2015-06-18 Agenda Review
NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33
AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, JUNE 18, 2015 PAGE 327
ASSEMBLY
The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met for Agenda Review on Thursday, June 18, 2015,
at 4:00 p.m. in the Harrell Conference Room at the New Hanover County Government Center, 230 Government
Center Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina.
Members present: Chairman Jonathan Barfield, Jr.; Vice-Chairman Beth Dawson; Commissioner Skip
Watkins; Commissioner Woody White; and Commissioner Rob Zapple.
Staff present: County Manager Chris Coudriet; County Attorney Wanda Copley; and Clerk to the Board
Teresa Elmore.
Chairman Barfield called the Agenda Review meeting to order and requested everyone to have a moment
of silence for the nine victims who lost their lives in the recent tragedy that took place in Charleston, South Carolina.
Chairman Barfield announced that the purpose of the meeting is to review and discuss the Board’s agenda
items for the June 22, 2015 Regular Meeting with discussions as noted:
Consent Item 7. Adoption of Budget Ordinance Amendments – Budget Department.
DSS Business
Officer Karen Graham responded to questions regarding Budget Amendment 15-080 for the Department of Social
Services. A decrease in the state subsidy of $276,587 was the result of underutilization of services below the 98%
rate through February 2015. Since October 1, 2014, the Childcare Subsidy Program has undergone three policy
changes that have affected the eligibility of some clients applying for the program.
Regular Item 9. Consideration of Interlocal Agreement (ILA) for Cost Sharing Coastal Storm
Damage Reduction Projects (CSDR) and Six-Month Extension of Current ILA.
Shore Protection Coordinator
Layton Bedsole reported that the Towns of Carolina Beach and Kure Beach brought before the Port, Waterway and
Beach Commission (PWBC) their concerns that the 17.5% participation in the CSDR may be too much. Dennis
Barbour, Chairman of the PWBC, will present a request for a subcommittee to reevaluate the percentage of
participation as well as a request for an extension of the ILA. Staff recommends the following appointments: Tim
Owens, Wrightsville Beach Town Manager; Michael Cramer, Carolina Beach Town Manager; Nancy Avery, Kure
Beach Town Clerk; Linda Brothers, County Finance; Dennis Barbour, PWBC Chairman; and Layton Bedsole, Shore
Protection Coordinator. The City of Wilmington will be asked to provide a representative for the subcommittee.
Regular Item 12. Consideration of Continuing the Demolition of Turbine-Generator Sets at the
Former WASTEC Facility
. Environmental Management Director Joe Suleyman reported that GBB Consulting
was contracted to provide a cost analysis of the two turbine-generators and they have provided two reports outlining
the value of the systems under various scenarios. Target, the contractor for the demolition of the WASTEC
facilities, has two buyers to move the turbines off-site for $583,000 and the County would have to pay a substantial
penalty to cancel the contract. Staff is seeking Board direction on the disposition of the assets in order to instruct the
contractor on how to proceed.
The Commissioners discussed the possible value of the turbines for the gasification process and other
options to reduce significant amounts of solid waste from the landfill. The turbines could reduce some of the costs
for gasification or provide infrastructure to dispose of solid waste by other means.
Commissioner Zapple pointed out that the GBB report discussed the age of the equipment and the “wild
card as is, where is” risk to any prospective purchaser and the significant investment it would take to upgrade the
used equipment. Because the turbines have not operated in the last four years except for bump-starts to rotate the
rotors, the turbines may not have much value. The GBB report said that the turbines had no practical value except
for the advantage of the foundation and GBB did not recommend gasification because of the constraints of the site.
Representatives from Sonoco and RTS had agreed that the site does not fit both processes well unless the site is
redesigned specifically for both operations. He said that the Commissioners may want to investigate gasification to
see if it would be the right process for the County, but fresh equipment would be needed at a potential cost of
hundreds of millions of dollars.
