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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-11-18 Regular Meeting NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 PAGE 412 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met in Regular Session on Monday, November 18, 2019, at 9:00 a.m. in the Assembly Room of the New Hanover County Courthouse, 24 North Third Street, 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 Jeff Kapusta, Lifepoint Church, provided the invocation and Chairman Barfield 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. Commissioner Zapple requested the removal of Consent Item #4 Adoption of a Resolution Supporting Landscape Beautification Enhancements to Market Street Corridor from Middle Sound Loop to Marsh Oaks Drive and Consent Item #7 Adoption of Hurricane Dorian Budget Amendment and Documents from the Consent Agenda for further discussion and consideration. Hearing no other comments, Chairman Barfield requested a motion to approve the remaining items on the Consent Agenda as presented. Motion: Commissioner Zapple MOVED, SECONDED by Commissioner Kusek, to approve the remaining 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 Special Meeting of October 15, 2019 and the Regular Meeting of November 4, 2019. Approval of the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s (NCDOT) Acquisition of an Approximately .003 Acre of Right of Way at 1241 Military Cutoff Road, Wilmington, NC 28405 as Part of the NCDOT Military Cutoff and Eastwood Road Intersection Project – County Manager The Commissioners adopted a resolution for the approval of the NCDOT’s acquisition of an approximately .003 acre right of way at 1241 Military Cutoff Road, Wilmington, NC 28405 as part of the NCDOT Military Cutoff and Eastwood Road Intersection Project. NCDOT has offered $1,925 for the right of way based on comparables. New Hanover County Engineering has reviewed the plans and is of the opinion that this should not impact the library site or parking lot and should actually provide added safety in exiting the library property at the traffic light. The New Hanover County Tax Department reviewed the property and is of the opinion that the offer is fair and reasonable. All funds will be deposited into the general fund. NCDOT has agreed to pay the County $1,925 and also pay all closing costs. A copy of the resolution is hereby incorporated as part of the minutes and is contained in Exhibit Book XLI, 37.1. Approval of the Second Reading to Award a Solid Waste Franchise to Tropical Moves, LLC – County Attorney The Commissioners approved the second reading to award a solid waste franchise to be granted to Tropical Moves, LLC. Pursuant to Section 44.55, the applicant has provided information about his business organization, equipment, personnel and fiscal responsibility. The Environmental Management Director and the Chief Financial Officer have no objections to the franchise request. The initial franchise period would run for seven years. The first reading was approved unanimously on November 4, 2019. A copy of the franchise agreement is available for review in the legal department. Authorization to Transfer Ownership of East Lake Emerald Drive to NC Department of Transportation and Petition for State System Maintenance – Parks and Gardens The Commissioners approved to transfer ownership pursuant to North Carolina General Statue 160A-274 and to initiate any petition for state system maintenance of East Emerald Lake Drive to the NCDOT. In September 2016, Clearwater Preserve, LLC conveyed privately owned East Lake Emerald Drive to New Hanover County in order to provide public access to Smith Creek Park Preserve with the understanding that the road would be publicly dedicated. The County provided maintenance to bring East Emerald Lake Drive up to NC Department of Transportation standards. New Hanover County is in the process of petitioning the NC Division of Highways to add East Emerald Lake to the State Highway System for maintenance. Approval of Release of the Levy for Tax Year 2009 – Tax Department The Commissioners approved the release of the levy for the tax year 2009 from the charge as the 10-year statute of limitations prohibits the tax collector from using forced collection measures to collect these taxes. The NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 PAGE 413 total for New Hanover County and the Fire District is $315,085.48. For all municipalities it is $122,806.27. The grand total overall is $437,891.75. A copy of the Levy for Tax Year 2009 is hereby incorporated as part of the minutes and is contained in Exhibit Book XLI, Page 37.3. Discussion of Consent Item #4 – Adoption of a Resolution Supporting Landscape Beautification Enhancements to Market Street Corridor from Middle Sound Loop to Marsh Oaks Drive – Parks and Gardens In response to Board questions, Parks and Gardens Director Tara Duckworth stated that in regards to the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) impact fees of $15,000 to $20,000 and partnering with NCDOT instead of CFPUA, she wished there was the ability to partner with CFPUA. These are the standard impact fees for any development. This project is considered new development. The County paid the impact fees for the drip irrigation that was installed as part of the Porter’s Neck median project in front of Walmart. There has been no request of CFPUA to waive or partner on the impact fees. She will make the request. A brief discussion was held about the matter being allowed to move forward by staff if CFPUA does not partner with the County on this project if it is approved today. County Manager Coudriet stated he is not sure what the CFPUA policies are on waiving impact fees, but historically CFPUA has not done so. The general consensus of the Board was that staff could move forward. Commissioner Zapple would like to know the reasons from CFPUA for not partnering with the County on this and a summary response would be acceptable. Additional information: NCDOT recently replaced the 1988 Policy for Highway Landscape Planting with the Roadside Aesthetics Policy. This new policy allows for up to 1.5% of the project construction costs to be set aside for the addition of aesthetic improvements such as landscaping. The US 17 Market Street project is estimated at a cost of $24,654,091.30, allowing $246,540.91 to be utilized for landscape improvements. New Hanover County Parks and Gardens Department is proposing to partner with NCDOT on landscape improvements in the corridor along Market Street from Middle Sound Loop Road to Marsh Oaks Drive. These proposed improvements include a drip irrigation system, plant materials and installation labor. There is no match required from New Hanover County, though the County would be responsible for maintaining the improvements once they are complete. The estimated annual costs for maintenance are:  CFPUA: one-time impact fees: $15,000 – $20,000  CFPUA: annual water bill: $1,000  Consumables (mulch, fertilizer, etc.): $2,500  Labor: Two grounds workers, two hours of labor per week (on average) Discussion of Consent Item #7 – Approval of Hurricane Dorian Budget Amendment and Documents – Finance In response to Board questions, Chief Financial Officer Lisa Wurtzbacher stated the funds for this matter are related to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance Program. It is the same reimbursements the County requests for normal repairs, salaries, etc that occur during storms, not any special grants. She feels confident the County will be reimbursed, but does not know the timeline for when the funds will be sent. She cannot guarantee the funds will be received by the end of this fiscal