additional manufactured home subdivision. The current RA-CUD conditions limit residential construction types to new double-wide manufactured homes or modular units only. Also, each unit shall include certain façade/building materials: vinyl lap siding, asphalt shingle roofing, masonry foundation, masonry front porch, and concrete driveway. OTHER JURISDICTIONAL INFORMATION: This property lies within the Urban Service Area of the City of Statesville. Future annexation and/or public utilities may be made available in the future. The City of Statesville has been informed of the request: no negative feedback was reported. Planning staff has confirmed that this parcel is projected to be Employment Center/Industrial Flex per the City of Statesville’s 2045 Land Development Plan (See attached Exhibit “A”). OTHER SITE CHARACTERISTICS: This property is not located within a regulated Watershed Area. Therefore, there are no imposed built-upon area restrictions. However, perennial waterway, Third Creek, runs along the rear of the property. Portions of the property along Third Creek are located within a flood hazard zone and may not be buildable, or be less suitable for development. 6 August 1, 2023 UTILITIES: This site is currently served by well and septic only. IMPACTS ON LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND/OR FACILITES TRAFFIC: According to the current CRTPO Comprehensive Transportation Plan, Old Airport Road is considered an existing boulevard; minor thoroughfare with no necessary improvements needed at this time. The closest and most recent NCDOT annual average daily traffic count along Old Airport Road, just east of this site’s entrance, was approximately 1,400 vehicles per day in 2021. Traffic capacities are unknown. In Iredell County’s 2021 Transportation Master Plan, the intersection of Old Airport Road and Buffalo Shoals Road (less than half a mile east of this property) is currently not recognized as a priority for improvements, but is to continue to be monitored. The speed limit along this section of Old Airport Road is 45 mph. SCHOOLS: This is a commercial rezoning and should have no implications on local schools’ capacity. EMERGENCY SERVICES: This proposal has been reviewed by the Iredell County Fire Marshal’s Office and Iredell County EMS. Neither office addressed any concerns regarding the request. REQUIRED REVIEWS BY OTHER AGENCIES LOCAL: An official site plan must be submitted to the Planning & Development Department for review in order to redesign or further develop the property. Zoning requirements such as parking, landscaping, and buffering will be reviewed at such time. Erosion & sedimentation control standards will also be reviewed for compliance. STATE: Other than building code, there should be no formal state agency review at this time. FEDERAL: None at this time. STAFF AND BOARD COMMENTS STAFF COMMENTS: The applicant, Paul “Pete” Barger, is owner/operator of Southern Distilling Company on Jennings Road. As the distillery has gained notoriety, Mr. Barger requires additional storage facilities to age their product. Mr. Barger has purchased this property with the intention of developing a series of warehouses for aged barrel storage. Only one warehouse is planned initially; and the site will be unmanned, except for occasional deliveries/transport vehicles. The applicant has consented to a conditional rezoning that limits the allowed GB uses, and is considerate of the surrounding neighbors’ environmental conservation concerns. The specific conditions imposed as part of the GBCD application are as follows: 1.) GB uses limited to only: Warehousing & Storage. 7 August 1, 2023 2.) Provide 30’ vegetative buffer option around perimeter using existing vegetation where possible; except along Panhandle Driveway, where 10’ with a fence and evergreen shrubs will be used along adjoining residentially zoned property. 3.) Install paved driveway along portion of Panhandle adjoining residentially zoned property. While this request is currently inconsistent with the current 2030 Horizon Plan, which slates this site to remain Medium-Density Residential, the 2045 Horizon Plan update is underway. Being mostly surrounded by the Statesville Municipal Planning Area, and in close proximity to the expanding Statesville Regional Airport, staff supports an amendment to the 2030 Horizon Plan to designate this property as Employment Center – Industrial/Flex/Office. Employment Center – Industrial/Flex/Office areas are intended for development of industrial, flex space, and office uses including light manufacturing and assembly, research and development, warehousing, and building trade showrooms and offices. These lands are either currently served or are planned to be served in the future by public or private water or sanitary sewer systems. These areas should have access to planned arterial or collector streets to provide adequate infrastructure for transportation of goods to and from distribution centers. Development should provide adequate transitions to adjacent lower intensity uses, such as residential and commercial uses, in the form of vegetated buffers, landscaping, setbacks, and building heights. The Planning staff can support the proposed rezoning request; and subsequent 2030 Horizon Plan amendment, based on the following: Due to location near airport, the 2030 Horizon Plan amendment to Employment Center-Industrial/Flex/Office remains consistent with City of Statesville’s future plans for this area, the conditions of the request aim to maintain safeguards for the surrounding landowners, and the limited use should generate minimal traffic impacts. PUBLIC INPUT MEETING: A walk-in style, or “floating”, public input meeting was held on Wednesday, May 31st, 2023 from 5:00pm - 6:30 pm at the Iredell County Agricultural Center. Approximately 10 property owners from the area were in attendance to hear the proposal, ask questions about the future development/expansions, and express any apprehension. Clear-cutting and loss of wildlife habitat was of upmost concern. A copy of the applicant’s summary of said public input meeting has been included at the end of this report. SITE REVIEW COMMITTEE: Staff performed a site visit on June 16, 2023, to post property and take photo documentation. PLANNING BOARD ACTION: On July 5, 2023, the Planning Board held a public meeting to hear the rezoning request. The applicant/landowner, Pete Barger, his consultant William Allison, and Architect David Reese were present for questioning and to verify certain easements across the property. While several neighboring landowners were in attendance, only two came forward to speak. While not in direct opposition, both expressed concerns with erosion control and fire