Tag Archive for: #countyofvance

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Vance Co. Without a Fire Marshal Since June

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Vance County has been without a fire marshal since Keith Duncan accepted the position of fire marshal of Person County in June.

In a statement to WIZS News, Vance County Manager Jordan McMillen shared that the Planning and Development Department, as well as the Fire Department, are handling the inspection and plan review portions of the job. “We have several certified fire investigators in our fire department that can be made available should a volunteer department need fire investigation assistance,” said McMillen. “For the most part, we have all of the duties of the position covered currently.”

McMillen did not indicate that there are plans to fill the fire marshal position at this time.

“The Board created this new position in 2016 with the idea that it would create a dedicated liaison for the volunteer fire departments to assist with insurance ratings and concerns that may arise,” explained McMillen. “As a part of this, the fire marshal met regularly with the fire association and was instrumental in enforcing the County’s contracts with each department as well as reviewing pay requests each month to reimburse the volunteer departments for their part-time hours worked. The position was very helpful in assisting the departments as they went through their rating improvement process that took place last year. Prior to 2016, our fire chief position included the fire chief and fire marshal duties.”

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Vance Public Safety, Human Resources Committees to Meet Oct. 27

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-Information courtesy the County of Vance

Please note the following schedule of Vance County committee meetings. Both meetings will be held in the Administrative Conference Room of the Vance County Administration Building located at 122 Young Street in Henderson, NC.

Public Safety Committee (Wilder, Brummitt, Taylor)

Tuesday, October 27 at 3 p.m.

  • Amendments to Ambulance Franchise Ordinance

Human Resources Committee (Faines, Taylor, Wilder)

Tuesday, October 27 at 3:45 p.m.

  • Engagement Team Update
  • Policy Update
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Public Safety Committee to Discuss Amendment to Ambulance Ordinance

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-Information courtesy the County of Vance

Vance County’s Public Safety Committee (Wilder, Brummitt, Taylor) is scheduled to meet Tuesday, September 29, 2020, at 3 p.m.

The meeting will be held in the Administrative Conference Room of the Vance County Administration Building located at 122 Young Street, Henderson, NC.

The purpose is to discuss an amendment to the ambulance franchise ordinance.

McGregor Hall

Vance County Allocates $50,000 to McGregor Hall; City Considers Funding Request

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The Vance County Intergovernmental Committee (Taylor[C], Feimster & Kelly) met on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, to review a request from McGregor Hall for funding assistance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the County’s write-up of the meeting, the committee discussed the impact of COVID-19 on McGregor which includes a $100,000 overall decrease in revenue compared to last year (from March 16 – July 10) and recognized the County could not provide the requested funding level of $250,000.

The committee recognized the local economic impact of McGregor ($2.34 million according to a 2019 economic impact study) and discussed the importance of McGregor to the continued growth and success of downtown Henderson and Vance County.

The committee discussed a recommendation from Vance County Manager Jordan McMillen to allocate $50,000 in one-time funding to McGregor from the County’s Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF). Two of the three committee members were in agreement and recommended supporting McGregor with $50,000 in CRF funds. The third committee member mentioned a concern with allocating all of the remaining CRF funds and suggested providing $30,000 to McGregor.

According to McMillen, following the committee report, the Vance County Board of Commissioners approved the County’s updated plan for allocating the remaining CRF that came from the Federal Government through the state. The vote was 4-2 with Commissioners Dan Brummitt and Carolyn Faines voting against the final allocation of CRF. (Commissioner Yolanda Feimster was absent.)

McMillen said the $50,000 to McGregor Hall was one of the final allocations approved and funds will be distributed to the performing arts center over the next few months.

Henderson City Manager E. Terrell Blackmon said McGregor Hall reached out to the City to request a financial contribution at the same time they contacted Vance County, which was shortly after the City’s FY 2020-2021 budget had been adopted.

“Council does have an opportunity to consider making a contribution to McGregor Hall utilizing CARES Act funding similar to what Vance County Government has recently done,” Blackmon stated in correspondence with WIZS News. “The City’s pot of funds is much smaller than that of Vance County since we are only a sub-recipient of a portion of the County’s funds. Our first priority with the funding is to up-fit our facilities to make them more COVID-friendly, improve technology for virtual meetings/teleworking and purchase additional PPE. Up-fitting our facilities will take up the lion’s share of the $459,733 we received from Vance County. However, in my proposed budget activities, I have recommended that the Council consider a contribution to McGregor Hall.”

