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MINUTES
WILKES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
AUGUST 3, 2009
PUBLIC HEARING - WILKES TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY GRANT APPLICATION - Chairman Zach Henderson declared the Public Hearing open concerning a Wilkes Transportation Authority Grant Application at 7:00 P. M. on Monday, August 3, 2009 with the following members present: Chairman Zach Henderson, Commissioner Gary Blevins, Commissioner Luther Parks, and Commissioner Charlie Sink. Vice Chairman Keith Elmore was absent.
Also present were Tony Triplett, County Attorney; County Manager John Yates; and Alene Faw, Clerk to the Board.
Bruce Eilert, Wilkes Transportation Authority Executive Director, stated WTA has come a long way since 2004. He stated they are now applying for a grant in the amount of $232,554 that will help people who need transportation and do not have any of their own. He stated this is not going to count any of the transportation WTA provides for Medicaid or Medicare. He stated this is people that are border line on the fringes that do not have a car and need transportation. He stated these are people who have a little income but do not have enough to afford a car or do not have the ability to transport themselves. Mr. Eilert stated he feels like this is one of the best grants they have ever applied for. He stated it is in the name of the County and will require signatures of the County Manager and the Chairman of the Board. He stated this application has to be turned in before August 7th. He stated this Public Hearing was noticed in the newspaper. Mr. Eilert stated he gave the Board two charts instead of a lot of numbers. He stated one chart shows the Elderly and Disabled Transportation and the trend is continuing to go up. He stated there was a spike in the early part of 2008 but that dropped back down during the recessionary period and has come back up. He stated that is still showing an onward trend upward. Mr. Eilert stated most significantly on the other chart for the Rural General Public, which is part of the funding being applied for, during the period between April through July there is a slump. He stated these are people who do not have a lot of disposable income and were the ones that suffered the most with regard to being able to get transportation. He stated they were cutting back enormously. Mr. Eilert stated this is up to about the same level they were at about two years ago and it looks like that trend will continue. He stated this has been spurred on by a program they call the token program which allows them to utilize this grant to discount their everyday fares by one third by buying tokens. He stated the Public Hearing notice was submitted to the newspaper and they did not have anyone to come to look at the grant. He stated WTA is the only one that is applying on behalf of the County to perform these services.
Commissioner Luther Parks asked how often this grant assists WTA. Mr. Eilert stated this is a yearly grant. He stated it is three grants in on and is called the Rural Operating Assistance Program. He stated in that grant there is the Elderly and Disabled Transportation Program for people who are not receiving assistance from the public but are on the edge of lower income levels and are either disabled or above the age of sixty. He stated with those two qualifications they can be entered into this and WTA is using every bit of that grant and a little more. Mr. Eilert stated the second grant in the ROAP grant is the Work First or Employment Grant. He stated these are entitlements that are provided to certain individuals that apply through Social Services. He stated Social Services qualifies the individuals for that particular grant. He stated in many instances WTA does not use all of that money; however, under the guidelines of the overall grant they can transfer monies that are not being used back into the EDTAP for the elderly and disabled. He stated this allows them to expand the need for those that are elderly and disabled. Mr. Eilert stated this grant also included the Rural General Public Transportation Grant. He stated this allows them to lower the rates for people who need transportation on a regular basis but cannot afford it. He stated they subsidize that through the token program by giving them a one third discount. He stated this is quite comprehensive.
John Reavill asked if the criteria for the elderly is income based also. Mr. Eilert stated if they are disabled that is one qualifier, if they are over sixty that is one qualifier, or if their income level is at a point that puts them marginally. Mr. Reavill asked if two qualifiers are needed. Mr. Eilert stated they must either be disabled or over sixty. He stated they are looking to restrict the usage to those with marginal income because they could have more applicants than they can sustain throughout the year. He stated at this point in time they are using the entire grant plus about 50% of the employment grant.
There being no further comments regarding the Wilkes Transportation Authority Grant Application, Chairman Zach Henderson declared the Public Hearing closed at 7:05 P. M.
The Wilkes County Board of Commissioners met on Monday, August 3, 2009 at 7:05 P. M. with the following members present: Chairman Zach Henderson, Commissioner Gary Blevins, Commissioner Luther Parks, and Commissioner Charlie Sink. Vice Chairman Keith Elmore was absent.
Also present for the meeting were Tony Triplett, County Attorney; County Manager John Yates; and Alene Faw, Clerk to the Board.
