|
|
|
|
|
Office of the Board of Commissioners |
|
|
Summary May 5, 2008 |
|
The first meeting of the month will be videotaped and shown on the Government Access Channel (Channel 20) on the following Wednesday at 1:00 PM and 7:00 PM following each meeting. The second meeting of the month will be videotaped and shown on the Government Access Channel (Channel 20) on Wednesday at 1:00 PM and 7:00 PM following each meeting. Any questions? Please call Dorothy Toolan, Public Relations Coordinator, at 252-475-5903. The Dare County Board of Commissioners met in a
regular session at 9:00 a.m. on May 5, 2008 in the Dare County
Administrative Annex in Manteo. Commissioners present were: ITEM 1 – PRESENTATION OF
ITEM 2 – EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH Deputy Robert Moore of the Dare
County Sheriff’s Office received the Employee of the Month Certificate
from Phillip Etheridge, Chief Deputy. ITEM 3 – PUBLIC COMMENTS No one came forward to speak. ITEM 4 – PROCLAMATION – NATIONAL HOSPITAL WEEK
MAY 11-17, 2008 Van Smith, President of Outer Banks Hospital
came forward to speak about the Hospital’s commitment to quality care
and thanked the Commissioners for their support of health care for the
Outer Banks community. Attorney ITEM 5 – COOPERATIVE EXTENSION REPORT TO THE
PEOPLE Ann Ward, Cooperative Extension
Director, presented the 2007 Report to the People. After
introducing staff, regional representatives and advisory Board members,
Ann spoke about the programs offered by Cooperative Extension and then
showed the attached presentation. She thanked Commissioners for
their support and for the partnership with the state and presented Board
members with a written report. ITEM 6 – RESOLUTION CONCERNING COASTAL MANAGEMENT POLICIES Ray Sturza, Planning Director, presented the attached Resolution Concerning Coastal Management Policies Along the Oceanfront in North Carolina for the Board’s consideration. The Resolution calls for extending the period of time for sand bags to remain in place and encourages the state to do more than regulate by finding a proactive program to manage and maintain North Carolina’s beaches. Commissioners adopted the
Resolution as presented. ITEM 7 – PROPOSED AMENDMENTS – STREET
STANDARDS
Donna Creef, Senior Planner, informed the Board that on March 17 the Board instructed the Planning Board and Planning staff to identify possible amendments to the Dare County codes to address the construction of streets and roads to be built to North Carolina Department of Transportation standards. This instruction was based on the review of a subdivision that featured a private road consisting of a 30’ wide right-of-way with 20’ wide paved improvements. The Board expressed the concern at that time that this right-of-way width was inadequate to provide access and maneuvering area for service vehicles. Since that time, staff has reviewed both the Subdivision Ordinance and the Zoning Ordinance in response to the Board’s directive and identified sections that address the construction of road improvements. These proposed amendments address the concerns expressed by the Board of Commissioners over the past few months about the need for road improvements that provide adequate area for emergency and service vehicles. The proposed standards prioritize public safety with definitive standards for streets and ensure the construction of road improvements which allow for future acceptance into the State secondary road maintenance system. Following the presentation, Commissioners voted to schedule a public hearing on these draft amendments to the Subdivision Ordinance and the Zoning Ordinance for June 2, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. ITEM 8 – REIMBURSEMENT RESOLUTION FOR CALENDAR
YEAR 2008 FINANCING ITEM 9 –
Jenny Jones, Oregon Inlet and
Waterways Commission (OIWC) Administrator, informed the Board that the
OIWC has prepared the attached resolution to be sent to all of the
ITEM 10 – UPDATE ON Vice Chairman Burrus reported
that Ms. Krull, legal counsel for NCDOT, feels confident that things
will go well. The record of decision is expected in the next few
months. ITEM 11 – PRESENTATION OF MANAGER’S