Director Suleyman reported that GBB estimated the costs of getting the turbines up to code for the eight
diaphragms and the steel rotor would be $2.3 million. Covanta had estimated another $800,000 for upgrading and
maintenance of the turbine units during the initial operation startup. The rotors have not been rotated in the last four
months since the contract was awarded to Target and the rotors may be flat and damaged.
Discussion was held on the time constraints of the Target contract and whether the turbines would have any
remaining life and value. The County would have to pay a substantial penalty to cancel the contract with Target.
Commissioner White stated he believed that these types of discussions should be held at regularly televised
meetings of the Board so that everyone can be a part of the discussions. The Board made some choices and voted to
move forward with the Target contract; however, he was not convinced that the issue was fully vetted on how the
infrastructure could have been used in the future. The Commissioners will need to continue assessing the needs and
making choices for the County, as the Board has done with the approval of the construction and debris recycling
facility and the diversion of recycling materials with the Sonoco contract. He believed that gasification may be a
good policy choice and means for removing more solid waste materials from the landfill in the future.
NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33
AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, JUNE 18, 2015 PAGE 328
Chairman Barfield reported that the County went through very extensive processes with an advisory study
committee and RFP processes with R-3 and Covanta that had very costly consulting fees. Gasification may have
been an option, but it never was a leading recommendation. To explore the feasibility of gasification, he estimated
the County would most likely need to spend $100,000 for a study.
In further discussion, it was decided that the Board had already approved the contract with Target and no
other action was required concerning the turbines.
Consensus
: The Commissioners agreed to remove Item 12 from the Regular Agenda.
Vice-Chairman Dawson restated her position from last year that while new technology is continuing to
develop, she believed that the County’s solid waste should be transported out of the County to save landfill space in
an efficient manner and using proven technologies. Commissioner White agreed and said that he supported the
quickest and best way to ensure every square foot of the air permit be saved for the future.
In response to questions, County Manager Coudriet gave a brief update on the service contract with Sonoco
reporting that the contract should be signed by July 1. The City of Wilmington is scheduled to start bringing their
recyclable materials to the County on July 2, where the materials will be stored in bunkers and prepared for
transporting.
Regular Item 13. Consideration of a Resolution for Naming of County Facilities.
Assistant County
Manager Tim Burgess reported that the County plans to relocate the Carolina Beach branch library and expand its
services to meet the needs of the entire island. As part of the lease agreement, staff would like to refer to the new
site as the Pleasure Island branch instead of the Carolina Beach branch library. At the same time, staff would like to
use the opportunity to designate the official names for the four branch libraries and the Castle Hayne Park.
Regular Item 14. Consideration of Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Budget Ordinance for New Hanover
County and the Fire Service District.
Budget Director Cam Griffin reviewed recent changes incorporated into the
Budget Ordinance:
Funding for CFCC capital outlay was decreased to fund only projects that can be completed by June 30,
2016; $1,154,354 would come from premiums derived from the 2006 CFCC bonds instead of the General
Fund.
Debt Service Fund would be funded from the two-cent tax increase of $5,946,921, a transfer from the
General Fund of $6,486,678, and Intergovernmental Revenues of $1,970,315, to make up the balance of
$14,403,914.
$1 million is required for the FY15-16 debt service on the school bonds; funding is not included in the Debt
Service Fund but remains in the General Fund.
Fee schedule revisions are included as part of the Budget Ordinance.
The first year of the Capital Improvement Program is included in the Budget as well as the $100,000 for the
Preliminary Engineering Report to extend water and sewer to the US Highway 421 corridor. The
Ordinance includes the endorsement of the following four years of the CIP.
The Commissioners discussed their concerns about the sales tax redistribution legislation and other
unknown factors of the pending state budget and the impacts on the County’s budget.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Chairman Barfield adjourned the meeting at 4:42 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Teresa P. Elmore
Clerk to the Board
Please note that the above minutes are not a verbatim record of the
New Hanover County Board of Commissioners meeting.