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2023-01-05 Agenda Review NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 35 AGENDA REVIEW, JANUARY 5, 2023 PAGE 600 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met January 5, 2023 for Agenda Review at 4:02 p.m. in the Harrell Conference Room at the New Hanover County Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. Members present: Chair Bill Rivenbark; Vice-Chair LeAnn Pierce; Commissioner Jonathan Barfield, Jr.; Commissioner Deb Hays; and Commissioner Rob Zapple. Staff present: County Manager Chris Coudriet; County Attorney Wanda M. Copley; and Clerk to the Board Kymberleigh G. Crowell. Chair Rivenbark 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 January 9, 2023 Regular Meeting with discussions as noted: Consent Agenda Item #5: Approval of Lease Agreement with The Healing Place of New Hanover County, Inc. In response to Board questions, Chief Financial Officer Eric Credle stated that The Healing Place (THP) would be responsible for routine maintenance repairs, while the County would be responsible for capital expenditures which would include repairs such as the HVAC system. The County’s insurance covers the facility, fencing, and contents it is providing, while THP will have insurance to cover anything that they put into the facility. Chief Facilities Officer Sara Warmuth stated that as part of the construction contract, the County is supplying starter equipment such as the first round of linens, towels, sheets, and cooking equipment. THP will be responsible for replacing or adding items as needed. THP is scheduled to open in February, but she does not have an exact date. Discussion ensued about Trillium’s role in the lease agreement. County Manager Coudriet stated that Trillium has the operating agreement with the local nonprofit to operate THP model and is not a signatory to the lease agreement. The financial exchange is the County-owned facility, which is being leased to Trillium’s selected contractor, not Trillium. Trillium is not paying the County back for the construction costs and agreed to having its annual appropriation adjusted, which the Board approved through an amendment some years ago. The direct appropriation to Trillium shrinks by the amount of debt service. The land belonged to Trillium and if the County had not agreed to work with THP, Trillium would have taken the land back. He explained that the deal structure has never changed. Trillium provided the land which reduced the costs while the County has permanent title to the building and pays the debt. The County, as agreed to by Trillium, takes money from Trillium’s annual appropriation to pay the debt service because the County cannot reduce mental health and substance use funding from the baseline established in the prior year. The Board approved purchasing bed nights, so the County will be paying for those but again, the facility operations are the responsibility of THP and Trillium. Regular Item #9: Consideration of Adoption of the Code of Ethics for the Current Board Members and Adoption of Amended Rules of Procedure for Meetings of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners Manual. In response to Board questions, Clerk Crowell stated that the only adjustments to the documents were to reflect the current Board. Regular Item #10: Consideration of Appointments of County Commissioners to Various Boards and Committees for 2023. Chair Rivenbark reported the following changes to the draft list in the agenda packet:  Commissioner Hays will serve on the Cape Fear Museum Advisory Board  Chair Rivenbark will serve on the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors  Vice-Chair Pierce will serve on the Wilmington-New Hanover Port, Waterway and Beach Commission Regular Item #13: Consideration of a Resolution to Establish Criteria for Determining when the Design- Build Delivery Method is Appropriate for County Construction Projects. Commissioner Zapple requested that the last line of Criteria 3 in the policy be amended to read, “…ensure that the design-build firm will provide a quality project within the budget and time constraints established by the Board of Commissioners.” County Manager Coudriet stated that as part of Mr. Credle’s presentation on Monday, there will be an overview of the subtle differences between design-build and construction manager at risk methods. Regular Item #14: Consideration of a Budget Amendment and Award of Contract for the Leachate Membrane Bioreactor Replacement Capital Project. A brief discussion was held about the ability to provide funding for this project as well as the lagoon relining capital project. Environmental Management Director Joe Suleyman stated that funds have already been borrowed from the general fund which reduces his department’s budget. As to the option to increase sales tax funds one time to pay for the project, County Manager Coudriet stated that borrowing the funds from the general fund would be a better option. He reiterated Mr. Suleyman’s comments that costs would be driven up as the enterprise fund, by policy, is required to pay back funds to the general fund. Mr. Suleyman stated that deferring the lagoon project would allow the department time to rebuild the capital project to pay cash for the relining project. In response to Board questions, County Manager Coudriet stated that the Board could increase the tipping fee in the next budget if that is the desire. In response to further Board questions, Mr. Suleyman stated that he would like to have the lagoon project completed next year but a one to two-year delay will not be detrimental. There are plans in place for significant weather events should one take place before the project can be completed. Also, there is no capacity to complete both projects at the same time. Regular Item #15: Public Hearing of Rezoning Request (Z22-18) - Request by Cindee Wolf with Design Solutions, applicant, on behalf of Giovanni Ippolito and Tanya Vlacancich, property owners, to