RECOMMENDED 2009 AND PLANNED 2010 BUDGETS Dave Clawson, Finance Director, presented the Manager’s recommended budget. See attached presentation for highlights. The proposed budget maintains the ad valorem tax rate at 26 cents, maintains local per pupil school operating funding at first in the State for the seventh consecutive year, and maintains service levels and provides for essential capital and technical outlays in a second consecutive difficult budget year. A public hearing regarding the proposed budget was scheduled for June 2 and a workshop was scheduled for the same day (June 2) following the Board meeting. Copies of the proposed budget are available online and in the following locations: Dare County Administration Building, Dare County Libraries, Manns Harbor Community Center, Town of Duck Administrative Office, Thomas A. Baum Center, and Dare County Hatteras Offices. ITEM 12 – CONSENT AGENDA Commissioners approved the Consent Agenda containing the following items:
ITEM 13 – BOARD APPOINTMENTS
ITEM 14 – COMMISSIONERS’ BUSINESS Commissioner Richard Johnson - Recommended that the Board invite a challenge to encourage development in Dare County. Vice Chairman Allen Burrus – In the last few weeks, he has heard a few citizens who were able to access substance abuse services locally. This is good news. Fishing Commission – should be ready to present to the Board at the next meeting Beach driving – no win situation but the public wins in a way. Local businesses get to continue to work. There is little less than 40% of beach that is navigable with ORVs and this will shrink as birds arrive. Situation is not over. Negotiated rulemaking will continue. In talking with DOT, need to push Transportation Improvement Plan for Dare County to get particular issues resolved. He is hoping to get some help with Soil and Water Conservation specialist to resolve some issues. He was impressed with the National Day of Prayer. He enjoyed being involved at Hatteras and he is glad that is was organized. He has learned about a provision that would have counties take over secondary roads – he thinks the County would be hit hard with this burden. For years there has been a DOT fund for putting in paved roads and now more of that money is being used for repairs. In addition, money is lots thinner because much of it is not used for rural areas. Commissioner Jack Shea – Expressed appreciation to county employees receiving service pins and to Deputy Robert Moore as employee of the month. Commissioner Mike Johnson - Might be time to start the conversation about jetties. Thanks to Van Smith and the Outer Banks Hospital – not long ago the hospital was just a dream. His son was also there and they saved his life. It is a true blessing. It’s a good hospital with good doctors. Cooperative Extension – lots of bang for the buck. They do a great job with limited resources. Commissioner Max Dutton – Thanked County associates for their service. Thanked Albemarle Mental Health for responding to a situation that arose recently. National Day of Prayer was great. Connor Winstead has invited Commissioners to Boy Scouts Court of Honor being held on May 24. Commissioner Virginia Tillett – Thanked David Daniels for inviting Commissioners to participate in services held on National Day of Prayer. It was wonderful with prayers offered for elected officials and communities. Offered condolences to the wife of Guy Midgett. Dare Day is scheduled for June 7. Older Adult Planning Committee has been meeting. Next meeting is May 29. Because the State of the Child conference was very successful with the community involved, they will meet with organizers to get suggestions. She attended the meeting with the Kitty Hawk Recreation Committee to discuss plans for new Dare County Park. About 60 people attended and were very much supportive of the concept. Attended the meeting of the Alliance of North Carolina Black Elected Officials and she particularly enjoyed the session on foreclosure. Another great session was on student debt. Chairman Warren Judge – The Negotiated Rulemaking Committee will meet later this week. He encouraged everyone to attend the public comment portion to express their thoughts. The underlying issue is about access to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The agreement is in place and the Judge has affixed his signature. Hopefully there is some stability for the next three years. He cannot stress how much this
could negatively impact our economy. Don’t breathe a sigh of
relief, but remain diligent on the issue and offer encouragement to all
of the people involved in the negotiated rulemaking process. Attorney’s business
– Dare County is the conduit for funding for the Manns Harbor Waterfront
Project. He asked Board to approve holding a public hearing at the
next meeting regarding a CAMA grant that is being pursued for the
project. The Board approved this request.
