The
Alleghany County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Monday, December
5, 2005, at 6:30pm in the Conference Room of the County Office Building, 90
South Main Street,
Sparta, North Carolina.
Present: Chair Eldon Edwards, Vice-Chair Warren
Taylor, Commissioner Graylen Blevins, Commissioner Sandy Carter Herndon, Commissioner Ken Richardson, County Attorney Donna
Shumate, County Manager Don
Adams, and Clerk to
the Board Karen Evans.
County Manager Don
Adams called the
meeting to order and explained the organizational meeting procedures.
Chair
Eldon Edwards opened the meeting with a prayer.
Commissioner
Warren Taylor made a motion to approve the agenda for this December 5,
2005, meeting. Commissioner Eldon Edwards seconded the
motion. Vote 5:0.
AGENDA
Monday,
December 5, 2005
6:30 PM
6:30 Meeting
Called To Order
Motion on Agenda for
December 5, 2005 meeting
Motion on Minutes for November 21, 2005 meeting
6:35 Elect
Chair/Vice-Chair
Meeting Procedures
County Attorney
Board Appointments
6:50 Public
Hearing
RE: Community
Transportation Program Grant Application
7:00 Public
Hearing
RE: Scattered Site
Budget Amendment
7:15 Public
Hearing
RE: 911 Road Names
7:20 911/Mapping
Annual Report
7:35 Amy Pardue
RE:
Major Subdivision Approval
Variance Procedures
7:45 Karen Leys
RE: Amersco Contract
8:00 Piney
Creek Volunteer Fire Department Annual Report
County Business
1. 2006 Joint Meeting Schedule
2. Alleghany in Motion Budget Amendment
3. Extension Service Budget Amendment
4. Other Business
5. Public Comments—30 minutes
6. Closed Session—NCGS 143-318.11 (a)
(3)—legal
7.
Adjourn
Commissioner
Eldon Edwards made a motion to approve the minutes for the November 21,
2005 meeting. Commissioner Graylen Blevins seconded the
motion. Vote 5:0.
Commissioner
Warren Taylor stated that he would like to nominate Eldon Edwards for
Chairman.
Commissioner
Sandy Carter Herndon stated that she would like to nominate Warren
Taylor for Vice-Chairman.
Commissioner
Ken Richardson seconded both motions.
Vote 5:0.
Chair
Eldon Edwards voiced his appreciation to the Board for their confidence in him
to be Chairman for another year.
Commissioner
Sandy Carter Herndon made a motion to approve the rules and procedures
as presented. Commissioner Warren Taylor
seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.
The
Board of Commissioners discussed the position of County Attorney.
Commissioner
Ken Richardson made a motion to retain the present County Attorney for another year.
Commissioner Graylen Blevins seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.
The
Board of Commissioners discussed the board appointments.
Commissioner
Warren Taylor made a motion to approve the list of board appointments as
presented. Commissioner Sandy Carter Herndon seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.
County Manager Don
Adams presented the
joint meeting schedule for 2006 with the Sparta Town Council.
Commissioner
Sandy Carter Herndon made a motion to approve the joint meeting schedule
as presented. Chair Eldon Edwards
seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.
Chair Eldon Edwards recessed the regular meeting at 6:45pm and opened the public hearing regarding the Community
Transportation Program grant application.
April Choate, Transportation Director, presented the 2006/2007 Community
Transportation Program grant application.
She explained the Administrative budget is remaining the same as the
current year except for the addition of vehicle insurance. She explained how this will help in the
Operating budget. She further explained the
total budget, reimbursement amounts and costs to the County. She talked about the Capital portion of the
grant including the needs when the department moves to the County Office Building and five vans that need to be replaced. She explained the total budget, reimbursement
amounts and costs to the County.
Chair
Eldon Edwards asked for public comments.
None were received.
Chair Eldon Edwards closed the
public hearing at 6:53pm and reconvened the regular meeting.
Commissioner Sandy Carter Herndon made a motion to approve the grant application as presented
by the Transportation Director.
Commissioner Warren Taylor seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.
