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2022-03-17 Agenda Review NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 35 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, MARCH 17, 2022 PAGE 360 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met for Agenda Review on Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 4:15 p.m. 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; Commissioner Jonathan Barfield, Jr.; 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 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 21, 2022 Regular Meeting with discussions as noted: Consent Agenda Item #2: Approval of Amendment to New Hanover County Code of Ordinances Chapter 38. In response to Board questions, Deputy County Manager Tim Burgess stated that the amendment would apply to all County properties and to assist in keeping the properties safe, well-maintained, and attractive. The $50 fine would only be issued after all other efforts fail. Ongoing efforts will continue to be made to work with the homeless community to try to address some of their needs. Individuals can also be charged with trespassing. Deputy County Attorney Kemp Burpeau added that the $50 fine would be a civil penalty. People would be told to leave the property and if they continually refused, at some point they will be cited for trespassing and may be taken to jail. That would be under state law and would go through the criminal process. A brief discussion was held about the homeless issue at the downtown library and efforts that have been made by various organizations to help. Vice-Chair Hays noted that Wilmington Downtown, Inc. (WDI) through the Municipal Service District (MSD) has hired a person that is making progress in trying to get the homeless connected to the services they need. WDI, along with the MSD, is in favor of the request. There have been issues with aggression and people being hurt by the homeless. She has also had conversations with the various people at the City of Wilmington, who are looking at doing something similar because the desire is not for the group to move from one place to the next. Everything that is possible to do has been done to help the situation. Deputy County Manager Burgess stated he has had discussions with Chief Deputy Ken Sarvis about the amendment and the need to work with the non-profit groups that work with the homeless to get their help to try to educate the community about the new ordinance and how it will affect the homeless. The $50 fine is a last resort. Commissioners discussed the need for a safe place for all the homeless to go to, such as The Healing Place, for help and services as well as the need for a day shelter to be located downtown. Commissioner Barfield noted that when the Salvation Army moves to its new location it will leave a void downtown for an overnight shelter. He thinks it will be up to the local governments to figure out a solution to address the homeless issue downtown. Commissioner Zapple expressed appreciation to Mr. Burgess and Mr. Burpeau for their work. It is a last step in a list of things that can be done, but he feels it is a necessary step. Consent Agenda Item #4: Award of Contract to Audit the County’s Financial Statements to Cherry Bekaert LLP. In response to Board questions, Chief Financial Officer Lisa Wurtzbacher stated that many companies keep the same auditing firm for several years. The request for proposal (RFP) was put out to make sure the County was getting the best price and service. Overall, what is occurring in the industry are the rules, regulations, and other items that must be audited are getting much more complicated and more effort is required on the auditors’ part. The only respondent to the RFP was Cherry Bekaert. Consent Agenda Item #7: Adoption of Budget Amendments. In response to Board questions, Ms. Wurtzbacher explained that for budget amendment 22-064 once the grant funding runs out the position will end unless the Board decides to appropriate funds. It is made clear to applicants that the position is grant funded and there is no guarantee the position will continue once the funds run out. Applicants are also required to sign a form that they understand the position type. Regular Item #10: Consideration of Funding for Wilmington Multi-modal Transportation Center Phase 1B. In response to Board questions, Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO) Executive Director Mike Kozlosky stated that he would appreciate the Board’s support of the request. The request is for funding assistance to cover the financial shortfall for the construction of the WMPO office space at 525 North Fourth Street. The shortfall is due to rising construction costs and the bid was approximately $650,000 over the cost estimate. Staff wanted to be conservative in the numbers in order to not return with another funding request. The next step would be to rebid the project and start construction as quick as possible. He provided a history of the property, an overview the project costs, how the Surface Transportation Block Grant - Direct Attributable (STBG-DA) funding cannot be used if the historic building is razed, and the work needed to renovate the building. The request is for the County to provide $165,793. A brief discussion was held about the funding options that are being assessed for the replacement of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge. Regular Item #11: Consideration of a Sales Tax Referendum. In response to Board questions, County Manager Coudriet stated that Assistant County Manager Sheryl Kelly and Ms. Wurtzbacher would provide an NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 35 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, MARCH 17, 2022 PAGE 361 overview of the steps that need to be taken if the Board chose to move forward with placing the referendum on the November ballot. A public hearing must be held not less than 60 days before the November ballot. If so directed, staff will begin the process and would recommend the public hearing be held in June or July. This will allow ample time for the Board to withdraw the question from the ballot if it decides not to proceed. Regular Item #12: Consideration of Resolution Authorizing the Negotiation of an Amendment to an Installment Financing Contract Directing the Publication of Notice with Respect Thereto, Declaring the Intent of the County to Reimburse Itself for Capital Expenditures from Proceeds Thereof, and Providing for Certain Other Related Matters Thereto. In response to Board questions, Ms. Wurtzbacher stated the