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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJune 19, 2018 regular minutes 1 June 19, 2018 IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PRE-AGENDA MINUTES June 19, 2018 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in pre-agenda session on Tuesday, June 19, 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 Gene Houpe Jeff McNeely Marvin Norman Staff present: Interim County Manager Beth Jones, Assistant County Manager Susan Robertson, County Attorney Lisa Valdez, Finance Director Deb Alford, 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 asked if the Board had an opportunity to read through the minutes from May 10 & 14 that were emailed. If so, they can be approved tonight or they can wait until July 17. Commissioner Houpe said he had not seen them. Jones said they will be on the next agenda and therefore there are no adjustments. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Request from the Finance Department for adoption of a policy regarding the expenditure of federal funds, an all-inclusive Conflicts of Interest and Gifts and Favors policy, and policy regarding a dispute resolution process for contracts: Purchasing and Contracts Manager Dean Lail said this request pertains to grants, how funds are received and how they are spent. In 2014, the federal government passed a new Uniform Guidance that includes all requirements for procurement, related to federal grants, under one group of common rules. However, the State did not adopt it until 2017 and made it effective for every fiscal year after December 31, 2017, but the State’s guidance was not sent until March 2018. There are several requirements that local governments must have in place by July 1 or risk losing or jeopardizing the funding from grants. These changes are in policies rather than procedures. The first requirement is a policy that simply states we will adhere to all federal requirements when expending federal funds. The second policy is Conflicts of Interest and Gifts and Favors Act. The Gifts and Favors Act is in our policy but we do not have a comprehensive Conflict of Interest Policy with the Gifts and Favor Act. The policy presented covers all requirements by the State and federal law. The final policy is a set of rules implementing settlement conferences in construction projects. Currently there is no mediation requirement or dispute resolution processes in place for the County. They are now required in all construction documents. The dispute resolution requirements presented for consideration are actually the State Building Commission’s adopted policies which makes it easier when applying the necessary requirements to County projects. Anytime there is grant funding these procedures/policies will have to be applied every time a grant is expended. Federal grants require 2 June 19, 2018 a lot of documentation but it has always been that way. If an audit ever discovers missing documents, then the grant dollars will have to be refunded. This item was placed on the consent agenda. Request from the Finance Department for adoption of a Project Ordinance for the Mitchell Community College Health Science Building: Finance Director Deb Alford said bids have been received for the GO Bonds Series 2018 to fund the Mitchell College Health Building. The lowest bid was from FTN Financial Capital Markets with an interest rate of 2.937%. The par amount of the bonds is $11,460,000 with a secured premium of $743,549, that produces proceeds of $12,203,549 with $12 million going to MCC. The closing costs are $203,549. The request is for approval of the project ordinance. Commissioner McNeely inquired about the changes to include items that had been previously cut. Alford said the LGC approved and all those were added back in which brought it back to $12 million. This item was placed on the consent agenda. Iredell County, North Carolina Capital Project Ordinance Mitchell Community College Health Science Building Be it Ordained by the Board of County Commissioners of Iredell County, North Carolina: Original Section 1. Funds for this Capital Project Fund will be provided from the following sources: Ordinance Sales Tax Refund 4584705 439300 - Interest on Financing Proceeds 4584705 480000 - 2018 MCC GO Bond 4584705 490056 11,460,000 Finance Proceeds - Premium on Bonds 4584705 491500 743,549 $12,203,549 Section 2. The following costs for school projects shall be paid by this fund: Professional Fees - Architect 4585705 520000 $ 914,000 Testing/Permits/Other 4585705 520020 $ 175,000 Contingency 4585705 530200 351,048 Financing Costs 4585705 561000 203,549 Transfer to General Fund 4585705 576010 520,000 General Construction 4585705 580200 8,326,250 Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment 4585705 630000 1,713,702 $12,203,549 Section 3. This Capital Project Fund shall continue until the projects are complete. Section 4. Transfers between line items shall only be made upon formal action by the Mitchell Community College Board of Trustees and such action shall be reported to the Iredell County Board of Commissioners at its next regularly scheduled meeting. Section 5. Payments from this Capital Project Fund shall be authorized by the County Manager or his designee. This Capital Project Ordinance is effective upon adoption this the 19th day of June 2018. Request from the Finance Department to approve an Amended Cool Spring Elementary School Capital Project Fund to close the fund and approve Budget Amendment #43 to appropriate additional investment earnings to the North Iredell High School/South Iredell High School Project Fund: Finance Director Deb Alford said this was brought before the 3 June 19, 2018 Board in April but there have been more interest earnings than anticipated. The request is to adopt an amended project ordinance in order to close out Cool Springs Elementary. Any residual funds will be transferred to North and South Iredell High School projects. The amount of residual is $355.00. This item was placed on the consent agenda. BA#43 Transfer budget authority from the General Fund to the NIHS/SIHS Capital Project Fund to reimburse additional interest earnings on the first sinking fund payment on the Qualified School Construction Bond 6/19/2018 Account # Current Budget Change Amended Budget 105700 560020 ISS GO Bond Principal 4,143,012 (9,799) 4,133,213 105780 576457 Transfer to NIHS/SIHS Project Fund 483,841 3,347 487,188 105700 560022 ISS GO Interest 1,942,650 6,452 1,949,102 Amended Capital Project Ordinance Cool Spring Elementary School Be it Ordained by the Board of County Commissioners of Iredell County, North Carolina: 4/17/2018 Original Ordinance 6/19/2018 Amended Ordinance Section 1. Funds for this Capital Project Fund will be provided from the following sources: Amendment Qualified School Construction Bond $ 12,700,000 $12,700,000 General Obligation Bond 800,000 800,000 Premium on Bonds 75,900 75,900 Interest on Financing Proceeds 21,723 355 22,078 Sales Tax Refunds 198,936 - 198,936 Iredell-Statesville Schools - $ 13,796,559 $ 355 $13,796,914 Section 2. The following costs for school projects shall be paid by this fund: Professional Fees - Architect, Management $ 284,848 $ 284,848 Other Fiscal Costs - - Testing, Permits, and Other Fees 40,859 40,859 Closing Costs 78,079 78,079 Right of Way Acquisition 185,954 185,954 General Construction Contract 11,355,062 Unencumbered - 11,222,455 (500) 11,221,955 Water Line Improvements 417,495 417,495 Transitional Costs (mobiles) 516,751 516,751 Contingency - - Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment 345,414 500 345,914 QSCB Bond Principal 483,841 3,347 487,188 Transfer to NIHS/SIHS Project 220,863 (2,992) 217,871 $ 13,796,559 $ 355 $13,796,914 Section 3. This Capital Project Fund shall continue until the projects are complete. Section 4. Transfers between line items shall only be made upon formal action by the Iredell-Statesville Board of Education and such action shall be reported to the Iredell County Board of Commissioners at its next regularly scheduled meeting. Section 5. Payments from this Capital Project Fund shall be authorized by the County Manager or his designee. This Capital Project Ordinance effective upon adoption this the ________ day of June, 2018. 