Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

They are. All right. Good evening everyone. want to again uh welcome you to the Cowell County Board of Commissioners meeting for April 27th, 2026. Uh we'd like to welcome those who are now joining by multimedia, whether it's television, Facebook, YouTube, uh what else? Instagram, smoke signals, we got it all going up, right? So anyway, but we appreciate everyone being here. Uh our first order of business is having our invocation. We've got the Reverend Leonard Boolick from the Philadelphia Lutheran Church with us this evening and our we'll follow that with our pledge of allegiance and Commissioner Donnie Potter will lead us in that. So, Pastor, if you'd come forward, please. And thank you again for being here. Thank you for the invitation. Let us pray. Gracious God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, creator of all, we ask that you might hear our prayer. We give you thanks for the gift of community, and for those who've answered the call to public service. We pray for wisdom and discernment. May conversation and decisions be guided by your Holy Spirit and a desire for the common good. We pray for integrity and courage dealing with difficult challenges and decisions. We pray for unity and collaboration and respectful dialogue. We pray for compassion and understanding to see our humility and grace at work. We pray, oh Lord, for those who've gathered here,

our commissioners, all the citizens of Cowwell County. Help us to be engaged, informed, and respectful. and help us to bring about peace and hope. It's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Everyone, face the flag. Salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. Thank you everyone. Are there any amendments to our agenda this evening?

Uh chair, Mr. Chairman, we do have one. Um we have a late um ad here resolution authorizing participation in the remnant defendant opioid settlement agreement and I would move that we would put that on consent um as item number 17 if that is approved by the board. All right. Hearing that amendment, do I hear a motion that we adopt this evening's agenda? Mr. Chair, I move that we accept this evening's agenda as the county manager has presented. Any discussion or comment? All in favor say I.

I. Any opposed? And that motion carries unanimously. And I wanted to start uh this meeting out this evening. I probably should have said this a little earlier, but uh we've lost a great firefighter in our community uh this past week, Chief Keith Owens with the Gable Volunteer Fire Department. and uh he was a mentor to many firefighters uh throughout our county, but specifically serving in the Gable community. Uh he was the chief there at Gable Fire Department for 31 years. Uh combined with his service at the North Carolina Forest Service as well as his service through Lenor Fire Department, he had a cumulative total of 55 years service to Cwell County and to the residents of our county. and he will be truly missed by many uh that he mentored through uh years of service and again in the community of Gable. Uh the Chief Owens uh firefighter program uh that is bringing in young folks uh through school age. If anybody hears this would like to attend that, I think the application process is probably open at this time. Uh, but I think that's for sixth, seventh, and eighth graders uh to be able to attend the uh Keith Owens Fire Academy there. And so I just wanted to call his name out and make it a matter of record and this this evening and just to uh thank him for his years of service that he had uh for for the Gable community and for Cwell County as a whole. And so I just wanted to say that and how much I appreciated him.

All right. Uh with that, we'll enter into our uh agenda items. And the first one is child abuse prevention month. And we have a proclamation for that. And so if you folks will come forward, uh Laura Harrison, um I guess you're solo. I am. Uh Tanya wasn't able to make it tonight. Okay. All right. So welcome. Thank you. and thank you for being here. So, uh, you want me to read that proclamation now? Sure. Do you have anything you'd like to say before I read it?

Well, I would just like to say that we, um, obviously can't do this alone um, especially um, rely on our community partners um, and their support um, such as, and I may forget somebody, but I'm really trying not to, but law enforcement, our schools, emergency services, mental health, the hospital, um, all those community partners that we have their support. Um and also you guys um we depend on you guys and our DSS board um to effectively serve our community and so we appreciate and thank you guys as well.

Yes, ma'am. All right. So I'll read the proclamation and it reads, "Whereas we recognize that children are vital to our county, state, and nation's future success, prosperity, and quality of life as well as being our most vulnerable assets. And whereas all children deserve to have the safe, stable, nurturing homes and communities they need to foster their healthy growth and development. And whereas Cwell County received 2,60 reports of child abuse and neglect and investigated reports involving 1,638 children in 2025. And whereas children who experience abuse and neglect have higher rates of academic failure, chronic long-term health issues and increased uh propensity to violence if gone untreated. And whereas child abuse and neglect is community responsibility affecting both the current and future quality of life of a community. And whereas communities that provide parents with the social support, knowledge of parenting and child development and concrete resources they need to cope with stress and nurture their children, ensure all children grow to their full potential. And whereas effective child abuse prevention strategies succeed because of partnerships created among citizens, human services agencies, schools, faith communities, health care providers, civic organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the business community. Now therefore, be it resolved that the board of commissioners of Cwell County does hereby proclaim April 2026 as child abuse prevention month and calls upon all citizens, community agencies, faith groups, medical facilities, elected leaders and businesses to increase their participation in our efforts to support children and families, thereby preventing child abuse and strengthening

the community in which we live. If adopted this the 27th day of April, 2026, do I hear a motion that we adopt this proclamation? Mr. Chairman, I make a motion that we adopt the resolution or excuse me, proclamation that you just read. All right. Any other discussion or comment? All in favor say I. I. And that carries unanimously. And so, thank you again for all you do and for being here this evening. Thank you. Thank you, Laura.

Thank you. All right. And that brings us to our second proclamation this evening. And that is for public safety telecommunicators week. And I know that we have Becky Price here with us. She's going to bring up her staff and introduce some of them. I said you could all have an opportunity to speak as well if you'd like to. So, they like to hide behind the headset, but they're a welcome voice on the other end when you dial 911. Absolutely. One of these folks are going to answer the call.

Yeah. I have with me tonight Amanda Dy, Jonathan Norris, Don Harden, and Ryan Doula. Um, two night shift, two day shift. Um, I'm g call out. She's she's our longest tenur employee. She's been here for 30 years as of last month. So, I told her she couldn't retire till I did. So, these guys, they do such a wonderful job and honestly, they make my job easy. um they they're always there and willing to lend a hand to anybody that calls or comes into the room to or just about anything. So, I'm very proud of them.