Manager’s business – none ITEM 15 – UPCOMING BOARD APPOINTMENTS FOR JUNE The upcoming board appointments for June are:
COA Board of Trustees, Fessenden Center Advisory Board, Hatteras
Community Center Board, Library Board-Dare, Library Board-Regional,
Manns Harbor Community Center Board, Oregon Inlet & Waterways
Commission, Roanoke Island Community Center Board, Social Services
Board, DC Transportation Advisory Board, and Juvenile Crime Prevention
Council. ITEM 16 – WORKSHOP ON OLD COURTHOUSE,
OTHER EMPTY BUILDINGS & DARE Ideas for uses of Old Courthouse
in downtown Manteo will be solicited from non-profit organizations and
local governments within the county. Chairman Judge and Attorney
Outten will work on the request for proposals. This will be
limited to non-profits and governments initially. The Board will
begin to look at proposals on Sept. 1. Regarding empty office space in
downtown Manteo, the manager will check with County departments about
current needs, consider other requests and then make recommendations to
the Board.
Economy – The Board held discussion about the local economy. Chairman Judge began the discussion by talking about the many industries in our area that need assistance. Vice Chairman
Burrus - With beach closures
looming, it is apparent that all of our eggs are in the tourism basket.
We need to look at the soundside and try to
make access opportunities more available for people. We need to be
looking at other areas than just the beach. Working on fishing and we must continue to focus on it. Two other things – seniors. We have a community full of seniors and we have not done as much as we can for these folks. We need to make our communities much more senior friendly. These folks will want to visit in the shoulder and off seasons. Transportation issues have to be fixed. With gas prices soaring, it is something that we have to look at. Commissioner Jack Shea– Issues need to be addressed from many angles and one of these is legislation. We have to do a better job being proactive with legislature. Need a voice at the federal level. It galls Shea that Japanese can be offshore harvesting as much fish they want with immunity. This is a big problem and needs a lot of attention. We need to do a better job having a more stable inlet. It bothers him that millions of dollars are being spent each year for dredging. It is a waste. There are solutions that need to be considered. Regional planning with towns is needed. Commissioner
Virginia Tillett – There are good
services in Dare County that are offered to citizens and we need to try
to find a way to get some of the services in more locations, like one
stop shopping. Commissioner Max Dutton - Totally agrees about meeting with towns to brainstorm. Need to be looking to the future. Short term – building permit fees might be waived for a short period of time. He offered this as a suggestion. This might be something to initially spark the economy. Need to try some things to see what will work. Commissioner Mike Johnson – Many issues have been addressed. Construction seems to be suffering the most right now. Is there anything that the Commissioners can do to help with this? Perhaps talk with Planning about issues that builders might be facing. Not sure that waiving the building fees will help. Can anything be changed to make investment attractive? Agreement from the Board that
this is nationwide problem. Chairman Judge told of a
situation last week where a buyer had placed a down payment on a
construction project. He gave that money up because lending
institution was looking for 40% down. There is very little that
Board of Commissioners can do about that. If you’re not living in
the home, they want a substantial commitment. It’s a very real
problem. Commissioner Richard
Johnson - the cost of insurance is
one issue that the Board has to address. Insurance companies have
to protect their investments. Revisit building on the ground level
and not allow it. This will help with insurance if the measurement
from plate to plate is 32 feet. Lot coverage is important also.
You can have a perfect stormwater plan with high lot coverage.
That would help a lot. As far as doing away with permit fees, that
cuts revenues. Commercial/industrial park committee should be
reestablished. The Board should dedicate itself to making things
available to boat builders and home builders; it could help the
community a great deal. This is something that should be
reactivated and prioritized. There was also a commercial building
committee to look at development with commercial space on the bottom
floor and residential up above. This would encourage people to
invest in this area. The sound access is a good thing. Talk to
people that want to do marinas and consider public/private uses.
Allow people the best use of their property. Don’t panic and
change everything that we have been doing. As for utilities, there
are still communities that do not have cable television service. Chairman Judge talked about a transportation
program called two plus. Some employers subsidize the costs.
These are 15 passenger vans that originate with employers. There
are a lot of them coming into Dare County with empty seats. Need
to have someone responsible to coordinate seats. Just an example
of the many things that are at our fingertips. Chairman Judge said that he will summarize the ideas and make a list of action items including a meeting with the six Towns and look at the issues that can be discussed with State legislature. |