April Choate stated that they had recently received a new lift van from
last year’s grant. She explained that
this is replacing a standard van that came from ADAP. She stated that they would like to receive
this van for their long trips; such as, trips to the Carowinds and the
beach.
County Manager Don
Adams explained that
the County can donate things like this van to non-profit organizations. He stated that the van must be declared
surplus with the idea that it will be donated to ADAP.
Commissioner
Ken Richardson made a motion to declare the van surplus and donate it to
ADAP. Commissioner Warren Taylor
seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.
County Manager Don
Adams presented
budget amendment General Fund #16 in the amount of $2,120 and Transportation
Fund #1 in the amount of $2,119. He
explained that this is to pay out the annual leave and comp time to a retiring
employee and allow training time for the new employee.
Commissioner
Sandy
Carter Herndon made a motion to approve budget amendment General Fund #16
in the amount of $2,120 and Transportation Fund #1 in the amount of $2,119. Commissioner Warren Taylor seconded the
motion. Vote 5:0.
County Manager Don
Adams presented
budget amendment General Fund #17 in the amount of $2,932 for the Extension
Service. He reminded the Board that this
is a follow-up from the last meeting.
Commissioner
Sandy
Carter Herndon made a motion to approve budget amendment General Fund #17
in the amount of $2,932. Commissioner
Graylen Blevins seconded the motion.
Vote 5:0.
County Manager Don
Adams presented the
variance meeting procedures prepared by Amy Pardue from written literature by David Lawrence. He explained the procedures.
The
Board of Commissioners, County Manager Don Adams and County Attorney Donna Shumate discussed the 4/5 voting rule, being allowed to ask
questions during the variance meeting, what happens if a Commissioner is contacted
by the individual prior to the meeting, conflict of interest clause and time
limit for decisions to be made.
Chair Eldon Edwards recessed the
regular meeting at 7:00pm and opened the public hearing regarding the Scattered Site
program budget amendment.
County Manager Don
Adams explained
that Michelle Ball was unable to attend this meeting. He reminded everyone what the Scattered Site
program is. He read Ms. Ball’s summary
sheet explaining that the budget amendment will increase the relocation line by
$37,000 to $252,000 and the lines to be reduced to cover the $37,000. He continued reviewing the summary sheet
explaining why this action is necessary.
Chair Eldon Edwards asked for public
comments. None were received.
Chair Eldon Edwards closed the
public hearing at 7:04pm and reconvened the regular meeting.
Commissioner Warren Taylor made a
motion to approve the request.
Commissioner Sandy Carter Herndon seconded the motion.
Vote 5:0.
Chair Eldon Edwards reminded
everyone that a variance meeting has been scheduled for 6:00pm on December 13 and a joint meeting with the Board of
Education has been scheduled for December 9 at 9:00am.
Commissioner Warren Taylor talked
about the water meeting that was scheduled in Lenoir. He stated that it is his understanding that
this has stemmed from the drought conditions in the Piedmont area. He talked about a meeting scheduled in Raleigh to discuss this further.
He stated that he thinks that this is the beginning to get a water bond years
down the road.
Chair Eldon Edwards talked about
Medicaid relief. He stated that a
committee has been appointed, and they are looking at doing the study for
providing relief in the short session.
Commissioner Ken Richardson talked
about North
Carolina
is the only state that requires the counties to pay a portion of Medicaid
expenses. He further talked about services
that are provided in other states must be provided by the counties; whereas, North Carolina provides those services now. He stated that it is a good idea to attend
these meetings to see what direction things are going and to contact the
legislators.
Chair Eldon Edwards recessed the
regular meeting at 7:13pm and opened the public hearing regarding the E-911 Road
Names.
Wendy Williams, E-911 Coordinator/Mapper presented four road names for
approval. She explained where each road
is located in the County.
Chair Eldon Edwards asked for public
comments. None were received.
Chair Eldon Edwards closed the
public hearing at 7:16pm and reconvened the regular meeting.
