May 29
May 29, 2012 1
PERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MAY 29, 2012
MEMBERS PRESENT OTHERS PRESENT
Jimmy B. Clayton Heidi York, County Manager Kyle W. Puryear
B. Ray Jeffers Brenda B. Reaves, Clerk to the Board Samuel R. Kennington
Frances P. Blalock
The Board of Commissioners for the County of Person, North Carolina, met in recessed
session on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. in the Commissioners’ meeting room in the
Person County Office Building for the purpose of a budget work session.
Chairman Clayton called the meeting to order. Commissioner Jeffers was absent until
8:36 am.
Stormwater Ordinance for New Development
Chairman Clayton requested the Board to reconsider the vote regarding the Zoning Amendment, Section 31, Falls Lake Stormwater Ordinance for New Development and Approval
of Local Stormwater Zoning Map and for the reconsideration to take place at the Board’s next meeting on June 4, 2012.
A motion was made by Commissioner Kennington, seconded by Chairman Clayton, and carried 5-0 to reconsider the vote regarding the Zoning Amendment, Section 31, Falls Lake Stormwater Ordinance for New Development and Approval of Local Stormwater Zoning Map
and for the reconsideration to take place at the Board’s next meeting on June 4, 2012.
Commissioner Kennington asked the County Manager to contact Representative Winkie
Wilkins to invite him to attend the Board’s meeting on June 4, 2012 to outline any information related to the Stormwater Ordinance for any legislative recourse and to ask if any local bills will
be allowed for a possible waiver for further investigation to find out how much Person County is
polluting the Falls Lake. Commissioner Kennington stated his desire to find out why legislators voted to approve this issue in General Assembly. Chairman Clayton told the group the legislative
session will open on Monday night, June 4, 2012 which may prevent Representative Wilkins to come to the Board meeting. County Manager, Heidi York stated she had already sent Representative Wilkins an email but would call to invite and request more information.
Chairman Clayton stated he would see Representative Wilkins as well as the Chairman of the Environment Committee on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 at County Assembly Day in Raleigh. Commissioner Jeffers commented he would be in Raleigh Tuesday and Wednesday, May 29-30,
2012 and would be meeting with Senate Pro Tem and could ask questions to get further information.
Commissioner Blalock commented on the good information related to water quality on the Health Department’s web site.
Unified City and County Fee Schedule Ms. York explained to the Board that the City of Roxboro and Person County are in
process of creating a one-stop shop for central permitting and proposed a joint fee schedule to
have the same costs whether for a city or county use. Ms. York noted the proposed fees would become a part of the budget document for both the City of Roxboro and Person which would
become effective through the adoption of the budget. Ms. York noted the Unified Fee Schedule
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would be a topic of discussion at the joint meeting with City Council on June 7, 2012 in the
County Auditorium starting at 6:00 pm. Commissioner Kennington asked staff how Person County compared to neighboring
counties. Interim Assistant County Manager and Health Department Director, Janet Clayton noted she had worked with Mr. Hobgood on the fee schedule noted Person County ranked in the
middle where fees are concerned. Ms. York offered to give the Board an analysis of the fee
schedule with other benchmarking counties.
Commissioner Blalock questioned the $250 unified fee for a variance request. Planning
Director, Paula Murphy stated a variance request was much like a special use or conditional permit which requires several costly steps, i.e. an ad to be published twice, a sign posted,
notification of adjacent landowner, etc. Inspection’s Director, Sam Hobgood told the Board as a
comparison the variance fee in Granville County is $885.
Commissioner Blalock stated concern for the $2,000 fine as excessive for occupying a
commercial building before a certificate of occupancy is issued. Mr. Hobgood stated the $2,000 fine was added due to contractors requesting a permit to allow electricity run to buildings prior to
the final inspection. Ms. York noted the fine is the mechanism in place to make sure contractors get the final inspection for the certificate of occupancy. Mr. Hobgood added Durham County was the only neighbor county to issue a permit of this type. Mr. Hobgood confirmed the general
contractor would be the person to receive the fine if such a violation occurs.
Commissioner Jeffers commented on the off premises sign permit fee (bill board)
increasing from $30 to $200 for the City of Roxboro and is interested to hear City Council’s comments at their upcoming joint meeting.
Commissioner Kennington asked Mr. Hobgood to continue to improve customer service and public education about permits and the associated fees. Mr. Hobgood noted the county
website is a good resource for answers to questions noting the Inspection staffs also talks to vendors to inform of required permits and fees. Ms. York added an informational brochure has been developed in regard to the centralized permitting underway. Commissioner Blalock
suggested sending information to the media for publishing or announcing to the citizens. Income Maintenance Caseworker III -FNS
Vice Chairman Puryear asked the County Manager for justification related to the DSS
Income Maintenance Caseworker III-FNS position recommended. Ms. York noted the primary responsibilities involve interviewing applicants for Food and Nutrition Services (formerly Food
Stamps), determination of eligibility for initial and ongoing benefits by gathering information, verification, documenting records and completing forms. Ms. York stated the last position created in Food and Nutrition Services was in 2006 when the total caseload was 1,840. Ms. York
stated the total Food and Nutrition Services caseload has increased 103% to 3,735 cases in 2011 noting the longer processing time with a 30 day deadline. Ms. York explained the position would
be 50% funded each by the county and state funds with a salary of $29,555.
