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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-08-18 Agenda Review NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, AUGUST 18, 2016 PAGE 591 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met for Agenda Review on Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 4:02 p.m. in the Harrell Conference Room at the New Hanover County Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. Members present: Chairman Beth Dawson; Commissioner Skip Watkins; Commissioner Woody White; and Commissioner Rob Zapple. Vice-Chairman Jonathan Barfield, Jr. was absent. Staff present: County Manager Chris Coudriet; County Attorney Wanda Copley; and Deputy Clerk to the Board Kymberleigh G. Crowell. Chairman Dawson called the Agenda Review meeting to order, announced that the purpose of the meeting is to review and discuss the Board’s agenda items for the August 22, 2016 Regular Meeting with discussions as noted: Consent Item 2. Adoption of a Resolution Approving the Sole Source Award for the Purchase of Emergency Police Dispatch Software to Priority Dispatch in the Amount of $293,715. In response to questions,Chief Strategy and Budget Officer Beth Schrader explained that this is the third part of the software used for Emergency Medical Dispatch and Emergency Fire Dispatch. Chief Information Officer Leslie Chaney stated that the software updates are part of the annual fee paid for the software use. There is not a warranty that guarantees for any time frame that this company won’t be sold or stop supporting this particular software. Most companies will include the support in a contract for an annual period at the time of execution of the contract. It was noted that this company has been in business for approximately 25 years. Consent Item 7. Approval of Request by the New Hanover County Board of Education to Submit North Carolina Education Lottery Applications for Ten (10) Capital Construction Projects Totaling $1,508,000. In response to questions concerning the $20,000 design fee for tile replacement at New Hanover High School, Ms. Schrader will report back to the Board with more information. It is part of a request to remove tile that has already been determined to have asbestos and other issues and is part of a series of projects at Brogden Hall. In response to questions about the Cafeteria Servicing Line replacement, Ms. Schrader reported that in addition to replacing tile it is also an effort via engineering work to make adjustments to the service line. There are flow issues in the cafeteria with being able to accommodate enough students within the time constraints for a lunch break. The cafeteria and Brogden Hall are areas not updated during the recent renovation and these are projects identified in the school capital plan for the FY17. However, they are not projects the County has necessarily given the funding towards. Consent Item 8.Approval of Compensation for Members of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center Board of Trustees. After a brief discussion, the consensus of the majority of the Board was to move the item from the consent agenda to the regular agenda as Item 8. New Hanover Regional Medical Center Board of Trustees Vice- Chairman Bobby Greer plans to attend the meeting in Chairman McGraw’s stead. Regular Item 9. Consideration of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month Proclamation. Commissioner Watkins will read the proclamation into the record. Regular Item 10. Consideration of the National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Proclamation. Chairman Dawson will read the proclamation into the record. Regular Item 11. Introduction of New Hanover County's New Public Health Director, Phillip Tarte. County Manager Coudriet reported that the Board of Health Chair, Dr. Kim Thrasher Horne, will introduce Phillip Tarte, New Hanover County's new Health Director, to the Board of Commissioners and the community. Staff Update Milestone Communications Partnership Contract for the Development and Management of Wireless Telecommunications Facilities on County Property Update. County Manager Coudriet reported that during the July 11, 2016 meeting the Board asked for additional information concerning the Milestone Communication partnership contract. This matter will be on an upcoming agenda and staff wanted to provide a status update and learn what additional information is needed by the Board. He then asked Chief Information Officer Leslie Chaney to present the update. Officer Chaney introduced Milestone President Leonard Forkas, Jr. and provided a brief overview of the proposed partnership contract. There are approximately 100 county properties favorable for development. In response th to Board questions posed during the July 11 meeting, Ms. Chaney stated that the industry does not lend itself to the county getting into the business itself due to the very fast pace and continually changing industry. It is a highly specialized business that is better suited for a public-private partnership. Staff has found that from a public perspective it would provide telecommunications coverage where there is no land available other than public property. The partnership would allow the County to be well positioned to serve a portion of our population that may not be able to be served otherwise. The County would also have some control over the tower aesthetics. After a brief discussion about this area already being well served by the telecommunications industry, staff was asked that if it plans to make any recommendations based on a public policy relative to underserved or unserved NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, AUGUST 18, 2016 PAGE 592 citizens that data based on that rather than opinion should be included in the presentation at the regular meeting. Additional discussion was held about entering into the telecommunications market with concern being expressed about competing in the private sector. Additional concerns were expressed about policy issue discussions being held and deliberated during agenda review meetings rather than regular meetings which are televised. In response to questions about the county sites, Mr. Forkas explained that there are 20 non-specific sites feasible for new tower development. Although it is unknown where the companies such as Verizon, T-Mobile or Sprint will go to expand coverage, making the county properties available is a proactive measure by giving the companies a choice of where to invest their capital. The goal of the companies is to expand coverage in the most optimal design location whether it’s public or private. He noted that capacity space is reserved on the towers forever for a local government’s use for future technology. In this county, there are approximately 100 sites that are over 1 acre while there are another 100+ sites smaller than an acre. Small cell towers are generally used on sites that are less than an acre. The towers are shorter, have ability to cover very specific sometimes high activity areas and reduce overloading of larger towers. Verizon and Sprint have small cell programs while AT&T and T-Mobile are in the development phase. There is also the ability to use an existing structure to conceal the visual impact as much as possible. County staff would have the final approval on all the site use requests. In response to questions about using a county parcel for another need after a tower has been placed on it, Ms. Chaney and Mr. Forkas explained that Milestone would have a 5 – 10 year ground lease with renewal options. If the need arose to use a specific property for another purpose the ground lease would be transferred to another property. Mr. Forkas further explained that Milestone builds on a lot of school properties and it’s hard to bind school property to a 20 year term. To make it work, Milestone includes a provision in its contract that after 15 years if the organization wants to reuse the property for some other purpose, Milestone would pay for moving the tower to a place out of the way on the same site for future use. If there is absolutely no other location on current site the tower will be moved somewhere else. Chairman Dawson thanked Ms. Chaney and Mr. Forkas for the update. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chairman Dawson adjourned the meeting at 4:33 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kymberleigh G. Crowell Deputy Clerk to the Board Please note that the above minutes are not a verbatim of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners meeting.