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Henderson who welcomed those in attendance.
INVOCATION & PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – The Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance were led by Commissioner Luther Parks.
MINUTES - Motion was made by Commissioner Charlie Sink, seconded by Commissioner Luther Parks and unanimously adopted to approve the Minutes of the Board Meeting held on July 7, 2009.
BUDGET AMENDMENTS & BUDGET TRANSFERS - County Manager John Yates stated Budget Amendment No. 1 is for a grant with no County match. He stated on Budget Transfer No. 1 the courtesy car at the Airport was discontinued and the Airport Board approved a rental car through Phillips. Chairman Zach Henderson stated in reference to the Airport leased vehicle, they have found they have to have one available to them or they cannot do business because they have so many pilots flying in needing a car. He stated they are not willing to wait to get a car and it takes two people to do that so the Airport Board elected to go in this direction and he thinks it is a wise thing to do.
Commissioner Luther Parks made a motion to approve Budget Amendment No. 1 (General Fund); and Budget Transfer No. 1 (Airport). The motion was seconded by Commissioner Charlie Sink and unanimously approved.
SAFETY AWARDS - - Ralph Broyhill, Safety Director, stated in June he and members of the Safety Team attended the Safety Awards Banquet held in Hickory. He stated this year Wilkes County departments got five awards. He stated this is a team effort. He stated the more safe the County and their employees can be, the lower the insurance rate will be. Mr. Broyhill presented one year Safety Awards to Kevin Bounds for the Emergency Medical Services and to Donnie Bumgarner for Social Services. He presented a three year award to Sheriff Dane Mastin. He stated Sheriff Mastin is to be commended. He stated the type work he is in, the Sheriff’s Department is very lucky to have no more accidents that they do. Mr. Broyhill presented Chairman Zach Henderson a three year award for the Commissioners and other County departments.
Commissioner Charlie Sink thanked Mr. Broyhill for his efforts. He stated last year or the year before the County got a significant refund on Workers Comp.
County Manager John Yates stated Mr. Broyhill does a wonderful job heading this up and doing the work.
WILKES TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY GRANT APPLICATION - Bruce Eilert, WTA Executive Director, stated he wishes he could explain how gratifying his job has been for the past ten years. He stated WTA has gone from an agency that had some questionable practices to one he hopes that is far superior to what they have ever had before. He stated they have about 3,500 clients in their data base and they provide services every day. Mr. Eilert stated the recession has hurt many of these people very badly but he hears every day compliments from those who feel that without WTA they would have no way to get around. He stated this allows them to stay at home and become more productive in society even with their disabilities than they would otherwise. Mr. Eilert stated the other aspect of this job that is becoming rewarding is the fact they are now seeing the average general public starting to utilize their services. He stated they are finding that people are going to work, to the airport to travel so they do not have to leave their cars there, going grocery shopping, going to doctor’s offices, and doing many daily life functions. He stated he feels like this is a very green way to go and a very productive way to go for the people who cannot drive themselves or even for a few who just like to have someone else do the driving for them. Mr. Eilert stated he wishes he could expand this program and thinks it will continue to grow. He stated he thinks within the next five years the County will see WTA become a very significant part of daily travel. He asked the Board to approve the WTA grant application
Commissioner Charlie Sink made a motion to approve the grant application as requested. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Gary Blevins and unanimously approved.
TAX SETTLEMENT FOR 2008-2009 TAX YEAR - Alex Hamilton, Tax Administrator, stated as required by N. C. General Statute 105-373, he must make Tax Settlement for the 2008-2009 Tax Year. He stated in the 2008-2009 tax year the Tax Department billed approximately $27,800,000 in real estate. He stated they have a remaining unpaid balance of $1.2 million. He stated for Personal Property the Tax Department billed approximately $4 million and they have an unpaid balance of $231,000. Mr. Hamilton stated their unaudited collection rate is approximately 95.11%. He stated this is lower than the previous year but he thinks the economy had a lot to do with that. He stated the Tax Department lost their Delinquent Tax Collector and they are one person short there but overall everyone in the office worked as hard as they ever have. He stated they do have a lot of people on payment agreements. He stated they are making good on those but it is taking them time. He stated it has been a tough year. Mr. Hamilton stated they have tried to work with people and show compassion and also do the job of collecting at the same time. He stated hopefully as the economy rebounds it will make their job a little easier.