Blackmon stated that he could not provide a specific funding amount at this time, citing the need to await quotes and finalized numbers, but anticipates a final decision could be made at October’s City Council meeting after the presentation of the final CARES Act budget. Ultimately, he explained, the final decision of the City’s contributions to McGregor Hall’s funding request will be up to the Henderson City Council.

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Vance Co. Board of Commissioners to Hold Monthly Meeting Tues., Sept. 8

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-Information courtesy the County of Vance

The Vance County Board of Commissioners will meet Tuesday, September 8, 2020, at 6 p.m. in the Commissioners’ Meeting Room, 122 Young Street, Henderson.

Agenda items:

1. ABC Composite Board to Appoint Member to Fill Vacant Position

2. Public Comments (for those registered to speak by 5:45 p.m. – each speaker is limited to five minutes)

3. Appointment – 6 p.m. – Javier Plummer, EMS Director Special Recognition from American Heart Association

4. Appointment – 6:15 p.m. – Turner Pride, Cooperative Extension Director Introduction of New 4H Agent, Dr. Wykia Macon

5. Water District Board

a. Monthly Operations Report

6. Committee Reports and Recommendations

a. General Government Committee – Resolution – Policy and Procedures for County Appointments to Boards, Commissions and Committees

b. Intergovernmental Committee – McGregor Hall Funding Request

7. Finance Director’s Report

a. COVID-19 – Coronavirus Relief Fund

8. County Manager’s Report

a. Legislative Goals

b. Request to Replace 15 HVAC units at Jail

c. Economic Development Repayment Agreement – TNCP ONE, LLC

d. Volunteer Fire Department Contracts Addendum – Flexible Use of Part-time Hours

e. Rescue Squad Contract Addendum and Budget Amendment

f. Resolution Expanding Use of Fire Tax Proceeds to include Rescue Services

9. County Attorney’s Report

a. REO Properties – Bid Acceptance

– Oak Ridge Church Road Lot – Parcel 0482 04006

– Community House Road Lot – Parcel 0460 01026

10. Consent Agenda Items

a. Budget Amendments

b. Tax Refunds and Releases

c. Monthly Reports

d. Minutes

Click here to view current and prior Board agendas.

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Vance County Public Safety, Properties Committee to Meet Next Week

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-Information courtesy County of Vance

Please be informed of the following scheduled Vance County committee meetings. Both meetings will be held in the Commissioners’ Conference Room of the Vance County Administration Building located at 122 Young Street in Henderson.

Public Safety Committee (Wilder, Brummitt, Taylor)

Tuesday, July 21, 2020 – 3 p.m.

  • Fire Reorganization

Properties Committee (Brummitt, Taylor, Wilder)

Wednesday, July 22, 2020 – 4 p.m.

  • Warrenton Road Convenience Site
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Vance Co. Public Safety’s Fire Reorganization Meeting Rescheduled for June 30

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-Information courtesy Kelly H. Grissom, Clerk to Board/Executive Asst., County of Vance

Please be informed that the Vance County Public Safety Committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 23 has been changed to Tuesday, June 30, 2020.

The meeting will be held at 3 p.m. in the Commissioners’ Conference Room of the Vance County Administration Building located at 122 Young Street in Henderson.

The topic of discussion is fire reorganization.

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Vance Commissioners Approve County, Water District Budget

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Vance County Manager Jordan McMillen provided WIZS with the following summary of the Vance County Board of Commissioners’ special called meeting held Monday, June 15, 2020:

County Budget – The total general fund budget is $49,498,430, with $1,310,356 used from fund balance to balance the budget. The overall budget with all funds combined is $60.7 million. The budget includes no increase in the general fund property tax rate (remains at .89 cents), no increase in the fire tax rate (remains 8.9 cents), and a $5 increase in the solid waste household fee. Overall, the budget addresses the Board’s top priorities for the coming year while moving the county forward and maximizing county services with limited revenue growth.

