HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.054.93011_0724IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
BUDGET SESSION MINUTES
TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2005
The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met for a Budget Review Session
on Tuesday, May 31, 2005, at 5:30 p.m., in the Iredell County Government Center
(South Wing Conference Room), 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC.
Present were:
Vice Chairman Godfrey Williams
Steve D. Johnson
Marvin Norman
Ken Robertson
Absent: Chairman Sara Haire Tice (due to illness)
Staff present: County Manager Joel Mashburn, Finance Director
Susan Blumenstein, and Clerk to the Board Jean Moore.
Others present: Kathryn Wellin with the Charlotte Observer and Luann
Laubsher with the Lake Norman Times.
CALL TO ORDER by Vice Chairman Williams.
37 Transportation: Transportation Director Ben Garrison said four lift
equipped vehicles had been requested in the 05-06 budget along with one 25 -passenger
light weight vehicle. He said the light -weight vehicle, similar to a church van, would be
used on the transportation loop.
Garrison said a $76,000 Jobs Access Reverse Commute grant had been
approved for his agency. He said the funding would be directed toward individuals
needing transportation to -and -from work, and it would enable the services to operate at
earlier and later hours.
Mr. Garrison said annually, 100,000 individuals used the services. He said over
25,000 trips occurred for the general public population.
Garrison said LifeSpan, Inc., an agency for children and adults with
developmental disabilities, had advised that as of June 3, 2005, it would not provide
transportation for its consumers. He said to complicate the problem, state guidelines
did not allow any Rural General funds to be used for human service programs.
Garrison said the officials at LifeSpan had told their clients to contact the county for
transportation assistance.
County Manager Mashburn said, evidently, mental health had cut out
transportation funding.
Finance Director Blumenstein asked if the board members wanted the Jobs
Access grant to be included in the budget ordinance. She was told yes.
Commuter Rail: Joining the commissioners for this segment of the meeting
were Mooresville Mayor Al Jones, Mooresville Town Manager Jamie Justice, Asst.
Mooresville Town Manager Erskine Smith, Lowes Companies Administration Vice
President Ames Flynn, Lake Norman Regional Medical Center CEO Paul Smith, and
David Carrol, the North Corridor Rail Project Director for the Charlotte Area Transit
Authority (CATS).
Mayor Jones said the town and county needed to work together in the rail
project, and he asked for financial assistance in the Phase II Engineering (three-year
project). Jones said Iredell's FY 06 costs to extend the rail to Mt. Mourne would be