Chairman Zach Henderson stated 95% is still good. Mr. Hamilton stated another County did a State study and that is about in the middle on similar size counties. He stated some counties in the east where the economy is a little better than Wilkes County have done pretty well and others have done a lot worse.
Commissioner Charlie Sink stated payment agreements are not reflected. Mr. Hamilton stated some of this is also discoveries they have made they are still working through that will be paid and some of them the Board of Equalization and Review might end up hearing. He stated they are reflected in these numbers. Mr. Hamilton stated typically when the audit is done, they have a set formula they use, and the rate goes up a little bit more than what he has done. He stated his software program does not have a real good end of the year settlement report. He stated usually there are canned reports in those programs and he does not have one that is very good. Mr. Hamilton stated he has worked with Finance Director Jerry Shepherd and IT Director Darrell Barlow to get the best numbers he can get. He stated the numbers will not be any worse but it could end up being somewhat better. He stated with the payment agreements that money will come in. He stated he has been more lenient so far as allowing people to pay over a little longer period of time than what they typically do. He stated they used to allow four months and on some of these they have allowed up to twelve months including this year so they will end of getting this year’s taxes at the same time. He stated they are just trying to work with people the best they can.
Commissioner Luther Parks asked if there is interest added on to the payment agreement. Mr. Hamilton stated interested continues to accumulate. He stated they cannot waive that by Statute. He stated after they take the initial hit it is not that bad. He stated it averages about 9.25% per year.
TAX DEPARTMENT – CHARGE TAX ADMINISTRATOR WITH COLLECTIONS - Alex Hamilton, Tax Administrator, stated he needs the Board of Commissioners to charge him with collecting the 2009 County taxes. He stated based on a value of $4,903,044,254 the Tax Department has billed taxes in the amount of $27,945,165.73. He stated that is a little less than what was billed last year. He stated he figured the tax base was going to take a hit and it did. He stated he thinks the reason for that is the decrease in personal property values because they do depreciate every year. He stated he thought there would be a little cushion there but the amount they billed is approximately $100,000 less than what they billed last year.
Commissioner Charlie Sink stated there was a pretty significant change in Laurelmor. Mr. Hamilton stated the net on that was about $4 million to $5 million so that was about $24,000 to $25,000 in taxes. He stated he usually counts on a 3% to 4% increase and the County does not have that this year.
Commissioner Charlie Sink made a motion to charge Tax Administrator Alex Hamilton with collecting the 2009 Tax Bills. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Luther Parks and unanimously approved.
TAX DEPARTMENT - RELEASES - Tax Administrator Alex Hamilton asked the Board to approve Tax Releases in the amount of $40,679.24. He stated the first release was a discovery the Tax Department made and miscalculated the penalties and they also had equipment listed that was not being used so that was marked down a little bit.
Commissioner Charlie Sink made a motion to approve the releases as presented. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Gary Blevins.
Commissioner Luther Parks asked on adjustments if the acreage is usually more acreage. Mr. Hamilton stated it is typically less acreage than what the Tax Department has. He stated that could be just a correction of a data entry error. Commissioner Sink stated going down would have to be a reduction in acreage.
Voting on the motion: Ayes - Unanimous
HEALTH DEPARTMENT – DONATION OF EQUIPMENT - County Manager John Yates stated he received a request from Health Director Beth Lovette asking to donate an old Sonicade Fetal Monitor and Printer #2-9-103 to Vine International in Knoxville, Tennessee. He stated this piece of equipment is broken, outdated, and has not been used for over five years. He stated the Health Department has a newer model Fetal Monitor that is now used in the clinic. Mr. Yates stated Vine International is a non profit which takes old outdated equipment and refurbishes it for use in undeveloped impoverished countries. He stated Ms. Lovette is requesting permission from the County Commissioners to donate this equipment. He stated they have had the equipment in storage for so long, they do not know its dollar value if any.
Commissioner Luther Parks made a motion to approve the donation. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Charlie Sink and unanimously approved.
SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT – GRANT – Sheriff Dane Mastin stated through a lot of time and effort spent on Major Greg Minton’s part as to where money might be available through Homeland Security, JAG, and Department of Justice Grants, he has filed so far about seventeen grants. Major Minton stated he has submitted twenty-nine grants overall and he has gotten funding on two of them right now. Sheriff Mastin stated they keep pursuing grants trying to get money back in. Major Minton stated the Sheriff’s Department has received a JAG Recovery Act Grant. He stated this grant is a little different that others coming out and is a very competitive process. He stated the Interoperability Initiative is for a communications pilot study. He stated in Wilkes County there is no broadband wireless except for corridor maintenance. He stated the Sheriff’s Department threw out a proposal for a pilot project identifying areas where they need connectivity in remote locations throughout this County. Major Minton stated this is mainly a portable communications platform where they can go into an area, receive satellite transmission and from that point throw it out as a regular Wi-Fi environment so they can operate anywhere in the County without dependency on existing broadband carriers, cellular carriers, etc. He stated the only link they will need is connectivity and they can take that and rescale that down to Wi-Fi where any computer can sign on.
Chairman Zach Henderson asked if this is for purposes of law enforcement only. Major Minton stated it is for anything. He stated they have gone to the fire association and began work on this project. He stated right down most of the communication is voice only. He stated in the very near future it will be voice and data. He stated they would love to see data being able to be sent wireless throughout our County. He stated right now it is corridor managed meaning near Highway 421 you can receive it but if you are three miles north or south it will not happen. Major Minton stated when they manage an incident they need the ability to remote into the servers here in the County Office Building as well as other agencies. He stated the bottom line is they can do all of that but they have to have high speed connectivity. He stated this is a pilot project with a designed vehicle that can take the voice communication and crunch it down to one frequency no matter what anybody with a radio has got and work with anybody plus give them connectivity on their computers. He stated this pilot program has been funded. Chairman Henderson asked if this includes data. Major Minton stated it does. He stated that is the foundation of this because more and more communication is going away from voice traffic only and going digital. He stated this is referred to as data packets and it does not matter it if is data or voice, it is digitized.
Sheriff Mastin stated this will not just be law enforcement but will include public safety oriented so this will include fire, EMS, Emergency Management, etc.
Commissioner Luther Parks asked if there will be any dead spots with that. Major Minton stated as long as he can hit a satellite there will not be.
Commissioner Gary Blevins asked if this program is satellite based. He asked if instead of using the repeater towers they will be using this system. He asked if this will be in a single vehicle initially. Major Minton stated one four channel unit will be in a vehicle for rapid response so they can have immediate communications. He stated after that they will use the old MESH unit for the dish. He stated he will receive traffic from that and be able to offshoot it to anyplace within an area. Commissioner Blevins asked if this will have to be in the Wi-Fi area. Major Minton stated that is correct. He stated the way they will extend areas is by adding nodes. He stated the nodes are pretty expensive. He stated there are two funded within this grant. Commissioner Blevins asked if they will be mobile or will be mounted. Major Minton stated they can be mounted on vehicles or on tripods depending on the area. He stated he wants this adaptable. He stated if he goes to high ground he can get more serviceability. Commissioner Blevins asked if this is working to eliminate all the digital dead spots in the County. Major Minton stated that is correct. Commissioner Sink stated that will be for emergency services.
Sheriff Mastin stated this is not a permanent solution but is a temporary solution as long as they are there. He stated this will lead into being able to import and export maps, the data package that is coming off of the computers when they are on a site, and to be able to deal with these things so they can see them and draw them in without having to send someone back to the office to print a map and come back as they have had to do in the past. He stated they will have the information real time.
Commissioner Sink asked how big a range the Wi-Fi will have. Major Minton stated that depends on the topography. He stated they can get more range on high ground and with more nodes they can get more range. He stated this pilot project is two nodes. He stated if he gets more grants he is going to continue adding nodes. He stated he thinks he can get a good signal within five miles because they are dealing off of flat ground. He stated that is what the nodes are certified for but once again the topography is the key. Major Minton stated they are dealing with a very unique frequency band that is restricted for public safety. Commissioner Sink stated if you run by any Wi-Fi, a computer will pick it up if you are close but no one can get on this one. Major Minton stated that is what the interface is for. He stated once they take it and reconvert it any computer can get on once they are given a passkey just like any protected Wi-Fi hotspot. Sheriff Mastin stated it will be firewalled so someone cannot just check in to the system because they see them show up. He stated it has to be pass worded.