Well, we are too and we appreciate everything that you folks do and for our county and like I said to begin with, when you dial 911 and somebody answers that phone, it's very important

and we certainly appreciate all that you do. And so with that, we have a proclamation uh for public safety telecommunicators week. We're a little ahead of it maybe, but we're trying to honor you guys in all that you do. Uh but whereas Cwell County Telecommunicators play a vital role in the protection of human life and property in our community. And whereas they have been successfully serving the public safety communication needs of Caldwell County throughout the year. And whereas while enduring long hours, abnormal schedules in handling frequent life and death emergencies, telecommunicators set high standards in performing their duties in the dedicated, diligent, and compassionate manner. And whereas they provide a critical communication link between the residents and emergency responders. And whereas telecommunicators effectively coordinate emergency services to ensure the health and safety of our residents, visitors, and travelers in our community 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And whereas our public safety communications personnel serve the public daily in countless ways without due recognition by the beneficiaries of their services. Therefore, be it resolved that the board of commissioners of Cwell County do hereby proclaim the week of April 12th through April 18th, 2026 National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in Cwell County in honor of the men and women whose diligence and professionalism keep our county and citizens safe and we adopt this the 27th day of April. So, do I hear a motion that we adopt this proclamation?

I'd like to make a motion, Mr. Chairman. All right. any other comment or discussion? And again, we're just a little bit behind the curve because we moved our meetings to the end of the month uh to accommodate some others and so we appreciate all that you do and thank you for being here. We like you so much. We're just going to get you a new building, huh? Yeah, that's nice of you. We'll take it. We need a little more room. I appreciate what y'all do because y'all are the first and the last call. Without y'all, the rest of the community is lost. So, I appreciate your time and efforts. Yeah.

Thank you very much. and our county manager is going to highlight some of the things we're doing for uh communications, but we've been in the process for three to four years trying to figure out what we're going to do for a new communication center uh to accommodate all the things and and uh to help our staff and to help it grow uh because the countyy's grown in the sense of call volume and various things. So, uh but we're looking forward to that. He again is making a presentation about that somewhat this evening. So having the motion, anybody else have a comment? All right, I'll call the question. All in favor signify by saying I. I.

Any opposed? And that did carry unanimously. So thank you again for being here. Appreciate you. We got a lot of proclamations tonight. So I did read recently that somebody said that the commissioners only do proclamations and very little business. You believe that?

But we do like to honor those who deserve that honor, right? That's right. And what we're trying to do and uh to highlight the importance of all of our county and those that have a part. So, this one is for National Apprenticehip Week of 2026 and Ashley Bolic's coming. Um, and who you have with you?

This is Miss Tara Broza and she's the executive director of Rise Calla, which we'll talk about in just a second. But thank you chairman and Mr. Commissioners for allowing me to be here tonight. Just quickly, I wanted to let you know that this is the 12th annual National Apprenticeship Week and it's coordinated by the US Department of Labor and this will take place between uh April 26, which was yesterday, through May 2nd under the theme America at work, making America skilled again through registered apprenticeships. So, this week is meant to showcase the value of registered apprenticeships and building the skilled workforce. So we wanted to take this time to really highlight a local initiative which is where Tara works and this is the rise which stands for regional initiative for skilled employment call Wataga. So it's a joint effort between CWell and Wataga counties and we uh will continue to build on this work really um emphasizing employerdriven workforce development across these two counties and we've been very successful so far. So, I'll let uh Tara maybe give us a couple highlights.

Absolutely. I just wanted to thank you all for your support support so far. The 20 students we have in our spring cohort here in Calwell County are thriving and I'm very grateful to the 13 employers that have partnered with us early on and I'm very excited about this summer. We'll be up over 50 students here in Calwell County. That's awesome. All right.

And we also have joining us uh Dr. Mark Porch. So, one of the threads that ties Cwell and Wataga together besides 321 is our community college. Uh so Dr. Mark Porch chairs the executive team. Um and then we also have myself and the um economic development director in Wataga County, Joe Burman. And then the school superintender intended, sorry, Dr. Alexander from Waga County and Dr. How from Cowell County who serve on that board. All right. Well, I know Dr. Porch is here somewhere. There he is. Yeah. You you sure you don't want to speak?

I thought if I spoke, Mr. Chairman, you'd think I was ASKING FOR MONEY. ALL RIGHT. SO, LET ME read the proclamation. Uh, National Apprenticeship Week 2026, uh, April 26 through May 2nd. Whereas, National Apprenticeship Week annually rises, I'm sorry, raises awareness for the vital role registered apprenticeships provided in meeting critical industry workforce demands. Registered apprenticeship programs develop the highly skilled workforce that employers need to create pathways for Americans to catapult into in demand highpaying careers. And whereas registered apprenticeship programs are industrydriven highquality career pathways that enable employers to develop and train their future workforce and individuals can obtain paid work experience with a mentor receive progressive wage increases, classroom instruction, and a portable nationally recognized credential. And whereas Kell County government recognizes the urgent need to prepare and maintain a highly skilled workforce that is com capable of meeting the current and future demands of the industry we serve and fortifying our community. Whereas registered apprenticeship programs are uniquely able to meet the changing demands of Cwell County economy. Now therefore be it resolved that the board of commissioners of Cwell County does hereby proclaim April 26th to May 2nd, 2026 as National Apprenticeship Week in Cwell County. This if adopted the 27th day of April 2026. So I hear a motion that we adopt this proclamation.

Mr. Chairman, I make a motion that we adopt this proclamation as read. All right. Any other comment or discussion? All in favor say I. I. Again, we thank you for being here and appreciate all that you do. Thank you.

And this is our final one this evening, but it is also a very important proclamation in honoring uh and recognizing our clerk to the board and that the professional clerks to the board's uh week that honors May 3rd through May the 9th. And so the proclamation reads, "Whereas it is imperative to the democratic process that a well-informed citizenry participates in the operation of their local government. And whereas the office of the clerk to the board provides the communication link between the citizens, the local governing body, administrative departments, and local government partners. And whereas the position of clerk is one of the oldest in local government, dating at least to biblical times, and whose term has long been associated with the written word." So, it is that modern-day clerks are official recordkeepers for their counties. And whereas North Carolina law required boards of county commissioners to appoint a clerk serving at the pleasure of the board, and whereas the clerk's most significant statutory duties concern the preparation, filing, and safeguarding of local government records, but the statutory duties constitute only a portion of what the clerk actually does. And whereas the clerk plays a vital role in county government, provides a written record needed to ensure the board is accountable to the county's citizens and other public and private officials. And whereas the clerk is sometimes described as the hub of the wheel in local government because of the central work that the clerk plays in government's communication network. Whereas as local government becomes larger and more complicated, the clerk's role as professional dispassionate provider of information to citizens, government officials, and the media becomes more and more important. And whereas clerks have the opportunity to participate in the North Carolina Association of County Clerks, a very