year. Additional information: Budget amendment 20-020 is to fund Hurricane Dorian activities and the associated resolution is for the designation of applicant’s agent. As a result of Hurricane Dorian, the Board adopted a Proclamation of State of Emergency on September 3, 2019 and activated the Emergency Operations Center. The Emergency Operations Center was opened from September 3, 2019 to September 7, 2019. Shelters at Blair, Codington, and Eaton were opened on September 4, 2019 and closed on September 6, 2019. Throughout the event, employees were utilized in various positions, such as working at the JIC and Emergency Operations Center, and emergency shelters. In addition, Sheriff and Fire Services Department provided public safety and rescue. Minor damages to county facilities included the Judicial Building, 320 Chestnut and the government center. These repairs have been made or are in the process of being made. The adoption of the budget amendment is requested to cover estimated costs of the hurricane response, recovery, and repairs in the amount of $1,111,490 for the general fund expenses, as detailed below. The total fund balance appropriated for FY20 after this budget amendment will be $7,690,828. Appropriated fund balance will be increased to cover all estimated expenses as the amount of disaster assistance to the county from FEMA, the State of North Carolina and/or other grants is not currently known. As not all costs are known or incurred to date, this budget amendment is only an estimate of costs known to date and actual costs may vary from this estimate. An additional budget amendment may be brought to the Board once all costs are known and incurred, if needed. Motion: Commissioner Zapple MOVED, SECONDED Commissioner Kusek by to approve Consent Items 4 and 7 on the Consent Agenda as presented. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. A copy of the resolution for Consent Item 4 is hereby incorporated as part of the minutes and is contained in Exhibit Book XLI, 37.2. A copy of budget amendment 20-020 and the associated resolution for Consent Item 7 are hereby incorporated as part of the minutes and are contained in Exhibit Book XLI, Page 37.4. NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 PAGE 414 REGULAR ITEMS OF BUSINESS PRESENTATION OF THE 2019 LOCAL FEDERAL CREDIT UNION EXCELLENCE IN INNOVATION AWARDS TO NEW HANOVER COUNTY STRATEGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Matt Bigelow, Program Development Manager with the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC), stated that NCACC supports the wellbeing of 100 counties in North Carolina through advocacy efforts, education, research and member services. It works together with all of the counties for the betterment of North Carolina. In partnership with the Local Government Federal Credit Union (LGFCU), NCACC recognizes ten projects every year that receive LGFCU Excellence in Innovation Awards. J.R. Brown with the LGFCU stated that the awards are determined by an awards committee comprised of county commissioners, county managers, county staff, management fellows, and university faculty. The programs submitted for consideration are scored on cost and service offered to county residents. Mr. Bigelow stated that two New Hanover County departments are the recipients of two awards: 1) Community Recovery Resource Center and 2) Environmental Management Composting Program. He provided a brief overview of each project and presented the awards to the Board. Chairman Barfield and Commissioner Zapple commended Environmental Management Director Joe Suleyman and Chief Strategy Officer Beth Schrader and their teams for the work they have done with these programs. Chairman Barfield thanked Mr. Bigelow and Mr. Brown for attending and presenting the awards. PRESENTATION OF SERVICE AWARDS AND INTRODUCTION OF NEW EMPLOYEES County Manager Coudriet requested the following employees to step forward to receive service awards: Five Years: Brian Crounse, Building Safety Karla Joyner, Social Services Perry Shaw, Parks and Gardens Ten Years: Margaret Burns, Social Services Twenty Years: Frank Meyer, Fire Services Twenty-Five Years: Henry Green, Property Management Thirty Years: Renne Tootoo Chairman Barfield presented a service award to each person and the Commissioners expressed appreciation and thanked each one for their years of dedicated service. County Manager Coudriet requested the following new employees to stand and be introduced: Linda Buehler, Public Health Chanicquea Chance, Tax Melissa Collins, Public Health Tara Dreyer, Social Services Lukas Feldbusch, Sheriff Kenneth Grasperson, Public Health John Heysel, Emergency Management/911 Grace Lamay, Public Health Raeanna Locklear, Public Health Lauren McConville, Communications and Outreach Mitchetta Murphy, Public Health Verna Soles, Social Services Jennifer Wingard, Social Services The Commissioners welcomed the employees to County Government and wished them success in their new positions. BREAK: Chairman Barfield called for a break from 9:27 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. PRESENTATION OF FISCAL YEAR 2020 FIRST QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS Chief Financial Officer Lisa Wurtzbacher presented a fiscal summary for the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2020, which includes financial activity from July 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019:  General Fund Revenues:  Total general fund revenues at 10% of budget  th $20.7 million in property tax received with due date of January 6  No sales tax distribution due to lag in state distribution  First quarter comparisons:  2020: Ad Valorem was $20.7 million; Other was $9.5 million  2019: Ad Valorem was $16.6 million; Other was $8.1 million  2018: Ad Valorem was $17.9 million; Other was $9.7 million  Debt Service Fund Revenues:  Total revenues at 8.5% of budget  th $2.7 million in property tax received with due date of January 6 NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 PAGE 415  No sales tax or transfers from other funds recorded in first quarter  First quarter comparisons:  2020: Ad Valorem was $2.7 million; Other was $1.2 million  2019: Ad Valorem was $2.2 million; Other was $0.3 million 2018: Ad Valorem was $2.3 million; Other was $2.8 million   General and Debt Service Expenditures:  Expenditures through the first quarter represent 21.6% of budget whereas last year it was 21.4%  Overall it is hard to compare to last year due to Hurricane Florence occurring during first quarter, which caused a disruption to normal business  Debt service is higher this year at $20.8 million compared to $16.9 million last year. Those are planned increases.  Public safety is up as well and there was an increase in this budget line  Hurricane Florence repairs are still being paid for as well as Hurricane Dorian  Fire Services:  Total revenues collected represent 8.2% of budget  Property tax revenues collected at 11.6% of budget  Expenditures are slightly higher than prior year due to capital expenses  First quarter comparisons:  2020: Revenues were $1.2 million; Expenses were $5.1 million  2019: Revenues were $1 million; Expenses were $4.2 million  2018: Revenues were $1.1 million; Expenses were $4.1 million  Environmental Management:  Charges for services are 21% of budget  Expenses are currently in line with expectations  First quarter comparisons:  2020: Revenues were $3.4 million; Expenses were $2.2 million  2019: Revenues were $2.8 million; Expenses were $1.7 million  2018: Revenues were $2.6 million; Expenses were $1.9 million Hearing no further comments, Chairman Barfield thanked Ms. Wurtzbacher for the report. ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION FOR NEGOTIATION OF AN INSTALLMENT FINANCING CONTRACT NOT TO EXCEED $44,000,000 AND DIRECTING THE PUBLICATION OF NOTICE WITH RESPECT THERETO Chief Financial Officer Wurtzbacher provided the following information:  Limited Obligation Bonds Not to Exceed $44 million:  County Projects:  Project: Estimated Costs:  Senior Resource Center Renovation $ 1,628,792  Juvenile Justice Facility Rebuild 16,894,912  Echo Farms Improvements 2,745,200  County Equipment and Vehicles 5,880,263  Total County Projects $27,149,167  Other Capital Projects:  Airport Terminal Expansion:  Total estimated project cost of $49 million  Airport has requested the County borrow $14.4 million  Construction beginning January and estimated completion May 2022  Relocation of Lower Cape Fear Water & Sewer Authority raw water line:  Total estimated project cost of $2 million  LCFWSA has requested the County borrow $1.5 million  Construction has started and estimated completion is June 2020  Estimated Debt Service: Project Estimated Average Debt Service 2021 Debt Service Senior Resource Center Renovation $ 343,542 $ 373,712 Juvenile Justice Facility Rebuild 1,072,702 1,406,383 Echo Farms Improvements 173,782 231,480 County Equipment and Vehicles 646,398 760,226 Total County Projects 2,236,424 2,771,801 Other Projects 2,715,935 3,006,618 Total Projects $4,952,359 $5,778,419  Impact on Debt Management Limits: Debt Management Limit 2019 Actual Estimated 2020 Impact Impact on debt per capita 1,764 182 Impact on debt to assessed value 1.2% .13% Impact on debt service to operational expenditures 14.5% .80%  Requested Actions:  Proceed with filing application with Local Government Commission  Set public hearing for the debt issuance on December 2, 2019 NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 PAGE 416  Approve the release of the Government Center from the current lien In response to Board questions, Ms. Wurtzbacher stated the total debt on the books at this time is a little over $400 million. The debt service amount is approximately $60,000,000. Typically, the principal that is retired each year is $35,000,000 to $40,000,000. As it relates to the Airport’s recent $2 million cut in the expansion funds, the amount the County is now responsible for is $14.4 million after all the cuts. The original request was $20 million. Hearing no further discussion, Chairman Barfield asked for direction from the Board on the request. Motion: Commissioner Kusek MOVED, SECONDED by Commissioner Zapple, to adopt the resolution for negotiation of an installment financing contract not to exceed $44,000,000, direct the publication of the respective notice as presented to hold a public hearing on December 2, 2019, and approve the release of the Government Center from the current lien. 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, 37.5. WAVE REVIEW DISCUSSION AND DENIAL OF SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING REQUEST Chief Financial Officer Wurtzbacher presented the following overview of New Hanover County (NHC) funding to Wave:  Paratransit Trips Provided for NHC: Non-emergency Non-Medicaid Medical Medicaid One-way Trips Provided by Wave 38,503 2,767 One-way Trips Provided by Others 36,587 19,990 Total One-way Trips Provided 75,090 22,757 % Minority 63% 42%  NHC Funding to Wave: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 New Hanover County Funding $433,000 $438,000 $311,873 $311,873 $421,229 Wave Fund Balance Percent 2% 6.5% 6.7% 5.7% * *2019 Audited statements not yet available  Recommendations from Transpro Report:  Route Analysis: Geographic Coverage versus Productivity:  Route 107: Discontinue and reallocate hours to higher demand areas  Route 204: Increase subsidy to 100% or reallocate those hours to other areas  Route 207: Reallocate hours to higher demand areas  Route 301: Increase subsidy to 100% or reallocate hours to higher demand areas  Governing Model and Funding:  Give City majority of board seats and expand board membership  Funding between City and County be formula based  Pursue revenue sources for dedicated funding stream  Develop strategic plan with goals to align County Manager Coudriet stated that the second part of this presentation as staff understood the Board’s directive to be from the last meeting is to address the supplemental request Wave made to the County on October 31st:  Wave’s Supplemental Funding:  $57,000 ask of New Hanover County:  $250,000: Wilmington  $1,800: Carolina Beach  $5,500: Brunswick County  $9,500: Leland  $2,350: Navassa  Funding limits service cuts:  Reduction in operating hours Monday through Friday and Saturday  Freezing of a grants and compliance coordinator position In response to Commissioner Kusek’s questions about formula based funding, Ms. Wurtzbacher explained that for the County in particular, it tries to fund the cost of Route 207. It is contingent on what the County’s budget availability is and she thinks a formula based funding is perhaps based more on where the routes go. It is perhaps a 50-50 split with local funding and it is something more predictable so Wave has an idea of the amount of funding they can expect every year. NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 PAGE 417 In response to Commissioner Kusek’s questions about Wave’s fund balance, Wave Transit Director Albert Eby stated as of last week it was approximately $350,000. It changes daily based on cash flow. In regard to the supplemental information provided to the Board, he confirmed his salary was $117,000 in 2016 and as of July 2019 it is $152,800. The amount is based on negotiation of the employment contract. Chairman Barfield stated that at the time of the salary increase, Wave was faced with losing Mr. Eby as another transportation system was wanting to hire him. The decision of the Wave Transit Board was to retain Mr. Eby rather than trying to find other talent that would cost as much, if not more. In response to Commissioner Zapple’s question about differences in paratransit services and rides by Wave to the Senior Resource Center, Ms. Wurtzbacher stated the services were the same thing. In response to Vice-Chairwoman Olson-Boseman’s question about the amount of local subsidies that are directed to the downtown trolley, Mr. Eby stated Wave’s local funding is apportioned so it can leverage as much federal and state money as possible. He does not have a specific amount and most of the routes cost the about same at approximately $87 per revenue service hour. The way that Wave’s finance department allocates the funding could be completely different and is based on Wave’s ability to leverage the money. Local funding could be less or more. Typically, most of the routes can have funding spread evenly with local, state, or federal funding or it can be divided several ways. In response to Vice-Chairwoman Olson-Boseman’s question about how much it costs locally to run the free downtown trolley and the statement by Wave’s chairman in a recent interview that it was cheaper not to collect money than to collect, Mr. Eby stated that the Wave chairman’s comments were that it costs money to collect money. Typically, on a bus fare collection device it collects about $16,000 a day. People have to count the money every day, an armored car service picks up the money, and there are bank fees. It does not cost more to collect money than is brought in, but is over 50% based on estimates. The typical route that runs seven days a week is approximately $300,000 to $325,000 including the downtown trolley. As to the percentage it is in the fund balance, Ms. Wurtzbacher stated the cost allocation for fiscal year 2019 showed the cost of the trolley at $332,000. Mr. Eby stated