2011-05-03 Special Meeting NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 32
SPECIAL MEETING WITH CITY OF WILMINGTON COUNCIL,MAY 3,2011 PAGE 183
ASSEMBLY
The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met for a Special Meeting on Tuesday,May 3, 2011,at
8:30 a.m.in the Harrell Conference Room at the New Hanover County Government Center,230 Government Center
Drive, Wilmington,North Carolina.
Members present were: Chairman Jonathan Barfield, Jr.; Vice-Chairman Jason R. Thompson;
Commissioner Ted Davis, Jr.; Commissioner Brian M.Berger;and Commissioner Richard G. Catlin.
Staff present were: County Manager Bruce T. Shell; County Attorney Wanda M. Copley; Clerk to the
Board Sheila L. Schuh Deputy Clerk to the Board Kymberleigh G. Crowell and Assistant County Managers Andre'
Mallette and Chris Coudriet.
City of Wilmington Council members present were: Mayor Bill Saffo; Mayor Pro-Tem Earl Sheridan;
Council Members Kevin O'Grady;Laura Padgett; Charlie Rivenbark;Ronald Sparks;and Kristi A. Campos.
City of Wilmington staff present were: City Manager Sterling Cheatham; City Attorney Carolyn Johnson;
and City Clerk Penelope Spicer-Sidbury.
Chairman Barfield and Mayor Saffo welcomed everyone present and announced that the purpose of the
meeting was to hold a joint meeting with the City of Wilmington Council.
Chairman Barfield provided the invocation.
DISCUSSION WITH CITY OF WILMINGTON COUNCIL
Discussion was held with the City of Wilmington Council Members concerning the following issues:
• Extraterritorial Jurisdiction and Unified Development Ordinance: City Council expressed their
desire for New Hanover County to adopt similar standards or reestablish the extraterritorial jurisdiction
(ETJ) in order to make planning/development rules and regulations consistent throughout the County
and City. Through annexations, the City has inherited various issues that ETJ standards may resolve.
A brief discussion was held that it may be more logical to use the Unified Development Ordinance
(UDO)rather than ETJ.
• WAVE Transit: Currently, the funding level for FY10 is $1.4 million for the City and $133,000 for
the County. WAVE is requesting$283,000 for FYI 1-12 from the County. Discussion was held about
the possibility of New Hanover County charging a $7.00 vehicle registration fee which would go
towards the funding. City Council members encouraged the Commissioners to consider charging the
fee and stated that reliable transportation is the number one issue for citizens in regards to
obtaining/retaining jobs rather than the cost. County Manager Shell stated that departments such as
DSS utilize transportation services in addition to WAVE that at times have been more cost effective;
client transportation is arranged based on assessment of a client's need. Council member Padgett
commented that the vehicle registration fee would assist WAVE in being able to increase stop times
from thirty minutes to fifteen minutes and therefore, increase ridership.
• ABC Profit Distributions: Downtown safety has improved due in part to permitting changes, the
positive working relationship between the New Hanover County Sheriffs Office (NHCSO) and
Wilmington Police Department(WPD)and local ABC Board working with police to get officers inside
clubs. Council member O'Grady stated that WPD has planned for a ten-man force downtown by
committing five of the ten people needed and is requesting$275,000 in funding from the City Council
to provide for the other five people. Based on this plan and the need to continue positive
improvements, the City is asking for a distribution of profits change to the local agreement to be the
same as the beach towns. Currently, the beach towns profit distribution is 75/25 while the City is
50150. The history of allocation changes date back to 1935 in the General Assembly:
0 1935 Creation 75/25 City/County
0 1937 HB996 66/34 City/County
0 1953 HB784 50150 City/County
The local agreement with the City of Wilmington would need to be a multi-year agreement. A switch
from 50150 to 75/25 would shift approximately $475,000 from the County to the City. The Board of
Commissioners requested County Manager Shell to contact Sheriff McMahon about possibility of
providing assistance beyond four deputies and work with the local ABC Administrator to find
additional money to assist with funding request. Vice-Chairman Thompson stated that the UNCW
Chancellor and CFCC President need to be included in these discussions as the students do factor into
the downtown issues. He further suggested that one avenue to curb underage drinking would be for
these schools to adopt a policy to charge students with an honor violation for using fake ids to gain
access to local bars and that the ABC Board begin sending the City Council the monthly reports.
NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 32
SPECIAL MEETING WITH CITY OF WILMINGTON COUNCIL,MAY 3,2011 PAGE 184
• Blue Ribbon Commission on the Prevention of Youth Violence: New Hanover County and City of
Wilmington have funded this organization in the past. Mayor Pro-Tem Earl Sheridan encouraged the
Board to continue funding this organization.
• Quarter-Cent Sales Tag: The City Council expressed their desire to have a larger share of the
quarter-cent sales tax distribution and the need for a long-term discussion between the two boards
about the distribution of funds. The Commissioners expressed concerns about increasing the City's
share because the mandated services the County provides are used in large part by city residents.
• Functional Consolidation: Interest was expressed in revisiting functional consolidation for
departments such as planning and zoning, fire services, and parks as there may be considerable cost
savings realized. Vice-Chairman Jason Thompson stated that the County has been extensively
reviewing the possibility of the County taking over all Parks and Recreation for both organizations and
staff has a plan in place. Mayor Bill Saffo commented that he does not have an issue with functional
consolidation for Fire but there is not unanimity among the Council on Parks. Commissioner Catlin
expressed support of functional consolidation but that a committee needs to be established between
both boards to look further into the topic. Further discussion was held that if both organizations move
forward with this matter, it is very important to be able to show citizens specifically what cost savings
and benefits will be realized through functional consolidation.
The Commissioners and Council members expressed a desire to have further joint meetings to discuss these
and other issues important to the community in the near future. City Council proposed that they host the next joint
meeting. Staff was directed to look at options in regards to the ETJ and UDO issue.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further discussion, Chairman Barfield thanked the council members for their time and
adjourned the Special Meeting at 10:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kymberleigh G. Crowell
Deputy Clerk to the Board