05-15-2023 Meeting Minutes BOC
May 15, 2023
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PERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MAY 15, 2023
MEMBERS PRESENT OTHERS PRESENT
Gordon Powell Katherine M. Cathey, County Manager
C. Derrick Sims Brenda B. Reaves, Clerk to the Board
Kyle W. Puryear S. Ellis Hankins, County Attorney
Charlie Palmer
Jason Thomas
The Board of Commissioners for the County of Person, North Carolina, met in
regular session on Monday, May 15, 2023 at 9:00am in the Commissioners’ Boardroom 215
in the Person County Office Building located at 304 S. Morgan Street, Roxboro, NC.
Chairman Powell called the meeting to order and offered an invocation.
Commissioner Palmer led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.
DISCUSSION/ADJUSTMENT/APPROVAL OF AGENDA:
Commissioner Palmer voiced his concern of a Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) item
in the current fiscal year for conversion of the old landfill to a park noting he had a concern
that this may impact the Sheriff’s Office from using that site for its training; he said this
project was included in the Adopted CIP in the April 17, 2023 minutes that are on the
Consent Agenda for approval by the Board. County Manager Katherine Cathey stated that
staff would thoroughly evaluate the site noting she was aware that the Sheriff’s Office use
the old landfill site for a shooting range. She noted any planning for this CIP project would
include staff input from the Sheriff’s Office, the Recreation, Arts & Parks Department and
the General Services Department.
A motion was made by Vice Chairman Sims and carried 5-0 to approve the agenda.
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RECOGNITION:
PRESENTATION OF AUTOMATIC EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS TO
VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS – EMERGENCY SERVICES:
Thomas E. Schwalenberg, Director / Department of Emergency Services stated
Person County received a donation of eight Automatic External Defibrillators (AED’s) from
Defibtech. This donation was made possible through the County’s participation with the
RACECARS Clinical Trial (RAndomized Cluster Evaluation of Cardiac ARrest Systems)
through Duke Clinical Research Institute.
The RACECARS Trial is a five-year study that implements specific clinical
interventions in selected North Carolina communities to improve survival for people who
experience a cardiac arrest, one of the main causes of death in North Carolina and the United
States. In addition to addressing a major public health issue, the trial is one of the most
innovative randomized trials to be done in the United States. The RACECARS Trial is the
first U.S. fully “registry-based” trial, an approach that has been used to great advantage in
conducting efficient clinical trials in Europe. The trial studies to implement guideline-based
treatments in acute cardiovascular care. These programs, which began with the North
Carolina Reperfusion of Acute MI in Carolina Emergency Departments (RACE), have led
to major improvements in systematic regional approaches to emergency cardiovascular care
around the world.
Mr. Schwalenberg noted county data clearly shows that cardiac arrest survival is
directly related to how soon a victim receives cardiopulmonary resuscitation and early
application of an AED. Clinical data shows that a person in cardiac arrest that is treated with
CPR and an AED applied within two minutes of suffering an arrest has a 59% chance of
survival compared to those treated at ten minutes with only a 13% chance of survival.1 After
ten minutes the survival rate quickly drops to zero percent survivability. The goal of this
initiative is to place AED’s in the hands of first responders that can get to the scene of a
cardiac arrest quickly without having to stop at a local volunteer fire station and pick up an
AED which can significantly delay response time. All seven of our volunteer fire
departments have agreed to participate in this program. The eighth AED is being placed on
the Fire Marshal’s vehicle which is regularly out in the community and available to respond
to incidents. He added they will measure the use of the AED’s over the next four years and
measure the program’s impact. Mr. Schwalenberg presented an AED to volunteer fire
department chiefs present at the meeting as well as to the Fire Marshal.
1 Malta Hansen C, Kragholm K, Pearson DA, et al. Association of Bystander and First-Responder
Intervention With Survival After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in North Carolina, 2010-2013.
JAMA. 2015;314(3):255-264.