Employee Compensation
Commissioner Kennington stated he was philosophically opposed to merit pay giving a
2% increase for employees to do their job (achieves) but may consider an increase for going above and beyond exceeding expectations using a step increase.
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Commissioner Blalock suggested a salary increment scale based on merit with small
movement each year opposing an increase for those below standards. Commissioner Kennington and Vice Chairman Puryear stated the employees have a very
generous compensation package with 401-K, longevity and the recent 2.85% COLA noting their stand that the merit was not ready for approval.
Ms. York told the group that staff are now in the third year of performance reviews without funding and asked the Board what changes are needed in the proposed merit pay for
performance to go forward to address the compression of new hires being brought on at the same
rate of those that have been in the same job for years.
Ms. York explained that longevity is a one-time bonus received annually in the
November paycheck outlining the following schedule:
5 years of service – less than 10 years 1% annual salary
10 years of service – less than 15 years 2% annual salary 15 years of service – less than 20 years 3.25% annual salary
20 years of service – less than 25 years 4.25% annual salary 25 years of service and more 5.75% annual salary
Commissioner Kennington asked for an up to date employee compensation study. Ms. York noted she would update the employee compensation study that was presented to the Board
last November and bring to the next budget work session. Commissioner Kennington stated he
was not in favor of increasing employee compensation noting his preference to have 401-K county contribution as a match to the employee contribution.
Commissioner Jeffers asked the County Manager to review what other counties are doing related to merit pay for performance noting the need to have a system in place to retain
employees. Roofing & Window Study
Commissioner Jeffers asked about the $26,500 cost for the study. General Services Director, Ray Foushee explained $20,000 is budgeted each year to have roofing evaluated noting this is the second year in the process and the first year to budget $6,500 for a window study for
primarily school facilities, the County Office Building and the Library. Mr. Foushee noted the
studies are performed on facilities based on critical needs per priorities of the entities.
Commissioner Kennington recommended the old Helena School site be included in the window study. After discussion, the Board agreed to have a consultant evaluate the old Helena School site to bring the facility back up to code for use. Mr. Foushee and Ms. York will bring the
Board a cost estimate for the needs associated at the old Helena School site.
Person Industries (PI) / Material Recycling Facility (MRF)
Vice Chairman Puryear questioned the $15,000 cost in MRF Professional Services budget line. Finance Director, Amy Wehrenberg confirmed the $15,000 cost was budgeted for a
space assessment study to evaluate moving PI’s operations into the same facility as the MRF.
Ms. Wehrenberg noted there is also another $15,000 budgeted in the PI budget. Ms. York confirmed $30,000 in the Capital line in the MRF budget is a one-time purchase expense of a skid
loader piece of equipment. Noting the lease amount in the budget is increasing, Commissioner
Kennington requested a compiled listing of all building leases with amounts. Vice Chairman
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Puryear asked the Finance Director about General Fund revenue in the MRF budget. Ms.
Wehrenberg stated $262,512 is the difference in the revenue that the county has to pay to provide the service.
Person County Schools Board members discussed the 2% increase in county funding to education noting the
State may be reducing the reversion amount and proposing a 1.8% COLA for state employees,
leaving Person County School in a much better position. Chairman Clayton noted the Board of Commissioners do not have control to dictate use of local current expense funding unlike capital
funding. Ms. Wehrenberg made the observation that an increase in current expense would be a
recurring expense that would have to be held flat or better in future years unless an overall reduction is made by the Board.
Commissioner Jeffers advocated for the 2% increase in local funding be used by the Board of Education for a salary supplement for teachers and support staff noting the school’s total
budget may have been decreased while the per pupil allotment has increased due to less students.
Commissioner Kennington asked staff to review a capital request in the plan for 2015 for
a new roof ($284,000) on the School Maintenance facility with the request in 2017 ($1.5 million) for a new maintenance facility. Commissioner Kennington would like to know if the capital requests listed in the plan are related and what the plan is for the current school maintenance
facility if a new one will be replacing it in 2017.
Person Area Transportation System (PATS)
Commissioner Blalock stated through her review of the PATS operational and administrative budgets, the PATS program is not sustaining its budget nor making a profit. Ms.
Wehrenberg stated the PATS program is not intended to make a profit, it is a service provided to
citizens, subsidized by the Department of Transportation with state funds for the administrative program on a 85% state / 15% county funds and 90% state funding capital with a 10% county
match confirming the difference is $262,000 in county local funds.
Non-Profit Requests
Commissioner Kennington raised the issue of non-profit agencies requesting funds during the budget process noting JCPC (recent funding recommendation – Ms. Wehrenberg noted JCPC’s request is in the budget), Judge Galloway (Drug Court Administrator position at a cost of
$50,000 not recommended by the County Manager), David Forsythe (Person County Group
Homes), RDG (additional request for $20,000 to fund full time director), and the Chamber of Commerce (request funding for Personality this year and next year) were some that wanted
consideration by the Board. Ms. York noted the budget Public Hearing for public comments is a time for citizens to come before the Board to provide input to the Board. Commissioner Jeffers strongly opposes hearing any non-profits requests if all were not to be heard.
ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made by Commissioner Blalock, seconded by Vice Chairman Puryear,
and carried 5-0 to adjourn the meeting at 10:34 am.
_____________________________ ______________________________ Brenda B. Reaves Jimmy B. Clayton
Clerk to the Board Chairman