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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 3, 2018 regular minutes 1 April 3, 2018 IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PRE-AGENDA MINUTES April 3, 2018 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in pre-agenda session on Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at 5:00 PM, in the Iredell County Government Center (South Wing Conference Room), 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. Board Members Present Chairman James B. Mallory III Vice Chairman Tommy Bowles Jeff McNeely Marvin Norman Board Members Absent Gene Houpe Staff present: Interim County Manager Beth Jones, County Attorney Lisa Valdez, Assistant County Manager Susan Robertson, Finance Director Deb Alford, Strategic Planner Ben Stikeleather, and Clerk to the Board Retha Gaither. CALL TO ORDER: Chairman James Mallory called the meeting to order. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA: Interim County Manager Beth Jones made the following adjustments: Add: Closed Session – Property Acquisition G.S. 143-318.11 (a) (5) and Economic Development G.S. 143-318.11 (a) (4). PUBLIC HEARING Public hearing to consider a request (Case #1803-1) from KAMCO, Inc. to rezone approximately one acre on Brawley School Road: Planning Director Matthew Todd stated the Planning Board voted 6-0 for this straight request and there was no opposition at the meeting. A few phone calls expressed concerns about an access on Webbed Foot Road. The request fits the land use plan and staff supports it. The property is already zoned RO and the owner is asking for NB which is similar. There is no outdoor storage of equipment or product. There will be a 20-foot buffer requirement that would go between the RO and RA. Commissioner McNeely asked about the buffer between zonings. Todd said there are no screening requirements between commercial zoning districts unless a house was in the RO. Vice Chairman Bowles asked about the other property owned by KAMCO and possible rezonings. Todd said the owners have not made application for rezoning other property. Vice Chairman Bowles asked about the RO Conditional Use District. Todd said that was in 2006 for screening and no outdoor storage. After 2006 this was basically made part of the ordinance. In order to avoid having to make RO and NB conditional, because they are not intense districts, the common things that were being set as conditions were put in the ordinance so they now apply across the board. 2 April 3, 2018 Public hearing to consider a request (Case #1803-2) from Robert Tarr to rezone approximately 13.579 acres on Flower House Loop: Planning Director Matthew Todd this request is conditional. It is between Flower House Loop and I-77 just south of Exit 42. Planning Board voted 6-0 in support and there was no opposition. Because this is conditional there was a public input meeting held. Staff supports this request. Vice Chairman Bowles asked about a small piece of property in the middle and if this would create a donut hole. Todd said the Land Use Plan matches that general area. Vice Chairman Bowles asked to reiterate that adult oriented businesses are excluded. Todd said that is correct. Public hearing calling for the closure of an unnamed road and dedicated road right - of-way, located off Campanile Drive, in Mooresville and consider adopting an Order to Close said road right-of-way: Planning Director Matthew Todd said that when the subdivision was platted there was a required stub-out to the south and since then one person has purchased properties on both sides. To make use of the land they are proposing to abandon the right-of-way and move the stub-out to the edge of the property which meets the requirements for connectivity. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Request from Planning and Development for approval of amendments to the Plat Review Officer Listing for Iredell County: Planning Director Matthew Todd said this is just to update the Review Officer List which is recorded in the Regist er of Deeds. There are changes in staff and therefore the list needs to be updated. This item was placed on the consent agenda. Iredell County Plat Review Officer Listing Iredell County Matthew Todd William Allison Rebecca Harper Rich Hoffman Town of Mooresville Rawls Howard Timothy D. Brown Craig Culberson Maureen Gable City of Statesville David Currier Sherry Ashley Elaine Anthony Town of Troutman Erika Martin Request from Planning and Development for approval of documents related to the Essential Single-Family Rehabilitation Pool Program: Planning Director Matthew Todd said this is the second time for this process. The preliminary approval was submitted in November. The grant of $175,000 was awarded and there is no match required. This will cover five units. As the money is used Iredell County can revisit the pool for additional funds as long as they remain available. Vice Chairman Bowles asked who pays Benchmark and how much do they make. 3 April 3, 2018 Todd said Benchmark is paid $10,000 per unit and it comes from the grant. The amount is set by the federal grant agency. This item was placed on the consent agenda. Request from the Finance Department to award a formally bid contract to Advance One Development to construct improvements to the Solid Waste Landfill Gas System: Solid Waste Director David Lambert asked for the award of a contract to construct landfill gas system improvements, specifically transmission lines from Phase 5 of the landfill. Municipal Engineering designed the line and assisted with the bidding process. Advance One Development had the lowest bid. The total amount of $405,634 will be paid out of the Solid Waste Land Improvements’ budget. The production of landfill gas is currently lagging a bit due to the cold winter but there are contractual obligations and this system would be necessary within a couple of years to comply with regulations. Also, it is requested for permission to be given to the County Manager to sign the contract. This item was placed on the consent agenda. Request from the County Attorney to discuss a Notice to Government Entities Receiving Court Costs and Fines: County Attorney Lisa Valdez stated the law changed in December that require local governments or entities to have notice that the judge was going to waive the court cost for a defendant. This