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INFORMAL COMMENTS:
The following individuals appeared before the Board to make informal comments:
Theresa Ahrens of 108 Elderberry Lane, Rougemont and a resident of the Elderberry
Cluster neighborhood, an aging community challenged with accessing internet. Ms. Ahrens
requested that the GREAT grant buildout include the Elderberry community.
Felts Lewis, Executive Director of the Roxboro Housing Authority and President of
a newly formed non-profit, Roxboro Community Redevelopment Corporation, wanted to
make the Board aware of his plan to apply for grant funding for permanent rental housing
as well as shelter operations to address homelessness in Person County.
DISCUSSION/ADJUSTMENT/APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA:
A motion was made by Vice Chairman Sims and carried 5-0 to approve the Consent
Agenda with the following items:
A. Approval of Minutes of April 17, 2023,
B. Budget Amendment #19,
C. SUP-03-23 – The Applicant, Jason Seaman of Thomas & Hutton, on behalf of the
Property Owner, BV/Weston Jim Thorpe SPE, LLC, is requesting approval of
“Written Decision Approving Special Use Permit Application” (i.e. Written Order)
following Special Use Permit approval to construct an electrical substation within
RC (Rural Conservation) zoned property (i.e. Polywood Facility Substation). The
±31.33-acre Subject Property is located along the east side of Jim Thorpe Highway
on the Polywood campus at Tax Map #69-313 and Parcel #0928-00-00-9814.000,
D. SUP-04-23 – The Applicant, Gary Garrett (“Applicant” and “Property Owner”) for
the Garrett Recreational Vehicle Park, is requesting approval of “Written Decision
Approving Special Use Permit Application” (i.e. Written Order) following Special
Use Permit approval to develop a recreational vehicle park within RC (Rural
Conservation) zoned property. The ±16.27-acre Subject Property is located along
the northwest side of Thomas Store Road at Tax Map #A95-26 and Parcel #0954-
00-37-1948.000,
E. Person Industries Record Destruction,
F. Cybersecurity Grant Application totaling $79,200 with no county match,
G. County approval of tax-exempt loan to Allensville Volunteer Fire Department, Inc.
from Roxboro Savings Bank, SSB for a short term construction financing agreement
in the principal amount of $185,000, and
H. Tax Adjustments for May 2023
a. Tax Releases
b. NC Vehicle Tax System pending refunds
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NEW BUSINESS:
ZITEL GREAT GRANT PRESENTATION:
Assistant County Manager Brian Hart introduced Zitel Chief Operating Officer,
Rodney Gray, who will provide updates about their plans and process for laying fiber
infrastructure in the County, including information regarding project timelines, eligible
address passings and total anticipated passings, and current pricing and service
structure. Per the GREAT grant agreement, Zitel has been awarded an amount not to exceed
$1,936,153.80 with a 15% match for the purpose of deploying broadband services to a total
of 655 locations, including 612 households and 43 businesses. Person County is
contributing a total of $170,837.10 in matching funds to Zitel as part of this project, which
is 7.5% of the total cost of this project.
Mr. Gray attended the meeting virtually and shared the following presentation with
the Board:
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Commissioner Palmer asked if the Zitel news channels included News Max to which
Mr. Gray confirmed it was included as well as others.
Vice Chairman Sims asked Mr. Gray for a construction start date; Mr. Gray said
they were currently working with the power companies and expected to begin in the next
45 to 90 days; he said Zitel was a 2-year project and they did not plan to request an extension
to complete the buildout. Mr. Gray said as the construction was completed in a certain area,
they would install and add customers at that point versus waiting until the buildout was
completed. Vice Chairman Sims reiterated the further need for broadband in other areas of
the county. Mr. Gray confirmed Zitel’s desire to relay all information noting those outside
the footprint of the buildout could possibly be considered in the second round of GREAT
grant awards as well as the Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) state grant program.
Commissioner Palmer asked Mr. Gray about the Elderberry community located in
Rougemont to which Mr. Gray noted this community was in his first buildout proposal
however, they were cut by NCDIT as an already served area by a protesting provider. Mr.