Commissioner Graylen Blevins made a
motion to approve the new E-911 road names as presented by the E-911
Coordinator/Mapper. Commissioner Sandy Carter Herndon seconded the motion.
Commissioner Ken Richardson asked if
a subdivision has been approved and the names of the roads are on the plat,
does the Board have to approve the names again.
Amy Pardue, Planner, stated that they are working on a new process to
incorporate the road information into the subdivision consideration
discussions.
Wendy Williams explained the guidelines for naming roads in a subdivision
prior to subdivision approval.
The Board voted on the motion on the
floor. Vote 5:0.
Amy Pardue presented a final plat for Turtle Ridge. She explained that this is a 41.66-acre tract
being divided into 20 lots using one existing state maintained road, a Private Road, one county standard road and one private driveway.
Commissioner
Ken Richardson made a motion to approve the final plat as presented by the
Planner. Commissioner Warren Taylor seconded
the motion. Vote 5:0.
Wendy Williams presented the annual report for the Mapping and E-911
departments. She explained the
activities that the departments do, training received during the past year,
major accomplishments during the past year and statistics concerning the
workload for each department.
Chair
Eldon Edwards asked about road signs being torn down.
Wendy Williams talked about the road signs, fire departments reinstalling them, relying on the public and fire
departments to let them know when road signs are missing and beginning to
physically inventory the road signs.
County Manager Don
Adams and Wendy Williams discussed the small number of corrections needed for 911
records.
Commissioner
Graylen Blevins commented that this was a very impressive report.
Karen Leys presented a revised Amersco resolution to the Board. She explained that the Local Government
Commission didn’t approve for them to go through a third party to borrow the
money for the energy savings contract.
She further explained that the change is the contract will only be
between Amersco and the Board of Education.
Commissioner
Warren Taylor and Karen
Leys discussed the
timeline and payments won’t be made until the project is complete.
County Manager Don
Adams asked if the
payments are coming out of the current expense.
Karen Leys stated that yes it is coming from current expense.
Commissioner
Warren Taylor made a motion to approve the resolution that changes the
financing end of the energy savings contract.
Commissioner Sandy Carter Herndon seconded the motion.
Vote 5:0.
Chair Eldon Edwards asked for public
comments.
Mickey Hall talked about the 911
sign brackets and other ways to fasten the signs to the posts.
Commissioner Sandy Carter Herndon asked about the newspaper doing an article on the vandalism
problems with the 911 signs.
Coby Larue stated that they had been working on an article, and it will
appear in this week’s newspaper.
Rick Proffit asked if questions/comments
can be made on things other than topics discussed at tonight’s meeting.
The Board of Commissioners stated
that the public comment section is for topics that were discussed at this
meeting.
Larry Adams, Chief with Piney Creek
Volunteer Fire Department, presented the fire department’s annual report. He reviewed how many members they have, types
of vehicles, number and types of calls received during the past year, hours of
training, coverage area, fire rating and annual fund raisers held.
Chair Eldon Edwards stated that all
of the fire departments do a tremendous job for Alleghany County.
The Board of Commissioners and Larry
Adams discussed recruiting new firemen and working closely with other
departments.
Chair Eldon Edwards stated his appreciation
for their contributions.
Chair Eldon Edwards asked for
further public comments. None were
received.
Chair Eldon Edwards thanked everyone
for attending this meeting.
Commissioner Ken Richardson made a
motion to enter into closed session at 8:01pm under NCGS 143-318.11 (a) (3)—legal. Commissioner Warren Taylor seconded the
motion. Vote 5:0.
The Board took a brief recess at 8:02pm.
Commissioner Warren Taylor made a
motion to adjourn the closed session at 8:35pm and reconvene the regular meeting. Commissioner Sandy Carter Herndon seconded the motion.
Vote 5:0.
Chair Eldon Edwards stated no action
was taken during closed session.
Being no further business, Chair
Eldon Edwards made a motion to adjourn at 8:36pm. Commissioner Warren
Taylor seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.
Respectfully
submitted,
Karen Evans
Clerk to the Board
Attest:
Eldon Edwards
Chairman