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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-10-15 Special Meeting NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSBOOK 28 WORK SESSION, OCTOBER 15, 2001 PAGE 848 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners held a Work Session on Monday, October 15, 2001, at 1:30 P.M. in the Assembly Room of the New Hanover County Courthouse, 24 North Third Street, 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 stated that the purpose of the Work Session was to decide on how to proceed on the consolidation issue after receiving the final study from Dr. Suzanne Leland. The Board has the option of moving forward with full consolidation, proceeding with consolidation and considering merging departments, or doing a piecemeal consolidation with merging various departments. If the Board decides to work with the City Council toward a full consolidation, he would like to work on combining water and sewer services during the time needed to prepare a plan to present to the voters. Chairman Davis advised that when he was first elected to serve on the Board and sworn into office in December 1996, he was told about resolutions adopted by the Wilmington City Council and Board of County Commissioners in October 1996 to establish a committee comprised of two City Council Members and two County Commissioners to develop a specific plan to unite all City and County water and sewer services. As of this date, no agreement has been reached. There were also problems between the City and County when the Dobo Water Systems were sold. He stated with the past record of joint efforts between the City and County, he felt the Board should move forward with full consolidation. Chairman Davis requested the Board to decide on what direction the Commissioners should take on the consolidation issue so a joint meeting can be scheduled with the City Council to discuss the County’s position. Vice-Chairman Greer stated that he was in favor of full consolidation because this choice will allow the voters to decide if they want a consolidated government. He requested time to provide some history on past efforts between the City and County and the following report was presented: The City Council and Board of County Commissioners adopted identical resolutions on October 7, 1996 (County) and October 16, 1996 (City) to establish a committee comprised of two City Council Members and two County Commissioners to develop a specific plan for uniting all City and County water and sewer services. An interim report was to be presented by the Committee to both governing bodies on or before May 1, 1997, with the plan instituted on or before December 1, 1997. At the same time, an agreement was being negotiated between the City and County to jointly expand the City’s Northside Wastewater Treatment Plant that was contingent upon the City and County forming an entity to operate a joint water and sewer utility on or before December 1, 1997. The City felt that since both governing bodies had adopted resolutions to combine water and sewer services, the language requiring a combined utility should be removed from the agreement. The County agreed and executed the agreement to jointly expand the Northside Wastewater Treatment Plant. Since that time the City and County have moved forward with expanding the Northside Wastewater Treatment Plant. The City did develop a plan to be in total control of a combined water and sewer service, which was not accepted by the County. No other efforts have been made to combine these services. Vice-Chairman Greer concluded his report by saying if the City Council and Board of County Commissioners make another attempt to combine water and sewer services, the operation of the joint water and sewer utility should not be turned over to the City for operation. A body or entity should be formed for operation of the utility that would not create an advantage to either the City or County. NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSBOOK 28 WORK SESSION, OCTOBER 15, 2001 PAGE 849 The overall interest of the citizens should be considered. Commissioner Caster stated that he was a proponent of full consolidation. If the City Council and Board of County Commissioners can agree on full consolidation, consideration can be given to functional mergers while developing a plan to present to the voters. To consider functional consolidation, other than water and sewer, will not save a significant amount of money for the taxpayers. This process will only prolong consolidating the governments over a number of years. The goal should be to move forward with full consolidation, develop a team to prepare a plan to be presented to the voters, and consider merging water and sewer services during this period. He concluded his remarks by saying this may also be an opportune time to consider merging law enforcement. Commissioner Boseman stated that she was in favor of functional consolidation with merging water and sewer services as the first priority. She spoke on feeling that the City Council would probably not be in favor of consolidation and stated that the County could miss an opportunity to merge some services that would benefit the citizens and save money. She also noted that she was not opposed to presenting a plan to the voters so they can decide on the consolidation issue. Commissioner Pritchett spoke on several items that needed to be understood about consolidation before moving forward with the process. The first issue is that consolidation will not save an appreciable amount of money but it could result in a more efficient government. With failure of past efforts to consolidate the two governments, a detailed plan should be developed which will take a minimum of five years, and the public must be educated on every detail of the plan before voting on consolidation. She stated that a decision on full consolidation does not have to be made now, but there is an opportunity for the City Council and Board of County Commissioners to move forward with combining water and sewer services into a service district that will fund itself. If this can be accomplished, other mergers can be considered and both governments can look at consolidation at a later date. Commissioner Caster expressed concern for the members of the Board not being willing to commit to moving forward with consolidation. The people have indicated they want to vote on the issue and the merging process could be prolonged to the year 2020. He stated from past experience if the Commissioners and Council Members are not unanimously in favor of consolidation, it will be a waste of time to perform a study on consolidation. Vice-Chairman Greer explained that a consolidation plan cannot be developed that will please both governing bodies or all citizens. Both governing bodies need to vote on preparing a plan and holding a referendum to let the voters decide if they want a consolidated government. During this time the two governing bodies should work on combining water and sewer services. After lengthy discussions, a majority of the Board agreed to move forward with a full consolidation of City and County governments and begin merging departments during the time a plan is being prepared, with water and sewer being the first priority. The Board also agreed that the new Council Members should be in office before the consolidation issue is pursued. The Board unanimously agreed to move forward immediately with combining water and sewer services as outlined in the October 1996 resolutions adopted by the City Council and Board of County Commissioners with the appointment of Vice-Chairman Greer and Commissioner Pritchett as the two representatives to serve on a Water and Sewer Committee to develop a specific plan to merge these services. Chairman Davis was authorized to write a letter to the Mayor and Wilmington City Council informing them of these decisions and requesting the City Council to appoint two members to serve on the Water and Sewer Committee. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Davis called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSBOOK 28 WORK SESSION, OCTOBER 15, 2001 PAGE 850 Motion: Commissioner Caster MOVED, SECONDED by Commissioner Pritchett, to adjourn the meeting. Chairman Davis adjourned the meeting at 2:45 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Lucie F. Harrell Clerk to the Board