4 June 19, 2018 Request from the Finance Department for approval of Budget Amendment #44 to appropriate fund balance to purchase land on Westminster Drive: Finance Director Deb Alford this request is for the purchase of land on Westminster Drive. An arrangement has been made for $80,000 to come from this year and the remaining $20,000 in next year’s budget which has already been approved. This item was placed on the consent agenda. BA#44 Appropriate fund balance to purchase property on Westminster Drive 6/19/2018 Account # Current Budget Change Amended Budget 104880 499500 Appropriated Fund Balance (4,469,970) (80,000) (4,549,970) 105480 601000 Land and Land Improvements 131,490 80,000 211,490 Request from the Department of Social Services for approval of a Memorandum of Understanding with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services : DSS Director Yvette Smith said this is a MOU that has been created because of HB630. It is an agreement that the County will enter into with DHHS. It has some very high unrealistic performance measures for the Department of Social Services. Failure to meet some of these performance measures would mean a potential cost to the County and funded could be withheld. DHHS could also take over the agency. At this point there is no choice but to sign this agreement. The Chairman is required to sign with no obligation for the Director to sign. Jones said this agreement was sent to DSS Directors and County Managers for feedback. Comments were frank and honest. In attempting to meet the measures DSS is dependent upon other agencies that they have no control over. DSS will be held accountable for other uncontrolled agencies. However, this MOU must be signed by July 1 or all state and federal funding ceases. A very small amount of modifications has been made, but the intent still remains the same. Smith said all 100 counties have reached out to their legislators but it is past that. Commissioner McNeely said it is too late. The entire action will have to implode and then congress will see the mess they have created before actually making corrections. Smith said DSS has been working hard to modify operations to try to accomplish the mandates. The outside agencies that DSS is dependent upon have not been mandated with the same requirements. Chairman Mallory said this is an agenda driven political process. Iredell County DSS is heads and shoulders above the vast majority in the State. This is focused on a regionalization of service providers which is probably end up with something privatized. It is unimaginable that services could be any better under any other system in Iredell County. Some other counties may be having problems and not meeting their mark but not here. Iredell County DSS has reviewed their processes, refined with significant changes, along with simultaneous actions for efficiencies and quality of assurances. Commissioner Houpe asked if the agreement could be signed in protest along with a resolution. Smith said the agreement states it doesn’t matter what is attached, it must be signed. 5 June 19, 2018 Commissioner McNeely said one-third of NC Departments of Social Services are rated as poor and another third is rated as average and then one-third is above. Iredell County falls in the above category but is being brought down by the other two-thirds. Commissioner Houpe understands it may be symbolic but still believes it should be signed in protest and a resolution sent with it. This item was placed on the consent agenda but under protest. Smith said staff will internalize the anger and work to prove the State wrong. Although this agreement is unrealistic, staff will work hard to meet it. Chairman Mallory said they will document each and every action. Request from Administration to designate a voting delegate to the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners Annual Conference scheduled in August, 2018: Interim County Manager Beth Jones said the annual conference is scheduled for August 2018. Commissioner Jeff McNeely has registered to attend. Vice Chairman Bowles nominated Jeff McNeely as the voting delegate. This item was placed on the consent agenda for Jeff McNeely to be the voting delegate. Consideration of a request from Twin Oaks Golf Club LLC to extend a lease of County property: Assistant County Manager Susan Robertson said the golf course was purchased in 2008 for the sole purpose of a future expansion area for Solid Waste. Since that time a lease agreement was signed with Twin Oaks Golf Club, LLC to operate as a golf course. The original LLC was Patricia Keith who sold an interest to Chad Odom and the lease was extended. Along the way, Odom bought Keith’s share. During the fall of 2017 Chad Odom sold it to James and Justin Wilds. The Wilds have made many improvements and would like to make further investments in equipment and property. Therefore, the request is to extend the lease for nine years which is all that is allowed without treating it as a sale. Any lease over a year must be noticed to the public 30 days in advance of Board approval and that notice was published on Friday, June 15. The lease agreement rent payments are as follows: Year 1 $ 2,585.00 Year 2 $ 2,690.00 Year 3 $ 2,800.00 Year 4 $ 2,915.00 Year 5 $ 3,030.00 Year 6 $ 3,150.00 Year 7 $ 3,275.00 Year 8 $ 3,405.00 Year 9 $ 3,545.00 Robertson said this agreement also pays to the County a 3.5% of gross sales. The revenue over the term of the agreement will be $328,740 with an estimated share of gross profits at $81,455. Solid Waste Director David Lambert stated this land will not be needed for expansion during the term of this lease. Vice Chairman Bowles asked if the revenue will be put in a CIP for Solid Waste. 6 June 19, 2018 Robertson said it all goes in Solid Waste as retained earnin gs. Construction is beginning on a new landfill expansion, at the current site, with those retained earnings. The plan was not to issue any debt after 2004 for Solid Waste. There is no specific request at this time, it is just for information only. On July 17, 2018, the Board will be asked to approve the lease retroactive to July 1, 2018. On a side note, NCDOT cleaned the culverts and installed a structure needed for a small bridge. Chairman Mallory suggested to send DOT a letter of appreciation. Request from Tax Administration for approval of May Refunds and Releases: Intern County Manager Beth Jones said everything was in order. This item was placed on the consent agenda. Releases for the month of May 2018 Monthly Total $ 573.78 Breakdown of Releases: County $ 227.30 Solid Waste Fees $ - Statesville Solid Waste Fees $ - Mooresville Solid Waste Fees $ - Davidson Solid Waste Fees $ - E. Alex. Co. Fire #1 $ - Shepherd's Fire #2 $ - Mt. Mourne Fire #3 $ - All County Fire #4 $ 31.92 B&F Fire #5 $ - Statesville City $ - Statesville Downtown $ - Mooresville City $ - Mooresville Downtown $ - Mooresville School $ 314.56 Love Valley $ - Harmony $ - Troutman $ - Davidson $ - Refunds for the month of May 2018 Monthly Total $3.36 Breakdown of Refunds: County $ - Solid Waste Fees $ - Statesville Solid Waste Fees $ - Mooresville Solid Waste Fees $ - Davidson Solid Waste Fees $ - E. Alex. Co. Fire #1 $ - Shepherd's Fire #2 $ - Mt. Mourne Fire #3 $ - All County Fire #4 $ 3.36 B&F Fire #5 $ - Statesville City $ - Statesville Downtown $ - Mooresville City $ - Mooresville Downtown $ - Mooresville School $ - Love Valley $ - 7 June 19, 2018 Harmony $ - Troutman $ - Davidson $ - Breakdown of NCVTS Refunds: County $ (310.11) E. Alex. Co. Fire #1 $ - Shepherd's Fire #2 $ 5.82 Mt. Mourne Fire #3 $ 6.81 All County Fire #4 $ (3.20) B&F Fire #5 $ (1.08) Statesville City $ (24.34) Statesville Downtown $ - Mooresville City $ (388.91) Mooresville Downtown $ - Mooresville School $ (43.75) Love Valley $ - Harmony $ - Troutman $ - Davidson $ - Monthly Total $ (758.76) Request from the Clerk to the Board for approval of minutes from meetings on May 29 and June 5, 2018: There were no corrections or comments. This item was placed on the consent agenda. ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES OCCURING ON BOARDS & COMMISSIONS The Board agreed to suspend the rules to announce and appoint one person simultaneously. CLOSED SESSION Chairman Mallory moved the Board into Closed Session at 5:45 PM. The Board recessed from Closed Session at 6:50 PM until the regular meeting at 7:00 PM IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MINUTES June 19, 2018 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, June 19, 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 Gene Houpe Jeff McNeely Marvin Norman 8 June 19, 2018 Staff present: Interim County Manager Beth Jones, County Attorney Lisa Valdez, Assistant County Manager Susan Robertson, Finance Director Debra Alford, and Clerk to the Board Retha Gaither. CALL TO ORDER by Chairman Mallory. INVOCATION: Chairman James Mallory asked everyone to bow their heads for a moment of silence. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE led by Chairman Mallory. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA Interim County Manager Beth Jones said there were no adjustments to the agenda. MOTION by Commissioner Norman to adopt the agenda as presented. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 PRESENTATION OF SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS & AWARDS (None) APPOINTMENTS BEFORE THE BOARD Request from Anna Rice, Executive Director of Iredell County Council on Aging, Inc. to present the annual Home and Community Care Block Grant funding plan : Director Anna Rice gave a snapshot of the aging population, programs and services needed for that group. In the next five years it is predicted that those aged 60+ will outnumber those aged 17 and below. As a reminder the grant requires a minimum 10% local match which Iredell County has done for many years. MOTION by Commissioner Houpe to accept and approve the Home and Community Care Block Grant funding plan for 2019. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 PUBLIC HEARINGS Public hearing to consider placing a ¼ cent sales tax referendum on the ballot in November: Chairman Mallory said, “Before we move to the actual public hearing, I’d like to put this evening into a little bit of a context. The Iredell Statesville School Board requested that we place … that the County Commission consider placing a ¼ cent sales tax on the ballot for November for the purposes of safety, security, and student assistance and health, as well as, unforeseen contingencies. This board met and discussed that matter, and the request was for 100% of that ¼ cent sales tax to go for those purposes, to be divided based on the ADM divisions among the three participating school systems which would be Iredell-Statesville, Mooresville Graded, and Mitchell Community College. We recognize that we live in a day where some of things th at we are now having to react to in terms of security for our children, as well as dealing with the general population, as well as children impacted by the Opioid crisis, but none of these things were really on the radar or were planned out to resource and to be able to deal with until they just materialized and presented themselves. So as communities, we are all having to deal with these issues, like it or not. It would be nice if we could just focus on education and not have to be spending an awful 9 June 19, 2018 lot of time worrying about people breaking in, assaulting students and staff and bring mass mayhem in the community but unfortunately we have to think about that. We have to plan for it. We are currently taking measures to provide a safe and secure environment for our educational staff and students. But that’s one of those things where, as the threat evolves, we have to meet that threat and it takes resources to do that. We can never achieve a 100% secure environment, we’re not given those guarantees in life, but we can get as close as we can, as efficiently and effectively as we can, using the limited resources that we have available to us. And that’s our responsibility, is to fund and to apply those resources. It is the school board’s responsibilities, by statute, to provide a safe environment for the education of our young people and their staff. So exactly how that looks is in the school board’s lane. We, however, want to have a warm and fuzzy about what that looks like so that we can ensure that we are applying the right resources and the right amount for the right kind of strategies to achieve that desired effect. After deliberating we returned with a resolution that basically said that, out of that ¼ cent sales tax we wanted to commit to ‘up to 75%’ going for those stated purposes that the schools requested, not including the unforeseen, unforecasted, unbudgeted requirements. Those will come along and we will deal with them, but it was focused on safety, security, and student assistance. The 25% we were going to retain for general county purposes. The fact is, we live on a quadrennial budget cycle and it’s really based on a quadrennial revaluation that determines our ad valorem property taxes, our tax rate based on the value of homes and businesses and real estate that’s been set for that year. So it’s essentially, once it’s set it stays the same except for additional development that comes on the line, on the books. So invariably what happens is, because the demand for services across the board , whether its education, whether its EMS, whether its public safety, public health, social services, parks and recreation, all of those items that make up what the county does for our citizens and the services we provide. They continue to go up because of population growth. We are projected to be one of the highest growth counties in the state. We are in the top ten as far as growth and we are north of 170,000 souls in this county. As late as the mid-1990s, when I was on the Planning Board, before Commissioner McNeely came on-line, we were shy of 100,000 talking about how fast are we going to grow. So just in that short 20 years we have added almost double our population. With the increase in population goes an increase in demand for services that people expect. You expect when you dial 911 to get an operator, you expect that call to be transferred to EMS or to the fire departments or to the police department or the Sheriff’s department and then you expect them to have the ability to respond appropriately and in a timely fashion. As Anna Rice was just discussing, we have a population that is aging faster and growing in numbers which puts a whole new different slant on the paradigm of the services we provide. In other words, EMS services now become a greater and greater slice of the expected budget to be able to meet the demands and needs of people. And because of increased density of population we can no longer just say, well we’re within 6 miles of a location we can get to that within the right period of time. In certain areas of the county, six miles, that could be an hour. We have to look at traffic patterns so that whole paradigm is shifting. So what we find in this four-year budget