Commissioner Blevins asked what they see being the initial applications for this. Major Minton stated if he is three miles away from Highway 421, they did a study several years back with the current air band cards this technology has to be retested because within six months everything changes. He stated basic high speed is 54 megabits per second and that will get pictures, maps, and they can be able to run stable VoIP phones, data communications, and applications. Major Minton stated they need that per computer. He stated they can load two or three within three or four miles of the Highway 421 corridor. He stated after you get away it goes down to one very quickly and once you get in the Elk Creek, Darby areas, the Longbottom areas and any place there is a dead spot and there is no access to high speed internet wireless and it goes down quickly. He stated this is all subscriber based and if you do not have a lot of people there they will not build out the system.
Sheriff Mastin stated there have been several incidences over the last few years where something like this would have been a real handy tool to be able to help get the job done quicker particularly when it comes to manhunts, whether that is looking for fugitives, looking for missing persons or missing children, or managing a forest fire like they have had in the past up in the mountainous regions is the reason behind this. He stated this is part of the Homeland Security initiative to get all of the public safety agencies communicating with each other on a common ground with everything they need while they are there.
Chairman Zach Henderson asked how much the grant amount is. Major Minton stated the grant is for approximately $74,000.
Commissioner Charlie Sink made a motion to accept the grant as requested. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Luther Parks and unanimously approved.
SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT – PURCHASE OF DIGITAL RECORDER - Sheriff Dane Mastin stated the Sheriff’s Department cannot do without a recording device in the Communications Center. He stated the current recorder has failed and they are not recording everything that should be recorded. He stated they record everything that comes in on phone calls, and radio traffic coming in and going out. He stated at many times that has to be duplicated for Court so they have to be able to keep up with that as well be able to play it back to re-listen to something that came in that they may not have heard as well the first time under some difficult circumstances. Sheriff Mastin stated the new Communications Director David Carson and Major Greg Minton have worked up a proposal.
Major Minton stated the Communications Center is requesting purchase of an Eventide Digital Recorder for a recording and archiving system to minimize liability. He stated he cannot stress enough, as the Sheriff pointed out, they must record any and everything coming in and going out of the Comm Center for liability purposes. He stated this will give them the ability to reach in several months back and get data of what occurred within an incident. Major Minton stated the good thing about this project is it is felt so strongly that each Communications Center receive this equipment, it is completely funded by the E 911 system so again no County monies are being used within this purchase. He stated this is a very expensive piece of equipment but every Communications Center has one. He stated they could not justify the expense of trying to fix the other one. He stated the hard drives are failing and that is the key component. He stated this one has DVD drives which is a little different. He stated if the DVD drive goes out he can use any one he can get his hands on. He stated it has a compression program that stores the data in a very compressed and compact rate. He stated they can go back 80,000 hours in recorded time. He stated it can be set up to go back further if they so choose. He stated the equipment is upgradeable and is digital. He stated they need this equipment for the Comm Center so they can set it up and be better so far as their monitoring capabilities.
Commissioner Gary Blevins asked if that records all communications or just calls to 911. Major Minton stated it will be everything. Sheriff Mastin stated that is anything that comes into the Comm Center. He stated any radio communication that is on a channel that is monitored by the Communications Center shows up whether it is directly to or from the Communications Center. He stated if he and Major Minton are having a conversation that does not include the Communications Center on their channel it will be recorded. He stated it is the same with fire, EMS, Rescue, and anything they monitor. He stated all of the phone lines and everything in there is recorded. Commissioner Blevins asked how long they have to retain that information per Statute. Sheriff Mastin stated they find that things come back to bite them years after, so he and Major Minton do not throw anything away. Commissioner Blevins asked how long 80,000 hours will be. Major Minton stated that depends on how much data they have but the good thing is it is on DVDs at a compressed rate. He stated once a DVD gets full it gives an alert tone and a new one can be put in. He stated a second DVD is also burned for back-ups. Commissioner Blevins stated there would be an infinite capacity to store, dump what they have, and start again. Sheriff Mastin stated 80,000 hours will be about five years because by then technology has already improved and stuff starts dying. He stated that seems to be the limit they get on computerized equipment. He stated he can remember changing the old big reel to reel tapes so they are past that.
Commissioner Luther Parks asked if they always keep the technology to go back and secure the old stuff like the tape reels. Sheriff Mastin stated they have the data but do not know if they have anything that will play it anymore. He stated he has the data from the time they went from the old big wheel box that was bigger than a filing cabinet they ran tape on continuously to where they went to cassette tapes. He stated they plugged those things in twice a day and kept a mountain of those and then someone told him about a digital recorder that did not take a tape and needed no supplies. He stated now that has died and this is buying a new one.
