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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-05-02 Agenda Review NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, MAY 2, 2019 PAGE 273 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met for Agenda Review on Thursday, May 2, 2019 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.; Commissioner Patricia Kusek; and Commissioner Rob Zapple. Vice-Chairwoman Julia Olson-Boseman and Commissioner Woody White were absent. Staff present: County Manager Chris Coudriet; Deputy County Attorney Kemp Burpeau; and Clerk to the Board Kymberleigh G. Crowell. Chairman Barfield 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 May 6, 2019 Regular Meeting with discussions as noted: Regular Item 13. Consideration of a Resolution in Support of the Current ABC Control System for the Sale of Liquor. In response to Board questions, New Hanover County ABC Board Chief Executive Officer Marnina Queen stated that House Bill 971 was filed on April 25, 2019 and intends to privatize the retail and wholesale of the distribution of liquor. This is a concern because the excise tax could increase to $28 per gallon which could increase the cost in products for not only consumers, but also for restaurants and bar owners. It is unknown how much money would come back to this community. While 25% of the excise tax would come back to the communities, it does not add up to the over $5 million that the New Hanover County ABC stores brought back with distributions. A focus of the New Hanover County ABC Board is the control of liquor sales and the state removes the profit motive. Employees of the local ABC stores are part of the community and take the sale of alcohol very seriously. There are ID checkers at every register and over 6,000 IDs were scanned last year to verify alcohol is not being sold th to underage minors. Out of 50 states, North Carolina ranks 44 for the lowest in consumption per capita and is the seventh highest in revenue. What the ABC Board is doing works and part of governing is having control and taking care of public health and welfare, which is what the ABC Board wants to maintain. The proposed legislation still has to go through the committees. The ABC Board is asking the County Commissioners to consider adopting a resolution to inform the public that the Commissioners are in support of the ABC Board keeping control of selling alcohol. There are 17 states that have state control of alcohol sales. Ms. Queen is part of the organization NC Keep It Local and every ABC Board is against House Bill 971. Ms. Queen further stated that House Bill 91 concerns the modernization of the ABC laws and the Program Evaluation Division (PED) study. The PED study was published in February 2019 and reported that privatization is not good and suggested the ABC Board monitor the sales. Washington was the last state to privatize and reports during that time frame stated the big box stores were selling more and not checking IDs as much for underage minors. The New Hanover County ABC Board does not use local tax dollars to operate and every year sales distributions have been rising. The community sees a lot of the benefits when the taxes are returned. There is an established working relationship with local law enforcement, but if more enforcement is needed and if the excise increases the community will not see the money back. Based on the calculations from last year, if the excise tax was used, the County would only have received $200,000 rather than $500,000. Chairman Barfield stated he believes the Board supports the resolution. He has seen funds come back to the community, whether it be to the schools, law enforcement, and seen extra deputies working downtown on the weekends. Ms. Queen stated the officers make sure the community establishments are following the correct procedures, so the question is who would do that if it becomes privatized. Recently, the ABC store bags had informational statistics on them which would not have happened if it were privatized. The New Hanover County ABC Board appreciates the support of the Commissioners. Due to increased sales, the organization is looking into providing scholarships for students or supporting a community alcohol program. Regular Item 16. Public Hearing Rezoning Request (Z19-05) – Request by Michael Nadeau, on Behalf of the Property Owner, WPE Holdings, LLC, to Rezone Approximately 23.25 Acres of Land Located in the 9000 Block of U.S. Highway 17, from (CUD) B-1, Conditional Use Business District, R-15, Residential District, and (CZD) O&I, Conditional Office and Institutional District, to B-1, Business District. In response to Board questions, Senior Planner Brad Schuler stated this request is to rezone 23.25 acres in the Scotts Hill area of the County. It is currently a Conditional B-1 Zoning District which was approved by the Board in 2007. According to the applicant, the requested zoning change is due to changes in the medical park market, which is now seeing consolidated practices that seek stand-alone buildings customized to their marketing and patient needs, and the owner feels the rezoning would help facilitate that change in the market. Mr. Schuler confirmed this follows the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) and is consistent with the 2016 Comprehensive Plan. In response to additional Board questions, Mr. Schuler stated in a campus style, where the units are leased to different practices, the parking lots are shared. In this case where it is more like a subdivision type, lots would be created for individual buildings and with that there may be the opportunity for extra parking to be needed for those individual practices. The private road is part of the association which includes the existing emergency hospital, charter school, Scotts Hill Village subdivision, and the residential components who are responsible for the maintenance of the road. Planning and Land Use Director Wayne Clark stated a stop sign was put in on the private road and that the association has been responsive after the conversations that occurred with the apartment complex nearby. NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, MAY 2, 2019 PAGE 274 Staff Update: Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project Update. Environmental Management Director Joe Suleyman stated that as waste decomposes, it creates methane gas which is a greenhouse gas which is 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It is regulated and all landfills generate methane gas. The County landfill is now at the point of the compliance window for the landfill gas. Phase one of the program began in 2018 and vertical collection wells were installed, which is similar to putting in walls for oil or natural gas. Recently, connection of the wells to a blower system was completed which will put a negative draft of the wells and bring gas to a knockout condenser to remove the water vapor that is in the landfill gas, then feed that to a flare system. The final phase which will begin in the next month or so, will be going out to the public for proposals to see what type of private investment can be utilized to convert the clean gas into some form of energy. There are many options available including compressing the gas into a liquid form to fuel vehicles, clean it up further to make it into pipeline quality for a direct connection into PNG’s distribution system, create a fuel for powering turbines to use for electricity which can be sold or used as standalone power onsite, or possibly partnering with a local business, such as a glass blowing facility or clay/kiln facility, to co-locate on site and use the fuel source. The department is two years ahead of schedule on this project. Mr. Suleyman stated the sub-contractor handling the gas recovery system is Aptim Environmental. The flare will be lit once Duke Energy notifies Mr. Suleyman it is ready for it. His department will work with Communications and Outreach to inform the public when this will occur. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chairman Barfield adjourned the meeting at 4:20 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.