active professional association of public officials dedicated to improving the professional competency of clerks through regular and regional as well as statewide educational opportunities. And whereas in cooperation with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill School of Government, and the International Institute of Municipal Clerks, the North Carolina Association of County Clerks helps to sponsor a nationally recognized examinationbased certification program that culminates in the receipt of designation of certified municipal clerk. And whereas in addition, the North Carolina Association of County Clerks and School of Government sponsor state certification programs leading to the designation of North Carolina certified county clerk, as well as opportunities for experienced clerks to obtain the continuing professional education needed to remain certified or to earn an advanced master clerk designation. And whereas in addition to conducting education programs, the North Carolina Association of County Clerks also directly assist clerks on the job with mentoring programs to provide guidance to assist clerks in their day-to-day work. And whereas clerks upon their own initiative participate in these certification and education programs, including annual meetings of the North Carolina Association of County Clerks, International Institute of Municipal Clerks, which not only improve the operation of their office, but through their achievements and awards bring favorable publicity to the counties in which they serve. And whereas clerks are involved in the state level as well as potential legislative and other matters of interest. And whereas although clerks work for boards of county commissioners, they truly provide a public service. Now therefore be it resolved that Cowell County Board of Commissioners does hereby recognize the week of May 3rd through May 9th as professional clerks to the boards of county commissioners week and extends appreciation to the

Cwell County Clerk of the Board Tasha Brown and to all county clerks for this vital services that they provide and perform that are exemplary and dedication to the county in which they represent. Adopted this the 27th day. Do I hear a motion that we adopt this resolution? I'll make a motion, Mr. Chairman, we adopt this proclamation. All right. Any other comment or discussion? I got one. Tasha, you have done a awesome job and I appreciate what you've done.

We have been fortunate in having uh Tasha to join us and join our staff and so uh it's been a real pleasure for what she's done for us. So again, thank you for everything. And so, anybody else? I don't want to cheat you out of your fame. All right. You got anything you want to say, Tasha? Glad to be here. Yes. Very good. All right. I'll call I'll call the question. All in favor say I. I. And that carries unanimously as well. So, thank you again. I think Miss Iris is real happy, too. Yeah. Thank you for what you did for us, too.

Right. And I guess you're still listed as our deputy clerk and and continuing in that role. And so it's good to have somebody as a backup. And so we appreciate that too, Iris. All right. So next is uh items for decision, appointment of a commissioner to our library board of trustees. And I will offer up uh my name as being that appointee unless somebody else desires to serve on the library board. All right. Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah. All in favor say I. I.

Any opposed? All right. Very well. So I'll be on the library board. And that brings us to our public hearing this evening. Uh we have again Miss Ashley Bolic, our EDC director and sales tax reinvestment fund uh coming to uh tell us what we're wanting to purchase. Yes, sir.

Thank you. Thank you very much for allowing me to be here tonight. Um so as on the agenda, we're here to talk about a request for a purchase of property on Lower Cedar Valley Road. And this would be using sales tax reinvestment funds. So, just to review a few things with you and for those that are watching or joining us tonight, uh I thought I'd start by talking about the sales tax reinvestment fund. What is that? Um it's basically a savings account for the purpose of economic development. And officially this fund represents an agreement between Cowell County and the municipalities of Cages Mountain, Hudson, Gable, Granite Falls, Lenor, and Sawmills where these municipalities help fund economic development activities within the county in consideration of the county's continued election of the per capita method of distribution of local government sales, tax, and use dollars. So, these municipal partners collectively contribute $600,000 annually to this fund. And we use this fund to offer grant matches such as the North Carolina Department of Commerce building reuse grant, local jobs creation grants, and product development. So, I thought I'd take a second to explain what is product development because that's kind of a term that we use in government and in economic development, but maybe everyone doesn't realize what that means. So in economic development, we use this term to refer to the process of creating or improving or launching new properties that enhance our competitiveness as a community. We really want to spur innovation and drive economic growth through product development. And that's what this request is. This request is for the purpose of continuing product development in Cwell County. So why are we seeing this? Again, this might look a little familiar because we did this a couple months ago. Um, since

the February 23rd meeting, the counties decided to pursue this development of the lower Cedar Valley property itself and not through the nonprofit Vista Ventures. So, that's why we're here. Additionally, since that time, staff have been able to conduct the required due diligence needed and have a more accurate understanding of the costs. So, we've been able to lower our request. That original request was for $552,000 expenditure and now we're at $545,000 expenditure. Um, so again, what we're asking to be considered is the purchase of 15.562 surveyed, we've had this surveyed now, acres on lower Cedar Valley Road, and this is located in the town jurisdiction of Sawmills. The negotiated price for the property is $525,000. And the request of 545,000 covers the acquisition, the due diligence like the soil compaction testing, environmental work, and the projected closing costs for the property. And this is for the development of an a new industrial park or buildings on the property. So, here's an aerial shot of the property, and a lot of people recognize this. You can see it somewhat from 321 um just behind Harrison's. And then we also have a survey. I don't know if you can really see that from the distance, but that's the survey of the property. I thought I'd offer a little bit more information about product development and what we see from a state perspective. So the uh EDPNC is the state level organization that we work with locally for economic development. And EDPNC is a private nonprofit organization that operates under contract with the North Carolina Department of Commerce and they lead the state's business recruitment and tourism efforts. It acts as a public private

partnership receiving both funds from the state of North Carolina and from private contributions. So each year EDPNC really leads that project work at the state level. And in 2025, they had a total of 434 projects. Um, some of those 66 or 15% were on-site expansion. So, these are North Carolina businesses that are already here and growing, but the vast majority of those 368 or 85% of those were new projects looking to locate to North Carolina. So, of those new location projects, the median job created number was 120 jobs per project. The median capital investment, $30 million per project, and the median wage, $92,000 per project. So, these are all projects that most communities in North Carolina would be proud to to have. So looking a little bit deeper at the new projects, 290 or 79% of those projects were in manufacturing or assembly. And that's really kind of our bread and butter here. We have a lot of manufacturing, a strong manufacturing workforce. So followed by manufacturing is followed closely, not closely, but followed by corporate headquarters, warehouses, distribution centers, etc. So what's trending in manufacturing? Of those 290 manufacturing projects seen in the state during 2025, 51% or 108 projects indicated that they wanted an existing building. So that's why product development is important. For us to be competitive, we have to have inventory. We have to have project or product versus only 20 who considered either a building or a site or 29% who preferred a site only. And this follows existing trends demonstrated by the 24 and 23 data which just continues to show that

more and more of these projects want existing inventory. What kind of inventory? 150 of those projects specified the type of building they were looking for and the majority of them were looking for spaces between 20,000 and 50,000 square feet. In fact, 55% of all the projects that told the state what type of building they were looking for, um, those square footage requirements fell under 100,000 square feet, which is great for us locally and other mountain communities because it's hard to find good flat land that you can build 100,000 square feet or more on. So, um, we're kind of lucky that that's really in our niche. So, project losses, not every project that comes to North Carolina equals a win. Sometimes we lose those. And in 2025, uh, the state lost 72 projects to other locations or other states. And here's why. The majority said 32 projects to 44% reported lack of suitable buildings or projects. So these manufacturing projects are important to our community because they provide highquality jobs and they increase taxable taxable revenues um, which pay for public services. So with that, Mr. Chairman. Um I end my presentation.