that in 2016 or 2017, Wave started working with a group of downtown stakeholders to reinvent the trolley. The new trolley serves all five districts downtown. The ribbon cutting for the new trolley will be for a reintroduction of the service, there will be no additional services, and it has replaced the services on the old trolley. The costs will remain the same. There are approximately 5,000 riders per month on the trolley. He confirmed that the fund balance for it is five percent of the budget. In response to additional questions from Vice-Chairwoman Olson-Boseman, Mr. Eby stated that there is no advertising inside the buses because it is not a big generator and is limited to those inside the bus. The biggest revenue generator is outside the bus. Wave’s advertising company represents several transits in the state and Wilmington is the largest market. The budget for this year did not include a $7 car tax. Commissioner Zapple requested clarification on the amounts reflected in the report that it costs $40,000 for the nonemergency Medicaid trips (DSS essentially), $25,000 for non-Medicaid transportation trips, $16,000 for paratransit services, and $304,000 for the fixed routes. Based on those numbers, his tally for the County’s contribution is $386,991 and in the report the official number of $321,000. Ms. Wurtzbacher stated that she separated the numbers out. The $321,000 is for the operating contribution, not for the purchase of services. She confirmed that would be approximately $65,000 and contributes to the overall amount of the County’s contribution of $386,000. In response to Commissioner Zapple’s question if the intent of the $57,000 supplemental funding request for this year will also be in the next year’s budget, Mr. Eby stated that the request of $57,000 is to cover six months. Wave had this discussion with the City of Wilmington last week. The community needs to discuss the amount of support there is for public transportation or next year there will be a similar problem and will probably be compounded. He confirmed there will a request for next year as well. In response to Commissioner Zapple’s questions about why there is not greater participation from the Town of Leland for the route that is run over there, Mr. Eby stated the route was started by a North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) board member through the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO) and a formula was developed for how much local contribution would be provided by those across the river. The same formula is used today, it is the same formula that is used in Carolina Beach, the formula does need to be revisited, and it has been discussed with the WMPO Executive Director. There is no formula attached to New Hanover County. There are formula agreements with Brunswick County, Town of Leland, and the Town of Navassa, which forms the Brunswick Consortium. As to whether or not he would support a formula based agreement with the County, he agrees with Ms. Wurtzbacher that anything that gives more clarity and more opportunity to have more long term planning in the operation of the transit system would be beneficial. Contract negotiations with the st Town of Leland and Town of Carolina Beach will take place before July 1 of 2020. As to whether it is his intent to increase the request of both participants, Mr. Eby stated the ideal situation would be to have all local contributions somewhat equal to each other. The challenge is there are many routes that cross into many jurisdictions. As to what that means in terms of the formula, it would mean how much the Town of Leland pays for how much the route goes through the town which is typical of how the formula is based. None of that route would be subsidized by anyone on this side of the river for the route part that services downtown Wilmington. These are the challenges that Wave needs to discuss with the WMPO. Commissioner Zapple encouraged Mr. Eby to make significant changes to the formula as the perception is the County is having to pick up a large part of the costs for both of those routes and there is tremendous benefit to both towns. Mr. Eby agreed that would be the case certainly for the Town of Carolina Beach as most of that route NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 PAGE 418 travels through the unincorporated area of the County. Most of the route to Leland is either funded by the Brunswick County Consortium, the Town of Leland, federal dollars, or state dollars. As to why there is no service to the Town ‑ of Wrightsville Beach, Mr. Eby stated that a municipality has the authority under North Carolina General Statute (NCGS) 160A to deny transit service to their town. In 2008'09, there were several discussions with the Town of Wrightsville Beach and the Board of Alderman regarding transit service, they were not supportive and have not expressed interest since then for service. Wave develops a short range transit plan every five years. Every transit plan has shown there is community interest in providing service to Wrightsville Beach. Wave would like to have the conversation with the Town of Wrightsville Beach, but all of the authority for it to operate in there is under their purview. He confirmed that the Town of Wrightsville Beach is the bottle neck. Chairman Barfield asked Mr. Eby to explain how we got to this point. Mr. Eby stated the complexity of transit funding makes it very difficult to operate regional transit systems. Wave is one of the few regional transit systems, with the only other one he thinks being the Hickory system which covers four counties. However, it is mostly human service transportation. Wave is by far the largest regional transit authority that doesn't have a layer under it. The regional transit authorities in the Piedmont, Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem as well as in the Triangle which is Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh. All of those towns also have their own transit systems. The challenge of the regional transit system is that everyone that funds the transit system at the local level has to have the same priorities. Some have higher priorities for transit and some less. However, when there are competing priorities and ideologies for how transit should be served on a regional level, it makes it difficult for the transit operator to have a clear understanding of what services to provide. How we got here, in 2017, the state informed Wave that it would be no longer qualify as a rural transit provider which means it lost about $175,000 of both federal and state money. It also lost 5316 monies, elderly and disabled money, which is what Wave used for about ten years to subsidize a ‑ route, were funds that flowed through the state, and the program did sunset at the federal level. There was an IRS deduction lost that was for using compressed natural gas equivalent to 50cents per gallon and was bringing in about $62,000 a year. This year it would have brought in over $100,000. Wave has not had that funding from congress over the last two years and there was a bill introduced last year to reintroduce the funding with a sunset of 2025. Increases have also been seen in a lot of things provided over the last five years while the budget has increased less than one percent a year. The increases have been managed with initiatives implemented over the last few years, especially with compressed natural gas. Since implementing the use of compressed natural gas, over $500,000 has been saved and that continues to grow as more natural gas vehicles are added to the fleet. While management was there for a few years, the situation was always looming. There have been conversations