Commissioner Luther Parks made a motion to approve purchase of the Digital Recorder with 911 funds. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Charlie Sink and unanimously approved.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE – GRANT RESOLUTION - County Manager John Yates stated he hopes to have the IDF and EDA Grants sent in by the end of the week and then there will be about a two month waiting period. He stated the IDF Grant is for $178,225.
Chairman Zach Henderson stated this will add to the other grants the County has made application to for the Airport water and sewer project.
Commissioner Gary Blevins made a motion to approve the Resolution. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Charlie Sink and unanimously approved.
RESOLUTION
BE IT RESOLVED, that a grant from the Department of Commerce through the County of Wilkes be made to MX Aircraft, Wilkes County, North Carolina.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Wilkes County will administer this grant in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Department of Commerce.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the County will administer this grant through the County Finance Office.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the grant will be monitored quarterly to assure compliance with this proposal and the Department of Commerce regulations. Also, creation of new jobs will be monitored in accordance with the regulations of the Department of Commerce.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that MX Aircraft will create 36 new jobs in a period of two years from 2009 to 2011.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in accordance with creation of 36 total jobs (the total number of jobs to be created by MX Aircraft), the amount of the grant application will be $178,225.
ADOPTED this 3rd day of August, 2009.
WILKES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
/s/ Zach Henderson, Chairman
/s/ Alene E. Faw, County Clerk
CORPS OR ENGINEERS – MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING - County Manager John Yates stated he and County Attorney Tony Triplett had a meeting with the Corps of Engineers about three months ago to work on an agreement with the County to pay for the environmental assessment work they have to do. He stated he did budget $30,000 to hopefully cover this expense this year. He stated this will allow the water intake project to continue. He stated this has to be completed before taking the next step in that project. Mr. Yates stated they did not put a cap on this but they are hoping it will not cost over $30,000.
Mr. Triplett stated he and Mr. Yates had a good meeting with Terry Ramsey about this and he indicated with a pretty high degree of confidence that amount is what the County will be looking at for this study. He stated one reason it took a while to get this in front of the Board was he requested a change in the wording on it in one of the paragraphs. Mr. Triplett stated the original agreement required the County to go ahead and commit now as a County to be responsible to mitigate or compensate for any unavoidable adverse impacts to government property and programs associated with the construction, operation, and maintenance of activities on their property. He stated that is some pretty broad language and he did not know what they had in mind with that. He stated he suggested they change that in paragraph 8 to reflect the County will address that after they do their study and if they approve it. He stated at that time the Board can address the County covering any unavoidable adverse impacts and get a better handle of what those may be instead of agreeing in advance to those. He stated this was held up to get that language ironed out. Mr. Triplett stated he and Mr. Yates feel this is ready to go now for the Board’s consideration.
Chairman Zach Henderson stated the Board has been looking at this for quite some time now and studies on various phases have been going on for quite sometime and this is continuing to move forward. He stated this is a big project.
Commissioner Charlie Sink made a motion to approve the Memorandum of Agreement between the County of Wilkes and the Department of the Army, United States Army Corps of Engineers. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Luther Parks and unanimously approved.
NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS CONFERENCE – VOTING DELEGATE - Commissioner Charlie Sink made a motion to appoint Commissioner Gary Blevins as the Voting Delegate to the NCACC. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Luther Parks and unanimously approved.
SUNCREST FARMS – ECONOMIC INVESTMENT AGREEMENT - County Attorney Tony Triplett stated a Public Hearing was set for the last meeting on an Economic Investment Agreement for Suncrest Farms. He stated that was cancelled because their representatives were unable to attend due to vacation plans and requested a postponement.
Commissioner Charlie Sink made a motion to set a Public Hearing on August 18, 2009 at 5:00 P. M. for consideration of an Economic Investment Agreement for Suncrest Farms pursuant to General Statute 158-7.1 with the Board of Commissioners Meeting to follow. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Luther Parks and unanimously approved.
COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR LONG TERM CARE NURSING HOMES APPOINTMENTS - County Manager John Yates stated he has a letter from High County Council of Government recommending the appointments of Harriet Kapossy and Charles Matthews to the Community Advisory Committee for Long Term Care Nursing Homes for one year appointments. He stated currently two vacancies exist on the Committee.