All right. So uh with that presentation and the request, I will declare the public hearing open and ask that anyone sign up to speak this evening. No one has. And so with that, I will declare the public hearing closed and uh ask what the uh pleasure of the board is and adopting this sales tax reinvestment fund request for economic development. I'll make a motion, Mr. Chairman.

All right. Commissioner Starns makes a motion to purchase the property. And I' I've known that Ashley. I don't know if you said it or not, but that's the Bolic property, right? So,

anyway, so and again, that's the second time kind of around for us, but uh we do see the potential there being right off 321. It's already got water, sewer, and a big power hub there. And uh and it's a lot flatter than some other properties that we have been able to uh lay hold of. So, uh, we want to try to develop that, uh, toward, uh, a business for our county and looking forward to, uh, getting that off the ground. So, anybody else have a comment? I'll call the question. All in favor of this purchase, signify by saying I. I.

Any opposed? And that motion carries unanimously. So, thank you again for emphasizing the things that we do around EDC, Ashley. Uh, a lot of folks I think still don't understand how hard we work. One of those lost projects, uh, I I don't know if we can say their name. Uh, say their name yet.

Uh, we won't say their name yet, but uh, the state uh, could have come along and helped us partner a little better, our understanding, to perhaps land a pretty significant project that we've been working on for a good while. And uh so we uh are still in hopes but a little more disappointed with that. And uh but we do appreciate uh the opportunity to try to land some of these projects and and we have missed several of them uh of late. So uh just keep plugging along is all I can say. We're we're really trying. All right. So that brings us then to our county manager, Mr. Shane Fox and he's going to bring us up to date on some capital projects and strategic initiatives that we've been working toward in our county.

If he can get out while he's first. Yeah. uh while he's making his way there, uh I jokingly said it a while ago that a lot of folks think all we do is proclamations and very little business, but Mr. Fox is going to highlight some of the things that goes on behind the scenes, some of the things that we've been working on diligently within our county. And so, thank you for making this uh presentation and update tonight, Shane. Absolutely. Certainly. He said he only had 135 slots. 136. So should shouldn't take but a couple hours seat bill.

So it's interactive so it'll it'll go quick. The uh thank you chairman and commissioners for the opportunity to to speak tonight. You're correct. So over the last um number of months we've been extremely busy you all as as well um and our staff in working through a number of initiatives with regards to projects and um some upcoming things. And so I thought tonight would be a good time to bring you up to speed and the public up to speed of where we are with some of our projects, some of our capital projects that we've been able to complete in the last few weeks. Um, and then some of the ones that are close to being completion and then some of the new initiatives perhaps that you'll be hearing about as we go forward in the next few months. So here is a overview of some of the projects. um the CZville water tank, cages mountain EMS base, the Kincaid building as we call it, Hickory Springs warehouse, the outen plaza services building, and then we've got some other updates or initiatives with FEMA trash litter efforts, DSS, health governance, and final we'll make a comment or two about our upcoming budget work session. So, um, as I did mention, this is please interactive for questions because I did not want to put together a tremendous amount of information um, sake of time, but also wanted to hit the highlights and any thoughts you perhaps have, please ask and we can um, make sure we get those answered as well to the public. So, we'll start with a project um, that's been talked about for a u quite a while since 2018. You'll see that as a trend as chairman church pointed out earlier. A number of these projects have been talked about for a number of years now. So, our cost for water tank project, you'll see there on the left a finished picture of what that looks like. That is located at 4487 Rocky Road. That is on 8 acres of land in which we purchased way back in 2018 for this project. So, um our low water pressure and issues that we have in that area drove this project ultimately. Uh fire suppression, etc. Now, um has has all been put back up to a pressure that everyone believes is better as we had before. But this project again has been talked about for eight years. So quite

some time. Um we ended up bidding this out twice because we did not receive the adequate number of bids. And we awarded this project in August of 2023. So going on three years ago. The cost of this project 4.8 million. The majority of that was paid for back with the ARPA funds that we talked about a number of years ago. And then the remaining 1.6 million was out of our water capital fund that we've been able to accumulate over the last few years. So this project um is paid for without any debt service. So this is a fully funded project. And I would mention our water fund does not have any debt as we're mentioning it. We'll talk about that during the budget process. This now gives us four tanks online. All four of those are 200,000 gallons each. This is a 200,000galon tank as well. So this is our costs for water tank project. Again, one of many projects that we've been talking about. The water fund I don't think necessarily gets the same level of credit sometimes, but we have over 10,000 customers in this county and we have a wonderful staff that does a tremendous job. This water tank will help those within the CZville area with water pressure along with our firefighters and others that need that valuable resource. So, any questions on the Collville water tank before I move on to the next project? That being said, the Cages Mountain EMS base we have talked about quite um quite frequent. Um this project as you see and some pictures here on the left started with the doctor's office way back when and you'll see a picture from just a couple days ago of our new and finally opened EMS base number eight. That is at 1901 Connley Springs Road. Um so if you've been on that road, you have seen that construction and that project. discussions for this one, I was told, began over 18 years ago. Um, so a little bit more than the eight years that we've been talking about the cost for water tank. 18 years we've been talking about putting a base in this area and working with the town of Cages Mountain. In 2023, we purchased two acres of land.

That was the property that you see up in the top lefthand corner. And we selected a contractor out of Hickory and broke ground in June of 2024. total project costs including the land renovation the purchase of the building renovation of that building along with the addition 5.2 million and did want also to mention our partnership with the town of Cages Mountain um they contributed financially $500,000 along with some of the changes that were needed for that property. Um this base has three double bays. Uh you can see kind of in the top left. So that's one side. There's also three spaces on the other side of the building. So, a total of six vehicles can be parked in here. Um, houses currently, um, for two crews. Um, there is also a number of things within this building that are truly cutting edge that we do not have anywhere else within our county, and I'm not so sure that many exist throughout the state, but we have essentially three mock rooms. One being an actual hospital ER that is set up just like you would with a triage and a hospital ER station. the other being an inhome situation, so is furnished as if you were walking into someone's living room. And the third being an ambulance box, so the back of the box of the ambulance itself. All three of these rooms have been designed and built to be able to assist our paramedics and our EMS folks in training. So, it gives them real life ability to be able to go into what a potential living room would be and administer those initial um um um tests and and things of that nature. Also within the correspondence with the ER and then of course the back of the box where they spend so much time and and working. But again, this base talked about for over 18 years, a great deal of technology within this base that will assist our citizens here for quite some time. We put this base online last Monday, so we are now seven days in. Um,

as of last week's call, we had already ran 40 calls out of that base. So, we're averaging about six per day. So, I think that's a testament of the need. Um, I think we ended up running two within the first 65 minutes during that rush hour of time there. But this project, again, 18 years in the making. um some frustrations with those in the community about the completion of this, but at this point it is now ours and we're utilizing that. So, any questions on the cages mountain base or anything you'd like to add? Glad it's finished.