over the years with the City, County, UNCW and other funding partners, but the level of urgency has never gotten to the point to where Wave could have this discussion at a very high level so everyone understood the situation that was being faced. Wave developed a plan to deal with the funding situation through only a reduction in service and it would have equaled about $500,000 a year. After negotiations with the City of Wilmington, City Manager, and a councilmember that serves on the Wave board, the request became a supplemental appropriation request as well as reduction in some services. Wave was also asked to request of all of its funding partners for a similar supplemental appropriation to get it through the rest of the year. In response to Chairman Barfield’s request to explain the employee makeup for Wave Transit, Mr. Eby stated the transit authority based on federal law has to recognize collective bargaining rights of union employees. This goes back to the 1974 agreement between the City of Wilmington (City) and federal government. Because there was a private sector transit system in place, Tidewater Transit, which when the City took over in 1964, the Mass Transit Act of 1964 required the City in perpetuity or any of its successors to recognize collective bargaining rights of employees. Wave cannot employ union members nor have a contract with the union based on NCGS 95-98. Wave hired a third party contractor, Transit Management of Wilmington, which is a subsidiary of First Transit and is a subsidiary of First Group, a British company that operates transit systems throughout the United States and Europe. The contractor oversees the fixed route bus drivers as well as the fixed route maintenance personnel. The majority of employees, 85 to 90, are contract employees. The other 40 to 45 employees are employees of Wave Transit Authority which is a local government and they meet the requirements that they are not union employees and are paratransit operators, administrative personnel, facilities maintenance personnel, and a few others. It is a diverse group, but Wave also has to deal with the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement. Transit Management of Wilmington negotiates the contract, not Wave. Funds from Wave are passed through Transit Management and it tells Wave how much the transit costs will be every month and Wave pays them for that. They negotiate the union contract and Wave funds the union contract making it challenging on everyone's part. This is federal law and there are probably more efficient ways to do it, but as a recipient of the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) funding, Wave must follow the federal guidelines in things such as negotiating union contracts through a management contractor. The bus drivers do not work directly for him, there are approximately 130 employees and total payroll costs are $4.37 million. Commissioner Zapple asked that Mr. Eby explain what happened after 2015 when the County and City stepped in after a strong appeal from Mr. Eby to deal directly with the fund balance issue with both providing funds to achieve the fund balance of eight percent and why it is now down to five percent. Mr. Eby stated that growth was being seen in the fund balance last year for which the audit is almost complete. Wave had to deal with the repercussions of Hurricane Florence and a fund balance reduction will be seen from last year as Wave lost $146,000 in revenue that was not reimbursable. Wave staff has worked closely with Ms. Wurtzbacher to obtain FEMA ‑ reimbursement for post hurricane activities. The FTA has disaster relief funds and Wave worked closely with them to get reimbursement for prestorm activities, both of those included evacuations, shelter movement, movement between the paratransit folks that needed to get to dialysis after the hospital was full. It was very challenging and costly but most of all of that was recaptured and reimbursement has been received. Wave really only lost the revenue. Going back a few years, the budget grew less than 1% and there were ups and downs in there so fund balance was a contributor to some of the areas the way fund balance was set. At the time the audit was completed, that's how fund balance was determined. The day before it might have been greater and the day after it might have NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 PAGE 419 been less. It is also used for cash flow. Wave operates completely on reimbursement so funds are not received from the federal or state governments until the funds have been expended. Some local funding partners, including the County, allows Wave a prepayment of annual appropriations which helps with the fund balance but usually gets Wave through half of the year. As to whether there is a plan to return Wave to the eight percent limit, Mr. Eby stated that one of things Wave staff hoped to do once the fund balance was received was to grow it past the eight percent Local Government Commission (LGC) recommendation by putting advertising revenue towards it. Right now that is $150,000 a year. Wave also contracts services to allow Greyhound Bus Lines to use Forden Station for approximately $50,000 a year, which Wave had planned to put toward fund balance. However, every plan that has been made has been offset by a loss of revenue versus for someone else. This is mostly a situation dealing with loss of revenue and there are some expense increases. This year has seen a significant increase in liability insurance as well as group health insurance for Transit Management of Wilmington. Efforts are being made to reduce the group health insurance policy. These are challenges they have to deal with without certainty of funding going forward. It's difficult to have a five-year financial plan when they do not know what that will look like. Commissioner Zapple stated that Wave needs the eight percent fund balance. Everyone, the County, City, and others deals with the projections to try to make sure it happens. While he understands why it has not worked for Wave until now, but Wave has to come up with a better plan to achieve the eight percent as it is key to the interlocal agreement. Mr. Eby agreed and stated the biggest challenge Wave faces is not having dedicated funding which goes back to the Transpro report. Wave cannot raise taxes to deal with these types of situations that arise and only has control over the fares which is one of the highest in the state at $2. As fares are raised, riders are lost so a $1 increase would not net a full $1 increase. Commissioner Zapple stated he understood there is a debate about the overall purpose of a strategy moving forward, frequency versus coverage, whether increasing frequency which in theory increases the ridership so you have a 20 or 30-minute wait for the bus as opposed to one hour or increase coverage by adding new routes to go to different parts of the County. He asked for Mr. Eby’s opinion on this part of the discussion. Mr. Eby stated that Wave Transit is currently funded to provide services to the transit dependent. It does not provide enough services to capture what is considered the choice rider. If it added more frequency along some of the routes, it still wouldn't be convenient enough. Typically, choice riders are going to be attracted when you see 20 minute headways which would require a tripling of services on most of the routes. To provide more convenience for the passengers that Wave does serve would be a plus for those passengers but significant increases in ridership would not be seen. A more dramatic and impactful loss to passengers would be seen by those who would lose service whether they were coming from the