-Information courtesy Kelly H. Grissom, Executive Assistant/Clerk to Board, Vance County Board of Commissioners
The following committee meeting will be held in the Administrative Conference Room, Vance County Administration Building, 122 Young Street, Henderson, NC:
Properties Committee (Brummitt, Taylor, Wilder)
Thursday, March 28, 2019, at 2:30 p.m.
– Architect for DSS Relocation
-Information courtesy Kelly H. Grissom, Executive Assistant/Clerk to Board, Vance County Board of Commissioners
The following committee meetings will be held in the Administrative Conference Room, Vance County Administration Building, 122 Young Street, Henderson, NC:
Planning/Environmental Committee (Faines, Kelly, Wilder)
Wednesday, March 13 at 3 p.m.
– RV Regulations
– Planning Board Ordinance
Public Safety Committee (Wilder, Brummitt, Faines)
Wednesday, March 13 at 4 p.m.
– 911 Addressing
-Information courtesy Kelly H. Grissom, Clerk to Board/Executive Asst., County of Vance
Agenda items include:
1. Public Comments (for those registered to speak by 5:45 p.m. – speakers are limited to five minutes).
2. Appointment – 6 p.m. – District Attorney Mike Waters, Sheriff Curtis Brame, Police Chief Marcus Barrow – Law Enforcement Update.
3. Appointment – 6:15 p.m. – Paul McKenzie, Cooperative Extension – Appointments to Farmers Market Committee – Changes to Vendor and Facility Use Guidelines.
4. Public Hearing – 6:30 p.m. – Angie Blount, County Planner Text Amendments to Zoning Ordinance.
5. Public Hearing – Angie Blount, County Planner Rezoning Request – Case RZ20190214-1 between US 1 Hwy and Edwards Road Parcel 0456 06008 Rezoning Request – Case RZ20190214-2 Warrenton Road; Parcel 0456 06008.
6. Appointment – 6:45 p.m. – Benny Finch, Downtown Development, Downtown Development Activities Update.
7. Water District Board – Water Committee – Phase 3 Construction Update – Phase 1B Engineering Services Agreement – Phase 1B Waterline Easements.
8. Committee Reports and Recommendations.
9. Finance Director’s Report – a. Surplus Property b. Financing Agreement – New Fire Truck.
10. County Attorney’s Report – a. REO Property – Bid Acceptance Resolution – 175 Freedom Lane (Lot 37) – Parcel 0541D01033 b. REO Property – New Offer – 175 Freedom Lane (Lot 38) – Parcel 0541D01034.
11. County Manager’s Report a. Spring Litter Sweep Proclamation/County Employee Cleanup Event b. Resolution – Designation of Agent for Tropical Storm Michael Declaration c. Local Records Retention Schedule d. Semi-Annual Jail Inspection Report e. Planning Board Ordinance Amendment f. Generator at Animal Shelter.
Please click here to view current and prior Board agendas.
-Information courtesy Kelly H. Grissom, Executive Assistant/Clerk to Board, Vance County Board of Commissioners
Please be informed of the following committee meetings. These will be held in the Administrative Conference Room, Vance County Administration Building, 122 Young Street, Henderson, NC.
Water Committee (Wilder, Brummitt, Taylor)
Monday, February 25, 2019 – 3 p.m.
– LKC engineering contract for Phase 1B
Public Safety Committee (Wilder, Brummitt, Faines)
Monday, February 25, 2019 – 3:30 p.m. or immediately following the water committee meeting.
– 911 Addressing
– VFD Contracts
On Thursday’s edition of WIZS Town Talk program, Vance County Commissioners Gordon Wilder and Dan Brummitt discussed the Board’s recent 4-3 vote to move ahead with funding paid part-time positions in the County’s volunteer fire departments.
Commissioners Tommy Hester, Leo Kelly, Archie Taylor and Wilder were in favor of the vote, with Dan Brummitt, Carolyn Faines and Yolanda Feimster in opposition.