requires a notice of 15 days. However, this Board could enter a standing objection for court costs not to be waived without Valdez appearing in person for each case. This would remain on record until this Board removes it. Vice Chairman Bowles asked for an example where it might be beneficial to waive costs. Valdez could not think of such an incident. This will be for individuals and criminal cases. The standing objection doesn’t waive the notice. Request from the Clerk to the Board for approval of minutes from the meeting on March 20, 2018: There were a couple of corrections. This item was placed on the consent agenda. Chairman Mallory moved the Board into Closed Session at 6:00 PM. The Board recessed from Closed Session at 6:40 until the regular meeting at 7:00 PM. IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MINUTES April 3, 2018 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, April 3, 2018, at 7:00 PM, in the Iredell County Government Center (Commissioners’ Meeting Room), 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. Board Members Present Chairman James B. Mallory III Vice Chairman Tommy Bowles Jeff McNeely Marvin Norman 4 April 3, 2018 Board Members Absent Gene Houpe Staff present: Interim County Manager Beth Jones, County Attorney Lisa Valdez, Assistant County Manager Susan Robertson, Finance Director Deb Alford, Strategic Planner Ben Stikeleather, and Clerk to the Board Retha Gaither. CALL TO ORDER by Chairman Mallory. INVOCATION: Chairman Mallory asked everyone to bow their heads for a moment of silence and to keep Commissioner Houpe’s daughter in their prayers as she just had emergency surgery. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE led by Chairman Mallory. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA Interim County Manager Beth Jones made the following adjustments: Add: Closed Session – Property Acquisition G. S. 143-318.11 (a) (5) and Economic Development G.S. 143-318.11 (a) (4); Appointment Before the Board – Kent Greene will give a brief update on the state-wide hurricane exercise; New Business – Commissioner McNeely will share some updates on CRTPO and the proposed bridge across the Catawba. MOTION by Commissioner Norman to approve the agenda as adjusted. VOTING: Ayes – 4; Nays – 0 PRESENTATION OF SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS & AWARDS (None) APPOINTMENTS BEFORE THE BOARD Update on EOC Hurricane Exercise: Fire and Emergency Services Director Kent Greene said Iredell County is currently participating in a state wide hurricane exercise which is preparation to respond to a hurricane very similar to Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Even though it is state-wide, the path scenario of the exercise is mainly geared toward the western counties. All county departments are represented. The Emergency Operations Center began this morning at 7:30 with an activation, a shift change took place at 1:00 and it ended for the day just before 5:00. The same thing will happen tomorrow to allow some of the alternates to get more practice. Chairman Mallory expressed appreciation to all the members of emergency services and all departments that are involved with shelter, food, and restoration of basic services. Presentation for Edge Factor by Jessica Stewart, Director of Communications for Iredell Economic Development Corporation: Jessica Stewart stated that in 2015, the County created strategic framework that outlined economic development, education, and work force development as a focus for the County. That vision brought all the parties together to talk about the real problem – the skills and interest gap. The problem not only affects the local economy but also nationally. The Edge Factor provides regional solutions to national challenges. Georgetown University’s Center for Education and Workforce suggests that 65% of all new openings by 2020 will require some form of post-secondary education or training. Many of these jobs will be in 5 April 3, 2018 healthcare and manufacturing. This study also suggests that the U.S. will fall short by 5 million workers with post-secondary education at the current production rate. However, Iredell County partners, along with industry, are working together to build and bridge that skilled labor gap. The Edge Factor is a company whose mission is to align and engage students, teachers, and parents to connect the dots from curriculum to industry through innovative story telling. They have created a tool that can be implemented with curriculum already being taught. It is desired to launch this program into middle and high schools in the fall of 2018. This program re-enforces what is taught in the classroom, teaches soft skills, and connects the dots from math, science, engineering, arts and technology concepts to real life. There is also a business platform with Edge Factor which will be launched in the summer of 2018. This will allow a business to create ‘touch points’ which are pathways and information. Companies are not able to market in the schools but students can reach out to companies. The ‘touch point’ will allow a company to market their jobs within a 30 -mile radius of schools. A live event will be offered to eighth graders this fall. Commissioner Norman asked about the funding. Stewart said the education platform is a licensed subscription based platform. Each school will have a license at $900 each. One year for 21 schools equals $18,900 with a three-year commitment. It is important to launch this in the middle and high schools to build a pipeline. Chairman Mallory asked if this would be funded through the Economic Development Corporation. Stewart yes that is correct. Conversation has begun with the two school systems to talk about the process of implementation and installation on their devices. Commissioner McNeely asked if the eighth grade live performance would be open to parents. Stewart said there would be three live student events. One for teachers and counselors training and one in the evening for parents as well as the student event. Chairman Mallory asked about the cost to businesses. Stewart said a business license is $600 to create unlimited amount of touch points which allows them to upload videos, job descriptions, info about internships, etc. Chairman Mallory asked about Mitchell Community College to engage potential workforce after school. Stewart