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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-02-04 Regular Meeting NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 4, 2019 PAGE 294 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met in Regular Session on Monday, February 4, 2019, at 6:56 p.m. in the Andre’ Mallette Training Rooms at the New Hanover County Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. Members present: Chairman Jonathan Barfield, Jr.; Vice-Chairwoman Julia Olson-Boseman; Commissioner Patricia Kusek; Commissioner Woody White; and Commissioner Rob Zapple. Staff present: County Manager Chris Coudriet; County Attorney Wanda M. Copley; and Clerk to the Board Kymberleigh G. Crowell. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Pastor Patrick Hall, Cape Fear Free Will Baptist Church, provided the invocation and Chairman Jonathan Barfield, Jr. led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA Chairman Barfield requested a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Motion: Commissioner Zapple MOVED, SECONDED by Commissioner Kusek, to approve the items on the Consent Agenda as presented. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. CONSENT AGENDA Approval of Minutes – Governing Body The Commissioners approved the minutes of the Agenda Review and Budget Work Session of January 17, 2019, and the Regular Meeting of January 22, 2019. Adoption of a Resolution Supporting the Acceleration of the House Bill 142 Sunset Provision – County Manager The Commissioners adopted the resolution supporting the acceleration of the House Bill 142 sunset provision. This resolution affirms the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners' support for efforts to move up the sunset of provisions of House Bill 142 that prohibit local governments from adopting anti-discrimination ordinances. A copy of the resolution is hereby incorporated as part of the minutes and is contained in Exhibit Book XLI, Page 23.2. Approval of Four Donations for Accession into the Museum’s Permanent Collection – Museum The Commissioners approved a list of four items to be accessioned into the Cape Fear Museum’s permanent collection. The objects were approved by the Museum Advisory Board at the meetings on November 15, 2018 and January 16, 2019. A list of the items is available for review at the Cape Fear Museum. Approval of December 2018 Tax Collection Reports – Tax Department The Commissioners accepted the Tax Collection Reports of New Hanover County, New Hanover County Fire District, and New Hanover County Debt service as of December 2018. Copies of the tax collection reports are hereby incorporated as part of the minutes and are contained in Exhibit Book XLI, Page 23.3. REGULAR ITEMS OF BUSINESS CONTINUANCE OF THE PUBLIC HEARING REQUEST BY WILLIAMS MULLEN, ON BEHALF OF THE PROPERTY OWNER, ARAB SHRINE CLUB H CORP, FOR A SPECIAL USE PERMIT TO DEVELOP A TELECOMMUNICATIONS TOWER ON 4.37 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT 4510 S. COLLEGE ROAD (S18-06) Chairman Barfield asked Planning Manager Ken Vafier to present the request to continue this public hearing. Mr. Vafier stated that Tom Johnson with Williams Mullen, who is representing the property owner, Arab Shrine Club H Corp, is ill and unable to attend the meeting. Therefore, staff is respectfully requesting on Mr. Johnson’s behalf that this matter be continued to the March 18, 2019 Board of Commissioners meeting. Chairman Barfield asked for direction from the Board. Motion: Commissioner Zapple MOVED, SECONDED by Commissioner Kusek, to continue the public hearing for a special use permit request by Williams Mullen, on behalf of the property owner, Arab Shrine Club H Corp, to develop a telecommunications tower on 4.37 acres of land located at 4510 S. College Road, until the Regular Meeting of March 18, 2019. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING JUVENILE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL ALLOCATION EXPANSION J.H. Corpening, II, Chief District Court Judge and New Hanover County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 4, 2019 PAGE 295 (JCPC) Chairman stated that this request is being made by the State of North Carolina Department of Public Safety to every JCPC in every county to request boards of county commissioners to adopt resolutions in support for expanded JCPC funding. There has not been an increase in JCPC funding in several years. The Juvenile Jurisdiction Advisory Committee (JJAC) Judge Corpening serves on is charged with the implementation of Raise the Age. The JJAC has made requests of the North Carolina General Assembly for expanded funding in the amount of $8.8 million per year for JCPC funds plus an additional $960,000 for administration of JCPC, which represents a significant increase in funding. The request is to be able to deal with Raise the Age implementation and create new JCPC programs across the state to handle the increased needs that will be seen with 16 and 17 year olds coming in to Juvenile Court. In response to Board questions, Judge Corpening stated that the $8.8 million would be a statewide allocation. The current New Hanover County JCPC allocation is approximately $460,000 and would significantly increase with the statewide allocation. JCPC budgets are broken out into what is provided in programs for direct services and there is also an administrative cost for the actual JCPC operations. Administrative costs of JCPCs across the state is $960,000. Hearing no further discussion, Chairman Barfield thanked Judge Corpening for providing information about the request and asked for Board direction. Motion: Commissioner Zapple MOVED, SECONDED by Commissioner White, to adopt a resolution fully supporting an adequate and timely increase of local Juvenile Crime Prevention Council funding to ensure program expansion and successful implementation of the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act Raise the Age Legislation, set for December 1, 2019. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. A copy of the resolution is hereby incorporated as part of the minutes and is contained in Exhibit Book XLI, Page 23.4. CAPE FEAR PUBLIC UTILITY AUTHORITY 2018 ANNUAL REPORT AND DEBRIEF Bill Norris, Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) Board Chair, and Jim Flechtner, CFPUA Executive Director, presented the annual report highlighting the following:  EPA Consent Decree Terminated:  Over the past years, CFPUA has worked diligently to increase wastewater collection system performance. These focused efforts have made our operations more resilient and efficient. CFPUA achieved this by:  Training and empowering staff  Investing in the collection system and treatment plants  Launching an Asset Management program and using data to prioritize resources  Coastal Enterprises Helps with Hydrant Painting:  Coastal Enterprises is a non-profit organization providing rehabilitation and job training for individuals with disabilities  Over 300 hydrants have been painted in residential areas since the contract began in March 2018  This year-long project offered important work to individuals in the community  Assisted CFPUA with maintaining the hydrants and improved esthetics in neighborhoods  Weathering Hurricane Florence:  The road to resiliency was ten years of planning, training, and responding to past events. This preparation helped CFPUA to:  Maintain water service throughout the event  Keep staff safe before, during and after the storm  Maintain communications with local, state and federal agencies and officials  Use technology to predict flooding impacts  Fiscal Year 2018 Revenues and Expenses:  Revenues come from charges and fees  There are continued investments in services and systems  Revenues totaled $79,518,671: Water rate revenues: $33,791,230 Wastewater rate revenues $35,986,641 System development charges $4,000,000 Investment earnings $700,000 Other charges for service $4,500,800 Appropriated Fund Balance $540,000  Expenditures totaled $79,518,671: Debt Service $24,292,749 Salaries and Benefits $21,960,446 Operating $18,358,860 Capital Investments $14,906,616  Emerging Contaminants: NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 4, 2019 PAGE 296  Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) have contaminated the Cape Fear River. CFPUA’s multi-faceted approach to navigating a solution includes:  Upgrades to treatment technology  Research collaboration with partners at local, state and national levels  Coordination with state agencies: NC Department of Environmental Quality and NC Department of Health and Human Services  Public communication  Legal action  Upgrading the Sweeney Water Plant:  Reduce levels of PFAS in drinking water using Granular Activated Carbon (GAC). About 20% of PFAS exposure is through drinking water.  Approximately 36 months to design and construct  Benefits of GAC:  Reduces levels of PFAS in drinking water  Complements previous investments  Replacing existing filters as interim solution:  Already seeing reduction in PFAS levels  Not a long-term solution Mr. Flechtner concluded the presentation stating that on behalf of the employees of CFPUA, he appreciates all of the partnerships with the County and other agencies. In response to Board questions, Mr. Flechtner confirmed that the 40% reduction in PFAS includes GenX, PFOAS, and PFOS and is being achieved via the granular activated carbon filters. At the end of three years, the reduction calculation will be at levels of almost non-detection. There are no treatments to get the water to non- detection levels, but it will be very close. The system will get the water as pure as technology will allow. The real answer, then, is enforcement and regulation upstream and making sure what comes down the river does not contain contaminants that are not understandable in terms of public health. Commissioner Zapple congratulated Mr. Flechtner and the CFPUA team on the ten-year anniversary. Commissioner White commended the CFPUA team on the ten-year anniversary and for the 77% decrease in wastewater spills. He also thanked the CFPUA Board, Mr. Flechtner, and CFPUA staff for all their hard work. The decrease in wastewater spills is a direct function of the hundreds of millions of dollars in investment in infrastructure upgrades and commitments made by the County and City of Wilmington. He thanked Mr. Flechtner for his leadership on GenX. One item not mentioned in the presentation which is outstanding is that CFPUA is ahead of budget and schedule on the sewer water project. This will have a large impact on the community. Commissioner White further stated that in the annual update going forward, he would like to see where there are opportunities