The question of what changes will be made to the Vance County Fire Department that serves the Golden Belt District is still under discussion. Wilder said nothing is off the table when it comes to reorganization options.
“I’m listening to [County Manager] Jordan McMillen and Finance Manager David Beck for some recommendations. I want us to look at every possibility. It may require some shifting around of funds and some creative measures.”
The original fire restructuring proposal, which went before the Board at their January meeting, included, in part, converting the Vance County Fire Department into a volunteer operation with some paid personnel while repositioning other paid personnel into volunteer departments throughout the county.
The Board voted at that meeting to hold a work session on January 23 to further discuss details and options before proceeding.
Wilder said his vote at Monday’s Board meeting in favor of adding paid part-time positions to volunteer departments while leaving the Vance Co. Fire Department as is for the time being was influenced by his conversations with people in the community and his understanding of the general consensus of the commissioners at the recent work session.
“There seemed to be in our work session a consensus that we need to put part-timers in the volunteer departments. I’m not saying in the future that we don’t reduce the paid staff in the Golden Belt and distribute them out [to volunteer departments], but budget-wise, I don’t think it’s wise right now.”
Brummitt, who has been working on fire restructuring measures since 2006, serves on the County’s Fire Commission and has been a strong proponent of the plan as proposed at the January Board meeting.
According to Brummitt, moving forward with funding new part-time positions in the volunteer departments is not what he considers to be the most fiscally responsible decision nor the one that will bring more equality between the various fire districts.
“Based on the motion made at the meeting, the Vance County Fire Department – the Golden Belt District – will be the only area with 24-7 coverage. The others will have part-time coverage Monday through Friday on an 11-12 hour basis. There’s no equity in any of that,” said Brummitt.
Citing previous conversations centering around improving response time and providing equal coverage to the various fire districts, Brummitt said he feels Monday’s decision was a step back. “I feel the decision made the other night was a step backwards to where we had already gotten. I think we’ve come too far to go backwards now.”
Wilder said he felt the decision to increase staffing at volunteer departments was helping to reach that initial goal.
“One of the goals at the outset of all this was the fact that you may live in Watkins, Townsville or Drewry, and being an outlying fire district, you may not be getting the same response time as someone a little closer. So the goal was to give equal response times, or the best we could, as efficiently as possible.”
Moving forward, Wilder said the Board’s work will turn to the process of putting part-time positions in the volunteer departments, filling those positions and resuming talks of a possible restructuring of the Vance County Fire Department.
To hear the WIZS Town Talk interviews with Wilder and Brummitt in their entirety, please click here.
County Manager Jordan McMillen was on Monday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program to discuss the Vance County Board of Commissioners’ recent two-day planning retreat, held for 2019-2020 fiscal year budget preparation purposes.
According to McMillen, day one of the retreat included presentations by various county department heads, a change from previous years that led to greater clarity on the challenges and needs of each area.
“At this point in the budget process, which is really just beginning, we have a good handle on the needs for the upcoming year, primarily because of that first day of the retreat,” said McMillen.
Many of those needs center around one of the largest budget costs – public safety. With a new sheriff at the helm, McMillen expects one of the requests put forth to the Board this year to include the addition of several staff positions with the Vance County Sheriff’s Office.
Additional big-budget items, such as possible EMS schedule changes and on-going fire restructuring talk also weighed heavy on the discussion.
Part of the EMS restructuring includes talk of transitioning EMS personnel to a 24/72 schedule where a responder works a 24-hour shift, followed by three days off, in a rotation that would see all shifts covered.
Transitioning to this schedule would require the addition of nine new EMS positions at a cost of approximately half-a-million dollars, bringing McMillen back to the “challenges” part of the equation – money.
“Our main sources of revenue – sales and property tax – have minor growth each year,” McMillen said. “We may have $300,000 – $500,000 additional each year, which sounds like a lot, but when you start to look at some of the cost items and expenditures, they take that amount up pretty quickly.”
