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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-01-21 Reconvened Remote Meeting NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 RECONVENED REMOTE MEETING, JANUARY 21, 2021 PAGE 754 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners held a reconvened remote meeting of the Tuesday, January 19, 2021 remote meeting, on Thursday, January 21, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. in the Andre’ Mallette Training Rooms at the New Hanover County Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. Chair Olson-Boseman stated that the meeting is being conducted as a permissible remote meeting pursuant to North Carolina General Statute (NCGS) 166A-19.24. Members present: Chair Julia Olson-Boseman (remote); Vice-Chair Deb Hays; Commissioner Jonathan Barfield, Jr. (remote); Commissioner Bill Rivenbark; and Commissioner Rob Zapple. Staff present: County Manager Chris Coudriet; County Attorney Wanda M. Copley; and Clerk to the Board Kymberleigh G. Crowell. Chair Olson-Boseman stated that the notice of public hearings for the January 19, 2021 County Commissioners meeting provided for the possibility that the meeting may be a remote meeting pursuant to NCGS 166A-19.24 and that public comments would be received for 24-hours after any public hearing item. While each th public hearing item from January 19 was closed, each are subject to the possibility of the hearing being re-opened if public comments were received during the 24-hour period. During today’s meeting, the Board will need to vote th on whether to ratify the votes taken on the public hearing items during the January 19 meeting. For public hearing th items 18 through 24 from the January 19 meeting, the Clerk to the Board has notified the Board that no public comments were received during the 24-hour period. Hearing no further discussion, Chair Olson-Boseman asked for a motion to ratify the votes taken by the Board on public hearing items 18 through 24 during the meeting on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. MOTION: Vice-Chair Hays MOVED, SECONDED by Commissioner Barfield, to ratify the votes taken by the Board on public hearing items 18 through 24 during the meeting on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. Upon roll call vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ADDITIONAL ITEMS OF BUSINESS Beach Nourishment Update. Shore Protection Coordinator Layton Bedsole stated that the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) fiscal year 2021 work plan released last Tuesday did not include the three nourishment projects for Wrightsville, Carolina, and Kure beaches. As such, there is no federal funding for these projects which were supposed to take place in the fall of 2021. It is not known why and staff is inquiring for more information. At this point, the options are: 1) to continue to look for other options of funding for the projects; 2) for the County, the state, and the beach communities to move forward and build the projects this fall; 3) to postpone the projects for one year in order to get the Corps re-engaged and move forward one year later. Regarding option 2, the annual shoreline surveys were completed this past year and the goal was to give the Corps the data early so they could build the projects. The final results should be received by February or early March. A scope of work and fee schedule were requested for preparing plans and specifications, bidding, advertising, construction, and contract management, and the cost proposal should be received by the end of January. As part of trying to keep all of these options open and viable, Mr. Bedsole recommended to proceed with preparing the plans and specifications for all three beaches in the event the County decides to proceed with the projects this fall. If the third option is selected and if the Corps is again not funded, the plans and specifications will be viable and usable for the following year. Chair Olson-Boseman announced that NC Attorney General Josh Stein issued a no objection letter for the sale of New Hanover Regional Medical Center (NHRMC). The sale of NHRMC is official as of February 1, 2021. She looks forward to the new opportunities this will bring for the County. Mr. Bedsole continued the update stating that staff is working to still take action on the projects as scheduled. Keith Smith, Managing Director of Prime Policy Group, stated his team is trying to do everything to help the Corps fix the issue of funding. There are possible new bills that could potentially help with funding. The congressional delegation is fully engaged on this matter both locally in the County and in Washington, D.C. Senator Burr, Senator Tillis, and Congressman Rouzer are all aware of the situation and have offered to assist as needed. In response to Board questions, Mr. Bedsole stated the dredges have not been reserved for the projects in the fall. The surveys are held annually in late winter or early spring, so whichever option is used, the latest survey information would be used for that option. The dredge reservations are a cumbersome process, and once the plans and specifications are received, the next step would be to determine whether to advertise and receive bids, and whether to proceed forward with the contract. That decision would most likely be made in August or September. A brief discussion was held regarding beach nourishment and projects requested by the Corps for the Port of Wilmington which were also stricken from the work plan. As to the dredges, Mr. Bedsole stated there are several dredge companies that have worked on the County’s projects before and he is confident that could be set up in time for this fall. There are a mix of projects throughout the state that are federally funded or funded locally, either on the front end or after a project is completed. The County is working on funding upfront. The Corps’ estimation for all three beach projects this fall was $37,885,000. County Manager Coudriet stated there is about $45 million in the sand fund. One of the Board’s priorities is a state policy where the state will match 50% of the local cost