said MCC will have their own individual license for their campus to have in the classroom but also when they are enrolling students. Edge Factor is very creative and will continuously work toward improvements. Chairman Mallory said, “This is exciting and important stuff. When our Economic Development Team, consisting of Commissioner McNeely and myself, work with the Economic Development Corporations, previously the Mooresville South Iredell Economic Development Corporation and the Statesville Regional Development Corporation which are merging to create an Iredell County Economic Development Corporation effective 1 July 2018 , which will enable us to market all of the opportunities to businesses throughout the County understanding that each area has unique characteristics to offer to businesses. Before they have shown up on the door step 6 April 3, 2018 of one development corporation and if it wasn’t quite the right fit then they just disappeared and went someplace else in the state or southeast or wherever. This way we are able to share all areas of the county and market more effectively the opportunities that we have for business. But as our Economic Development Task Force is working on that perspective our Education Task Force with Commissioner Norman and Commissioner Houpe have been engaged in working with the schools to lash up an understanding between our roles as commissioners and their roles as boards of education and be able to focus on achieving the desired commonly held goal of educating our children and giving them the best start in life. What we discovered, we’ve been successful in recruiting industry, you know we’ve had five projects that have been announced probably in the last nine months that combine nearly 1,000 jobs and some $87 million worth of investment in Iredell County. In the pipeline, they haven’t been announced yet, but there are at least 10 projects that can add another 500+ jobs and another $300+ million in investment. Iredell County has the basic building blocks for business when they come and look. It’s got good infrastructure, we have good infrastructure, we have good quality of life, we have good schools, we have transportation, obviously with two interstates, all the water and sewer that can reach/service most of those companies and we have available land. But the long pole in the tent today is workforce. Any company that’s coming wants to know, are we going to be able to provide a stable and educated workforce to be able to meet their needs in advance manufacturing or advance logistics or whatever it is they are looking at doing. Workforce development has become more of an issue particularly since our unemployment rate, in the last three years, has gone from 7% to around 4% which is traditionally considered a full emplo yment number. When companies have come to us as a Board, seeking reasons to locate in Iredell County they will often ask about the workforce issue. Fortunately, we’ve been able to tell them yes, we can get you that workforce. A large reason for that is because we have a large number of folks coming from other counties surrounding us into Iredell County, we are an employment center. Almost 20,000 workers come into this county from some other county surrounding us on a daily basis. We’ve been able to say yea we have a pipeline. If we don’t have it right here, we have a pipeline in our neighboring counties. But we can’t count on that, not forever. That’s been an opportunity that will diminish over time as other counties begin to develop their own employment centers and people choose to work closer to home. We certainly don’t want to have to create a pipeline out-of-state so where does the other pipeline come from. It comes internally. What really hit home to us as commissioners, I think, was when one potential business indicating yes we want to hire 150 people and build a plant, is that going to be a problem. No, no problem. But then they say, if we’re going to add two or three additional shifts that’s what’s in our five-year plan. Businesses actually plan five and ten years down the road. And we’re going to add another 300. That’s a large number and five years from now, in these other counties that may not be available. Where are we going to get folks, five years from now, to fill these jobs? Well, if you do some backwards planning, you think who is going to be graduating from high school available to have learned the skill sets, the soft skills and the certifications to be able to be employed. Those kids that are going to be hired five years from now are seventh graders today. So we have to be able to reach back into our middle schools and establish this pipeline and be able to, not only inspire kids with a passion for learning, the soft skills of values and accountability lifestyle choices, all those things, life-long learning ability to work as a member of the team. All those are things that you just don’t go to a class to get. Those are inculcated over time and they are sort of baked into who you are by the time you graduate from high school. Well, in order to be able to establish that pipeline the long pole in the tent is ‘how do you get this into the schools.’ The schools have done a great job devising pathways and they will be rolling those out over this next year, 7 April 3, 2018 within the school systems, so that kids can say, ‘if this is something that lights a fire under me, that I’m passionate about, how do I get there? It is relevant to what I’m learning in the classroom, now I know why I’m doing Algebra or Trigonometry, which I never understood. Perhaps if someone had shown me something you can use with Trigonometry I might have connected the dots. But most kids don’t. Well this is a way to be able to do that and unfortunately those skills sets that we need in business and what’s expected in business today is not really understood by those in the teaching profession because they have been focused on educating in an academic environment. They have not had a lot of interaction with businesses to be able to explain to kids in a concreate way how what they are learning in the classroom is going to relate to what they are going to need when they are adults and in the workforce. That’s sort of the long pole in the tent. How do you connect the dots between business and schools? Businesses have been on the receiving end for many