October 17
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PERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OCTOBER 17, 2011 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 regular session on Monday, October 17, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. in the Commissioners’ meeting room in the Person County Office Building.
Chairman Clayton called the meeting to order, led invocation and asked
Commissioner Kennington to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. DISCUSSION/ADJUSTMENT/APPROVAL OF AGENDA: A motion was made by Commissioner Jeffers, seconded by Vice Chairman
Puryear and carried 5-0 to approve the agenda.
INFORMAL COMMENTS: Sheriff Dewey Jones appeared before the Board to make informal comments to
announce Operation Medicine Drop will take place on October 29th from 10:00 am to
2:00 pm in front of the Wal-Mart store. Sheriff Jones explained this is an opportunity for
residents to properly dispose of old or unused medicines.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
A motion was made by Commissioner Jeffers, seconded by Commissioner
Blalock, and carried 5-0 to approve the minutes of October 3, 2011.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS: A motion was made by Commissioner Blalock, seconded by Vice Chairman
Puryear, and carried 5-0 to approve the Administrative Reports for the Inspection
Department, Public Library and Person Area Transportation System.
NEW BUSINESS:
RESOLUTION OF APPRECIATION:
Chairman Clayton read and presented a Resolution of Appreciation to Captain
Albert Pruitt recognizing his retirement and years of service to the county. Sheriff Jones praised Captain Pruitt for his cumulative 50 years of service with the Department of
Corrections and Person County noting Captain Pruitt’s outstanding work ethic. All
Board members stated their appreciation to Captain Pruitt.
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PROCLAMATION OF SUPPORT: It was the consensus of the Board that Chairman Clayton read and present a
Proclamation of Support for the SHOP EAT ENJOY initiative pioneered by the Roxboro
Development Group to Tourism Development (TDA) Director, Margaret McMann and TDA Board Member, Bettie Yarboro.
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RIGHT-OF-WAY OFFER FROM NC DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: General Services Director, Ray Foushee presented the Board with a formal offer
from NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to Person County in the amount of
$10,500 to purchase the right-of-way in front of the county owned School Bus Garage on Highway 49 North. Mr. Foushee stated the offer is related to the NCDOT Highway 501
Bypass Project and includes payments for land value (appraised and compared to similar
properties in the county), temporary construction easement and improvements to the
property. Mr. Foushee explained the project basically bypasses the City of Roxboro.
Mr. Foushee noted the construction easement was modified so that the fence and the School Bus Garage Sign near the road would not have to be moved for construction,
further noting the county property would not be adversely affected other than
modifications to the driveway and where it intersects with Highway 49. Mr. Foushee
confirmed to the Board that the county would not have any costs related to the project.
Mr. Foushee told the group as additional information the Board of Education had also received a similar offer for the right-of-way in front of the VFW property (adjacent to the
county owned property). Mr. Foushee gave the Board the available options for
consideration for action:
1. Accept the offer for $10,500, 2. Negotiate for a better offer,
3. Donate the $10,500 back to NCDOT as a “good faith” gesture toward the 501
Bypass Project, or
4. Accept the offer for $10,500 and share the proceeds with the Board of
Education.
Mr. Foushee stated the Board of Education met this past week and elected to
retain the funds as offered by the NC DOT for the adjacent property right of way noting
the driveway access may need to be widen when the Learning Academy is relocated to
that location.
Mr. Foushee passed out to the Board copies of the Deed for Highway Right of
Way as well as the Agreement for Entry noting both documents require signatures of the
Chairman of the Board of Commissioners and the Board of Education.
A motion was made by Vice Chairman Puryear, seconded by Commissioner
Kennington, and carried 5-0 to accept the offer from NC Department of Transportation
to Person County in the amount of $10,500 as presented in the Deed For Highway Right
of Way and set aside the funds in the General Fund for non profit purposes.
A motion was made by Commissioner Blalock, seconded by Vice Chairman
Puryear, and carried 5-0 to approve the Agreement for Entry for immediate access to the
property.
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CODE RED PROGRAM: Health Director, Janet Clayton announced to the Board that the Person County
Health Department and Progress Energy have partnered to provide the residents of Person
County an emergency communication network. Ms. Clayton explained that for the past several years, county emergency response leaders have been investigating the possibility
of implementing an emergency communication system (reverse 911) for Person County
noting many after action reports of various emergency preparedness exercises throughout
the county have indicated the need for a system with the capability to rapidly release
information to the residents of Person County during an emergency. Several systems were reviewed and the system of choice was CodeRED. However at the time of initial
investigation, the system was cost prohibitive. Ms. Clayton told the Board in the spring
of 2011, the Person County Health Department and Progress Energy became aware of the
mutual interest in the implementation of an emergency communication system for Person
County thereby forming a partnership. Both entities had researched various response systems and agreed that CodeRED was again the best system for Person County’s needs.
A three year commitment was agreed upon and has been jointly funded through a grant.
Ms. Clayton stated since the spring, both phone and GIS data have been uploaded,
and the system is now functioning and will become operational on November 1, 2011. Ms. Clayton stated there will be an access point on the Person County Website for
residents to submit cell phones to the data base. Ms. Clayton confirmed there would be
no cost associated for this service to the residents. Ms. Clayton noted designated
emergency response leaders have the capability to initiate emergency notifications
currently. Ms. Clayton stated with the implementation of CodeRED, the residents of Person County will receive emergency alerts rapidly which will increase their level of
safety. The alert system will use voice, email, and text messages to alert citizens within
minutes of activation.