Yeah, glad it's finished. Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay, on to our what we call our Kincaid building. It's probably better known as um Lazy Boykin Kaid. It's at um 240 Pleasant Hill Road or prison, you know, road as a lot of people know it. Um we are now calling this our Cwell County government and emergency operation complex. So that's a mouthful. Um but for this presentation, we may call it the Kate building. We have a number of slides here. Discussion for this building actually began in 2021, not with this building, but with this space that's needed here. It was mentioned earlier about the need to expand for our emergency communications, our 911 folks that we honor tonight. That conversation began in earnest in 2021 about a potential standalone facility um within the campus of HHS and animal control and the sheriff's department. And so the original discussions began in 2021 with a 911 communication center, emergency operations center. And the original plan was to construct a standalone facility. Over the course of a couple years, after plans and some of the things that came about with a number of partners that were included, that cost rose to approximately $50 million and was not seen as being feasible. Fast forward to early 2025, thanks to the work at our with EDC, Kinc Kade and Lazy Boy reached out because they were in the midst of looking at making some transitions with their corporate structure, which now they have done and and completed. Uh, but a part of that was potentially the sale of this building that's located at 240 Pleasant Hill Road. And so starting in early 2025, you all through our EDC partners um here with Ashley um started the discussions of the potential utilization of this building for a replacement of that standalone for our EOC um and our 911 center. And at that point it had

grown into our state agencies that we've been partnering with along with a couple others we'll talk about in just a few moments. Um, so in reality, we move forward with the purchase of that, and we did so and closed on November the 25th of 2025. This building, we'll go through some of the particulars in just a few moments, um, cost $4.78 million to purchase. And want to point out there that this was paid for through state appropriated money that was received back as a part of the 2021 budget. So, the original standalone building became larger and honestly more costly, I think, than you all felt like was warranted. So the appropriated money that was at once earmarked for that was utilized for the purchase of this. And we'll talk about the renovations and those appropriated monies as well. So just want to make sure that I emphasize on the front end and I will on the back end through some of these projects. No local money will will go into this building. No local money has gone into this building to this point. Here's a couple of different pictures of what um I put as our government and emergency operation complex. This is a 36,252 square foot building on two levels. um building um is 24 years old and along with the purchase of the 36,000 square feet, we also purchased 20 and a half acres of land within that complex. So, a pretty sizable footprint. The unique part about this building is that the layout on each floor is essentially separated in the middle by large stairway. And so, you have almost four quadrants, two on each level. And so when we talk through some of the different um initiatives and departments that we'll have being moved in there um you'll understand kind of the breakdown and how that looks within the um the structure of the building. So a lot of words on this page. Let me just kind of talk through some of the thought process behind it. But the original standalone building grew to the point where it included not only the emergency management, EMS and fire marshals activities within the county, but also 911 and our IT and then a number of state agencies and then federal agencies

had joined as well. And again, that price tag just became larger than I think everybody felt like we needed to move forward with. The new Kinc Kaid building, a little bit larger in square footage, will also house our EM, EMS, and fire marshall's office along with a center or area for 911. Our county IT function will be moving there along with our state partners. And again, that's our western branch of our emergency management folks. But we're also moving HR, finance, and our administration from this building to there. And we'll talk about this building in a few moments as we circle back around. But in a whole you can see there one two three four five six seven eight nine functions will be located within that building. One of the things as we started talking through this building and the needs which started again with our public safety 911 communication state agencies was the need to have the utilization of this building not necessarily be as public facing with daily traffic because of the sensitivity of the work that's going on within some of those areas especially during the time of emergencies when we have to activate and so finance HR and administration being central public facing but not as frequent perhaps as some of the in at um departments we'll talk about in a few moments was the most likely choice. Again, if you can imagine this building being broken out into four quadrants. When you walk in, to the right will be a central administration. So that's HR, finance, and administration. To the left will be our county public administrative or public safety folks. That will be the emergency management, fire marshall's office, uh along with our EM and our county EOC. So these spaces again, it's hard to just pick out one after another necessarily, but these are larger, exponentially larger spaces that we have currently. So these will do us for quite some time. If you go downstairs, you will have IT and 911, a likely kind of partnership on one side of the building and then our state

agencies um along with their EOC on the other side of the building. So the building itself was in really good shape. Again, only 24 years old, built by Wilkey Construction. Um, so the renovations began um around Christmas time, the first of the year with this building. And again, I say renovations, I put here no structural work. No structural work was needed. This building was in really good shape. So mostly cosmetic work. I'll pause for a minute to thank Jimmy Harrison because he has been the project lead on this and has done a tremendous job not only making this happen very efficiently, but also I think very effectively. And through some of the numbers here, you'll I think you'll see that um the majority of the renovations on the outside really was paving and some fence work. So, the paving and a couple areas need to be needed to be replaced. The fence is for the back of the building from a security perimeter standpoint to house inside of that the 911 communication and our state agencies. One of the requirements there, the carpet was either cleaned or replaced uh throughout the building. Uh paint was done, some touchup, you know, as well as complete paint in areas. Um some interior walls, again, not structural, just putting some walls up to divide off some areas. Again, we're talking 36,000 ft, large building. And we did that to be able to um gain some additional office spaces for the nine different departments that'll be located there. It with new wiring, cat 6, that type of thing. And then furniture for it. It was an empty building when we um took ownership of it. So the numbers total project this includes the building, the land and the renovations are at about $6 million right now or $187 a square foot. Um so we have not yet completed our 911 move and those renovations. Those again aren't structural. Those will be mostly with regards to the technology itself and so that's yet to come. Um, but again, you can see as of today, we're right at $6 million total. Um, with the building

itself being right at five million of that. So, $187 per um square foot is where we are currently for the um Kincaid building slash um our Cwell County government and emergency operation complex. So, again, just wanting to emphasize um the difference there and what we've been able to accomplish. I think um and overall honestly I think a better footprint in in what we have and and we can use that space more effectively and efficiently being able to do so. Um the building is now open to a few our IT folks um along with Mr. Harrison is there um currently we are starting to move folks in. the state agencies moved in this past week downstairs. Um, and then everyone else is going to follow between now and June the 1. Um, minus I the the 911 site, which is going to take a little bit longer because of some of the lead times and some of the things that are needed there. U but again, this project um is close to completion. We do have folks moving in. We have folks that are working there and over the next 30 days, you'll see the majority of everyone else u moved in there as as well. So, I will pause there and answer any questions you might have with regards to the Kate building.

