&=
nbsp; The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners met in regul=
ar
session on Monda=
y, December
3, 2007, at 6:3=
0pm
in the Board Meeting Room of the County
Administration Building,
348 South Main Street,
Sparta, North Caro=
lina.
=
&=
nbsp; Present: Chair Ken Richardson, Vice-Chair W=
arren
Taylor, Commissioner Randy Miller, Commissioner Doug Murphy, Commissioner M=
illy
Richardson, County Attorney Donna Shumate, =
County Manager
Don Adams, and Clerk to the Bo=
ard Karen Evans.
County M=
anager D=
on Adams
called the meeting to order.
Commissioner
Warren Taylor led the Pledge of
Allegiance and opened the meeting with a prayer.
Commission=
er
Milly Richardson made a motion to approve the agenda for this December 3, 2007,
meeting. Commissioner Warren Taylor seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.
=
AGENDA
Monday,
December 3, 2007
=
6:30 PM
6:30 &=
nbsp; Meeting Called To Order (County Manager)
Pledge of Allegiance and Praye=
r
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Motion
on Agenda for De=
cember 3,
2007, meeting
Motion on Minutes for November 19, 2007, meeting <=
/span>
Note: The following order is in accordance with the curr=
ent
adopted rules of procedures
6:35 A. &nbs=
p; Elect
Chair/Vice-Chair
B. =
Appoint Clerk to the Board
C. =
Appoint County
Attorney=
D. =
Board Appointments
E. =
Meeting Procedures
F. =
Public Comments—30 minutes
G. =
County B=
usiness
1. Sign Moratorium
2.a. Intro=
duce
Bond Order
b.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Public Hearing/Sworn Statement of =
Debt
Resolution
3.
QZAB-Reimbursement Expenses
4. O=
ther
Business
5. Adjourn
Commissioner
Warren Taylor made a motion to
approve the minutes for the November
19, 2=
007, meeting. Commi=
ssioner
Randy Miller seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.
Commissioner Doug Murphy made a motion to nominate Ken Rich=
ardson
as Chairman. Commissioner Ran=
dy
Miller seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.
=
Commissioner Randy
Miller made a motion to nominate Warren Taylor =
as
Vice-Chair. Commissioner Doug Murphy seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.
=
Commissioner Doug Murphy made a motion to reappoint Karen Evans as Clerk to the Board. Commissioner Randy Miller seconded=
the
motion. Vote 5:0. =
=
Commissioner Warren Taylor made a motion to reappoint Donna Shumate as County Attorney. Commissioner Randy Miller seconded=
the
motion. Vote 5:0.<=
/span>
=
Chair Ken Richard=
son
asked for discussions on the existing board appointments.=
=
Commissioner Warren Taylor made a motion to keep the list o=
f boards
as they are. Commissioner Mil=
ly
Richardson seconded the motion.
Vote 5:0.
=
Commissioner Milly
Richardson made a motion to approve the rules of procedures. Commissioner Randy Miller seconded=
the
motion. Vote 5:0.
=
Chair Ken Richard=
son
stated his appreciation to the Board for their confidence in him, and it is=
an
honor to serve as the Chair.
=
Chair
Ken Richardson opened the public comments’ portion of the meeting and
asked for public comments. No=
ne
were received. He closed
the public comments’ portion of the meeting.
County Attorney Donna Shumate explained that she has done more=
research
on the moratorium issue. She
explained that the safest way to adopt a moratorium is to have it for a per=
iod
of 60 days. She stated that t=
he 60
day moratorium does not require the additional legal ads and the first class
mailing. She further explaine=
d the
process to adopt the moratorium.
Commissioner
Warren Taylor and County Attorney Donna Shumate talked about the small word=
ing
changes.
Commissioner
Doug Murphy and County Attorney Donna Shumate talked about this moratorium =
does
away with the police powers aspect.
County Manager Don Adams explained that he has the ad ready t=
o go
forward with the public hearing on December 17 if the Board wishes to do so=
.
The
Board agreed.
County Manager Don Adams read the bond order for introduction=
on a
bond order authorizing the issuance of general obligation school bonds in t=
he
maximum amount of $7,535,000.
County Manager Don Adams presented a resolution setting the p=
ublic
hearing and authorizing the filing of the debt statement. He explained the resolution and the
timeline associated with the referendum.
Chair
Ken Richardson thanked Warren Taylor for participating with him, the County Manager,
Clarence Crouse, Mitch Franklin and Dr. Cox in the conference call with Loc=
al
Government Commission about the referendum.
Commissioner
Warren Taylor made a motion to
approve the resolution as presented by the County Manager. Commissioner Doug
Murphy seconded the motion. Vote 5:0. <=
/p>
County Manager Don Adams stated that he received information =
from
North by Northwest about the bank they are dealing with on the QZAB loan
stating that the bank has decided to fund the insurance costs. He reviewed the costs associated w=
ith
the QZAB project; 1% to North by Northwest, $6,500 for the attorney and $500
for the application fee. He
explained the timeline for the QZAB process including the application to be
submitted by Christmas in order to be heard at the February Local Government
Commission meeting. He remind=
ed the
Board that Dr. Cox asked about a reimbursement resolution regarding the QZAB
project. He explained how rei=
mbursement
resolutions operate. He talked
about they have already asked for approval on $150,000 of projects. He explained how the money is being
spent.
Dr.