years, when all you needed was a large pool of folks willing to work, then you didn’t have to work hard at being able to find them. You just sat back and waited for the schools to send them across the stage as high school graduates and then you had your pick. Our businesses are gonna have to be much more intentional, much more involved, in terms of communicating and sharing with our educators what skill sets and op portunities are available after graduation. The hard part is how do you get that done. Guidance Counselors, today, spent most of their time focused on testing and college prep. That’s driven by requirements that are generated out of the NC Department of Education. The guidance, as late as two years ago, was that the goal in North Carolina was to have two out of three high school graduates go to a four-year college, a diploma producing school, a four-year university. That is just not practical. Any one that just knows averages and what people want to do and like to do, know that 2/3 of our students are not going to a four-year college. Not to mention the expense, it’s just the motivation to do that. It is too expensive to go just to find yourself these days. The reality is that about 1/3 go to college. Our schools do a bang up job of getting our kids that want to go into a four-year institution into the best institutions I think, available in any state. With 16 universities systems to choose from and a very affordable tuition, room and board. But that’s 1/3 and we take care of them. They have IB programs, they have early college programs, we have advance placement programs. They are well equipped. There has never been really an intentional focus on the other 2/3 of the kids out there. Mitchell College has been our secret weapon for many years in terms of being able to transition into an associate’s degree or certification program, etc. You don’t know what you don’t know. If kids are getting out of high school and the parents and the students and the teachers and the guidance counselors don’t know what’s going on in business, then they don’t know where to look. They don’t know how to get there. Both these task forces, Education and Economic Development, have come to the conclusion that those two focuses of our county are joined at the hip. You can’t separate them. But it is not enough just to have economic development, it is not enough just to have good education, we have to get them together. Our school systems working on pathways is the heavy lifting, that’s creating curriculums that can guide students where they want to go, but they have to figure out where they want to go. It is sort of like we are getting into the vehicle of life of our choice. The engine is our education system. Our education system is gone from, years ago a four cylinder, sort of a mass production model to a highly focused outstanding punch above your weight class kind of school system. Both Iredell-Statesville and Mooresville Graded Schools. We have a really good engine, V8 with all the bells and whistles. That’s what’s in the vehicle. The problem is, the vehicle isn’t going anywhere and where the rubber meets the road is the jobs and our employers out there. They are going to get you to your personal destination, whatever that may be. We are in neutral. We have this engine that’s making a lot of noise but you’re not getting a lot 8 April 3, 2018 of movement. The problem, what we’ve been lacking going back to a rear wheel drive technology, is we’ve been lacking a differential that can translate all that energy produced down the crank shaft to the axles. That’s what the Edge Factor is. It is a little differential, actually it’s a pretty good differential. But the cost of that differential is a rounding error in comparison to the cost of the engine for education or the investment that business people put into the vehicle itself. But without that differential, that vehicle doesn’t go very far very fast at all. That seems to be the most intractable issue to me was how do you educate everybody when there are all those opportunities out there, how do you get businesses across the board, not just the major employers, but the 10, 20 and 30 employee businesses, how do you get them to connect? This is how you do it. They can produce their own videos for the cost that it takes a business to invest like this. If you were engaging head hunters that would probably be a day and a half of head hunting. This is something that can resonate with kids, you can give it to teachers. Before they teach a subject can do a three- minute video, what you’re going to learn here equips you to do what’s been presented here and then kids can connect the dots. Then they take it home and get parents to connect the dots. How many people say, ‘you don’t want to go into manufacturing. It’s dirty. I worked in manufacturing and got laid off, went from job to job, and there’s just not many of those jobs around.’ You need to go to college because that’s what we’ve been told is the way to achieve the American dream. The fact is that you can go into these advanced manufacturing facilities, you can eat your dinner off the floor. That’s how clean and pristine they are. The income levels that can be generated just shortly after high school, if we can connect people with them. The NC Manufacturing Institute, our ACT certifications, if their intentional, they can walk out the door, basically be employed. A lot of companies would be happy to get someone in and train them themselves about their specific job requirements and they can be making a salary, an income of $40 to $50 to $60,000 out the door. I know kids that have graduated from college that can’t make that kind of money because they don’t have the skills that the businesses are looking for. This is a paradigm shift about how we look at, how we collaborate, how we lash up our businesses with our educators and our government. It works for government employees too. We have a large number of folks that are going to be retiring, that’s are baby boomers, and we need to replace them with high speed employees across all of our departments. There are career opportunities there. Most people don’t know what local government does or how it does it. We have an opportunity to share our story. I appreciate your indulgence. This is the kind of effort that I wanted to highlight for everyone to understand how