cycle is that the first two to three years of the budget cycle we’re able to meet all these demands and we’ve been able to do that by having that increased annual additional economic development. There’s a lot of counties in this state that are flat lined as far as economic development. So the money they’ve got coming in just doesn’t change from year to year. We’re in a fortunate position to have a strong economic development program that’s driving that train. None the less, that incremental increase is not enough to be able to take care of this service demand increases by the time you get to that third and fourth year. We have to have the ability to put money back so that we can spend those funds in that third and fourth year when the demand for services is exceeding our revenue projections. So as a county commission, 10 June 19, 2018 we are looking at the big picture which is not just our schools, which is 55% of our budget roughly, but all these other areas that we are having to work on. So that’s why we said we need to have an additional revenue stream coming in to support county services writ large and came back with an ‘up to 75%’ guidepost or roadmap. The reaction to that… and we had a series of two meetings with the Iredell Statesville School Board, the Mooresville Graded School Board, and representatives from the Board of Mitchell Community College to discuss the way ahead and what our position was. What we learned in those meetings was that the ‘up to 75%’ caused a great deal of consternation because it could have been zero and been up to 75. The word that we got was for them to be able to come up with a budget to be able to meet a number of these security and safety issues that involves, by in large, additional personnel, SROs, student assistance professionals, and those individuals don’t come in and work on year to year contract. If you’re going to have a professional come and work for an extended period of time, they want to know that they are going to have a job for more than just one year. The message we received was the ‘up to 75%’ language was of great concern. After two of these board meetings we have looked at the language that we passed in our first resolution and we have a modification of that which, we believe, addresses the concerns that were articulated by the school boards and a number of folks that shared their opinions. Our focus here, once again, is on the children of this county and the staff in our schools and the parents that frequent our schools so that they can have the best, safest, and most secured environment that they can possibly have, given what we have, a resource constrained environment. But we have to keep the main thing the main thing and that’s education, that’s to educate kid s. With that, we do have a motion that Commissioner McNeely is going to tender for the commission to vote on that will address, I believe, those issues.” Commissioner McNeely said, “Mr. Chairman, first let me say before I get into the motion. This has not been easy for me or any of us on this board. Where one side , we realize they need more funds and one side, we realize, wants to not be taxed because every tax is a freedom. Believe me, I know that. I’ve prayed and prayed and prayed on this and begged the Lord to give me clarity. I actually thought my first motion was pretty good because it made everybody mad and they usually say that’s pretty good government. But in retrospect, looking at it, I though t there were some things we could work with and we could come to an agreement. I do want ya’ll to realize that sales tax, this ¼ cent, or any sales tax for that manner, does not apply to gasoline, it has its own set of taxes. It does not apply to groceries; it has its own tax level. And if you own a bonafide farm, then you have a tax exempt card and so it will not apply to farm supplies either. So know that, that happens with any sales tax. With that being said, Mr. Chairman I’d like to make … MOTION to resend the previous resolution motion and substituting a motion to direct the Iredell County Board of Elections to conduct an advisory referendum on the November 2018 local ballot pursuant to Article 46 of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes of the question of whether to levy a local sales and use tax at the rate of a ¼ cent in the County. And further that should such referendum be approved by the majority of the voters it is the intent of this Board to adopt a resolution which will include the following: a. From the proceeds of the one-quarter cent local sales and use tax, the County will receive a minimum of $1.5 million or 25%, whichever is greater. b. The balance of the proceeds after the allocation of the greater of $1.5 million or 25% will be allocated to the Iredell-Statesville Schools, Mooresville Graded School District, and Mitchell Community College using the County’s Current Expense Average Daily Membership formula. The maximum allocation to the schools shall be 75%; 11 June 19, 2018 c. Any portion of the proceeds spent directly or indirectly by the County on the educational, safety or security needs, whatever those may be, of the three school systems shall be credited towards the maximum 75% allocation of one-quarter cent sales tax proceeds; to the extent proceeds are allocated to one school system and not the other(s), such allocation shall be attributed to the requesting school system’s portion of their proceeds; d. Allocations will be distributed to the school systems annually upon request by each system and such request shall include the proposed use of the proceeds by the school system. If the scope of the use proposed by the school system changes after the funding is approved and allocated, prior to any use of the proceeds the school system shall make a revised request to the Board of Commissioners outlining the proposed change in the use. e. The allocation of the proceeds shall be subject to change in the event of any unforeseen circumstances or major economic changes negatively impacting the County’s financial status, its bond rating, or fund balance. f. The County will work with the three school systems to form a committee to review and make recommendations regarding school safety and security.” Commissioner McNeely continued, “That is the end of my motion. Once again I do not like attacks of any kind but I do realize that we have to protect our children. As I have told Dr. Johnson, if little Johnny can’t read they will probably come to see him, the school board, the teachers and principal. But if little Johnny gets killed or hurt in any way at the school they are going to come look for me and these other four men that happen to be sitting up here. And because of that I feel like we have some fiduciary responsibility to protect our children with the security of our schools.” Chairman Mallory said, “Just a note, your motion I believe has to do with our resolution but not the ultimate issue of placing it on the ballot.” Commissioner McNeely said, “This is just the resolution.” Chairman Mallory stated, “The actual vote on whether to place this on the ballot will be conducted after the public hearing. We are just setting the table here as far as the perimeters we’re looking at. I will note that after the meetings we had with both school boards, that we did have an opportunity for each commissioner to meet with Dr. Johnson and be able to answer any questions about the school budget and how this all works and also get a sense of what they would be looking at, rough cut at this point, as far as safety and security needs and the costs associated with that. We did review that. At this point, I’ll ask if there are any other comments related to the motion.” Chairman Mallory said, “I’ll consider the motion on the table.” VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 