Gray said he could work with the county to include them in the build-out; however, if that
was done, that area would not be considered any further for a future grant. He commented
that the Elderberry community was one-eighth to one-quarter mile from the current buildout
plan.
Chairman Powell thanked Mr. Gray for the update. Commissioner Puryear asked
Mr. Gray for the best contact number for residents to be put on the record as underserved or
unserved. Mr. Gray responded that residents may call Zitel at 540-328-1970 or they could
go to the Zitel web page at zitel.com to complete the forms.
Mr. Gray stated they would be installing east to west across North Carolina in
Halifax, Warren, North Hampton, Caswell and Person counties for this round of the GREAT
grant for broadband expansion.
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PRESENTATION OF THE FY 2023-2024 RECOMMENDED BUDGET:
North Carolina General Statutes require that on or before June 1 of each year,
managers present their recommended budget for the next fiscal year to the Board of
Commissioners.
County Manager, Katherine Cathey provided an overview of the FY 2023-2024
budget through the following presentation. She presented the Board with copies of the
budget document for commissioners’ review.
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HANDS-ONLY CPR DEMONSTRATION – EMERGENCY SERVICES:
Thomas E. Schwalenberg, Director / Department of Emergency Services informed
the group that June 1-7, each year is federally recognized as National CPR and AED
Awareness Week. This action was taken to highlight some very sobering statistics.
Approximately 350,000 people suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) per
year in the US, and only 8% to 10% survive to hospital discharge.
Nationally, less than 40% of patients receive bystander CPR and 29% have an AED
applied prior to paramedic arrival.
70% of cardiac arrests happen in the home.
Median time from 911 call to paramedic arrival is more than 7 minutes, and more
than 70% of patients do not receive timely defibrillation.
Little evidence that these statistics have substantially improved despite 30 years of
work.
Mr. Schwalenberg said in Person County, the Department of Emergency Services
was working, as part of the RACECARS Clinical Trial (RAndomized Cluster Evaluation of
Cardiac Arrest Systems), to change those statistics. Over the last 18 months, he said they
have been busy teaching Hands-Only CPR and AED usage to the public through public
events, faith-based initiatives, employee training (both County employees and private
organizations), schools and other venues. Mr. Schwalenberg noted they have partnered with
Person Memorial Hospital to expand their reach in the community. One of the goals for the
RACECARS trial is to teach at least 10% the Person County population to do Hands-Only
CPR and make them familiar with using an AED.
Mr. Schwalenberg invited the Person County Board of Commissioners to participate
in Hands-Only CPR training as part of their goal of teaching the community the importance
of knowing CPR and being able to perform these skills in a timely manner.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT:
Chairman Powell reported he as well as Vice Chairman Sims, County Manager
Katherine Cathey, County Attorney Ellis Hankins and others from the Person County
community attended the RTRP State of the Region last week noting it was well organized
and the group received a good report for the Research Triangle area.
MANAGER’S REPORT:
County Manager Katherine Cathey encouraged residents to complete the necessary
forms for state and local agencies to know of the need for further access to broadband; she
said they could contact the County Manager’s Office, Zitel, or complete a survey on the
FCC web page. Based on her experience, Ms. Cathey recommended the Mayo Park
Camping area and other Person County parks.
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COMMISSIONER REPORT/COMMENTS:
Vice Chairman Sims voiced his appreciation of the efforts to expand broadband
through Zitel, however, he advocated for further access to fiber for many unserved or
underserved areas in Person County. He said he learned at the RTRP State of the Region
that North Carolina was the third state behind Florida and Texas for the most people moving
to live.
Commissioner Palmer advocated for the Pay Study to be approved and looked
forward to the presentation and thanked employees for the services provided to the county’s
residents.
There were no reports from Commissioners Puryear and Thomas.
ADJOURNMENT:
A motion was made by Commissioner Puryear and carried 5-0 to adjourn the
meeting at 10:52am.
_____________________________ ______________________________
Brenda B. Reaves Gordon Powell
Clerk to the Board Chairman