far southern or far northern parts of the County. This is where Wave believes a coverage model is really needed and is typically what is employed when you have a transit service that caters exclusively or mostly to the transit dependent. He would support the coverage model. Chairman Barfield asked if there were any further questions or comments from the Board. Commissioner Zapple asked Mr. Eby as to the revenue streams that have been proposed, a quarter-cent sales tax increase and an auto registration fee of anywhere from $1 to $7, if there were other dedicated revenue streams he sees as a possibility. Mr Eby stated there were recommendations in the Transpro report to reach out for other funding partners that weren't tax based. The hospital is one of them. One of the most successful programs is at UNCW because students don't have a choice but to ride the shuttle unless they ride their bikes or walk to campus. It generates a lot of local revenue for Wave and based on the past is what it attributes to fares at UNCW. A similar program is the downtown trolley where Wave is not necessarily trying to go out to get people where they live, rather they are trying to get them to move around in areas of high congestion. Wave believes it would work in the Mayfaire area and there have been some high level discussions with the Deputy Secretary of Transportation at NCDOT as well as with one of the NCDOT board members. The opportunities are being seen there but unfortunately when you enter into that type of arrangement you have to make sure that the financial commitment is there long term. When a route is established, people have to be able to count on it for things such as work or child care. These are things the community counts on and is why Wave has been reluctant to suggest eliminating routes or reducing service along routes because reestablishing that at a point later in time would be almost impossible because the public’s trust would be lost. In response to Commissioner Zapple’s question of how much a quarter cent sales tax would raise, Mr. Eby stated it would be $8 million to $8.5 million. As to whether or not it would provide enough for support in frequency and coverage, Mr. Eby stated the question raised recently was how much is enough and is one that the community needs to answer. He is not sure that the limit is really up to us to decide, but to answer the question, yes, Wave can provide greater coverage area, more frequency of service. The operations facility was built in Castle Hayne to service up to 75 vehicles, so there are growth opportunities to meet the demand here. $8 million would be impactful. $1 million would be impactful. Wave believes it could provide additional services and reduce headways with as low an amount of a million dollars. However, it’s question to the community is at what level does it support transit. As to how much the registration fee at $3 per year would raise, Mr. Eby stated the estimate based on information received from the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) was $225,000 per dollar so it would equate to approximately $775,000. Vice-Chairwoman Olson-Boseman asked County Attorney Copley if the City of Wilmington can implement a car tax. County Attorney Copley stated her office reviewed and had discussion on it and County Manager Coudriet stated there was a legal opinion from Deputy County Attorney Kemp Burpeau and the UNC School of Government that the City of Wilmington is authorized to levee the vehicle registration fee. However, the City legal team has a different opinion. The County is not in a position to tell them the County is right and they are wrong, but the County has a written opinion that they do. County Attorney Copley stated it was a different opinion because she thinks their belief was that the County was the only entity that could do that, the City should not or could not do it, and the NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 PAGE 420 County should have the burden. In response to additional Board questions, County Manager Coudriet confirmed that if the City were to do it, it would only affect City residents and not the residents of the unincorporated parts of the County. It is his limited understanding that the City would not be able to apply the vehicle registration fee to any car registered outside of their corporate limits, whereas the County authorization applies to all of the municipalities and unincorporated county. Commissioner Zapple asked Mr. Eby how many total rides, including paratransit happens in a 12-month period. Mr. Eby responded that is was 1.35 million people per year among all services provided. As to whether it would be fair to say that he translates that into cars taken off the street, Mr. Eby stated the best way to determine the service impact would be the number of passengers per hour or passengers per revenue mile. Currently passengers per revenue mile are one passenger per revenue mile. For example, a nine-mile trip would be one-ninth of a car on the road versus a single passenger car. Last month, the passengers per hour were approximately 18.59. For every hour that a single car travels around Wave is carrying around 18.5 passengers. As to how many cars are being kept off the roads with the current service of Wave, Mr. Eby stated typically, in an hour, four to five cars. There are a lot of conditions that determine that. A little over one passenger per mile, with a typical commute of five miles, Wave would take five cars off of the road. Based on Wave operating 16 hours per day on weekdays with limited weekend services with eight or nine holidays, he confirmed it is approximately 260 days a year. In response to Vice-Chairwoman Olson-Boseman’s question if Mr. Eby was stating that it is a choice that people are choosing to ride the bus instead of driving cars to work, Mr. Eby stated it was not. Wave would not be able to determine that without asking every rider. Wave does serve a transit dependent population as they do not have access to a car. Vice-Chairwoman Olson-Boseman stated then the bus service is not keeping cars off the road in Wilmington and people are not choosing to ride a bus instead of driving their cars. Mr. Eby responded that not all of the passengers are transit dependent but, again, the question would have to be asked. Commissioner Zapple asked in relation to the students who ride Wave Transit, many of whom have cars, and as such the cars are kept off the road, how many students are served. Mr. Eby responded it is 35,000 passengers per month during school which is two to three and half months twice a year. Chairman Barfield stated that he would assume Commissioner Zapple’s questions were more in theory than anything because it is recognized that the majority of Wave's riders are not choice riders. They ride because they are transit dependent. He spoke briefly on how his mother rode Wave Transit for a time until she purchased a car and her experience during that time. He does recognize there are a lot of folks in his mother's predicament that are transit dependent and need to utilize Wave Transit. Not everyone has financial resources to drive their own car. People come here, do what they need to do to get around and get to a job to put food on the table which is something he does not think should be lost in the conversation about who funds what. For example, parks generate zero revenue for the most part. They provide a tremendous sense of value in the community. It is the same with libraries, they produce little revenue but a great sense of place and quality within the community. There are many things government does, while it doesn't produce revenue, it adds value. The community college