for nourishment projects when there is no federal money received. For the room occupancy tax (ROT) funds, Chief Financial Officer Lisa Wurtzbacher stated in fiscal year 2020, there was $6,119,000 with about $2 million returned to the Tourism Development Authority (TDA), so the County received a total of about $4 million in ROT funds. The Carolina Beach NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 RECONVENED REMOTE MEETING, JANUARY 21, 2021 PAGE 755 and Kure Beach projects are done every three years and Wrightsville Beach is every four years, however this is the year that all three projects are scheduled for the same time. County Manager Coudriet stated the beach towns and the County have secured permits that would allow them to do the projects if they need to be done alone. There was a time in the past when federal funding was uncertain and a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was in place for the County and the beach towns with obligations of how much money to put forward in the absence of a federal project. That MOU expired as none of the beach towns wanted to renew, partly because the federal government did commit to funding. The County is optimistic the state will continue funding it at some point in the future. If there is no federal support, there are a handful of nourishment cycles available and predicated on the assumption that the state will participate, which is why the County has worked aggressively to get the state to agree to match the funding. Staff can do an analysis to see how long the County can afford to do these projects without federal support. County Manager Coudriet further stated that at either the first or second Board meeting in February, a budget amendment would be presented to fund plan specifications. Chair Olson-Boseman stated she would like the County to look at raising the ROT and wants to find a dedicated source for beach nourishment as sand is important for protecting the beaches and it is a vital part of the County. She also wants staff to have this discussion with the local legislative delegation. Commissioner Zapple expressed his support and stated that the County needs to look at the long-term plan, include the beach towns in the conversation, and look to increase the ROT. Commissioner Rivenbark also expressed his support for this. County Manager Coudriet stated what was received a few weeks ago from the Corps was about re-authorization for the work plan and it was not for funding, but gave the opportunity for the Corps to ask congress for funding. Commissioner Barfield expressed his support and stated that he wants staff to look at all options for funding. A brief discussion was held regarding the funding plan for the next 15 years for the beach towns, and how staff is continuing to look into the funding of the projects. Covid-19 Vaccination Update: Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Donna Fayko provided an update on the County’s vaccination efforts. She explained that after a person has received the first vaccine, an appointment card is provided to return for the second dose at the same location. Seniors and healthcare workers that were vaccinated in group 1A had a different process at the time, and are each receiving an email with an appointment slot. Four sites will be administering vaccines next week with three sites setup for second doses and one site dedicated to healthcare workers. The second dose appointments are scheduled either 21 or 28 days after their first vaccine, depending on which vaccine was provided. New Hanover Regional Medical Center (NHRMC) requested to be a mass vaccination site, however, the state was not able to provide NHRMC with the number of vaccines that were requested, which was around 20,000. The state provided 1,800 doses and the Health Department supplemented that amount by transferring 1,950 doses to them. 1,950 doses were also provided to Wilmington Health. Part of the MOU with these partners is that these doses would be available to the general public, not just their patients. Governor Cooper and Secretary Cohen have indicated that there cannot be vaccines left on the shelf. 600,000 vaccinations have been completed in the state. If counties do not use all the allocated doses in seven days, the state is requesting that those doses received be transferred to other locations in the state. The County has not had to transfer any vaccines as it has been administering all the doses received from the state. A brief discussion was held regarding making appointments directly with NHRMC and Wilmington Health. County Manager Coudriet stated those appointments are not limited to patients only but are open to everyone. Further discussion was held regarding shipment notifications from the state and the distribution of doses to local partners. The County has worked with local partners to reach out to the minority population to administer vaccines. Regarding communicating to the public when shipments will arrive, Chief Communications Officer Jessica Loeper stated staff is working on setting up a regular schedule for sending notifications to the public. The hope is by Tuesday or Wednesday of each week the notices can be released, but it depends on when the shipment notifications from the state are received. The public can subscribe on the County website for notifications through email or text for the vaccine updates. At some point, some of the approved partners will be able to receive shipments directly from the state. Discussion was held regarding the phone line capacity to handle vaccine appointments due to the County still fully operating. All of the call center lines are fully operational at other departments, plus there are 100 additional phone lines to hold for an operator and the capacity is limited for the hold times. The County is asking for patience from the community and vaccines are scheduled based on the available resources. An online registration process is being worked on and will be launched soon. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chair Olson-Boseman adjourned the meeting at 12:00 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 online at www.nhcgov.com.