Chairman Mallory explained how the public hearing will be conducted. Because a large number of people have signed up to speak the time limit has been reduced to three minutes and will be adhered to. Chairman Mallory added, “This board does not take raising taxes as a light matter. We have held the tax rate at the same levels since it was raised to meet specific bond construction requirements. The 52.75% ad valorem property tax is the lowest of nine contiguous counties that touch us. By far, Catawba county is about a nickel or so higher but there are others that are north 12 June 19, 2018 of 70 cents on the dollar. The fact of the matter is, that is a tax that is borne solely by property owners or business owners who have taxed personal property. The sales tax is a different income stream, its borne by all the citizens of this county and folks that come through this county that work here and live somewhere else or that are just coming through and stop off at one of our eating establishments or retail stores or just to see what’s going on. That sales tax fluctuates based on economic activity but what we have seen is that it has gone up for the last nine years, every year, on a pretty steady growth pattern. The resolution that was mentioned said $1.5 million or 25% whichever is greater to be retained by the County. That figure comes from the current sales tax projections for this next year would be a ¼ cent generates $6 million in revenue, $1.5 million is 25%. Over time, so we think the down side risk to the schools on that regard is minimal, if none. We did see a reduction in sales tax revenues in 2008 and they’v e been on the upward glide slope ever since. With that being said, I would inquire if there’s any comments that any Board members would like to make prior to opening the public hearing.” Commissioner Houpe said, “Mr. Chairman I would just like to remind everyone briefl y, we appreciate you coming. We respect all of your points of view. I want to just state, Marvin and I serve on the Education Task Force and we see first-hand, along with our colleagues, that the economic impact, the positive economic impact that our schools have on all citizens of Iredell County. Our trained work forces, for our future work forces, right now we can’t fill the jobs that are available in Iredell County because we don’t have the work forces. We’ve lost more Americans this year in school related shootings, as far as the safety and security side, than we have in active war zones around the world. In perspective, with all due respect to everyone a ¼ cent of sales tax is equal to approximately just under 6% of your property ad valorem taxes. The sales tax revenues are spread amongst all citizens of Iredell County and even people traveling through Iredell County if you the voters decide to approve this, if it is placed on the ballot. So I just wanted you to keep that in perspective. We all respect your points of view, we will ask you to be frank as citizens, hold your insults to one or another, be respective to one another. We are all Iredell County citizens; we are in this together. We are trying to figure a way forward working together to pay for things that we need to pay for as an investment in the fairest manner that the voters approve of.” Commissioner McNeely said, “Real quick I’d like to do a little math lesson to sort of explain because some people are saying, ‘Why does the County even need any of this money?’ We just passed a budget that was $205 million and we did that without raising any taxes. But our fund balance is down to the point where if we go below 18% it will negatively impact our bond rating. As it stands currently we have two AA and one triple A rating which allows us still have possibly the best interest rate that you can get, when we actually put our bonds out or borrow any money for that sake for the county. With where our fund balance is, we have about $600,000. A little bit more than that, but not much. So if you think about $205 million budget and your contingency is $600,000 that is extremely, extremely close. For that we are spending $1.4 million out of our fund balance in this $205 million budget. So if you’re wondering where the math is, it’s not real hard, that’s why we are looking at the $1.5 million hopefully to put back in our fund balance to give us this cushion that we need. If we drop below the 18% level and we lose our last triple A bond rating, it probably cost us approximately $1 million to $1.2 million a year in extra interest and that’s just not satisfactory to me. We can do a better job of managing than that. So that’s where we are at; trying to do that better job of managing. But know we have two huge construction projects going on plus we have an unbelievable increase in demand for our services. So all of this has come at a perfect storm, may we say, at one time. Therefore, that is why, it is not 13 June 19, 2018 real hard while we are doing this math to see that we need an extra bit of money in our fund balance for whatever may come out, for whatever unforeseen circumstance may happen.” Chairman Mallory opened the public hearing. The following citizen spoke against putting the ¼ cent sales tax on the ballot: Diane Umbarger of Mooresville. The following citizens spoke in favor of putting the ¼ cent sales tax on the ballot: Beth Kendal of Davidson, Kelley James of Olin, Brady Johnson of Statesville, Regina Yount of Statesville, Terry Wall of Statesville, Sandy McAuley of Statesville, Nicole Carroll of Mooresville, Karen Kerley of Mooresville, Bill Howell of Statesville (will not support if paragraph F is left in the agreement). Commissioner McNeely said, “Let me read what F says for those who can’t remember because it a lengthy motion, I’m not gonna lie to you. It says, ‘The County will work with the three school systems to form a committee to review and make recommendations regarding school safet y and security.’ To make recommendations.” Chairman Mallory said, “The responsibility lies with the school board to approve a plan and to execute the plan in conjunction with supporting agencies like law enforcement, this board, and Partners Behavioral Health, Department of Social Services, all the other agencies and non- profits that touch all of these problems. I hope that addresses, Mr. Howell, your concern that this is not to be dictating to the school board what to do, but simply provide perspectives and information and to give us a warm and fuzzy that these actions are being considered by your board.” Commissioner Houpe said, “I just wanted let Mr. Howell know he may have looked at, thinking back on a previous situation. But what our intent on this, Mr. Howell and ladies and gentlemen, are to create a safety assessment team working with the schools including school personnel, county staff, the experts, the Sheriff’s Office, the other law enforcement agencies, their task in their various jurisdictions in providing safety and security that you would request or be willing to implement. So all number F says is that we’re going to assist you in bringing forth expertise and assessing the needs of the systems and make recommendations to you guys and the various elected boards by the taxpayers of Iredell County which are you guys will make those final decisions. It’s nothing nefarious in it. It just says we will help you with a committee with the relevant experts in that field to make recommendations.” Doug Knight of Statesville spoke in favor of the ¼ cent sales tax but against the way this has been handled with unprofessional politics. The following citizens spoke in favor of: Allison Whitaker of Statesville, Trena Williams of Mooresville, Allen Edwards of Statesville, Katie Patterson of Statesville, Bobbie Youngblood of Statesville spoke in favor of the ¼ cent on the