2002-11-21 Work Session
NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSBOOK 29
WORK SESSION, NOVEMBER 21, 2002PAGE 390
ASSEMBLY
The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners held a Work Session on Thursday, November 21, 2002, at
5:00 p.m. in the New Hanover County Administrative Annex Building, Conference Room 105, 230 Market Place Drive,
Wilmington, North Carolina.
Members present were: Chairman Ted Davis, Jr.; Vice-Chairman Robert G. Greer; Commissioner Julia
Boseman; Commissioner William A. Caster; Commissioner Nancy H. Pritchett; County Manager, Allen O’Neal; County
Attorney, Wanda M. Copley; and Clerk to the Board, Lucie F. Harrell.
Chairman Davis called the meeting to order and welcomed N. C. House Representative Thomas E. Wright and
N. C. House Representative Daniel (Danny) F. McComas. He also welcomed Mayor Betty Lou Medlin, Town of Kure
Beach; Mayor Avery Roberts, Jr., Town of Wrightsville Beach; Mayor Harper Peterson, City of Wilmington; and other
elected officials attending the meeting.
Chairman Davis stated that the Work Session had been called to discuss some concerns about the language in
the bills introduced by Representative McComas and Representative Wright regarding the establishment of the Tourism
Development Authority (TDA). He opened the floor to receive input from the elected officials.
Commissioner Pritchett expressed concern for the balance of power on the TDA being totally controlled by the
tourism industry under the current language in HB 1707 as outlined under membership. The five ex-officio members
(Chairman of the Board and four Mayors of the municipalities) are authorized to appoint individuals who are actively
involved in promoting travel and tourism in the local community as their designees. She suggested changing the
language to say that the Chairman of the Board and Mayor of each municipality will have authority to appoint their
designee, who must be a member of that Board or Council.
Discussion followed on whether the Chairman of the Board and Mayors should have authority to appoint their
designees or whether the Board of County Commissioners and Councils of the municipalities should have authority to
appoint designees. Mayor Betty Medlin stated that she felt the Chairman of the Board and Mayor of each municipality
should be able to appoint their designee.
Mayor Avery Roberts, Town of Wrightsville Beach, agreed with Mayor Medlin and stated that the Mayor or
Chairman of the Board should have this authority.
After discussion, Representative McComas and Representative Wright agreed with the proposed changes in HB
1707, Page 5, (b)(1) under Membership.
Chairman Davis suggested changing the language in HB 1707 and HB 1720 under Administration to County
Finance Officer in lieu of City Finance Officer since New Hanover County collects all taxes for the municipalities.
After discussion on the ambiguity in the language regarding the Finance Officer, Representative McComas and
Representative Wright agreed to the proposed change in both bills.
Commissioner Caster spoke on being a member of the Wilmington-New Hanover County Port, Waterway &
Beach Commission, and he expressed concern for the definition of beach nourishment being detrimental to future
nourishment projects as written under HB 1707, Page 5, Section 32, Definitions. He stated that basing beach
nourishment projects on erosion from storms could eliminate nourishment projects from natural erosion, such as jetties
that cause downstream erosion and create a need for replenishment of sand. He suggested removing the words, from
storms, in the last sentence of this section.
Commissioner Caster also referenced Section 32(1)(a) regarding costs that are directly associated with
qualifying projects either contracted through the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers or otherwise permitted by all appropriate
federal and state agencies, and he suggested adding the following words, including waterway and inlet dredging to the
last sentence in this section.
Representative McComas expressed concern for making any substantive changes in HB 1707 and House Bill
1720. He explained that the proposed changes regarding membership and changing the City Finance Officer to the
County Finance Officer are considered to be technical changes that can easily be made. However, an amendment to the
beach nourishment definition would be applicable statewide and could impact other communities since the State pays
a portion of dredging costs for these projects. He requested Commissioner Caster to write a letter explaining why he
wanted the changes so this issue could be reviewed by the Legislative Research Group.
Representative Wright agreed with Representative McComas and stated that the Bill Drafting Director would
have to review all of the proposed changes. He spoke on the amount of time that he and Representative McComas spent
in preparing the bills and getting them enacted by the General Assembly. He stressed the importance of making
noncontroversial changes to avoid having any problems with the bills.
After further discussion, the Board and Mayors agreed upon the following changes:
1.HB 1707 and HB 1720 - Administration: Change the language to County Finance Officer instead of City
Finance Officer.
2. HB 1707 - Tourism Development Authority Membership: Change the language to allow the Chairman of the
Board and Mayor of each municipality to appoint a member of their respective board or council to serve as their
designee.
NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSBOOK 29
WORK SESSION, NOVEMBER 21, 2002PAGE 391
Discussion followed on the procedure to be used by the Board of County Commissioners in appointing the 10
additional members to serve on the TDA. Clerk to the Board, Lucie F. Harrell, advised that applicants would be
recruited by an advertisement in the paper outlining the criteria for each vacancy and specifying the deadline for receipt
of the applications. Once applications are received, each application will be reviewed to be sure that the applicant has
met the criteria set forth in the enabling legislation. An agenda item will be prepared with the names of eligible
applicants and the Board of County Commissioners will make appointments on December 16, 2002.
Mayor Medlin spoke on the need for the Mayors of the beach towns to have input on appointment of members
that will represent their communities. She suggested that the Board of County Commissioners hold a meeting with the
Mayors once the applications have been received so input can be provided.
After further discussion, each Mayor was requested to notify the Board of County Commissioners of the
applicant they would recommend to serve as a representative for their municipality.
In concluding the meeting, Representative McComas and Representative Wright requested the County Attorney
to contact Gerry Cohen, the Bill Drafting Director and Martha Harris in the Bill Drafting Office, regarding the proposed
changes.
County Attorney Copley advised that she would be glad to work with Bill Drafting Office on the proposed
changes.
Mayor Harper Peterson thanked the Board of County Commissioners for calling the meeting and he expressed
appreciation to Representative McComas and Representative Wright for attending the meeting and agreeing to move
forward with the proposed changes.
Mayor Peterson advised that he would like to speak on an unrelated topic and stated that the City and County
may resume discussion on consolidation. He stressed the importance of the beach communities understanding that once
consolidation meetings are scheduled, they will be notified and requested to provide input from the beginning to the end
of the process.
On behalf of the Board, Chairman Davis expressed appreciation to Representative McComas and Representative
Wright for the time given to prepare the TDA bills.
ADJOURNMENT
Hearing no further comments, Chairman Davis called for a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Motion:
Commissioner Boseman MOVED, SECONDED by Vice-Chairman Greer, to adjourn. Upon vote, the MOTION
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
Chairman Davis adjourned the meeting at 6:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Lucie F. Harrell
Clerk to the Board
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