Jeff Cox explained how they are
handling a lot of maintenance issues with the QZAB monies and being able to
purchase other pieces of equipment with the capital monies. He talked about he is hesitate to =
use capital
money for smart boards and computers because if the QZAB monies fall through
then the roofing project can’t happen. He talked about a commitment of the
$146,000 loan payment if the loan falls through. He stated that he doesn’t ha=
ve a specific
project in mind but there may be projects that can be done over Christmas b=
reak.
County Manager Don Adams talked about not spending more than
$200,000 before mid-February. He further
talked about the worst-case scenario if the QZAB monies don’t come
through.
Chair
Ken Richardson stated that he is fine if everyone is talking about using
$200,000-$250,000 of QZAB monies for things that are on the QZAB list.
Commissioner
Doug Murphy asked are the items on the QZAB list.
Dr.
Cox stated that yes they are. He
talked about two different issues; $200,000 by mid-February and if there is=
no
loan, using the payment monies towards the projects.
Commissioner
Warren Taylor made a motion to
pledge $146,000 regardless if QZAB monies are there or not. Commissioner Doug
Murphy seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.
Dr.
Cox stated his appreciation to the Board for working through these issues w=
ith
the Board of Education. =
Commissioner
Doug Murphy thanked the Board =
for
their hard work during this past year.
Commissioner
Randy Miller thanked the Board, Don Adams
and Karen Evans for their work=
. He talked about this isn’t w=
hat
people thinks it is until you get involved. He further talked about having to =
weigh actions
because the actions affect everyone.
Commissioner
Milly Richardson talked about going to the Singing Christmas Tree Program, =
and she
wants to thank everyone who participates in that activity.
Commissioner
Milly Richardson talked about a recent fire commission meeting and how fire
departments access gated communities.
She further talked about situations where they can’t get thoug=
h a
locked gate. She stated that =
BREMCO
has keys to every gate and they haven’t been successful in getting ke=
ys.
County
Manager Don Adams explained th=
at BREMCO
used to provide keys but doesn’t now. He further explained that BREMCO r=
an
into some problems and on advice on legal counsel they don’t provide =
keys
anymore. He stated that BREMC=
O went
out and changed the locks, and now the fire departments, rescue squad, tax
office and building inspections do not have access. He further stated that there are o=
rdinances
that make it a law to provide access.
He said that he would have to find out if the ordinance can go back =
in
time. He explained two option=
s in
these situations. He asked do=
the
fire departments have a liability to get the gate down or not get the gate
down.
Commissioner
Milly Richardson stated that she felt like this is a bad situation and shou=
ld
be brought to the Board’s attention.
Commissioner
Doug Murphy stated that it looks like the gated communities would want acce=
ss
for emergency workers to get to their property.
Commissioner
Milly Richardson stated that members may assume they already have access. She talked about a dry hydrant in =
Air
Bellows Gap community.
Commissioner
Warren Taylor talked about having everything keyed the same with one key.
County Manager Don Adams explained that is the way BREMCO ope=
rates
currently. He mentioned that
possibly the community could give permission to BREMCO to provide a key.
Commissioner
Doug Murphy stated that someone could contact homeowners associations and
explain that the fire departments can’t get in.
Commissioner
Milly Richardson asked what about individual homes.
Chair
Ken Richardson talked about the fire departments getting a list of locked g=
ates
in their district.
Commissioner
Milly Richardson said that they are looking for the Board to do something.<=
o:p>
Commissioner
Warren Taylor talked about creating an ordinance to require communities to
provide a key.
Commissioner
Milly Richardson reiterated that this applies to all emergency services.
County Manager Don Adams explained that the ordinances he has=
seen dealt
with new subdivisions, and he would have to check on existing communities b=
eing
required to provide access.
Commissioner
Milly Richardson stated that she understands that the part-time residents a=
re worried
about burglary and uses gates to help deter burglary but it also keeps out
emergency services.
Chair
Ken Richardson asked the =
County
Manager to bring
something back on this situation.
Commissioner
Milly Richardson asked about 911 monies from the telephone bill being used =
to
update the dispatch center.
Chair
Ken Richardson explained that there are guidelines as to how it can be spen=
t.
County
Manager Don Adams explained th=
at January
1, 2008, is the date to determine the amount of fund balance in the 911 fun=
d,
after that the fund balance can be used for any county function with the on=
going
monies being used for 911 expenses using certain guidelines. He talked about the safety needs
assessment that will be presented to the Board around February. He stated that he assumed when loo=
king
at those needs that these monies will be used to fund those needs.
Chair
Ken Richardson and Commissioner Milly Richardson talked about the current
$400,000 would be spent on emergency services. Chair Ken Richardson stated that s=
ounds
like the consensus of the Commissioners.&n=
bsp;
County
Manager Don Adams talked about=
the ministerial
group has acquired another project and is asking about permit fees being
released. He reminded the Boa=
rd about
a prior project for David Smith, and now they have one for a house previous=
ly
owned by Joel Spicer. He talk=
ed
about the County has previously collected $270 in permit fees on this
house. He further talked abou=
t all
of the services are donated or are volunteer work.
Commissioner
Milly Richardson made a motion to release the fees. Commissioner Warren
Taylor seconded the motion.
Chair
Ken Richardson asked about the project being inspected.
County Manager Don Adams stated that it will follow the normal
inspection schedule.
The
Board voted on motion on the floor.
Vote 5:0.
&=
nbsp; Being
no further business, Commissioner Milly Richardson made a motion to adjourn=
at 7:19pm. Commissioner Randy Miller seconded=
the
motion. Vote 5:0. =
Respectfully
submitted, &nb=
sp;
=
=
Karen Evans &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p;
Clerk to the Boar=
d &=
nbsp;
=
Attest:
=
=
Ken Richardson
Chairman