request is the first step to issue the debt. The existing contract with the New Hanover County Financing Corporation will also need to be amended to issue more debt. Regular Item #13: Update on American Rescue Plan (ARPA) Framework. In response to Board questions, Ms. Wurtzbacher stated that an update will be provided on where the County is programmatically and financially as it relates to the ARPA framework. Regular Agenda Item #14: Public Hearing and Text Amendment Request (TA22-01) - Request by New Hanover County to Modify Articles 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the Unified Development Ordinance to Update Permissions and Standards for Wireless Telecommunications Facilities and to Perform Technical Fixes to Various Ordinance Provisions. In response to Board questions, Planning and Land Use Director Rebekah Roth provided a brief overview of the request noting that it was drafted based on direction received from the Board during an agenda review meeting in 2021. The amendments would be to adjust telecommunication standards to allow for more context and sensitivity to nearby residential neighborhoods. Request to add an additional item to the Consent Agenda. Commissioner Zapple provided a brief overview of the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority resolution request that asks for members of the North Carolina Legislature to allocate funding for a ten-mile parallel line for the purposes of redundancy, reliability, and emergency management. By Board consensus, the matter will be added to the Consent Agenda. STAFF UPDATES Wilmington Housing Authority. Chief Diversity and Equity Officer Linda Thompson and Emergency Management Director Steven Still provided an update on the displacement of the Wilmington Housing Authority’s (WHA) residents due to mold remediation and the efforts of County staff to help. There have weekly meetings with WHA to receive updates and to try and help ensure that the displaced residents get the services and help they need. About six weeks ago there were approximately 500 displaced residents. As of today, the number is 138 families (138 adults and 218 children) for a total of 356 displaced residents. The majority are in hotels, and a fraction of them are living in corporate apartments and other rental properties. Also, mold was recently discovered in another nine apartments, and those families will be moved into temporary housing. There have been 35 families that have moved back into their homes, and ten units are currently ready to be occupied. Efforts such as a furniture collection drive, providing mental health workers, and several other resources are being provided to make sure residents get needed services. The team is going to contact the NC Emergency Management office about disaster recovery funds and also look at potential Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding. However, Ms. Thompson and Mr. Still feel the best local approach is to work with the New Hanover Disaster Coalition (NHDC). NHDC is currently doing a needs assessment with families and has put out a survey of unmet needs. The County team would like to officially task NHDC with providing case management. NHDC was able to provide this type of service after Hurricane Florence. The County team will work with NHDC to find out what it needs to provide the case management. A brief discussion was held about WHA having difficulty finding laborers to do the work. Ms. Thompson stated that the labor issue has been resolved, but the issue now is funding. County Manager Coudriet stated that WHA has a supplemental request into HUD. It is using all of its annual appropriation to keep the families housed in temporary spaces and therefore, does not have the working capital to do the improvements. The request has been submitted to HUD in the Washington, DC office rather than the Greensboro, NC office. The Healing Place. Facilities Management Project Manager Kevin Caison presented the following update on the Healing Place of New Hanover County project and review project site photos:  Healing Place of New Hanover County:  Consists of five buildings with a total square footage of 61,787 square feet:  Detox building: 6,289 square feet  Administration/education building: 16,863 square feet  Dining/shelter/storage building: 19,999 square feet  Women’s residential building: 9,388 square feet  Men’s residential building: 9,248 square feet  Project schedule:  Construction started: February 2, 2021  Construction substantial completion: August 31,2022  Furniture and equipment installation: September 2022  Punch list completion: September 30, 2022 NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 35 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, MARCH 17, 2022 PAGE 362  Healing Place staff moves in and begins operation: TBD by Healing Place (October 1,2022 or later)  Budget:  Overall budget: $24,034,315  Construction: $20,508,522  FFE, direct contracts, misc.: $1,940,544  Design, consultants, SI, and testing: $1,585,249 In response to Board questions, Chief Facilities Officer Sara Warmuth stated that a tour has been setup for the Board and Executive Leadership Team on April 28, 2022. Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Strategy. Chief Strategy Officer Jennifer Rigby stated with the creation of the mental health and substance use disorder fund and the opioid settlement funds, staff is in the process of crafting a mental health and substance use disorder strategy that is a comprehensive approach. Staff has put together a group of stakeholders, providers, community partners, judicial system partners, and other staff that are close to the boots on the ground. It is anticipated that the first working meeting will be on April 23, 2022. There will be six to eight meetings every two weeks to develop a strategy to present to the Board in late July or early August. A brief discussion was held about the recent Star News article about a report showing North Carolina ranked at the bottom of the list as far as mental health and behavioral health. County Manager Coudriet reported that Chief Communications Officer Jessica Loeper and HHS Director Donna Fayko, along with others, were working on a pitch back to the Star News about the article because it did not paint an accurate picture of what is happening in this county, and in fact suggested that Wilmington is deficient. Staff does not think that to be the case. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chair Olson-Boseman adjourned the meeting at 5:15 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.