HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.054.93010_03744. The Board further acknowledges the very diJJ?cuh task of the Oversight Committee and supports its
efforts to assure an effective mental health system in North Carolina.
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REQUEST FROM WEST IREDELL VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR A
LETTER OF ENDORSEMENT CONCERNING THE PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF
A SUBSTATION ON SHARON SCHOOL ROAD: Fire Marshal Gallyon said the West Iredell
VFD was proposing to build a substation on land that was already owned. He said the
construction cost would be approximately $120,000. Gallyon said the department already had the
necessary trucks. Mr. Gallyon said the Fire'rax District Board (FTDB) was informed in
November of 1997 about the possible construction of the station to be located between Interstate
40 and Hwy. 70.
Commissioner Bowles said there had been membership changes on the Fire "fax Board. He
also said the discussion about the substation at the 1997 Fire Tax Board District meeting
happened before a request was made in 1999 for a debt reduction plan. Mr. Bowles said he
would like for the substation issue to be approved or addressed by the current FTDB members.
Commissioner Johnson said he wanted to make sure the FTDB that was charged with
retiring the VFD debt, using surplus revenues, understood that a new substation would increase
the debt.
MOTION by Commissioner Williams to request the fire marshal and the West Iredell
Volunteer Fire Department to obtain an endorsement for the substation construction from the Fire
Tax District Board.
VOTING: Ayes - 5; Nays - 0.
Commissioner Ray clarified the board's position by saying a reconfirmation by the present
Fire Tax District Board was what the board of commissioners was seeking.
DEBT REDUCTION PLAN- Commissioner Johnson said he also wanted the Fire 'fax
District Board to know the commissioners were still waiting on a debt reduction plan. Johnson
questioned how much larger the fund balance was going to get before a plan of action occurred
to start reducing the debt. Johnson said that in 1999, it was the commissioners' desire to pay
down the fire department's debts, in order to achieve a certain point where there would be enough
money to pay cash for the fire trucks and turnout gear.
Commissioner Williams said Mr. Johnson's concerns were also felt by the members of the
FTDB. He said the fire tax board members had asked repeatedly for assistance in obtaining the
financial records for the development of a debt reduction formula.
County Manager Mashburn said Centralina Council ofGoverments, the agency contracted
to produce the debt reduction plan, had experienced difficulty in obtaining the necessary
information from the fire departments. He said that with inadequate information, it was difficult
to develop a debt -payoff schedule,
s
office to obtain the debt information. She said that basically what had been submitted was l't seen any
a
Finance Director Blumenstein said Centralina had been working through the fire marsha
compilation ofdebt information from the annual reports. Blumenstein said she had no
information that could be utilized in adecision-making tool — the submitted information was just
a summary of what was available in the annual reports.
Commissioner Johnson requested that Commissioner Williams discuss the matter with
FTDB and to develop some guidelines on when the information would be submitted.