Water District Budget – The total water district budget is $1,250,689, which includes a general fund transfer of $261,885. The budget holds the usage rate at 10.33 per $1,000 gallons. We currently have $1,338 active metered customers on the system and believe it will take 1,600 to 1,650 to break even assuming we do not take on any additional debt for the system.

Maria Parham Incentive – Maria Parham Health is in the process of adding a cardiac cath lab which will increase the tax value over $3.2 million and add over 25 jobs with an average wage of over $60,000. As a result of this, we have been discussing an economic development incentive agreement with Maria Parham for several months. We were unable to hold the necessary public hearings and approve the agreement last night due to restrictions that were previously in place related to COVID-19 and public hearings.

Eaton Johnson – The Board approved financing for the project and awarded the contract for the renovation of the former Eaton Johnson Middle School building to Danco Builders, who was the lowest qualified bidder. We will need approval of the financing from the Local Government Commission which meets on July 7, but after that, we will be finalizing contracts and work will begin for the 10-month project to renovate Eaton Johnson for use by DSS. The construction cost approved was $3,030,856.38 and the total project budget with engineering and other contingencies included is $4,531,662. We are hopeful for an August 1, 2020, start date which would put completion in April or May of next year.

Vance County’s approved budget documents and Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) can be viewed on the County’s Board of Commissioners website (click here).

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Vance Co. to Discuss Allocation of Approx. $1 Million in Coronavirus Relief Funding

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-Information courtesy Jordan McMillen, Vance County Manager

As recently posted on WIZS.com, Vance County has received Coronavirus Relief Funds from the State totaling $974,599. According to Vance County Manager Jordan McMillen, discussion on ways to allocate those funds will be held at the Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday, June 1.

“The state originally required a plan by June 1, but have pushed back the deadline to June 15, as of yesterday,” said McMillen. “According to the latest guidance, the funds must be spent by the end of December or they must be returned. The use of the funds is very restricted; funds can only be used for expenses directly related to COVID-19.”

McMillen continued, “We do anticipate using the funds to purchase necessary PPE for our public safety departments, as well as to outfit our buildings to ensure our staff and the public will be adequately protected, for example with the installation of plexiglass in certain departments, updating certain technology to ensure we are better prepared for telework and telemeetings in the future.”

As the court system opens back on June 1, McMillen said the County is making arrangements to encourage social distancing both outside the courthouse and as people enter the courthouse. Additionally, the courthouse will have regular cleanings throughout the day.

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Vance Co. Proposed FY 2020-21 Budget Includes Cost of Living Adjustment

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In a followup to his discussion on WIZS Town Talk last week, Vance County Manager Jordan McMillen reported that the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Vance County proposed budget does include a three percent cost of living adjustment.

The $49,268,824 proposed budget was presented to the Vance County Board of Commissioners at their May meeting and includes four major recurring items that increase the budget expenditures by more than $100,000 each. These items include a cost of living adjustment for County employees, a state-mandated increase in retirement costs for employees, new departmental positions/overtime increases and increases in jail healthcare to change medical providers.

The cost of living adjustment totals $522,120 and is deemed necessary as the County’s starting and current salaries are falling behind inflation and beginning to fall behind neighboring jurisdictions, according to McMillen. “A cost of living adjustment not only moves employees’ salaries up, but it also moves the entire salary schedule upward adjusting starting salaries by the same percentage. Although human resources recommends we implement a five percent cost of living adjustment for the upcoming year, we were only able to include three percent due to lack of revenue growth,” McMillen explained.

McMillen said it would be advisable to revisit revenues in the early part of 2021 to see if further adjustments can be made to the salary schedule mid-year. The last cost of living adjustment given to County employees was one-and-half percent in January 2017, and, since that time, inflation has increased over six percent.

Additionally, McMillen stated that Granville, Franklin, and Warren counties are currently undertaking a salary plan which will cause Vance County’s salaries to fall even further behind.

A public hearing to receive citizens’ comments on the proposed budget will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 1. To adhere to current social distancing guidelines, the public is asked to email comments regarding the budget to Vance County Clerk Kelly Grissom at KGrissom@vancecounty.org prior to the hearing or up to 24 hours after the hearing.