important it is and the long lasting impacts it will have in Iredell County, because no longer will our kids have to leave this county to get a job or fill like they have to or feel like they have to spend a lot of money on tuition when really they don’t. They are going to have to be life-long learners. The jobs today that are most in demand didn’t exist 10 years ago. If there is a constant in life, it is change, and that is just accelerating in this economy, this information and knowledge based economy. I want to thank Jessica for finding this diamond in the rough and being able to present it. Those business people who have seen it are very enthusiastic. We’ll be relying on the Chambers of Commerce to be able to reach out to their business community to their membership and be able to work their end of this whole process.” Request by Amy Eisele of SCAN to declare April 2018 as Prevent Child Abuse Month: Amy Eisele asked to make everyone aware that this is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Many events are planned. On April 10, there will be a mini ceremony at the Courthouse. There are many pinwheels placed in front of the courthouse to remind us that children should be safe, should be 9 April 3, 2018 playing, should be kids, they should be in a situation without abuse or neglect. On April 12, from noon to one, there will be a benefit luncheon at the Civic Center. Chairman Mallory read the following proclamation: * * * * * PROCLAMATION CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH IREDELL COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA WHEREAS, children are vital to our state’s future success, prosperity, and quality of life, as well as being our most vulnerable asset; and WHEREAS, safe, stable, nurturing homes and communities are needed to foster healthy growth and development for all children; and WHEREAS, child abuse and neglect is a community responsibility affecting both the current and future quality of life of communities, and WHEREAS, communities that provide parents with the social support, the knowledge of parenting and child development programs, and the concrete resources needed to cope with stress and to nurture their children ensure that all children grow to their full potential; and WHEREAS, effective child abuse prevention strategies are known to succeed when there are partnerships created by citizens, human service agencies, schools, faith communities, health care providers, civic organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the business community. NOW, THEREFORE, the Iredell County Board o f Commissioners hereby proclaim April as Child Abuse Prevention Month and calls upon citizens, community agencies, faith groups, medical facilities, elected leaders and businesses to increase their participation in efforts to support families, thereby prev enting child abuse and strengthening the communities in which we live. Adopted this 3rd day of April, 2018. * * * * * MOTION by Vice Chairman Bowles to adopt this proclamation. VOTING: Ayes – 4; Nays – 0 PUBLIC HEARINGS Public hearing to consider a request (Case #1803-1) from KAMCO, Inc. to rezone approximately one acre on Brawley School Road: Planning Director Matthew Todd said this property is currently zoned RO, Residential Office, which allows office type uses a well as residential. Each side has some neighborhood business and some additional RA, Residential Agricultural. The Horizon Plan calls for this area to develop commercially. Traffic impact should not exceed capacity and the Planning Board voted 6-0 in favor of this request. Vice Chairman Bowles asked about buffering as it relates to the RA beside and other commercial on the other side. Todd said the buffering for RO and/or NB is a 20-foot landscaping screening which is composed of canopy trees, understory trees and shrubs and based on numbers every twenty feet. There would be no additional screenings for the commercial properties on both sides. Existing vegetation is reviewed and evaluated for requirements. Vice Chairman Bowles asked if a street could be cut through the property from Webbed Foot Road to Brawley School Road. Todd said no, not through this particular piece. There is a little bit of road frontage on Webbed Foot, approximately 25 feet, but with a buffer requirement of 20 feet from the side line it 10 April 3, 2018 does not leave enough space. Sometimes a drive way can be put in a buffer when there is no other option but this piece has plenty of frontage on Brawley School Road. The only other possibility would be to obtain access through one of the surrounding properties. Commissioner McNeely noted that KAMCO already owns two or three other pieces of property and it appears on the map that there is a ‘make-shift’ drive way which would allow them to inter-connect the three parcels together and still have access onto Webbed Foot. Todd said yes. Staff would have to research if a driveway has been permitted by DOT but is not part of tonight’s request. Chairman Mallory asked if there was no access to Brawley School Road and given the R20 development on Webbed Foot Road, would Planning staff recommend a commercial type zoning with access solely to Webbed Foot. Todd said this property originally has a lot of history to be commercial. All of it has been RO since 1984. Changing it to NB is really not an intense change. Neither NB or RO allow outdoor storage of equipment or product. It is basically a building and a parking lot. The Land Use Plans shows Corridor/Commercial for that area. Chairman Mallory stated it is a commercial corridor because of Brawley School Road and would it be appropriate to have commercial traffic funneled in onto Webbed Foot Road. Todd said it is a neighborhood business scale zoning and does fit. Webbed Foot is a state maintained road and not a private subdivision road. Therefore, it is common to see neighborhood business next to R20 or RA or any residential zoning districts. Chairman Mallory opened the public hearing. No one wished to speak. Chairman Mallory closed the public hearing. Vice Chairman Bowles expressed concerns that there could be ingress and egress to Webbed Foot Road and feels that may not be a good plan for that area. If avenues are created for a back way in/out the general public will be using it. Would someone have to submit a plan for a subdivision permit or would they go directly