2014-03-20 Special Meeting
NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33
SPECIAL MEETING, MARCH 20, 2014 PAGE 40
ASSEMBLY
The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met for a Special Meeting on Thursday, March 20,
2014, at 3:03 p.m. in the Harrell Conference Room at the New Hanover County Government Center, 230
Government Center Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina.
Members present: Chairman Woody White; Commissioner Jonathan Barfield, Jr.; and Commissioner
Thomas Wolfe. Vice-Chair Beth Dawson arrived at 3:08 p.m. Commissioner Brian Berger was absent.
Staff present: Deputy County Attorney Kemp P. Burpeau; County Attorney Wanda M. Copley; County
Manager Chris Coudriet; Deputy Clerk to the Board Kymberleigh G. Crowell; and Clerk to the Board Sheila L.
Schult.
City of Wilmington Council members present: Mayor Bill Saffo; Council Members Neil Anderson; Kevin
O'Grady; Laura Padgett; Charlie Rivenbark; and Earl Sheridan. Mayor Pro-Tem Margaret Haynes was absent.
City of Wilmington staff present: City Manager Sterling Cheatham; City Clerk Penny Spicer-Sidbury; and
City Attorney William Wolak.
Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority/WAVE Transit Authority members present: Chairman David R.
Scheu; Secretary Don Betz; County Commissioner Jonathan Barfield, Jr.; Council Member Kevin O’Grady; Board
Members William Bryden; Euran Daniels; Chris Hawkins; and Jeffrey Petroff. Vice-Chairman Henry Adams and
Board Member Wylie Smith were absent.
WAVE staff present: Director Albert Eby; Finance Director Joseph Mininni; and Attorney Andrew Olsen.
Chairman White, Mayor Saffo and Chairman Scheu called their respective Boards to order for the Special
Meeting reporting the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority/WAVE
Transit Interlocal Agreement (ILA) with Chairman White requesting County staff to make the presentation.
County Manager Chris Coudriet gave a brief statement that information presented today is an outline of
proposed modifications to the interlocal agreement based on Board direction to reexamine the document which
could be addressed through a new interlocal agreement. Today’s presentation is not intended to answer policy
questions for the Board but would become the corridor to work with Board policy choices.
PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION ON DRAFT CAPE FEAR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
AUTHORITY/WAVE TRANSIT INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT
Finance Director Lisa Wurtzbacher provided an overview of the proposed ILA with WAVE Transit:
Funding:
Additional clarity is needed for the following:
Service levels County will support
Funding level County will provide
Additional transparency of cost allocations between paratransit and fixed route
Two year rolling funding
Fund balance
Funding Methodology:
Required Local Contribution:
Paratransit: $163,192
Pleasure Island Route (#301): $ 41,845
Northern Route (#207): $ 75,835
Total Paratransit and Unincorporated Routes: $280,872
Prior Year Funding Levels:
County 2013 Contribution: $176,000
County 2014 Contribution: $140,000
Funding Fund Balance based on Actual 2013 Result:
Total Operating Expenditures: $7,891,271
Proposed 8% Fund Balance: $ 631,302
Total City Funding (83.3%): $1,249,000
Total County Funding (16.7%): $ 250,000
Total County funding includes capital. The County’s 2013 budgeted contribution for
WAVE was $250,000 with approximately $74,000 dedicated to capital outlay and
$176,000 to operations.
County’s Portion of Fund Balance Contribution: $105,287
Other Discussion Items:
Board Composition:
Should member representation be based on proportion of funding to WAVE?
Example, if one entity provides more funding to WAVE then another entity, should
they have more members on the Board than the other entity?
NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33
SPECIAL MEETING, MARCH 20, 2014 PAGE 41
Debt:
Will WAVE be able to be approved for debt on its own without a dedicated funding
source?
Can the County and/or City provide a dedicated funding source for the repayment of debt
without having to incur the debt on the Authority’s behalf?
Terms of the Agreement:
Should the agreement be a twenty year term?
Termination:
Should the notice of termination be given by January 1 to be effective with the start of a
fiscal year (July 1) to allow the parties time to adequately adjust to changes in funding
and operations. There would be exceptions similar to a Federal Budget Sequestration.
County Finance Director Lisa Wurtzbacher reported that goals of having a new interlocal agreement
included providing additional clarity on service and funding levels that both the County and City were willing to
support. An updated interlocal agreement would also help add more transparency in cost allocations in areas such as
paratransit, fixed routes and any other areas deemed necessary in order to help both entities to make better informed
decisions about funding levels. After a question and answer period and discussion among the entities there was
consensus that the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County Legal and Finance teams will work together to
work back through the entire interlocal agreement, including the fourteen points staff presented, based on today’s
discussion. Further discussion was held on the need for Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority/WAVE to know
today how much the County is willing to fund the entity for at least the upcoming fiscal year in order to
appropriately plan its budget.
Hearing no further questions or comments, Chairman White requested direction from the Board.
Motion:
Commissioner Barfield MOVED, SECONDED by Vice-Chair Dawson, that the County assist in building
WAVE’s fund balance at a 50-50 ratio between the City and County over the next two budget cycles, equal to half
of 8 percent of WAVE’s budget, separate and apart from what the Board chooses to do on an ongoing operational
basis. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED 4 TO 0.
After a brief discussion, it was suggested that the City and County Finance Directors have a monthly
discussion regarding WAVE, that the entire interlocal agreement be completely updated, and the need to look for
ways to provide permanent funding of WAVE in the future. Further discussion was held about the need for the
County to decide what dollar amount it will budget for WAVE’s in the upcoming fiscal year. Knowing what the
County is willing to budget will assist WAVE in preparing its upcoming budget in order to meet Federal
requirements.
Hearing no further questions or comments, Chairman White requested direction from the Board.
Motion:
Commissioner Wolfe MOVED, SECONDED by Commissioner Barfield, for the County to fund WAVE
an operational amount of $275,000 in Fiscal Year 14-15. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED 4 TO 0.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further discussion, Chairman White, Mayor Saffo and Chairman Scheu thanked everyone
for attending and adjourned the Special Meeting at 4:33 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kymberleigh G. Crowell
Deputy Clerk to the Board