I I just wanted to make a statement that uh we feel like this was a big win for our county. And then the second part highlighting the state agency, but North Carolina emergency management, the western regional office has moved there, which I think for our county is a big win

when you've got that resource that close to your county. They were originally, I think, in Newton Conover Hickory somewhere. Uh but that is a uh a group that will handle any emergency in western anywhere in western North Carolina and uh they're going to be located there. And I've had some questions and I was hoping you'd show it, but there we've done some grading up there at the front and uh we're we're putting in a a helilopad to land a helicopter there because uh the governor or the speaker of the house or somebody might want to fly in there. So anyway, we're going to have a a pad there for that. So very interesting and just a windfall really for Cwell County and and how we were able to pull this off and uh and thank Lazy Boy and I know you said it was unfernished, but they did leave a lot of stuff for us. I think there uh kind of in our negotiations, we ended up with some some desk and some media stuff. And so anyway, uh just I'm just very pleased that the whole project's coming around the way it is. And uh and we're going to continue uh with some 911 funds. We hope to be able to do the communication center. uh we we'd had that kind of approved and had to give it back, but now we can re reapply for that in this coming year and uh looking for uh some additional funding there to again offset some of that burden on our local taxpayers. And so we're working really smart and diligent as a board to try to accomplish all this. And it just goes into the next part of what you're going to say, too. So I'll hush. No,

anybody else has got a question? I I will I was going to add the um picture of our helellipad is um where we graded off an area so it's not concrete but um because of the drought it's um covered in straw. Didn't feel like the picture maybe was quite ready. Maybe when we get some rain and the grass comes up and it looks nice and pretty but it's absolutely to be utilized for the governor or others to fly in. that western North Carolina um headquarters that we're that we now have is going to be utilized, I'm sure, soon with hurricane season and other things that are happening. And so we're expecting um that to be activated and utilized very quickly.

I just want to thank you and Jimmy and anybody that was involved. I definitely want to thank our fellow commissioners. Uh guys, that's a long way from $50 million. Yeah. to get to get what we want and we can do other things. Yeah. And I I can appreciate that. Yeah. Yes, sir. Yeah. I would I would I would also thank um our IT department and our staff throughout that's worked um a lot of manh hours to put, you know, to get this to where it needs to be. Um and again, um no local tax money will be utilized for this building or renovations of the building. It's going to be fully funded by the state appropriated money that was gifted to us in 2021. So all renovations will be covered through those monies.

It's just being a good steward of the taxpayer dollar and all of these commissioners I I know strive every day to do that. Um and this is a this is a project that without the help of the state and we're grateful for what the state has been able to help us with. But um this is a good use of of taxpayer dollar. A lot of people don't see that. Hopefully, they'll see some of that tonight. Now, whether they're whether they'll understand it or or still be mad or whatever, I you know, the the facts are there. You know, um we we've saved, you know, we've saved money and we've we've accomplished so many great things um with this building and I'm I'm very grateful grateful for for everyone that's been on this team together to do this.

Yeah. Yeah, I think you know we've we've thanked a lot of people and um it is a great project. It's going to give us the ability to do a lot of things we've never done and um and to to the chairman's point having the um western part of the west western part of emergency management here is going to be great. But I want to thank Speaker Hall um for his work because it would not have happened without you and we appreciate all you do and have done and will continue to do for us. So, thank you.

Yeah. Okay, so carrying on. Um, a project connected to this one, um, we're originally calling our Hickory Springs Warehouse. We don't have a catchy name yet, I don't think, for this. U, but a part of the conversation that began again back in 2021, around the same time as we were discussing our 911 center, EOC, was the need for warehouse space. That became extremely evident of the need during Helen. And so the building that you see here um on the left is known or was known as the Hickory Springs Warehouse. Um again, those discussions uh with the need of a warehouse space for our emergency management and supplies, especially during the times of need. Um were started well before 2021, but in earnest in 2021. Again, along the same lines or same time as we started discussing the um EOC and 911 building. Um during Helen, this building was leased um through an emergency meeting that you all had um in this room on October the 2nd, 2024. Um the building at 2145 Norwood Street, again um known as Hickory Springs Warehouse, was leased to be able to house um equipment and supplies during Helen. It is a 89,000 foot um space um and about six acres of land, a little bit less than six acres of land um included in in this um footprint. So a overall price of $2.4 million was negotiated by you all and closed right before Christmas of this year. And again I put state appropriation because it was paid for again once again by the same pot of money that was going to be utilized for the larger standalone building. And so not only do you have the Kincaid building, you have this warehouse as well as a part of that utilization of the appropriated money that was started back in 2021. Uh what we have here and we've got a couple pictures to show you in just a few moments. Um we have space and we have equipment in there for EMS,

our emergency management, fire marshall, sheriff and water I think to date. So we are again trying to utilize the space for all county functions is a very large space. It did come with some office space. The sheriff's department is currently um utilizing for office space that's needed. And so we are um looking at this space as we continue to grow into a multitude of different potential avenues. And I'll show you some pictures inside in just a few moments. This space again kind of like the Kim Kate building was in really good shape and had been utilized quite um soon before we took over with Helen. And so no structural changes were needed and it's open now. It's been open, you know, since Helen, but it's been open for us to utilize it for our space needs and our equipment um since this past year when we took ownership of it um around Christmas time. But again, you'll see kind of to the left, it's kind of hard up at the top, you'll see a number of our trailers through our fire marshall's office and our sheriff's department. You'll see some of our water equipment. You'll see a number of things associated with fire marshall and EMS. So again, this space is currently being utilized for a number of county functions. again similar to our Kinc Kaid building and our goal again as we started this discussion was to use this space effectively and efficiently and we feel like we've done so and again at the end of the day which is now the building is utilized and is open and has not been um has not used any local taxpayer money it's used the state appropriated money as well so this space will be used for us for a number of decades for anything that we need and we have plenty of space to grow as well if we ever were to find ourselves in another unfortunate situation with a natural disaster. So, any questions on the Hickory Speaks building?