to DOT? Todd said an owner would have to work with DOT for a drive way permit for Brawley School Road or Webbed Foot. It is also reviewed by Planning because there are some county requirements that must be met. Commissioner McNeely would like to know if there is a drive way permit already. If it is determined that the land owner has no permit could it be shut down or left or grandfathered? Todd will call DOT and ask if there is anything on file. If there is no permit it is up to DOT and they will probably just ask the owners to apply for a permit. James Miller, one of the property owners, stated the culvert was actually installed by DOT to allow access to the property during Brawley School Road construction. It is not used very much and there are no plans to make it a road. Barrels have been placed to prevent people from cutting through. Commissioner McNeely expressed concerns about future businesses with delivery trucks coming in the back way. 11 April 3, 2018 Miller said he could not speak about what might happen in 20 years. It is not being developed now. Vice Chairman Bowles asked if it would be developed by Mooresville’s standard with water/sewer. Miller said yes. Mooresville will take it over and be involved. There is no sewer at this point. No one came to the Planning Board meeting or to this meeting to oppose. Vice Chairman Bowles said there were many questions and all have been answered and would like to make the motion to approve this request. Commissioner McNeely asked if there is any way to referee a driveway unless they change from RO to NB or some other zoning. Todd said there is no way to referee as far as obtaining access through one of the other lots. If later one of the other lots has a request to move from RO to NB, then conditional zoning could be reviewed and drive way access could be limited to Brawley School Road. Even though all the lots are owned by the same person they are still separate lots. Therefore, DOT is going to be forced to give them access to Webbed Foot if it became an issue for development. Miller said they have learned a lot about green space. The back lot will remain green space. The back right lot has a legal deeded access to the other property from Brawley School Road. MOTION by Vice Chairman Bowles to approve the zoning map amendment and to make a finding that the approval is consistent with the adopted 2030 Horizon Plan and that said approval is reasonable and in the public interest and furthers the goals of the 2030 Horizon Plan because it is contained within a commercial corridor, it is adjacent to commercially zoned property, and traffic impacts should not exceed road capacity. VOTING: Ayes – 4; Nays – 0 * * * * * PLANNING STAFF REPORT REZONING CASE # 1803-1 STAFF PROJECT CONTACT: Jake Lowman EXPLANATION OF THE REQUEST This is a request to rezone approximately 1.032 acres at 919 Brawley School Rd from Residential Office (RO) to Neighborhood Business (NB). This is a straight rezoning and no conditions are proposed at this time. OWNER/APPLICANT OWNER/APPLICANT: James Miller, KAMCO, Inc. PROPERTY INFORMATION LOCATION: 919 Brawley School Road; more specifically PINs 4636783965.000. DIRECTIONS: West on Brawley School Rd from I -77; Property is on the left just before Mallard Way. 12 April 3, 2018 SURROUNDING LAND USE: There is residential and commercial property in Mooresville’s planning jurisdiction to the north. There is commercial and vacant property to the west. The properties to the south and east are residential in nature. SIZE: The acreage to be rezoned is approximately 1.032 acres. EXISTING LAND USE: The parcel is currently vacant with an older unoccupied home on the property. ZONING HISTORY: The property was rezoned to RO in 2007. OTHER JURISDICTIONAL INFORMATION: This property is located in Mooresville’s Urban Service Area. The town expressed no concerns about the rezoning seeing that it matched the land use plan. OTHER SITE CHARACTERISTICS: The property is located in the WS-IV Critical Area of the Catawba/Lake Norman Watershed and may have limited built -upon area for new development. The property is not located in a flood zone. IMPACTS ON LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND/OR FACILITES TRAFFIC: The closest traffic count was on Brawley School Road near the intersection of Williamson Road and had a traffic count of 30,000 vehicles per day in 2015. The capacity for this section of Brawley School Rd is approximately 36,600 vehicles per day. SCHOOLS: This is a commercial rezoning and should have no implications on local schools. EMERGENCY SERVICES: This proposal has been reviewed by the Iredell County Fire Marshal’s Office and Iredell County EMS. Neither office addressed any concerns regarding t he request. UTILITIES: This site is currently served by well and septic. REQUIRED REVIEWS BY OTHER AGENCIES LOCAL: The applicant must provide a site plan to the Planning Division for review to develop the property. Zoning requirements such as parking, landscaping, and buffering will be reviewed at such time. Erosion & sedimentation control standards will also be reviewed for compliance. STATE: Other than building code, there should be no formal state agency review at this time. FEDERAL: None at this time. STAFF AND BOARD COMMENTS STAFF COMMENTS: The 2030 Horizon Plan calls for this area to be Corridor Commercial, which includes existing commercial, office, and/or retail uses that exist along major thoroughfares and highways or areas that will include commercial development in the future. These areas are both within and outside the Iredell County Urban Service Areas. According to the plan, uses within this area generally should include retail, restaurants, entertainment centers, automobile services, personal services, other commercial uses, and office developments. The Planning staff can support the proposed rezoning request based on the following: The 2030 Horizon Plan calls for this area to be Corridor Commercial, which allows for neighborhood scale 13 April 3, 2018 business uses. The current zoning allows for commercial development and the rezoning would create zoning consistency with adjacent properties fronting Brawley School Rd. There is an existing business adjacent to the site and the site is near past approved Neighborhood Business districts. Traffic impacts should not exceed road capacity. SITE REVIEW COMMITTEE: Jerry