When questioned on the reported $650,000 in additional revenue available from the roll-off courthouse and jail renovation expenses, McMillen said the money will more than likely be put back into capital expenditures.
“The County does have an aggressive capital improvement plan that has funded projects such as roof replacements and met various needs neglected during the recession years,” said McMillen. “I don’t know that it’s going to help us on the operational side of the budget; we may be able to use some of it.”
At the retreat, McMillen said he cautioned commissioners on the potential perils of juggling so many major projects at the same time.
“I recall, a few years ago, we would focus on one large project at a time. Now we are really stretching and getting into a lot of projects at one time. I think the message for the upcoming budget year is that we need to be careful with that.”
To help narrow their focus, the Board established six goals for the 2019-2020 fiscal year:
The first of these goals, moving DSS into the former Eaton Johnson Middle School building located at 500 N. Beckford Drive, is a priority for the Board.
Currently owned by Vance County Schools, McMillen said the Board “hopes to move forward, expeditiously, with acquiring, designing and renovating the former school to include the movement of DSS, and possibly the Senior Center and other departments as space would allow.”
These goals will go before the Vance County Board of Commissioners for approval at their monthly meeting this evening.
To hear the interview with Jordan McMillen in its entirety, please click here.
-Information courtesy Kelly H. Grissom, Clerk to Board/Executive Asst., County of Vance
Agenda items:
Public Hearings
– FY 2019-2020 Budget
– Building Reuse Grant, Southeastern Speciality Vehicles
Appointments
– Stuart Hill, Thompson, Price, Scott, Adams & Co. – FY 2017-2018 Audit Report
– Lisa Harrison, Public Health Director and Bailey Alston, Five County Coalition – Jail Diversion/Peer Bridging Program
– Amanda Welsh and Brian Boyd – Henderson Oxford Airport Activities Update
Water District Board
-Monthly Operations Report
Committee Reports and Recommendations
– Technology Committee – Broadband
Finance Director’s Report
– Resolution to donate property
County Attorney’s Report
REO Properties
– Lots 270, 271, 272 Eastside Drive; Parcel 0077 03003
– Lot 6 Roberts Avenue; Parcel 0452 03024
– Lot 133 West Hills Drive; Parcel 0411A03003
– 175 Freedom Lane; Parcel 0541D01033 – New Offer
County Manager’s Report
– Resolution – Black History Month
– Agricultural Land Lease Agreement (Grissom)
– Resolution – Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC) Allocation Expansion
– Resolution Opposing Addition of Vance County to Tar Pamlico Stormwater Requirements
– Goals for FY 2019-20
– Fire Reorganization
Consent Agenda Items
– Budget Amendments and Transfers
– Tax Refunds and Releases
– Ambulance Charge-Offs
– Monthly Reports
– Minutes
Miscellaneous
– Appointments
– March Meeting Date
Click here to view current and prior Board agendas.
Information courtesy Kelly H. Grissom, Executive Assistant/Clerk to Board, County of Vance
The Vance County Board of Commissioners will hold a work session on Wednesday, January 23, 2019, at 1 p.m. in the commissioners’ conference room. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss fire restructuring.
The work session is open to the public; however, public comments will not be taken.
Lunch will be provided to the Board members at 12:30 p.m.
-Information courtesy Kelly H. Grissom, Executive Assistant/Clerk to Board, Vance County Board of Commissioners
Vance County’s Technology Committee (Brummitt, Feimster, Taylor) is scheduled to meet Monday, January 28, 2019, at 4 p.m. in the Administrative Conference Room of the Vance County Administration Building located at 122 Young Street in Henderson.
The purpose of the meeting is to discuss broadband.
-Information courtesy Kelly H. Grissom, Executive Assistant/Clerk to Board, County of Vance
The Vance County Board of Commissioners will hold a work session on Wednesday, January 23, 2019, at 1 p.m. in the commissioners’ conference room. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss fire restructuring.
The work session is open to the public; however, public comments will not be taken.
Lunch will be provided to the Board members at 12:30 p.m.