Commissioner Luther Parks made a motion to approve the appointments as recommended. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Gary Blevins and unanimously approved.
TRAPHILL VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT - Kevin Bounds, Fire Marshal, stated in 2006 he brought the Traphill Volunteer Fire Department before the Board as they were considering a sub-station in the Absher Community of Traphill. He stated at that time the Board approved a Tax District for them that included a six mile district with one sub-station. He stated last week Vernon Ward who is a Rating Inspector with the Office of the State Fire Marshal came up and inspected Traphill, Mountain View, and Ronda’s sub-station and was very complimentary of all three. Mr. Bounds stated the only thing he had was the description approved in 2006 for a Traphill Fire Tax District. He stated for them to be a rated fire department, the district needs to say it is the Traphill Fire Insurance and Tax District. He stated that way anybody living within this addition to their fire district would receive a break on their homeowners insurance if it is an insurance district too. He stated he is asking the Board to approve the same district they did in 2006 and just call it the Traphill Fire Insurance and Tax District and all the homeowners that are in the new sub-station will get a break. Mr. Bounds stated they were able to purchase new equipment and it is ready to go. He stated it is a very nice sub-station.
Commissioner Charlie Sink made a motion to approve a Traphill Fire Insurance District identical to the Fire Tax District approved for Traphill Volunteer Fire Department on September 19, 2006. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Luther Parks and unanimously approved.
Traphill Fire Insurance and Tax District
Served by: Traphill Volunteer Fire Department
Six Mile District with one Substation
Beginning at Point (1) on SR 1945, .3 miles south of its intersection with SR 2009; thence northeasterly to Point (2) at the intersection of SR 2008 and SR 2009; thence north to Point (3) on SR 1937, .8 miles west of its intersection with SR 1934; thence easterly following the centerline of SR 1937 to Point (4) at the intersection of SR 1937 and SR 1934; thence northerly to Point (5) at the end of SR 2078; thence northerly to Point (6) on SR 1749, .4 miles southeast of its intersection with SR 1939; thence in a northeasterly direction to Point ( 7) on SR 1752, .2 miles south of its intersection with SR 1002; thence in a northeasterly direction to Point (8) at the end of SR 2146, thence in a northeasterly direction to Point (9) at the intersection of SR 1002 and SR 1917; thence in a northeasterly direction following the centerline of SR 1002 to Point (10) on SR 1002, .8 miles east of its intersection with SR 1919; thence in a northwesterly direction to Point (11) at the Wilkes/Alleghany County Line; thence in a westerly direction following the Wilkes/Alleghany County Line to Point (12) at the intersection of SR 1784 and the Wilkes/Alleghany County Line; thence in a westerly direction to Point (13) on SR 1739, 2.7 miles north of its intersection with SR 1737; thence southwesterly to Point (14) at the end of SR 1736; thence southwesterly to Point (15) on SR 1730, 1.1 miles northeast of its intersection with SR 1728; thence southerly to Point (16) at the end of SR 1734; thence south to Point (17) on SR 1746, .9 miles west of its intersection with SR 1736; thence southerly to Point (18) at the end of SR 1747; thence in a southerly direction to Point (19) on SR 1002, at its intersection with SR 1746; thence in an southeasterly direction to Point (20) at the end of SR 1951; thence southeasterly to Point (21) on SR 1950, 2.2 miles south of its intersection with SR 1002; thence in a southeasterly direction to Point (22) at the end of SR 1945; thence in a northeasterly direction to Point (1) beginning point.
NOTE: Points 1, 2, 3, 4, and 22 are adjoining points with Shepherds Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department Fire Insurance District.
NOTE: Points 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are adjoining points with the Austin Volunteer Fire Department Fire Insurance District.
NOTE: Points 17, 18,19, and 20 are adjoining points with the Mountain View Volunteer Fire Department Fire Insurance District.
NOTE: Point 15 adjoins McGrady Volunteer Fire Department Fire Insurance District
NOTE: Points 10 and 11 adjoins the State Road Volunteer Fire Department Fire Insurance District
ADJOURN - Motion was made by Commissioner Charlie Sink seconded by Commissioner Luther Parks and by unanimous vote adopted to adjourn the meeting of the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners at 7:50 P. M.
Alene E. Faw, Clerk Zach Henderson, Chairman
WILKES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Approved:
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