has the Wilson Center and during a recent community college board meeting, he discussed how it adds to the entire region. Charlotte is a progressive city when it comes to transportation and has a light rail system. Durham County is looking to do the same. New Hanover County is one of the 15 most urban counties out of 100 counties in the state that are progressive in investing in public transportation. It's an investment in the community. He considers Wilmington not to be a major metropolitan city but definitely a progressive city. Hearing no further discussion, Chairman Barfield made a motion to allocate $57,000 to bridge the Wave operation for the fiscal year 2020 and encourage Wave to make similar requests from funding partners to meet the needs this year. Motion: Chairman Barfield MOVED to allocate $57,000 to bridge the Wave operation for the fiscal year 2020 and encourage Wave to make similar requests from funding partners to meet the needs this year. Commissioner Zapple stated he would second the motion but would like the conditions posed by County Manager Coudriet included in the motion:  Wave Supplemental Funding Recommendation:  Appropriate $57,000 for FY 2020 with four conditions:  Local funding partners grant supplemental funding  Plan now for services in FY 21 to include detailed revenue and expenditure assumptions shared with local funding partners  Wave will not consider FY 2020 supplement from any local partner as base in its FY 2021 planning \[preserve the right for each governing board to determine any increase in funding it chooses based on quantifiable service impacts\]  Wave will not ask New Hanover County for supplemental funding in FY 2021 Amended Motion: Chairman Barfield MOVED, SECONDED by Commissioner Zapple to allocate $57,000 to bridge the Wave operation for the fiscal year 2020, encourage Wave to make similar requests from funding partners to meet the needs this year, and the funds would be appropriated based on the following four conditions:  Local funding partners grant supplemental funding  Plan now for services in FY 21 to include detailed revenue and expenditure assumptions shared with local funding partners NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 PAGE 421  Wave will not consider FY 2020 supplement from any local partner as base in its FY 2021 planning \[preserve the right for each governing board to determine any increase in funding it chooses based on quantifiable service impacts\]  Wave will not ask New Hanover County for supplemental funding in FY 2021 A brief discussion was held about Wave asking for supplemental funding in fiscal year 2021. County Manager Coudriet stated that as he understood it based on prior discussions Wave would likely need to have the supplement added to its base which is why under the Facts to Consider slide, while editorial on his comment, but at the end acknowledging that Wave has to address their planning model. If they do not go into it with clarity, then we have to appropriate the additional money. Effectively, he is asking Wave not to do that and re-examine their planning model and work with local partners based on what actual revenue estimations are versus expenditures so that this Board can decide how much, if any, above its historic practice of funding for the full cost of route 207. While he fully acknowledges Wave disburses those funds across the system, the Board’s policy basis has been to provide the full cost of the route. It seems that before the Board commits to anything above that, the Board should be offered clarity of how much revenue are they expecting, what is it going to cost to operate the system, and how much if any is the Board willing to appropriate above that based on service impact. At this point, if the base supplement is simply included there is no guarantee there will be modifications to the planning approach and it will continue to be business as usual. That is a decision for the Board to make, but he thinks in exchange for the $57,000, the Board should be given more clarity and visibility into Wave’s planning for routes. Chairman Barfield stated the one thing he does not want to do is set anyone up to fail. For example, a friend of his won the opportunity to be on The Price is Right show. She won a lot of gifts but when it came time to settle up she had a tremendous tax bill to pay. She sold the car she won because she would have had to pay the California tax, gift tax, and federal tax on it. People who participate on the show have to sign a waiver that they will pay the taxes or leave the gifts they won behind. It looks great on tv but when you walk away, what did you really win. He wants to make sure from a County standpoint that we also look at the value added into our community and thinks it is important to have that thought process. Everything we do doesn't generate money, but it adds something to somebody's life. Chairman Barfield stated there was a motion on the floor and a second and asked if there was any further discussion. Commissioner White stated two things Chairman Barfield mentioned sparked his memory. The Price is Right analogy, he has heard that before and has known someone that has gone through that. It demonstrates the fact of what we all know is that nothing comes for free. There is a price associated with decisions made. Even if you accept free gifts from the game show, you have to pay taxes. It costs someone something. In connection with Chairman Barfield’s comments about the community college and the concerts held at the Wilson Center, it is great addition to our community and to the downtown area. However, the questions raised years ago as to whether or not it was keeping with the core mission of the community college remain. Why does the community college have a fine art series in a $54 million building for singing, dancing, and music, when the community college’s core mission is, and should be, vocational training? There is now a $40 million building on the north campus primarily empty. Projections seen in revenue and enrollment did not pan out. The Board was told the community college was going to grow and grow a lot and it is known it did not happen. When looking back at those decisions, they do add enrichment to the downtown area and there is essentially an empty building on the north campus, which is true. In generations to come, they add value. However, it came at an extreme cost to the county taxpayer. Now here we are today with the Wave Transit issue. Of the several things he could take issue with as stated by Mr. Eby, the one he will focus on is the question posed today to Mr. Eby about why are we here. His response was the level of urgency never got to this level. He would like to remind Mr. Eby and the community of a few things. First, seven years ago when he was elected as a county commissioner and within four months of being in office, Wave came to the him as Chairman and the County Manager stating they could not pay its bills, nor meet payroll, and it was not even halfway through the fiscal year. The County provided a bridge loan. When he asked if this was normal, he was told it is Wave Transit and it is a reimbursement model. He learned a lot about it and supported it, but it prompted him to ask for a joint meeting with the Wave board which did occur. He would consider those joint meetings and directions that came out of that as levels of urgency that exceed what the Board is being asked to do today because they called into question the fundamental core of what this community should do for public transportation. No one on the Wave board or in the Wave organization wanted to make the tough choices. It has been heard today this is not a system of choice. All