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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-03-30 Agenda Review NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, MARCH 30, 2017 PAGE 731 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met for Agenda Review on Thursday, March 30, 2017 at 4:46 p.m. in the Andre’ Mallette Training Center at the New Hanover County Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. Members present: Chairman Woody White; Vice-Chairman Skip Watkins; Commissioner Jonathan Barfield, Jr.; Commissioner Patricia Kusek; and Commissioner Rob Zapple. Staff present: County Manager Chris Coudriet; County Attorney Wanda Copley; and Clerk to the Board Kymberleigh G. Crowell. Chairman White called the Agenda Review meeting to order and announced that the purpose of the meeting is to review and discuss the agenda items for the April 3, 2017 Regular Meeting with discussions as noted: Consent Item 3. Approval of an Application for the Waiver of Landfill Tipping Fees for the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. In response to Board questions, Environmental Management Director Joe Suleyman reported that the derelict vessels were partially submerged and navigational hazards. The vessels are 18- feet or less in length with fiberglass or wooden hulls. All information has been removed from the vessels. All hazardous materials and electronic devices will be removed and processed at the department’s household hazardous waste division. Regular Item 5. Consideration of Certain Documents to Issue $220 Million in Hospital Revenue and Revenue Refunding Bonds. In response to Board questions, Chief Financial Officer Lisa Wurtzbacher explained that the New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s (NHRMC) main campus emergency department treatment bays will be increased from 54 to 107. Unlike fixed rate bonds, variable rate bonds have periodic rate changes. At some point variable rate bonds are refunded for savings and to change from a variable rate to a fixed rate. The fixed rate will not be locked until it is confirmed the desired savings can be achieved. Due to this, the decision may be made to refund only a portion of the bonds instead of all of the bonds. For bond rating agency purposes, this debt is shown on the NHRMC financials not the County’s so, there is no effect on the County’s capacity. Regular Item 8.Public Hearing - Special Use Permit Request (S-630, 7/16) – Request by Hellman, Yates, and Tisdale for Optima Towers IV, Applicant, on Behalf of the Property Owner, Home Life, Inc., for a Special Use Permit for a Telecommunications Tower on a 0.80-Acre Parcel Located at 2020 Corporate Drive. County Manager Coudriet reported that the petitioner has made a request to continue the item until the June 5, 2017 meeting. In response to Board questions, County Attorney Copley explained that there is a rule in place requiring the petitioner to attend the meeting at which the item is to be considered, as it was duly advertised for the public and notifications sent to the appropriate parties, and request the Board grant the continuation request. Staff Updates: County Manager Coudriet stated that the staff update has two components concerning development. The first is a budget amendment to move ahead three months early with acquiring permitting software to replace OneSolution. It is scheduled to be on the consent agenda for the April 17, 2017 meeting. The second component concerns business changes that Building Safety and others, along with the Homebuilders Association, have been making within the County’s business practices. He then asked Assistant County Manager Tim Burgess to make the presentation. Comprehensive Land Management System Presentation – Budget Amendment Request. Assistant County Manager Burgess reported that staff is in the process of replacing the OneSolution Community Development software. In March 2014 an upgrade to the software was completed and approximately one year later notification was received that product service would be discontinued within 18 to 24 months. There have been challenges with the current system. Through the process to find a new software service, including a Request for Proposals (RFP) issuance, a replacement product has been found that will better serve citizen needs and allow the department to improve its operations. The goal is to develop a product that meets customer needs first then work it back into what is needed on the internal side. The RFP was issued in October 2016 with six vendors submitting proposals in December 2016. The six proposals were thoroughly evaluated with three vendors invited to conduct two-day onsite demonstrations. The evaluation group was comprised of internal and external stakeholders, including the County’s development community. After the demonstrations, the group chose Tyler Technologies and its Energov product as the best fit for the County. After checking references with five other governmental units, the group felt comfortable making the recommendation of Tyler Technologies to the Board. The project will be in the FY17-18 budget but there is a desire to start the project now rather than wait until the new budget year. The cost is approximately $1.35 million. If approved th on April 17, it will take approximately 45 to 60 days for Tyler Technologies to arrive onsite. The time table is very aggressive with a “go live” date of approximately July 2018. From start to finish it will take approximately 14 months to reach completion which includes implementation, creating workflows/customizations, and training. In response to Board questions, Mr. Burgess confirmed that this project is to streamline the building permit process by eliminating unnecessary steps and improve efficiencies. The project entails the purchase and yearly hosting service cost. It is included in the current 5-year Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) for the upcoming fiscal year. County Manager Coudriet further explained that it was originally included in the current year budget. It was moved off the current year CIP list to help balance the budget and to make sure a process was developed to pick the right vendor. The move to the OneSolution software was due to the prior technology, HTE, no longer being supported by OSSI/SunGard. NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, MARCH 30, 2017 PAGE 732 In response to Board questions, County Manager Coudriet stated that this project will be in the CIP for next year’s budget. There is no choice but to transition because the system currently being used is going away and there will be no support. Funding will be through the use of revenues over collections of property taxes and sales taxes. Staff has been working on the project for about a year. A decision does need to be made to fund a replacement for the OneSolution software. He asked staff to bring this item forward now primarily because of the building community telling him that every passing week tacks on almost an additional month before the new system is operational. A brief discussion was held about the current system needing to be replaced for various reasons and being an impediment to economic development. At the request of the Board, Wilmington-Cape Fear Homebuilders Association