The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners met=
in
regular session on Monday, July 21, 2008, at 3:30pm in the Board Meeting Ro=
om
of the County Administration Building, 348 South Main Street, Sparta, North
Carolina.
Present:
Chair Ken Richardson, Vice-Chair Warren Taylor, Commissioner Randy
Miller, Commissioner Doug Murphy, Commissioner Milly Richardson, County
Attorney Donna Shumate, County Manager Don Adams, and Clerk to the Board Ka=
ren
Evans.
Chair Ken Richardson called the meeting to orde=
r.
Commissioner Milly Richardson led the Pledge of
Allegiance and opened the meeting with a prayer.
Commissioner Milly Richardson made a motion to
approve the agenda for this July 21, 2008, meeting. Commissioner Randy Miller seconded =
the
motion. Vote 5:0.
AGENDA
Monday, July 21, 2008
3:30 PM
3:30 =
Meeting
Called To Order, Pledge of Allegiance and Prayer
=
M=
otion
on Agenda for July 21, 2008, meeting
Motion
on Minutes for July 7, 2008, meeting
Motion
on June Tax Releases & Refunds
3:35 A. =
Public
Comments—30 minutes
B. &n=
bsp;
Mary Wa=
lker
RE: Solid Waste Fee Appeal
C. &n=
bsp;
John Bl=
evins
RE: Work First Biannual Plan
D. Laurel
Springs Volunteer Fire Department Annual Report
E. County
Business
1. &n=
bsp;
AIM Contra=
ct
with Ashe County DSS
2. &n=
bsp;
Ropes Cour=
se
Budget Amendment
3. &n=
bsp;
Fee Schedu=
le
Discussions
4. &n=
bsp;
Pool Opera=
tional
Hours
5. &n=
bsp;
Other Busi=
ness
6. &n=
bsp;
Closed
Session—NCGS 143-318.11 (a) (4)—economic development
7. &n=
bsp;
Adjourn
Commissioner
Milly Richardson made a motion to approve the minutes for the July 7, 2008,
meeting. Commissioner Randy M=
iller seconded
the motion. Vote 5:0.
Commissioner
Milly Richardson made a motion to approve the real property releases and
refunds for June. Commissioner
Randy Miller seconded the motion.
Vote 5:0.
Commissioner
Randy Miller made a motion to approve the auto refunds and releases for Jun=
e. Commissioner Milly Richardson seco=
nded
the motion. Vote 5:0.
Chair
Ken Richardson opened the public comments’ portion of the meeting.
Paul
Church talked about the amount of dairy farmers, beef farmers and Christmas
tree farms in the county. He
further talked about the Extension Service. He stated that he hoped the Board =
will
not jeopardize taxpayer dollars by paying another director $65,000. He talked about Amy Pardue and the
excellent job she does. He fu=
rther
talked about the partnership between Ashe, Alleghany and Watauga counties
regarding the Christmas trees. He
stated his recommendation is to have this guy in Alleghany County full time=
. He said to leave the director̵=
7;s
position vacant if no one will do the job the way it needs to be done.
Chair
Ken Richardson asked for additional public comments. None were received. He closed the public comments port=
ion of
the meeting.
Mary
Walker, Tax Administrator, came before the Board to present a solid waste f=
ee
appeal. She explained the rel=
ease
is for David Woodruff. She fu=
rther
explained the mobile home hasn’t been lived in during the past five y=
ears
and doesn’t have power or water.
Commissioner
Doug Murphy made a motion to approve the request. Commissioner Milly Richardson seco=
nded
the motion. Vote 5:0.
Mary
Walker presented information to the Board about changing how the tax
certifications are handled. S=
he
talked about the notice will be sent to the attorneys asking for certificat=
ions
to be sent to the Tax Office one day and the certification will be ready by
9:00am the next morning. She
explained the reasons for these changes.&n=
bsp;
County
Attorney Donna Shumate talked about the statute allows this action to occur=
but
it could have formal Board approval since it is a change in policy.
Chair
Ken Richardson and County Attorney Donna Shumate talked about how this chan=
ge
could affect attorneys and the transfer of property where people haven̵=
7;t
paid their personal property taxes.
John
Blevins, Social Services Director, presented information to the Board about=
the
Work First Biannual Plan. He =
talked
about deciding to be a standard county or an electing county. He stated that he and the Social
Services Board recommend remaining a standard county. He further stated that he will need
approval on the Work First Planning Committee that has been presented. He explained what it means to rema=
in a
standard county or become an electing county.
Commissioner
Randy Miller made a motion to declare Alleghany County as a standard
county. Commissioner Milly
Richardson seconded the motion.
Vote 5:0.
John
Blevins reviewed the list of members for the Work First Planning Committee =
and
the organizations they represent.
Commissioner
Warren Taylor made a motion to approve the members as presented by John
Blevins. Commissioner Doug Mu=
rphy
seconded the motion. Vote 5:0=
.
