HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.054.93011_1072 (2)planning board members needed to say if any "tools" were needed from the
commissioners to address the issues.
Fields said there seemed to be much "catch up" work occurring in regards to the
growth that had already occurred. He said it was important to provide direction for the
future, and it was just as important to have a "thick skin" to implement the direction or
vision.
Mashburn asked if there was a "unified vision" on where the county needed to be
in 20 years.
Fields said the vision fell upon the commissioners, with input from the planning
board and staff.
Commissioner Johnson said small area plans needed to be continued.
Voting Centers for One Stop Voting: Board of Elections Chairman Alan
Carpenter, and Elections Board Member Jim Dobson, along with Elections Director
Becky Galliher presented proposals for a one-stop voting center at the Union Grove Fire
Department and the Mooresville Town Office. They said the centers would be ready for
the November general election at a cost of $14,224 in Union Grove and $16,516 in
Mooresville.
Connect CTY: John Schmidt said his company, Connect CTY, could provide a
real time communication system to alert county citizens about accidents, health concerns,
and/or disasters. He said no hardware, software, or additional phone lines were needed,
and about 393,000 calls could be placed in one minute. He said the difference between
this system and Reverse 911 was the speed. Schmidt said Reverse 911 was about 25
years old, and only 16 calls could be placed at a time. He said the Connect CTY cost
would be $171,000 annually per line.
Mashburn said Mr. Schmidt had been invited to the retreat to inform the board
members about the system's availability and cost. He said that if the county wanted to
pursue the technology, the municipalities would be asked to share in the cost.
Goals
County Manager Mashburn mentioned the Visions Project or the Strategic
Planning Process that occurred in the late 1980s. He asked the board members if they felt
a similar project, or a comprehensive approach for future planning, was again needed.
It was the consensus of the board members to allow the manager to proceed with
the strategic planning process. Mashburn said he understood it would be up to him to
draft a blueprint for the plan that would be broad in scope initially, with later components
to be narrowed down.
Commissioner Robertson said caution was needed "on how far down the road the
board chose to look and the chosen projects." Robertson said answers to the following
three questions needed to be included in the plan.
1. What level of population growth does the local government think it can
manage?
2. Where do we put industry?
3. How do we retain agricultural interests in the county?
Tracy Jackson asked for emergency service needs to be included in the plan.
Commissioner Norman mentioned the groups or programs already in place. He
mentioned the School Facilities Task Force, the Angelou Study for the Mooresville area,
the Farmland Preservation Board/Program, and the study being conducted by the City
Statesville. He said the pieces were already in place for a plan. Norman said the
emergency services component just needed to be added.
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