And one of the main purposes of of of this warehouse is to because all a lot of our assets were spread all over the county. Yes.

And you know, with an emergency, it just took a lot of time. And in an emergency, sometimes you don't have that time. And so the warehouse here was able to bring all those assets together from multiple departments and keep them in a um an environment where kept them out of the weather. And if you see ever see uh assets out, you know, the the the snow, the the ice, the rain, the heat, especially the heat just deteriorates assets. And you know, we want to try and keep these assets as long as possible for the betterment of the taxpayer so we're not out spending money. If we can get another x amount of years out of an asset, let's let's do that. Also, I believe the uh Western EM they're renting some space here, correct?

For their vehicles and for their assets. And that rent is basically paying for the utilities for this building. So when you say no county tax dollars, no county mean no county dollars. That's right. I mean, so other than upkeep of maintenance and things like that, I mean, you given that, but for the most part, I mean, that that was really a win-win.

Absolutely. And a lot of people say, "Well, you took a building off the market." And that's true, but this this building does have some age on it and the ceiling heights were not compatible with what industry was wanting. And so it would it would have been a hard someone could have rented it. That's true. But it would been a very hard fit because they're wanting 30 and 40 uh foot ceilings and a lot of things that this building could not provide because of the age. But again, it's it's a it's a great building, great shape. The roof's in great shape. You know, it it's it I think it was just a great benefit for for our county thinking about all the assets. And it really did a great job through Hurricane Helen. I don't think people really can realize what what that building and what our emergency folks did in helping other communities. A lot of these a lot of that was staged out of that building right there to help families survive through Hurricane Helen, Avery County. The list could go on and on of what that building, whether it was water, food, clothes, anything and everything came through that building. And it was a it was a great thing for for for our for our other counties. It was really good. And real quick, I just want to thank uh Jeff Cardwell for his all the work he's done on this project. Um and more importantly helping us to understand the importance of the need for this building. So thank you Jeff for being a part of this. Yeah, I would I would argue with these two projects, these last two projects, um we have really set ourselves apart from a public safety and our ability to respond to disasters and our ability just to have great working spaces and assets compared to our neighboring counties by far. So, these are two great assets to have now online and we're appreciative of the efforts through this

board to be able to make these things happen and appreciative again of the state for allowing us to move forward with the financing of this. Again, no taxpayer money, local taxpayer money in this. Both these buildings are paid for and renovated and open. And it's really nice to go by HHS and the sheriff's office and not see 15 20 trailers sitting around there uh and a host of equipment from traffic traffic stuff to generators. It's all inside this building now, secure and out of the weather. So,

and and less than two miles from our KK building as well, I might add. So, very very close and and um great proximity within the county itself there being centralized. Any further questions? So the KK building slash what we call our emergency operation center um and our changes that we propose there with regards of moving moving HR finance and administr administration out of this building um has led us to what will happen uh with our vacated space in the building in which we're in currently. So um this building currently is home to tax register deeds finance HR admin our public information officer IT mapping general GIS and veteran services obviously with Kim Kaid move u moving several of those IT finance HR and administrative administration out um allows us to re-imagine this building and we have reimagined this building um as a true services building so a one-stop shop if you would and so what will be replaced Placing those four disciplines will be our water department, our building inspections, our planning and zoning and environmental health. These are a very u these are all very front-facing, very public facing. This building has always been very public facing. And so a true services building approach is what I put here because that's what this building will be. You can imagine as you go upstairs or come in the front, you will have tax and water and permitting and environmental health and register of deeds all on one floor. Down here, you will have what we already have with veteran services and GIS and mapping and planning and zoning. And so essentially, if you're a citizen, if you're not going to HHS, um our DSS and health services, more than likely you're going to be coming here for all services. As of right now, we have three different stops. If you're looking to visit any of

these different um disciplines that are up here. So, if you want to go to water, you're going to a different stop than you're going to permitting or if you're going to environmental health or if you're going to planning versus within this building with tax and register deeds. And so the thought as we were looking through and thinking through the Kincaid building of what services could move there again part of that thought process was to not have a lot of public interaction so to speak because of the sensitivity of the work that's being going that will be going on there. So a thought would be or it was to move the central services from this building to that location and then backfill that with a true services approach. And so this building again um in great shape and has had a number of different renovations. So we're not talking structural changes needed. We may need to add a window or two here to be able to have some better forward- facing customer interaction, but upstairs and the office and the space that we have down here has been utilized up until this point still being utilized. And so we're essentially going to be moving folks out and moving people in. That being said, I put here fall of 2026. We want to make sure that when we put a date out there that we put it out so far that we give the public plenty of chance to know that we're moving because again these are very public facing services. And so didn't put an exact date on there because that's on purpose. We don't have an exact date. We want to make sure we get our folks out and get other folks in here um without having any disruption to services. But again, um being downtown Lenor, we thought another benefit is to bring more traffic to downtown Lenor because these are very forward- facing um services that we have. So, uh thought process and um how we're moving forward is with this full services one-stop approach. So, be glad to answer any questions on that or any answer any details.

Again, just a great utilization. Uh I can only we've heard it for years that people come to get a building permit then have to go two or three locations to get their things done. So that's that's going to be a benefit to our citizens and the public as a whole. You can come here and pay everything because it's all going to be and payments will be taken here just like they always have been. But that's right. Uh but now you can get your water permit and pay for that or whatever you got to pay for. It's all going to be here. not going to have to travel uh around the county between three different locations to get it all done.

So, and go by and visit our register of deeds anytime you're here. He's got all the vital records.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Um again, as we finish up kind of the project portion here, um thank you to the board and and thank you for your willingness to allow for the county to move forward with these initiatives. I feel like and we feel like as staff that this is the best utilization of our assets and better service overall to our citizens which is our goal while being good stewards with the money that we've been given. Um again hate to be a broken record but these projects that we've talked about um no debt within the water fund. We were able to fund that through ARPA along with our um uh capital project fund that we've been able to accumulate on the water side and then the other projects have been funded through our state appropriations. of these projects were all um able to be started and completed without util utilization of any taxpayer money, local taxpayer money. Okay, other initiatives and updates on um a few things here. Um start with FEMA. So, we've got a number of folks here behind me including Susette Bradshaw um who is going to be retiring um this week um with us to talk about some of the FEMA things um that have happened in the last um 20 months now. But um everybody knows what's obviously what happened on September the 27th with Hurricane Helen um hitting western North Carolina. The recovery process really began the next few days after the um initial you know week or so worth um of of work. The core team members within the recovery process um not only is Susette but Jeff Cardwell, Jimmy Harrison, and Vic um team that was put together to start the recovery and reimbursement process with FEMA. To date, FEMA has um reimbursed or distributed a little bit more than five billion dollars in North Carolina. So, that's a big number. Um you'll see with us, our number was quite small compared to that, but a undertaking nevertheless. 16 total FEMA PA, the public assistance part of what we're discussing here. This

