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2021-02-25 Agenda Review NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 35 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 PAGE 1 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met for Agenda Review on Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. via in-person and remote in the Harrell Conference Room at the New Hanover County Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. Members present: Chair Julia Olson-Boseman; Vice-Chair Deb Hays (remote); Commissioner Jonathan Barfield, Jr. (remote); Commissioner Bill Rivenbark; and Commissioner Rob Zapple. Staff present: County Manager Chris Coudriet; County Attorney Wanda Copley; and Clerk to the Board Kymberleigh G. Crowell. Chair Olson-Boseman called the Agenda Review meeting to order and announced that the purpose of the meeting is to review and discuss the agenda items for the March 1, 2021 Regular Meeting with discussions as noted: Consent Item 3. Adoption of a Resolution to Dispose of Surplus Property According to Procedures Outlined in North Carolina General Statute Chapter 160A-Article 12. In regards to the handguns on the auction list, Commissioner Zapple stated those are not for public auction, but must be declared surplus property so the Sheriff’s Office can dispose them through an FFL certified gun dealer. The Sheriff’s Office is going in a different direction as the items on the list are no longer the firearms of choice. Commissioner Zapple noted there are other items available to non-profit organizations before being available to the public. Consent Item 7. Adoption of Budget Amendments. Regarding budget amendment 21-053 for the Florence Disaster Recovery Act (DRA) Grant, Recovery and Resilience Director Beth Schrader stated since the state is responsible for the bidding, contracting, and oversight of construction, it allows the County to focus on case management. Some of the most vulnerable in the population are being assisted by the DRA program. The County will retain $150,000 for housing costs while repairs are being done and to cover administrative costs. $2 million has already been allocated and the grant would allow the County to assist another series of homes. Regarding the process for selecting the houses for repairs, Ms. Schrader stated the Board adopted a policy for the process and her office works with the New Hanover County Disaster Coalition to identify homes for the programs. The Office of State Management and Budget has a disaster group and also works with her department. Regular Item 8. Status Brief: Covid-19 Vaccinations. Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Donna Fayko provided an update on the Covid-19 and vaccination efforts in the County. The total positive cases are 16,100, with 46% of cases being male and 54% female. The state daily percent positive rate as of today is 4.5%, which is th something to celebrate. As of February 20, the 14-day percent positive rate for County is at 6.2%, which is very good. The County is one of 30 counties coded yellow in the alert system and is the best rating to have. The age distribution for the total cases are as follows: 12% are 65 years and older, 18% are 50-60 years old, 21% are 25-49, 6% are 11-17, and 4% are zero to 10 years old. For the race and ethnicity distribution, 65% are Caucasian, 12% are African-American, .8% are Asian, and 18% are unknown. Of the 16,100 positive cases, 14,427 have recovered, 1,433 are active, and only 15 are hospitalized. There is a significant impact of the vaccinations on the number of people being hospitalized. There have been 144 deaths, with 84 being males and 64 females, and 89% were 65 years and th older. As of February 24, HHS has administered 24,439 doses, with 14,353 being first doses and 10,086 were second doses. The hospital has dosed 50,896 which is a combination of both first and second doses. A new weekly distribution baseline has been received for 1,470 doses. The baseline is 1,170 for Pfizer and 300 equity doses. The County is in the second of the new three-week cycle, but has not received this week’s supply due to weather delays. th It was shipped and should be received later today or tomorrow. A large event was held February 24 to serve the educational staff, with 2,240 scheduled for vaccinations. Approximately 300 people were no shows, but it was still a th success. A second event is being planned for next week. There are 1,200 appointments scheduled for February 26 at three sites. A multipronged approach is being planned for Group 3 including prioritization of frontline essential th sector workers. Before opening to Group 3 on March 10, the County desires to get to a saturation point of 72%- 75% with the 65 years and older population as that will get the County to herd immunity, which will help slow down the spread. Regarding the vaccines for no shows, Ms. Fayko stated those doses were saved and will be used for the next event. The event will be held at different hours in order to accommodate work schedules. Regular Item 9. Public Hearing Rezoning Request (Z21-01) – Request by Ward and Smith, P.A. on Behalf of the Property Owner, Dry Pond Partners, LLC, to Rezone Approximately 64.28 Acres of Land Located in the 4400 Block of S. College Road, from R-15, Residential District, to PD, Planned Development District, in Order to Develop a Mixed-Use Project. Planning and Land Use Director Rebekah Roth stated a traffic engineer from the applicant group would be present as well as Kayla Grubb from the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO) to address the traffic questions. A brief discussion was held regarding the traffic pattern for the project. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chair Olson-Boseman adjourned the meeting at 4:21 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kymberleigh G. Crowell Clerk to the Board Please note that the above minutes are not a verbatim of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners meeting.