to improve and do things a little better. An example of this is the hurricane response. The entire community did a tremendous job. The County and the City of Wilmington did so with communication and responding in a difficult time. Looking forward, he thinks if there is an area where all could improve it would be in preplanning and pre-staking assets to make sure such things as public notices do not go out about the water supply, which caused unnecessary panic and hysteria in the community. In his opinion, it was an avoidable self-inflicted wound. He was very thankful that he was able to witness and watch what happened to make it all come together. It was a tremendous effort by Mr. Flechtner, CFPUA staff, some County staff, and some in the private sector to come together to ensure it did not happen. Everyone has now learned from that. If water runs out in the middle of an event like that or any event, it makes a bad situation almost impossible to endure. He would like for no one to let anything like that come close again in the future. He would be glad to work with CFPUA to do whatever he can to help learn from some of those opportunities to improve. Chairman Barfield thanked Mr. Norris and Mr. Flechtner for the update. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS Chairman Barfield reported that no one signed up to speak on non-agenda items. ADDITIONAL AGENDA ITEMS OF BUSINESS County Manager Coudriet acknowledged and thanked Chairman Barfield for the State of the County address and for drawing attention to the launch of the Customer Online Application and Services Tool (COAST) which occurred this morning. COAST is a $1.4 million enterprise wide launch the Board authorized staff to proceed with less than two years ago. The County has gone from a system that was going to be retired to reimagining how to do business working with the end users to redesign business processes and ultimately launching a system in about 18 months. Contemporaries in this state alone have taken four to seven years to do the same amount of work. COAST is a 24-hour a day, seven days a week system as evidenced by the fun fact that the first submission for a permit request was at 2:30 a.m. today. While the request was not processed until staff got here, the system is intended to make it easier for the end user, whether a super user or casual user, to do business with the County. About a third of the County’s total permit applications in the first day were done online, which equates to a third fewer people having to take the time to drive to the government center to submit applications. People can NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 4, 2019 PAGE 297 now make payments online upon receiving permit approval. There were approximately 257 phone calls today, but on average, each call lasted about 13 seconds before a person was able to interact with someone. County Manager Coudriet recognized Assistant County Manager Tim Burgess, Chief Information Officer Leslie Chaney and others for the tremendous work done in a compressed timeline to get to this point. He also thanked Chairman Barfield for acknowledging it in the State of the County address. County Manager Coudriet further stated that the County staff is scheduled to appear before the City Council again Tuesday night, after five prior continuances, regarding the special use permit request for Healing Place. If any of the Commissioners wants to make comments during the hearing, staff can help them prepare for it. Staff will be limiting the County presentation to two major points. First, the site modifications and conditions that are being proposed on ourselves which have been added since being before City Council on January 8th. Secondly, to very specifically walk the City Council through what a day in the life of a resident of Healing Place would experience at different stages, because there are men who come in at different points of recovery. Commissioner Zapple stated that in regard to the new rollout of COAST that for those involved with the building trades or do business with the Planning and Land Use and Building Safety Departments, he encouraged those people to call or stop by to setup their accounts with the new system. Accounts will need to be setup even if there is not a currently active permit and if someone has an active permit it will be transferred into COAST. It is a terrific system, user friendly, and will change the life of a contractor for the better. Commissioner Zapple also congratulated Chairman Barfield for a wonderful State of the County address. Chairman Barfield thanked Interim Chief Communications Officer Jessica Loeper for her phenomenal work in preparing the State of the County address and as well as the Communications and Outreach team for all the work to prepare for the event. The efforts made to make it all look and work great is much appreciated. He is forever grateful for their hard work. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chairman Barfield adjourned the meeting at 7:34 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kymberleigh G. Crowell Clerk to the Board Please note that the above minutes are not a verbatim record of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners meeting. The entire proceedings are available for review and checkout at all New Hanover County Libraries and online at www.nhcgov.com.