Santoni visited the site with staff on February 16, 2018 * * * * * Public hearing to consider a request (Case #1803-2) from Robert Tarr to rezone approximately 13.579 acres on Flower House Loop (RA to GB-CD): Planning Director Matthew Todd said this property is just south of Exit 42 from I-77. It is between Flower House Loop and I-77. The plan calls for this area to be Corridor Commercial. The property is adjacent to the interstate and near other commercial uses. A large portion is taken by a Duke Power right-of- way which impedes some of the development of the property. The request is conditional per the application. A public input meeting was held on-sight. There was no opposition and the Planning Board voted 6-0 in favor. Commissioner McNeely asked if Gracie Lane is a state dedicated, state maintained road or a private road. Todd said Gracie Lane is basically a named driveway. Vice Chairman Bowles expressed concern about creating a donut hole with a small piece of property zoned RA in the middle. Is it expected for that small piece of property to become part of the project? Todd said there is a chance that it could. The public input meeting had no opposition. The power line right-of-way will limit building structures but open storage may be permitted by Duke Power. Chairman Mallory opened the public hearing. No one wished to speak. Chairman Mallory closed the public hearing. MOTION by Commissioner McNeely to approve the zoning map amendment and to make a finding that the approval is consistent with the adopted 2030 Horizon Plan and that said approval is reasonable and in the public interest and furthers the goals of the 2030 Horizon Plan because development is conditional per the submitted request, it is contained within a future commercial corridor, and traffic impacts will not exceed road capacity. VOTING: Ayes – 4; Nays – 0 * * * * * PLANNING STAFF REPORT REZONING CASE # 1803-2 STAFF PROJECT CONTACT: Jake Lowman EXPLANATION OF THE REQUEST This is a request to rezone approximately 13.579 acres at 235 Flower House Loop from Residential Agricultural (RA) to General Business Conditional District (GB -CD). This request is conditional per 14 April 3, 2018 the submitted application and is proposed to exclude truck stops, truck driving schools, truck terminals, dance halls, night clubs, adult oriented businesses, and go-cart, motorcycle, and similar vehicle tracks. OWNER/APPLICANT OWNER: Lynda N. Atkinson & Joan N. Fuhr APPLICANT: Robert E. Tarr PROPERTY INFORMATION LOCATION: 235 Flower House Loop; more specifically PINs 4740735926.000 DIRECTIONS: South on Charlotte Highway from Statesville; Right on Flower House Loop; Property is on the left at Gracie Lane. SURROUNDING LAND USE: Interstate-77 borders the eastern side of the property. There is vacant and residential property to the north with commercial uses closer to the US21/NC115 intersection. There are residential uses to the south and to the west. SIZE: The acreage to be rezoned is approximately 13.579 acres. EXISTING LAND USE: The majority of the parcel is vacant, wooded, or within a power line easement. There is also a single family home located on the property. ZONING HISTORY: The property has been zoned RA – Residential Agricultural since Lake Norman zoning in 1963. OTHER JURISDICTIONAL INFORMATION: This property is located in Troutman’s Future Urban Service Area. The town expressed no concerns regarding the request. OTHER SITE CHARACTERISTICS: A portion of the property is potentially located in the WS-IV Protected Area of the Catawba/Lake Norman Watershed and may have limited built -upon area for new development. The property is not located in a flood zone. IMPACTS ON LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND/OR FACILITES TRAFFIC: The closest traffic count was on Flower House Loop near the intersection of US21/NC115 and had a traffic count of 3,800 vehicles per day in 2016. The capacity for this section of Flower House Loop is approximately 14,300 vehicles per day. SCHOOLS: This is a commercial rezoning and should have no implications on local schools. EMERGENCY SERVICES: This proposal has been reviewed by the Iredell County Fire Marshal’s Office and Iredell County EMS. Neither office addressed any concerns regarding t he request. UTILITIES: This site is currently served by well and septic. REQUIRED REVIEWS BY OTHER AGENCIES 15 April 3, 2018 LOCAL: The applicant must provide a site plan to the Planning Division for review to develop the property. Zoning requirements such as parking, l andscaping, and buffering will be reviewed at such time. Erosion & sedimentation control standards will also be reviewed for compliance. STATE: Other than building code, there should be no formal state agency review at this time. FEDERAL: None at this time. STAFF AND BOARD COMMENTS STAFF COMMENTS: The 2030 Horizon Plan calls for this area to be Corridor Commercial, which includes existing commercial, office, and/or retail uses that exist along major thoroughfares and highways or areas that will include commercial development in the future. These areas are both within and outside the Iredell County Urban Service Areas. According to the plan, uses within this area generally should include retail, restaurants, entertainment centers, automobile services, personal services, other commercial uses, and office developments. The Planning staff can support the proposed rezoning request based on the following: The 2030 Horizon Plan calls for this area to be Corridor Commercial, which allows for commercial development along the interior of Flower House Loop. This request is conditional per the submitted application and uses will be limited. The property is adjacent to the interstate and is near other commercial uses along Flower House Loop. A large portion of the property falls within a Duke Power easement, rendering the property unbuildable, but still retains the ability for outside storage. PUBLIC INPUT MEETING: A public input meeting was held on Monday, January 29 th, 2018 from 5:00pm - 6:00 pm on site. Seven property owners from the area were in attendance to hear the proposal and ask questions about the development. No negative concerns were voiced. * * * * * Public hearing calling for the closure of an unnamed road and dedicated road right - of-way, located off Campanile Drive, in Mooresville and consider adopting an Order to Close said road