rezone approximately 4.65 acres of land located at 6634 Carolina Beach Road from R-15, Residential to (CZD) RMF-M, Residential Multi-Family - Moderate Density for a multi-family development. Planning and Land Use Director NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 35 AGENDA REVIEW, JANUARY 5, 2023 PAGE 601 Rebekah Roth stated that the applicant has sent an email stating their intent to withdraw the application on Monday. County Attorney Copley stated that the Board would need to vote on Monday to approve the application withdrawal. After a brief discussion by the Board, the consensus was for formal action to be taken at the beginning of Monday’s meeting on the withdrawal request. Staff was directed to send out a communication to the public, media, and those who submitted online comments about the potential withdrawal of the application before Monday’s meeting. Regular Item #16: Public Hearing of Rezoning Request (Z22-21) - Request by Paramounte Engineering, applicant, on behalf of the Cornelius E Nixon Revocable Trust, Cornelius Nixon Trust, and Nixon Associates, LLC, property owners, to rezone four parcels totaling approximately 9.75 acres of land located at 7011 Ruth Avenue from B-2, Regional Business and R-15, Residential to (CZD) RMF-M, Residential Multi-Family – Moderate Density for a multi-family development. In response to Board questions, Ms. Roth stated that she will confirm that the gravesite area will be marked and not impacted by the project. The parcel does connect to Ogden Park via Ogden Park Drive. Ogden Park is not bisected by the Military Cutoff bypass and the power station is to the north of the parcel which is accessible by a small service road off Ogden Park Drive. Regular Item #17: Public Hearing of Rezoning Request (Z22-22) - Request by Samuel Franck with Ward and Smith, P.A., applicant, on behalf of Wilmington Development Group, Inc, property owner, to rezone approximately 7.63 acres of land located at 147 Brentwood Drive from R-15, Residential to (CZD) R-5, Residential for a quadraplex and triplex residential development. In response to Board questions, Ms. Roth stated that the applicant presentation provided at the Planning Board meeting included a connection plan to water and sewer via the Preservation Point development. The applicant is working with Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) to prepare for the connection and the project would not be feasible at the proposed density without connecting to utilities. The applicant has not confirmed a price point but believes that since it is an attached product the units will be less expensive. Staff is supportive of the changes made after the community meeting and understood the community’s concerns regarding the additional entrance. She also explained that a Type A Buffer is a more extensive vegetative buffer that is required by ordinance, although it could be narrower if it includes a fence. Regular Item #18: Public Hearing of Rezoning Request (Z18-02M) - Request by Cindee Wolf with Design Solutions, applicant, on behalf of Bailey & Fuller Properties, LLC, property owner, to modify the CZD zoning of two parcels totaling approximately 3.44 acres of land located at 7887 Market Street from (CZD) B-2, Regional Business and O&I, Office and Institutional to (CZD) B-2, Regional Business. In response to Board questions, Ms. Roth confirmed that the EZDZ district is no longer an option, and no applications can be made to utilize it. As to parking and crossing Raintree Road, the connection was included in the existing conditional zoning on the property and there was a desire to maintain that connectivity. The applicant felt there may be a need for additional parking because of the potential office uses but no conversations were held about a designated cross walk. As to the retention pond, the applicant is planning for an underground retention pond, and based on the engineering, it appears to be feasible for the site. Part of Bump Along Road is paved, and part is not. The applicant has been working on the fourth condition “Subject property owners will participate with all other property owners along Bump Along Road in a road maintenance agreement for their pro-rata road frontage” and the applicant’s representative Cindee Wolf can provide more information about the status of the agreement on Monday. In response to further Board questions, Ms. Roth stated that the applicant did propose the modification of the uses allowed under the current conditional zoning to keep the traffic impact the same or less. Residential units are not permitted with the application. A special use permit application can be submitted in the future if there is a desire to add residential units. ADDITIONAL ITEMS Chair Rivenbark asked County Manager Coudriet to provide an overview of the mental health articles he sent to the Board. County Manager Coudriet stated that one article was regarding the mental health and substance use disorder crisis and the other was specific to the school systems. They were to serve as reminders of the investments the Board has made over the last several years in school based mental health particularly with the Community Resource Coordinators now in schools and the Board’s adopted mental health and substance use strategy and the money that will be used to implement the strategy. Commissioner Zapple reported on a recent New York Times article discussing the reliance of septic systems and wells in the Cape Cod area and the parallels between that area and the Cape Fear area. The article goes into detail about how the septic systems have destroyed the wetlands, shell fishing, and tributaries off the coast of Cape Cod. He commended the work that New Hanover County has done along with the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) so what is happening in the Cape Code area does not happen here. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chair Rivenbark adjourned the meeting at 5:10 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.