have known that and we have batted around the bush and acted like maybe the people are choosing to ride the bus or not. They are not and Mr. Eby has said the same. When Commissioner Zapple asked about the number of cars taken off of the road, instead of Mr. Eby answering him objectively as he should have, and when posed the same question again by Vice-Chairwoman Olson-Boseman, we know it doesn't keep cars off of the road Fundamentally, what this Board and Wave Transit have failed to do and the community by allowing it to not engage in these tough questions has been to choose not to innovatively re-imagine itself because it does serve a need for transient folks that don't have other choices. That need is being perversely neglected by the Wave board and by the people who are looking the other way and funding the new funding requests without asking questions. If Wave shortened its routes, looked into the Transpro recommendations, made service more frequent, more reliable, if it focused on the population centers and density of the riders, more people would ride it where it was needed most. Mr. Eby said it himself in the Seahawk shuttle. He looks at the car tax, $7 per car, county-wide, would raise about $2.4 million. The quarter cent sales tax would raise $8 million and then in leveraging that with the federal and state dollars maybe it would raise $30 million or $40 million. Those have been proffered by Mr. Eby’s board and brought to the County without nexus to what would you do with the money? How would you grow the system? What routes would be added to the system? How would frequency be increased and wait times be lowered? Mr. Eby has done none of that. There has been no strategic planning, no vision about what to do with the money. Mr. NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 PAGE 422 Eby has simply come forward saying Wave needs a car tax or a sales tax. Nothing is free in government and every time he has been asked as a commissioner for seven years to vote to support Wave Transit, he has done it. He has done it to increase the fund balance, $158,000 two years in a row over and above the appropriation amount. Now fund balance is half of what it was then and he understands the challenges. That is why we have finance projections and the idea in most entities of living within your means. For Mr. Eby to state to this Board that the level of urgency has never been this bad is to be willfully blind to what the County tried to get Wave to do years ago, by reimaging itself, be innovative, buy smaller busses. He heard the argument of Wave has to buy $600,000 busses because the maintenance, etc is cheaper for them. He does not believe that to be true. He would continue to challenge Mr. Eby’s board to exercise itself in innovatively looking into the services it needs to provide with core ridership which has gone down significantly. What he has not even pointed to are the outside disruptions that have taken place in the world with ridesharing and unemployment being the lowest in a lifetime, wage growth being the highest, fastest in a lifetime. These are existential impacts on ridership over which Wave has no control. To dismiss them as not being impacted on public transportation, he thinks, is not doing our job. Mr. Eby and the community may see if the Board votes to deny the funding, that we don't support public transportation, that's a false narrative. That’s a false narrative propagated by people that do not understand nor take the time to look at the system like some board members have for seven years. Commissioner White called the question on the motion on the floor. Chairman Barfield stated there is a motion on the floor to recommend approval of the $57,000 to bridge the Wave operation for the fiscal year 2020, with the four conditions that has been seconded and asked for a vote. Upon vote, the MOTION FAILED 2 TO 3. Vice-Chairwoman Olson-Boseman, Commissioner Kusek, and Commissioner White dissenting. COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS Appointment to the New Hanover County Commission on African-American History, Heritage and Culture Chairman Barfield reported that one vacancy exists on the New Hanover County Commission on African- American History, Heritage and Culture with one application available for consideration. Chairman Barfield nominated Cynthia Pershia for appointment. Commissioner Zapple seconded the nomination. Hearing no further nominations, Chairman Barfield called for a vote for the nomination on the floor. Vote Results: The Board voted UNANIMOUSLY to appoint Cynthia Pershia in the Civil Rights Community category to the New Hanover County Consolidated Human Services Board to serve an unexpired term with the term to expire August 31, 2022. Appointments to the New Hanover County Cooperative Extension Advisory Council Chairman Barfield reported that five vacancies exist on the New Hanover County Cooperative Extension Advisory Council with four applicants eligible for reappointment and two new applications available for consideration. Commissioner Kusek nominated Clayton Hamerski, Shirley Melito, Christy Spivey, and Scott A. Winslow for reappointment and Jamille Bitting for appointment. Commissioner Zapple seconded the nominations. Hearing no further nominations, Chairman Barfield called for a vote for the nominations on the floor. Vote Results: The Board voted UNANIMOUSLY to reappoint Clayton Hamerski, Shirley Melito, Christy Spivey, and Scott A. Winslow and appoint Jamille Bitting to the New Hanover County Cooperative Extension Advisory Council to serve three year terms with the terms to expire December 1, 2022. Appointments to the New Hanover County Zoning Board of Adjustment Chairman Barfield reported that four vacancies exist on the New Hanover County Zoning Board of Adjustment with two applicants eligible for reappointment and five new applications available for consideration. Commissioner Kusek nominated Henry A. Adams and Kristin K. Freeman for reappointment in the Regular category and Pete Devita and Michael J. Keenan, Sr. for appointment in the alternate category. Commissioner White seconded the nominations. Hearing no further nominations, Chairman Barfield called for a vote for the nominations on the floor. Vote Results: The Board voted UNANIMOUSLY to reappoint Henry A. Adams and Kristin K. Freeman in the Regular Category and appoint Pete Devita and Michael J. Keenan, Sr. in the alternate category to the New Hanover County Zoning Board of Adjustment to serve three year terms with the terms to expire December 1, 2022. Appointment to the Parks Conservancy of New Hanover County, Inc. Board of Directors Chairman Barfield reported that one vacancy exists on the Parks Conservancy of New Hanover County, Inc. Board of Directors with two applications available for consideration. Commissioner Kusek nominated Lynn Kozik for appointment. NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 PAGE 423 Commissioner Zapple nominated Philip White for appointment Hearing no further nominations, Chairman Barfield called for a vote on the nominations on the floor in the order of being received. Vote Results: The Board voted in the majority to appoint Lynn Kozik to the Parks Conservancy of New Hanover County, Inc. Board of Directors to serve an unexpired term with the term to expire June 30, 2022. Chairman Barfield, Vice-Chairwoman Olson-Boseman, Commissioner Kusek, and Commissioner White voted in favor. 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 No additional agenda items of business were presented. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chairman Barfield adjourned the meeting at 10:49 a.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.