right-of-way: Planning Director Matthew Todd said the original plat for this subdivision shows a stub out which is required when a large tract is adjacent to a subdivision to make sure there are connectivity requirements. One person has purchased the lots on both sides of the stub out. In order to make the best use of the land they bought, they are proposing to close the existing stub out and move it to the edge of their property. Therefore, they are required to go through this approval process. Chairman Mallory opened the public hearing. No one wished to speak. Chairman Mallory closed the public hearing. MOTION by Vice Chairman Bowles to close the unnamed road off Campanile Drive and grant the applicant’s request. VOTING: Ayes – 4; Nays – 0 * * * * * Re: ORDER TO CLOSE AN UNNAMED ROAD, LOCATED OFF CAMPANILE DRIVE 16 April 3, 2018 WHEREAS, on April 3, 2018 at 7:00 p.m., the Iredell County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing as required by N. C. General Statute 153A-241; and WHEREAS, after said public hearing, the Iredell County Board of Commissioners find no cause to retain the right - of-way at this specified location for an unnamed road right -of-way, located off Campanile Drive, in Mooresville, NC. NOW THEREFORE BE IT ORDERED by the Chairman and members of the Iredell County Board of Commissioners that the unnamed road right-of-way, as shown on the attached map, is closed in accordance with the requirements of N. C. General Statute 153A-241. This the 3rd day of April 2018. * * * * * ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Interim County Manager Beth Jones summarized the consent agenda as follows:  Request from Planning and Development for approval of amendments to the Plat Review Officer Listing for Iredell County.  Request from Planning and Development for approval of documents related to the Essential Single-Family Rehabilitation Pool Program. The grant is approximately $175,000. Once those funds are expended the County has the opportunity to request more if any funds remain.  Request from the Finance Department to award a formal bid contract to Advance One Development to construct improvements to the Solid Waste Landfill Gas System. This was a base bid plus one alternate for a cost of $405,634.  Request from the County Attorney to discuss a notice to government entities receiving court costs and fines. There was a consent for a standing objection for the County Attorney to file.  Request from the Clerk to the Board to approve minutes from the meeting on March 20, 2018 with noted corrections. MOTION by Commissioner Norman to approve the consent agenda. VOTING: Ayes – 4; Nays – 0 ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES OCCURING ON BOARDS & COMMISSIONS (None) APPOINTMENTS TO BOARD AND COMMISSIONS (None) UNFINISHED BUSINESS (None) PUBLIC COMMENT (None) NEW BUSINESS MOTION by Commissioner McNeely to call for a public hearing on April 17, 2018 at 7:00 PM regarding an economic development incentive of up to $131,000 over a five-year period for Project Cutting Edge based on up to $7.8 million investment in Iredell County. 17 April 3, 2018 VOTING: Ayes – 4; Nays – 0 MOTION by Commissioner McNeely to approve the purchase of property at 2903 West Minister Drive from ISCEC for $100,000 and authorize the Acting County Manager to negotiate and execute a contract. VOTING: Ayes – 4; Nays – 0 Commissioner McNeely said he will attend a meeting of the Charlotte Regional Transportation Project Outlay. Gaston, Cleveland, and Lincoln NPOs are meeting together because they continue to look for support for the $1 billion, 17-mile long road, with two bridges, that will cross the Catawba River into the lower part of Mecklenburg County on the back side of Charlotte Douglas Airport. McNeely expressed concerns about this project. Iredell shares the same division as Gaston, Lincoln, and Cleveland and is locked into the MPO with Mecklenburg and Union counties. Therefore, there is a crossway of funds being pulled from both sides of the transportation funding. This would hurt the CRTPO and will affect the Division 12 money. It has not scored well with DOT because it is a bad project which is very expensive and not necessary. They have eight lanes for traffic with I-85 across the Catawba plus Highway 74 which is four lanes for traffic. This project is mainly to benefit residential development in a portion of Gaston County that is very rural. Commissioner McNeely also shared information from the last meeting of the I-77 toll lane project. It is now in the option phase. There are one or two more meetings scheduled which will narrow the options down to one. Whether that option is heard and/or used is still to be determined. Information from these meetings will be reported at the next Commissioners’ meeting. Chairman Mallory said the bridges are an economic development tool to give a river district effect on both sides which has appeal as an economic development project for both Gaston and Mecklenburg Counties. However, funding for new roads are scored on objective analysis. The primary scoring mechanism or the weighted criteria is congestion. There is no congestion with the eight lanes on I-85. Mallory expressed appreciation to McNeely for speaking up for Iredell County. Commissioner McNeely said this one project will take all the money for areas from Boone down. COUNTY MANAGER’S REPORT Interim County Manager Beth Jones gave the following reminders:  Next week is Telecommunicators’ Week. Tuesday, April 10, is the annual celebration at Cooperative Extension from 3:00 to 5:00 PM.  Friday, April 13, is the Annual Employee Service Awards Breakfast at Cooperative Extension at 8:00 AM.  There will be a presentation at the next meeting on April 17, with updates on the two large construction projects, Jail expansion and Public Safety Complex. Both projects are going vertical. CLOSED SESSIONS Motions from Closed Session were made under New Business. 18 April 3, 2018 ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Commissioner Norman to adjourn at 8:37 PM. The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, April 17, 2017, 5:00 PM, in the South Wing Conference Room, Government Center, 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. VOTING: Ayes – 4; Nays – 0 __________________________________ ___________________________________ Date Approved Retha C. Gaither, Clerk