Jimmy
Church, Chief of Laurel Springs Volunteer Fire Department, presented their
annual report. He talked about
their new fire truck hasn’t been delivered yet. He further talked about their poli=
cy
change regarding paying the members an incentive to respond to calls of 3
gallons per call. He explaine=
d that
it is getting tough on the volunteers responding to calls. He talked about the new program th=
at has
been started, Ashe County Honor Guard.&nbs=
p;
He further talked about this is coming to Alleghany County with 10 p=
otential
members so far. He talked abo=
ut Ashe
County has donated one of their Crown Victoria and is totally in support of=
the
program. He stated his apprec=
iation
for the opportunity to talk to the Board.
Chair
Ken Richardson and Jimmy Church discussed the membership makeup between
Alleghany County and Ashe County.
Jimmy Church explained that they currently have five or six getting
ready to retire. They talked =
about
the Ashe County fire tax is how the operating money is provided and Ashe Co=
unty
provides some additional money over the fire tax amount. They further talked about the reti=
rement
is based on 20 years. They
discussed the training center being the number one priority and the reasons=
why.
Paul
Church asked if the Board has ever considered a fire tax here because every
county around Alleghany County has a fire tax.
The
Board stated that it has been discussed.
Paul
Church asked if it is fairer to have the fire tax rather than the donations=
.
The
Board stated that it is something to consider.
County
Manager Don Adams presented the AIM contract with Ashe County’s DSS.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He explained this contract allows =
AIM to
bill Ashe County’s DSS for their services.
Commissioner
Doug Murphy made a motion to approve the contract. Commissioner Randy Miller seconded=
the
motion. Vote 5:0.
County
Manager Don Adams presented budget amendment General Fund #2 in the amount =
of
$1,650 for the Ropes Course. =
He
explained that this budget amendment is to budget the donations for the Rop=
es
Course. He said he is plannin=
g to
transfer this money to a non-profit group that can assist with the
donations. He talked about the
County’s responsibilities regarding the Ropes Course.
Commissioner
Randy Miller made a motion to approve budget amendment General Fund #2 in t=
he
amount of $1,650. Commissioner
Milly Richardson seconded the motion.
Vote 5:0.
County
Manager Don Adams stated that he had passed out information regarding the F=
ire
Inspections Fees.
Chair
Ken Richardson explained why this is coming back before the Board for more
discussions.
County
Manager Don Adams reviewed information for Alleghany County, Ashe County, S=
urry
County and Wilkes County regarding their fire inspections fees. He talked about where Alleghany Co=
unty
is compared to these counties
Chair
Ken Richardson and County Manager Don Adams discussed how this could impact
Alleghany County’s ability to attract industries.
County
Manager Don Adams talked about if the Board wishes to cut Alleghany
County’s rate in half and then how the County will compare with the s=
urrounding
counties.
The
Board discussed the rate.
Commissioner
Milly Richardson made a motion to change the rate to $0.005 per square
foot. Commissioner Doug Murphy
seconded the motion. Vote 5:0=
.
County
Manager Don Adams discussed the pool’s operational hours. He explained the request is to hav=
e the
pool open until August 13 and one or two Saturdays after that. He talked ab=
out
changing the hours starting on August 6 to 2:30pm until 7:00pm.
The
Board said this is a good idea and thinks the hours should go until Labor D=
ay
on Saturdays. The Board and C=
ounty
Manager Don Adams discussed opening until Labor Day depends on the availabi=
lity
of the lifeguards. They discu=
ssed
the additional amount of money needed; approximately $1,400.
County
Manager Don Adams talked about the County is currently taking bids on the T=
ransfer
Facility loader. He talked ab=
out
the condition of the Transfer Facility scales, and the need to replace
them. He talked about asking =
Larry
Davis to have quotes to him at the same time for the scales as the loader.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He suggested to the Board that the
scales could be put in with the loader on the loan.
Commissioner
Doug Murphy and County Manager Don Adams discussed researching funding sour=
ces
for the EMS capital. Commissi=
oner
Doug Murphy said this is something that the Board needs to consider.
Commissioner
Randy Miller asked about the tag office.
County
Manager Don Adams stated that it is his understanding that Alleghany County=
will
have a tag office in September. He
further stated that it hasn’t been publicly announced as who received=
the
contract. Commissioner
Milly Richardson made a motion to go into closed session at 4:18pm under NC=
GS
143-318.11 (a) (4)—economic development. Commissioner Randy Miller seconded=
the
motion. Vote 5:0. Commissioner
Randy Miller made a motion to adjourn closed session at 4:28pm and reconvene
the regular meeting. Commissi=
oner
Milly Richardson seconded the motion.
Vote 5:0. Chair
Ken Richardson stated that no decisions were made during closed session. Being
no further business, Commissioner Milly Richardson made a motion to adjourn=
the
meeting at 4:30pm. Commission=
er Doug
Murphy seconded the motion. V=
ote
5:0. Respectfully Submitted, Karen Evans Clerk to the Board Attest: Ken Richardson Chairman