Executive Officer Cameron Moore stated that the OneSolution system does not work for even simple tasks of learning where a permit is in the process. Due to this lack in the software system, and not the staff, it does not work very well amongst the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA), the City of Wilmington (City) and New Hanover County (County). It was designed for everyone to be on the system and work within the system but it does not work. In response to Board questions about the new software, Mr. Moore stated that based on feedback received from his members and own stakeholder group, everyone loved Tyler Technologies. It rose to the top during the evaluation process as the top software option. Not only does it fit the County’s needs, it fits the customer’s needs. Regarding questions about when OneSolution will sunset, Chief Information Officer Leslie Chaney stated that the County is guaranteed support and fixes for the product through December 2018. Ms. Chaney and Mr. Burgess also confirmed that the CFPUA, City of Wilmington, and the beach municipalities will have licenses to use the County’s system to sign off on work. The customer will have a single portal to see comments from all of the stakeholders. The software cannot guarantee that an outside entity will timely process the permits once received. It will create notifications that permits are awaiting review. The person pulling the permit will be able to know where it is in the system. County Manager Coudriet provided additional clarification that the software purchase is in the second year of the CIP which will become the first year on July 1. Staff has made a tactical decision to fund this project 90-days early to allow for a head start on the work. Ms. Chaney explained that it will not be completely paid for in this fiscal year. The expenses are paid as they are incurred and the actual hosting fees are paid quarterly in advance. Mr. Coudriet further stated that the budget amendment would be for the first year and first year maintenance. Comprehensive Land Management System Presentation – Interim Process. Assistant County Manager Burgess reported that starting April 3, 2017, until the new software is in place, one of the changes made by staff is the handling of new residential building permits. He provided an overview of the work flow process for a residential building permit and the length of time it can take to obtain the permit. For example, to obtain a septic permit, it may take four to six weeks between site plan submission and possible rework of plans. If the CFPUA also has to go to the site that could add more days. Currently, when a permit is submitted County staff is unable to guarantee processing time due to the other embedded processes. Mr. Burgess reported that during a meeting with Mr. Moore, staff was able to guarantee building permit issuance within 4 to 7 working days if his membership first works through CFPUA, Environmental Health or the City to obtain the necessary approvals and then submit the application and associated documents to the County. This assumes that County staff does not have any additional questions or need additional information. This allows the County to control the process time. Mr. Moore has notified his membership that the new interim process will start on rd April 3. The City, CFPUA and Environmental Health are on board with the process. Once the new software goes live and if everyone is involved in the workflow process, the County will be able to identify with reports how long an agency is holding up a part of the process. This will allow staff the ability to address those issues. County Manager Coudriet stated that this new process was endorsed and worked out with Mr. Moore and it was not forced on the Homebuilders Association. In response to Board questions about the new interim process, Mr. Burgess confirmed that the person applying for the permit is to obtain the necessary paperwork from the other entities first before submitting the application and plans to the County. This process is only for new residential construction. A brief discussion was held about having all the agencies in one place. Concerns were expressed that the interim process may actually add days or weeks to the builders’ responsibility and create a large loss of work time. County Manager Coudriet stated that staff has no control over the CFPUA and the City providing staff to work from the County building to provide services. County staff is trying to manage the process from this side and make guarantees on items that can be controlled. Additional discussion was held about the Garner Report identifying the need for one-stop permitting and how this interim period provides the opportunity to address that need. The County is on a time deadline to replace the existing software and there is a need for someone to take the lead to bring everyone together to provide the one-stop permitting process. County Manager Coudriet stated that the recommended software will allow all entities to remain in place as long as their business process is to look at the application and timely process it. County staff does not feel they could solve issues that are outside their ability to fix so, Mr. Moore and staff worked out an interim process to have a guaranteed turnaround time. It is felt that this is the best short term fix, although not ideal, until the software is up and operational. NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, MARCH 30, 2017 PAGE 733 Ms. Chaney reiterated that the new software was selected by the group to have the capability to bring all the entities together. It will only be as good as the people who participate in it. The more important work currently being done is the cleanup of the workflow processes to create more efficiencies. Further discussion was held about staff researching and providing a recommendation for a satellite office in Development Services for City and CFPUA staff to handle residential projects up to a certain dollar amount. County Manager Coudriet reiterated that staff cannot make the City and CFPUA provide staff for one-stop permitting. It has to occur through the direction of each governing board. In response to Board questions, Mr. Moore stated that the idea is worth a discussion and Brunswick County uses a one-stop process. He noted that CFPUA was created to address the water and sewer issues, not to be a permitting agency and has had a difficult time with the permitting process. County Manager Coudriet stated that everyone involved believes the interim process will work, and also address the phone calls everyone is getting, until the new software is in place. The software will allow the outside entities to be remote, access the data and have certainty that the information or system will work. Mr. Moore also reiterated that this an interim process to address the situation and that he is working with the group to continue making refinements to the process. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chairman White adjourned the meeting at 5:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kymberleigh G. Crowell Clerk to the Board Please note that the above minutes are not a verbatim of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners meeting.