ballot but feels the money should go to the Sheriff’s Office and not to the public school. She also asked that Commissioner Houpe recuse himself due to his wife being a principal for ISS which is a conflict of interest. Chairman Mallory said, “I would interject that the conflict of interest rules in North Carolina require a direct financial interest in the matter. We have two members on the board who 14 June 19, 2018 have members of their family that are employed by the school systems in som e capacity, Mr. Houpe and Mr. Norman. Early on, about three years ago, we asked this very question of the School of Government as to whether there was any kind of conflict of interest in any respect and they said no, that there were layers of other decision making bodies that were between us as county commissioners and their relatives’ supervision and decisions about income or anything like that. We re-visited that issue and asked again recently because some people had raised that as an issue. And we received the same response, that there is no conflict of interest. In fact, as commissioners, we are required by statute to vote on all issues. We cannot recuse ourselves even if we feel there is an appearance of a conflict which in some cases people do on different types of boards. We are required by law to go on record and to vote, up or down, and not get on the side lines. I hope that answers your question.” Citizens continued to speak in favor of: Megan Skouby of Statesville, Gene Millsaps of Mooresville, Natalie Kelly of Troutman, Judy Britton of Statesville. Brian Shoemaker of Statesville spoke opposing tax increases but supports public schools. He is also against using federal or grant money. Eddie Guy of Troutman spoke against a tax increase. Grandchildren are home schooled and attend charter schools. Tim Roseman spoke in concern of security after he entered WIHS where no one, not one person, questioned his reasons for being on campus or in the school building. Chairman Mallory said, “I want to thank everyone that shared their perspectives this evening. They were respectful, they were insightful, informative and they reflect the broad approaches and belief sets that exist within Iredell County. All of those different ideas and different perspectives make us who we are. At the end of the day, we are all neighbors. We are all focused on Iredell County being the best place to live, to work, and to raise a family. We may have different ideas about the path to get us there but we are all focused on the same ultima te objective. At this time, there is one question before us, and that is whether to place this on the ballot, a ¼ cent sales tax referendum on the ballot in 2018. If it goes on the ballot, it is up to the individuals in this room to articulate and to advocate for your position as you share that position with your neighbors and everybody else that will hopefully get out in November and vote.” Vice Chairman Bowles said, “I’d like to make a couple of comments. There are four schools in our county that the PTO or parents, not sure who, but they have come up with the money to put locking devices in the schools, independent of what this board does and what the County school board has done. Those are Central, Union Grove, Celeste, and Coddle Creek Elementary, maybe, I believe are the four schools that the parents have raised the money to buy locking devices to go into the schools. That tells us that they are very concerned about school safety. I’d like to talk to you about a sit-down that I had with Dr. Johnson. It was a small group setting, we were sitting there and I asked a specific question. I said, on a scale from one to ten what do you think the likelihood is that we’re going to suffer a tragic incident. He said I believe it is a ten, indicating to me that it is overdue in our community in which we live in. I would like to ask a question, there was a lady that stood toward the beginning of the public hearing and she said they were dealing with a lot of different medications in the class. How many medications are you dealing with?” Kelly James said, “Thirty-four are the most commonly administered. There are some that are not as common. Of the 34 most common, 12 are controlled substances.” 15 June 19, 2018 Vice Chairman Bowles asked, “When you say controlled substance, you mean like you’ve got to have a prescription to get it.” James said, “Yes, but you can’t just get a refill. The doctor has to ok each and every refill.” Vice Chairman Bowles said, “I just wanted to make that clear. I do want to address Mr. Shoemaker. He asked a question as to why is this just coming up now? Why have we just come up with a ¼ cent sales tax after the schools came and asked for a ¼ cent. I’d like to address that. The County Board of Commissioners, not collectively during an open meeting, but between ourselves have been discussing. We looked at the revaluation numbers, we realized it is probably not going to get us where we need to be and we realize that there was gonna be a need for an additional funding stream. This is not a knee-jerk reaction. We have been discussing it. We have known this is coming that we were on a collision course. Like Commissioner McNeely said, we are in two very large building projects, the jail and the 911 Center. Those are desperately needed in this county. Those are the facts and I don’t believe they can be disputed on those. It’s not something that just came up overnight. It’s not something that this board if reacting to just because the school system has come and asked for. Yes, the school system and their circles and the task force have been discussion a ¼ cent sales tax for a number of years, I believe. Is that correct Mr. Houpe? This is not a knee jerk reaction. We knew that 2019 was going to be a very hard budget year and we are trying to take steps to react to this very hard budget year. Not necessarily in this year but in years to come. There are a lot of things that are facing our county right now that three years really weren’t at the forefront. Yes, we’ve had school shootings for a long time but it has come to the forefront because of so many here recently that we need to be proactive on it. Also this opioid addiction, we don’t know yet what that is going to cost this county. Unfunded mandates, we don’t know yet what these are going to cost this county. So there are a lot of unknowns out there. We are trying to react to these unknowns as best we can. And I’d like to speak to Mr. Tim Roseman. You said do something, you’re exactly right. We’ve got to do something and we’ve got to do it now. I appreciate you.” Commissioner Norman said, “I want to address Ms. Umbarger. You said this is on our heads, so to speak, you said it on a nicer term, but what I want to tell you is, if you’ll go back and read our minutes in March of 2013. There was a gentleman that was very conservative to this county, I bet everybody knows him, he was on the Board of Commissioners, Mr. David Boone. At that time Mr. David Boone, Mr. Steve Johnson, Mr. Ken Robertson, Ms. Renee Griffith and myself who were on that Board. That particular day he wanted to address us about how we fund the schools. That time we used something called COPS, Certificate of Deposit. The concern was, from his store, people came to his store to complain that they did not have a chance to vote on the money we spent on schools. He wanted us to change our course of actions because he said that as a five- member board and we’re elected by the people, but were not elected to make your decision for you. I agree with him 100%. From that time on, we switched from COPS to putting the bonds on the ballot. From that time on, from 2013, go back and look at it if you want to read what it said, I’ve never strayed from that. I’m not going to stray from it today. I’m gonna tell you today. I’m going to put it on the ballot and let you make the decision. Now if you want to get out and work against it you can, and these other folks can work for it. That’s not my decision.” Commissioner Houpe said, “I want to reiterate and address some of you guy’s concerns. It’s not just your right, it’s your responsibility to question us. I appreciate comments from various people in the audience. I can assure you we’ve checked and balanced and we appreciate your check and balance. You know sometimes in the seat we are in; we have to make decisions we don’t want 16 June 19, 2018 to make. But one of the decisions that I never have a problem with is allowing the citizens of Iredell County as a democracy to make a final decision. You know, I’ll butcher this, but one of my favorite quotes is … Dwight Eisenhower got more legislation passed in Washington as President because he said something on the lines of, ‘The essence of politics is compromise.’ To go back to our motion, Commissioner McNeely read, A tells you we took the ‘up to’ out as a compromise. We told you the cut the county would take to use for services as we talked about, aging populations, emergency services to fund the Sheriff’s office, EMS and other services that you as citizens require and in some cases demand. B, you can get a copy and look at it, it allows the school system, if you the voters pass this, it allows them to set budgets and make budgetary decision as any business needs to do on an annual basis. C tells you as voters that this money will be used for educational and safety and security needs for the school system if it passes. D it assures the accountability and transparency some of you desire. Some of our meetings and things that we have had recently have been to sit down as board members with our other board members and staff of our school systems to look at what they’ve done. They’ve had 12 years specifically for Iredell Statesville of perfect accounting practices. The money, as I’ve said in the past meetings, has been spent on what the y say has been spent on. They’ve got two very good accountants. Now, you guys need to hold the elected boards of the school system accountable for the priorities they choose to spend the money once it is allocated. That is your job to hold them accountable for that. E covers unforeseen mandates as Commissioner Bowles talked about. The school systems are willing, and they understand, each school system needs different types of funding. Some school systems need current expense which is salaries and those type of expenditures. I talked with legislators in Raleigh today. There are all kinds of studies out there that say we need a balanced approach and multi - prong attack as Ms. James has said to deal with the problems in our schools. We need mental health counselors, we need safety and security, our Sheriff and all the people in F. The final decisions will be to the elected school boards if this passes. If it doesn’t we will have to address some other safety issues. All F says is that we are going to work on a safety team, along with experts and law enforcement personnel. The Sheriff, he has more proactive programs in our county training churches and other things you’ve heard someone mention here tonight. We as a local board do a better job than our local counterparts in various counties on funding our systems. But as I’ve said before the John Locke Foundation says you’re getting a bang for your buck. Education, training work forces, it’s an investment. It benefits every citizen in Iredell County directly or indirectly. It’s not a rumor, it’s a fact. We have ground breakings every month in Iredell County because of the investment and impacts of economic development, so just keep that in mind. But I wanted all of you to know, we do respect your opinions. We have tried to, in the essence of politics, compromise. We’ve looked at your points of view, your needs, and we’ve tried to ensure there’s accountability. I just wanted to make some comments, additional comments. I want to thank everyone involved in helping to get us to this point. Your constant engagement and dedication through this process got us here. However, this is only the first step. We must now be accountable and transparent as we carry this plan forward, how this money will be spent if approved by the voters our open and transparent process will verify annually accountability and transparency needed to cultivate trust between the school boards and any and all other elected bodies on your behalf. Most importantly, it will ensure accountability will earn and maintain the trust of you the taxpaying public for investing in schools if this passes. I pledge along with my fellow board members for openness and I believe this process and commitment exist in everyone involved. I look forward to working towards a success program that will be a benefit to all citizens of Iredell County. I want to thank you all for your coming and we respect all of your points of view. Now I just want to read Abraham Lincoln quote. The people here in this room, I have great respect for all 17 June 19, 2018 of you. We all have different points of view as Chairman Mallory said. You know we can enter an address in a GPS that gives us three routes, none of them are wrong, they are different. Respect one another’s views as Mr. Norman said. But Abraham Lincoln said, ‘Government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth.’ In that light, Chairman, I would like to make a motion.” MOTION by Commissioner Houpe to direct the Iredell County Board of Elections to conduct an advisory referendum on the November 2018 local ballot pursuant to Article 46 of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes on the question of whether to levy a ¼ cent local sales tax in Iredell County. Chairman Mallory asked to hold that motion until the closing of the public hearing. The question is whether to place the ¼ cent sales tax on the ballot. Mallory asked all supporters of that proposition to stand (2/3 of the audience stood). Mallory asked all in opposition to stand (approximately 1/3 of the audience stood). Chairman Mallory closed the public hearing and the motion has been made and asked for any further discussion. Commissioner McNeely said, “I would like to reiterate. I haven’t been on the board long. I haven’t. I feel like I’m drinking sometimes from a fire hose. I have been involved in two budgets and in those two budgets we’ve raise the actual, this may hurt some people but we’ve had a heck of a demand from the first one to where we are at now, about $17 million. In that $17 million more of services that we’re given, 54% of that is in schools, we haven’t raised your taxes. We’ve been able to figure out ways to do it. To be able to give you more for the same money. And I’m, really proud of that, I really am. Because that’s been hard work by this whole board. We cut almost $13 million worth of requests and I ain’t talking about necessarily from schools, I’m talking about from all different services that we have, that the county provides for you. We cut $13 million out to get to $205 million and that was not an easy job. And I commend my staff, who I thought did an excellent job. Mrs. Jones, I thought you and your staff lead us incredibly in that and we are so appreciative of that. We did not have to raise your taxes. But, I think, it’s got to a point, and I don’t like this point, and I don’t like where it’s got, but it has. Do you want to keep our children safe or not? As much as I don’t like attacks, as much as I’d love to keep my money in my pocket and spend it how I please, because that’s what I want you to do, because I wake up every morning and I don’t really trust my government, whether it be my federal, my state, or even my local that I’m part of. I think they are out to get the tax payers. I think it’s my job to protect you. I think that’s what I’m supposed to do. I’m supposed to show up every day to make sure that you get your rightful share of what your tax dollars do. But once again, I think we’re to a point where we’re gonna have to say, ‘Are we willing to spend the money to protect our children.’ Now, its gonna happen one way or the other, because we’ve got no choice in my opinion. So we can either do it through the sales tax or we can do it through a property tax, after revaluation. How many people in here pay sales tax? Raise your hand (everyone raised their hand). Then look around at your neighbor because they need to keep buying in Iredell County and they’ll help you and this won’t be too bad. You know if you really don’t like this tax you don’t have to participate. Save your money, put it in the bank, it won’t make much interest but it is better than nothing. So that’s where we’re at, and that’s where I’m at. As much as I hate a tax, I’ve had to come to this conclusion. It ain’t been easy, let me tell you. It ain’t been easy. ‘And that’s all I’ve got to say on that,’ as Forest Gump would say.” 18 June 19, 2018 VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 The Board took a recess at 9:05 PM. The Board resumed the regular session at 9:20 PM Chairman Mallory asked for a summary of the consent agenda. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Interim County Manager Beth Jones summarized the consent agenda as follows:  Request from the Department of Social Services for approval of a Memorandum of Understanding with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. It was agreed to have the Chairman sign under protest, because the conditions are unrealistic but there is no choice in the matter.  Request from the Finance Department for adoption of a policy regarding the expenditure of federal funds, an all-inclusive Conflict of Interest and Gifts and Favors policy, and a policy regarding a dispute resolution process for contracts.  A request from the Finance Department for adoption of a project ordinance for the Mitchell Community College Health Science Building with an interest rate of 2.937%.  Request from the Finance Department to approve an Amended Cool Spring Elementary School Capital Project Fund to close the fund and approve Budget Amendment #43 to appropriate additional investment earnings to the North Iredell High School/South Iredell High School Project Fund.  Request from the Finance Department for approval of Budget Amendment #44 to appropriate fund balance to purchase land on Westminster Drive.  Request from Administration to designate a voting delegate to the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners annual conference scheduled for August 2018 in Hickory. That delegate will be Commissioner Jeff McNeely.  Consideration of a request from Twin Oaks Golf Club LLC to extend the lease of County property. This was for informational purposes only and will be considered at the meeting on July 17.  Request from Tax Administration for approval of the May refunds and releases.  Request from the Clerk to the Board for approval of minutes from meetings on May 29 and June 5, 2018. MOTION by Commissioner Norman to approve the consent agenda. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES OCCURING ON BOARDS & COMMISSIONS I-CARE Board of Directors – 1 announcement. Heather Griffin has volunteered to serve again. MOTION by Vice Chairman Bowles to suspend the rules and vote on this matter this evening to be able to have this appointment in sync with our bi-annual appointments. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 MOTION by Commissioner Norman to appoint Heather Griffin to the I-CARE Board of Directors. 19 June 19, 2018 VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 APPOINTMENTS TO BOARD AND COMMISSIONS Centralina Workforce Development Board – 1 appointment. Mark Brady will be reappointed. Troutman Planning Board ETJ Alternate – 2 appointments. The first appointment is for Mark Taylor to move to the full position. The second appointment is to fill the alternate’s position and Barry General is the recommendation. Mitchell Community College Board of Trustees – 1 appointment. Jonathan Byers will be reappointed. JCPC – 5 appointments. Retha Gaither, Vicki Dane, Leigh Byers, Justin Longino, and Pam Navey will be reappointed. Iredell County Planning Board – 3 appointments. This will be tabled until July 17. Statesville Planning Board ETJ – 1 appointment. Bo Walker will be reappointed. Mooresville Planning Board ETJ – 2 appointments. Mark Brady and Danny Martin will be reappointed. Partners Behavioral Health – 1 appointment. Debra Alford will be appointed. Commissioner Houpe stated that applicant Grace Beasley, for the Troutman Planning Board ETJ, has withdrawn her name from consideration. MOTION by Commissioner Houpe to appoint all the people mentioned to the respective boards. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD Chairman Mallory said several had signed up to speak on the Troutman ETJ appointment. However, Barry General has already been appointed. Dennis Newman expressed appreciation for the appointment of Barry General. Scott Clontz said all the people that came just for the public hearing has already left. These are the same people that will not show up for a meeting of the Committee of the Whole, they will not show up at a school board meeting, and they will not question their administration for the monies that is spent. Clontz objects to the tax referendum. He also expressed disappointment in that the Board of Education does not live stream their meetings similar to the Board of Commissioners. It is a lack of transparency and it is a disgrace not to use the available equipment paid for by taxpayers. Commissioner Houpe said the recording of the meeting with the school Board is being prepared to be available to the public. Iredell-Statesville Schools was asked (by Houpe) to live stream tonight’s meeting due to Board members being out of state and/or in China. UNFINISHED BUSINESS (None) 20 June 19, 2018 NEW BUSINESS (None) COUNTY MANAGER’S REPORT Interim County Manager Beth Jones gave updates on the following items:  Government Center renovations and repairs (Phase 1) will begin July 9. Some Court Street parking will be closed for the contractors. There will be some temporary inconvenience but the main entrance will remain open.  Reminder there is only one regular meeting next month on July 17.  The annual Report to the People by Cooperative Extension is scheduled for July 24. CLOSED SESSIONS Chairman Mallory reported there was a closed session immediately following pre-agenda for Economic Development. MOTION by Commissioner McNeely to call for a public hearing on July 17, 2018 at 7:00 PM regarding an economic development incentive of up to $300,000 over a three-year period for Project G based on a $25 million investment in Iredell County. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 Chairman Mallory moved the board into closed session at 10:15 PM for matters of Personnel and Property Acquisition. The Board resumed open session at 10:45 PM. Interim County Manager Beth Jones said the Personnel item was the salary review of the Register of Deeds and the Sheriff. The recommendation is a 5% merit increase for the Sheriff and a 5% merit increase plus a 7.5% salary adjustment increase for the Register of Deeds. MOTION by Vice Chairman Bowles to approve the increases outline by the County Manager. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 ADJOURN MOTION by Commissioner McNeely to adjourn at 10:50 PM. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 __________________________________ ___________________________________ Date Approved Retha C. Gaither, Clerk