A motion was made by Commissioner Blalock, seconded by Vice Chairman Puryear, and carried 5-0 to approve the response system, CodeRed to rapidly release
information to the residents of Person County during an emergency.
Board members extended their appreciation to staff at the Health Department and
Progress Energy for their partnership to serve the citizens of Person County.
On another subject, Chairman Clayton informed the Health Director the NC
Association of County Commissioners is implementing a Wellness Project and gave her
contact information to inquire further.
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RESTRUCTURING OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
County Manager, Heidi York stated the current state of Person County Economic
Development (the recent resignation of the Person County Business and Industrial Center’s (PCBIC) contracted Economic Development Director, no Economic
Development Commission (EDC) Chair, struggle to have consistent, regular EDC
meetings) the Board of Commissioners directed the Manager to develop a transition plan
for economic projects to staff and to restructure the current Economic Development
Commission. Ms. York noted economic development has been evaluated numerous times by the Board of Commissioners and the current structure is not meeting the needs
of the Board. In an effort to facilitate the Board with any such transition and restructure,
Ms. York presented the Board with a starting place for the Board’s discussion and
consideration using best practices and incorporating the direction and feedback from all
members of the Board. Ms. York asked the Board to receive the following presentation and provide direction to the Manager and staff as appropriate.
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All board members were given the opportunity to make comments and provide
input related to the presentation.
Commissioner Blalock passed out copies to the Board of a brochure titled The Guiding Principles from Learning to Lead, a primer on Economic Development
Strategies by Maury Forman and James Mooney with contributions by Charles
Eckenstahler and Dionne Maniotes Hulsey.
Chairman Clayton suggested the Board to schedule a work session to further discuss the economic developing transition and restructuring. It was the consensus of the
Board to meet on November 7, 2011 at 5:30 pm jointly with Economic Development
Commission members in the Board room prior to the regular scheduled 7:00 pm meeting.
Ms. York confirmed the Economic Development Commission meeting scheduled for 12 noon on October 20, 2011 at the Clarksville Station Restaurant had been changed
to 9:00 a.m. at Tricia’s Café on the same date.
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BUDGET AMENDMENT: Finance Director, Amy Wehrenberg presented and explained the following
Budget Amendment.
Upon a motion by Commissioner Jeffers, and a second by Commissioner Blalock
and majority vote (5-0), the Board of Commissioners of Person County does hereby
amend the Budget of the Fund(s) listed below on this, the 17th day of October 2011, as
follows:
Dept./Acct No. Department Name Amount Incr / (Decr) EXPENDITURES General Fund General Government 115 Public Safety 2,628 Human Services 18,577 Culture & Recreation 573 REVENUES General Fund Intergovernmental Revenues 20,768 Other Revenues 1,125 Explanation: Appropriating revenues received from the sale of concessions for the Morale Pals
Committee ($115); donations in the Sheriff's ($72), Animal Control ($365) and Library
Departments ($573); revenues received from the NC Department of Agriculture for the
Spay & Neuter Program in Animal Control ($300); revenues allotted to the Senior
Center from the DOT for the Rural Operating Assistance Program ($6,600); Unauthorized Substance Tax revenues received to cover expenses in the Law
Enforcement Restricted Fund ($1,891); and various program adjustments in the
Department of Social Services ($11,977).
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: Chairman Clayton commented on the following:
• NC Association of County Commissioners Environmental Committee meeting
will be held on October 18, 2011 at 10:00 am at the Quorum Center in Raleigh, and
• Vice Chairman Puryear would be participating at an upcoming ribbon cutting at
Grandaddy’s Restaurant on his behalf.
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MANAGER’S REPORT:
County Manager, Heidi York reported the following:
• An informal, joint session with the Board of Education would be held in Room 25 (their board room) at 11:00 am noting it would not be streamed live on the web,
• Administrative reports would be taken off the board agenda and submitted
separately to Board members unless Board action is required,
• November 14, 2011 Board meeting would be held in the County Auditorium (Local Government Day), and
• Requested the Board set the Community Conversations date. It was the
consensus of the Board to set November 28, 2011 as the Community Conversations opportunity with citizens to be held at the Kirby starting at 6:30 pm.
COMMISSIONER REPORT/COMMENTS: Commissioner Kennington stated he had no report but asked if Gene Hodges,
Assistant County Manager would set the agenda for the Economic Development
Commission (EDC) meeting in the absence of a Director or EDC Chairperson. Vice Chairman Puryear added election of EDC officers should take place at the beginning of the meeting.
Commissioner Blalock reported a renowned expert scientist would be speaking on uranium mining in Danville on November 5, 2011 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.
Registration costs would be $10.
Commissioner Jeffers reported on the following:
• NC Rural Center Forum to be held on November 16-17, 2011,
• NC Association of County Commissioners Executive Committee would be
meeting with the Governor on November 4, 2011, and
• Backpack program update included brochures highlighting the mission noting 6 meals and 2 snacks to be provided to eligible children for weekends/holidays.
Volunteer Coordinator and sponsorship opportunities are available.
Vice Chairman Puryear encouraged the Board to introduce themselves to the
successful City Council election winners. Ms. York confirmed a joint session with the
City of Roxboro would be scheduled early in the new year.
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RECESS:
A motion was made by Commissioner Kennington, seconded by Commissioner
Blalock, and carried 5-0 to recess the meeting at 10:21 am until 11:00 am at which time the Board of Commissioners will meet in joint session with the Board of Education in
their board room (Room 25 in the County Office Building).
_____________________________ ______________________________ Brenda B. Reaves Jimmy B. Clayton
Clerk to the Board Chairman