hazard/fire prevention. The board voted 9-0 to recommend approval of the rezoning. ⁘ ⁘ ⁘ ⁘ 8 August 1, 2023 Public hearing to consider an economic development incentive for Project Crew. Jenn Bosser presented United Racing Parts, LLC (D3 Holdings LLC). United Racing Parts was founded in 2015 and is a leading company in the motorsports safety product industry with some of the most advanced and complete range of protection and performance products. The company is interesting in building a 20,000 square foot facility in South Fork Business Park in Mooresville. Bosser requested approval of an economic development incentive for United Racing Parts for up to $63,585 over five years based on a capital investment of $3.2 million and the retention of the nine existing employees. Chair Neader opened the public hearing. No one wished to speak. Chair Neader closed the public hearing. MOTION by Commissioner Brown to approve an economic development incentive for up to $63,585 over a five-year period based on the company’s investment of up to $3.2 million, retention of a minimum of nine jobs, and contingent upon a contract being executed within 180 days. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 ⁘ ⁘ ⁘ ⁘ Public hearing to consider an economic development incentive Project Hue. Jenn Bosser presented Bridgford Foods for consideration of an Economic Development Incentive. The company is located on Progress Lane in Statesville. The food manufacturer specializes in meat wholesaling, frozen food distribution, meat process, and vacuumed packed desserts. The company is headquartered in Dallas, TX and has facilities in California and Chicago. Bridgford Food Company plans to incorporate a novel vacuum microwave technology to produce a new lightweight and compact food bar and close compact rations which is used in military applications. It is a food drying technology that supports the production of nutrient dense portable components intended to support small units for up to seven days across the spectrum of feature operating environments and the addition of this new technology allows Bridgeford to reduce the overall weight and volume of military rations and will help the company provide a unique offering amongst its competitors. Bosser requested approval of an economic development incentive for Bridgford Foods for up to $24,277 over three years based on a capital investment of $2,094,500 and the minimum creation of five jobs. Chair Neader opened the public hearing. Mike Bivens was signed up to speak but was not present to speak during the public hearing. No one else wished to speak. 9 August 1, 2023 Monty Griffith, General Manager of Bridgford Foods, was present to answer any questions. Chair Neader closed the public hearing. MOTION by Commissioner Stroud to approve an economic development incentive of up to $24,277 over a three-year period based on the company’s investment of up to $2,094,500, creation of a minimum of five jobs, and contingent upon a contract being executed within 180 days. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 ⁘ ⁘ ⁘ ⁘ ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS  Request from Emergency Communications for approval of the NC911 Board Secondary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Agreement for Statesville Police Department.  Request from Tax Administration to present the Annual Tax Settlement for 2022 along with Orders for Collection.  Request from Clerk to the Board for approval of the minutes from the meetings on July 18 & 24, 2023.  County Construction Projects Update.  Request from Emergency Communications for approval of the NC911 Board Secondary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Agreement for Mooresville Police Department. MOTION by Commissioner Stroud to approve the consent agenda. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 ANNCOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES OCCURING ON BOARDS & COMMISSIONS (None) APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS & COMMISSIONS (None) UNFINISHED BUSINESS (None) PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD (None) 10 August 1, 2023 COMMISSIONER COMMENTS & UPDATES Chair Neader asked the Board to limit comments to five minutes in respect for staff and citizens’ time. Exceptions can be made upon any topics that may need more time. Commissioner Houpe expressed appreciation to public safety personnel through the recent storms. Vice Chair Connolly gave an update on the Selma Burke Middle School Ribbon Cutting. Barnhill did a fantastic job on the construction of the school. Connolly is excited for the students and Mooresville Graded School District. Connolly said it was great to see the Burke Family at the ribbon cutting. Commissioner Stroud gave an update on the Tourism Summit. He shared a phrase “Economic Development is anything that increases the value or wealth of your community.” From quality of life programs to industrial. Commissioner Stroud also attended the groundbreaking at Jennings Park and expressed appreciation to the families who participated. Stroud is looking forward to seeing the children’s smiles. Chair Neader gave an update on the recent Post 65 event with Statesville Native Lieutenant Colonel Matt Bachek who is Commander of the 98th Space Range Squadron Delta 11. Commissioner Brown said the fairground committee is waiting for figures. The Board asked for citizen’s patience as school starts back soon. Please be vigilant as buses will be back on the roads. NEW BUSINESS (None) COUNTY MANAGER’S REPORT County Manager Beth Mull gave an update on the following:  2045 Horizon Plan draft is on the County website and comments will be received through September 12. Mull said it is important for everyone to view the plan and make comments. The plan is a team effort from the Board to the citizens. CLOSED SESSION The Board held a Closed Session prior to the regular meeting and there was one item to report. 11 August 1, 2023 MOTION by Commissioner Houpe to approve the acquisition of 40.2832 acres, as part of Iredell County PIN 4778195493 located on Chief Thomas Road, pursuant to a contract with Joseph and Phillip Barker, and to accept assignment of said contract, and authorize the Chair and/or County Manager to sign the necessary closing documents. VOTING Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Commissioner Brown to adjourn at 6:38PM. The next regular meeting is Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 6pm in the Commissioners’ Meeting Room, Government Center, 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. VOTING Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 __________________________________ ___________________________________ Date Approved Amy B. Anderson, Clerk