is the county side of FEMA projects. We had a total of 16 very complex projects that this team worked through totaling about $9 million worth of expenditures for reimbursement. Um North Carolina through public assistance is right at $2 billion again um to date that's been collected. Our projects broken down with debris at $6.1 million. Um, that's the public rideway, private property at 1.1. Uh, countywide emergency protective measures approximately 600,000. Our Wilson's Creek area was our hardest hit, one of our hardest hits area here. Replacement of the sirens and work done to the center was a half a million dollars. Um, the warehouse lease that we're referring to, our Hickory Springs warehouse, $425,000 paid at that point back to Hickory Springs. And then our management cost at about $240,000. That's our time and and effort that has gone into it, consulting, etc. So, about $9 million worth of county money. Um, good news, great news from our perspective. We do still have a number of outstanding private projects that are out there. We've been able to accomplish about 70% of those or FEMA has. We turned those over to the smart program that state ran. So from our perspective here at Cwell County, our projects have come to a close and we've been able to be very fortunate. And I say we as in primarily Susette and I know she doesn't want me to spotlight her um as she's uh retiring with us, but she has been the main driver in making sure that we get every single penny that has been owed to us. Um and sometimes perhaps even more than that penny and a little bit extra that has come back to that. So, um, all of our work in Cwell County on our projects, our public assistance projects has been completed with the exception of two, um, the Wilson's Creek, um, site along with our Czville convenience site. Those are both funded through the

department or the North Carolina Office of State, uh, budget management. So, this is separate and these are both fully funded. So, the FEMA projects, as we're referring to tonight, um, have all been completed and all obligated here, which means Cowell County Citizens and the money that we put out, $9 million, has been able to be returned back to us. And that's not been an easy effort. Um, I couldn't beyond could not tell you um the the work that has gone into the reimbursement process and the months and months and the number of meetings and phone calls and things that have gone into it. And we are sitting here as one of only a few that can say what we're saying um within West North Carolina that have been able to u recover the money that has been outlaid for Helen. And so again without you know putting too much spotlight but I know she deserves it. Um Susette Bradshaw who is sitting here has been the instrumental part of this entire process in making sure that Cowell County residents receive back every dollar, every penny that we have put out for FEMA. And so um again, thank you to her, thank you to the entire team, but mostly thank you to her for the work that has gone into this as we put a close on our FEMA uh project that has been going on since September or October of 2024. Thank you, Susette.

We appreciate all your effort and hard work. And I know Mr. Fox is glazing this because I'm just sitting here thinking about the amount of debris that was removed, the amount of families that were helped, the housing that took place, but getting people who were displaced into hotels, back to temporary housing, back to now into their homes. And astronomical what this team has done and and the things that they did for the residents that were affected.

The good thing is a lot of our folks weren't affected, but the ones that were uh really benefited from this team and their efforts and I'm just grateful for that and and everything that went into that. So

yeah, I will say in the in on the onset when when all this was happening, there was a lot of money being being spent out and we weren't getting anything. And this county commission board uh had the forethought to go ahead and go, let's go ahead and pay for it. Let's take it out of fund balance. Let's go ahead and do the right thing taking care of our county and then we'll worry about getting the FEMA money back and with with the five strong heads up here and along with Susette and Jeff Cardwell and Trevor and so many so many other folks. Um they they they were relentless. There are county commissioners that I've spoken with. They've not even got a fraction of of their money back in western North Carolina. I I assume that they will and I'm hopeful that they will. Um and I told them to give us a call to figure out how we did it.

But number one, we did the right thing by taking care of our citizens and that was the right thing to do. Um that was a lot of money to be spent out. Tony, I I've I remember I what three million at one time and then you came back for some more some more millions of dollars and I want Oh my goodness. But we got it all back and I'm you know I'm thankful to Tony. Thank you too. And so u it's uh a good team effort. You're right.

Absolutely team effort. I I can tell you the reason for that is the hard work and the amount of detail that has gone into this has been phenomenal. I know um one example of a meeting in which I was in in which I think Susette admitted that she had submitted um several hundred different samples if I recall to be able to prove the money that we had spent and to be able to get that reimbursement. And I have not said this to her. I think at one point FEMA just got tired of her dealing with the details and all the work and they just said here's your money. Um, that's why we were first perhaps is that her relentless just made them say take it and y'all just go kind of a thing. No, in all seriousness to Commissioner Leo's point, the majority of our counties have not received but a fraction of their money and and we're talking hundreds of millions have are owed in certain places. So, for us to be able to sit here today with all of our money obligated um is a phenomenal thing. Absolutely phenomenal thing.

Yeah. I don't remember the name of the county, but I seen one county was owed more than their budget. Y and they have not got it. They ain't got nothing. That's right. Yeah. Unfortunately, a number of the counties in the in the mountains, especially with smaller budgets, have output or have owed more than they have in their budget. So, yes,

moving on. I am apologizing for me glazing over. I know we've got a number of things here tonight. So, um wanted to hit on a hot topic. Um and rightly so, our trash and litter efforts. Um and um I know you all have heard and uh want to give an update here of some of the things that we have going on. Um our gold star contract is our contract with our litter pickup um folks. And so um we've talked about this um just through some of the public comments and some of the things that have been discussed. But we do have and have had for a number of years here a contract with an entity uh we call it the company's called it Gold Star. and they send folks out to clean up debris on the roadways. Again, these are not the main DOT thorough affairs like 32118, the loop, but these are our secondary roads, the ones that we have agreed to do this on. And so that that contract has been in the place for a number of years and we help fund that through our um revenue at the landfill that we receive. Um but on top of that, there needs to be more. And so there is a trash committee. Is that the proper term to potentially use there, Commissioner Potter?

Close enough. Yeah. Um or litter committee. Litter roadside litter committee. Roadside litter committee that um has met once or at least in the new form has met one time. Includes myself. It also includes Commissioner Potter. Uh Cowell County representation is there. The school system, North Carolina Department of Transportation, Republic Waste. Um and then a couple citizens. And so we have another meeting coming up. But do you want to care to share because I put here I think the clean call um image from last year of what this entails or what the thought processes behind that. Commissioner Potter.

Well the thought process I think is to try to get um you know bring more awareness around the the problem. We know it's a problem. It's not only a problem here. It's problem across the state. It's problem across the country because as a society we've we've uh we've kind of accepted it that it's okay to throw your trash on the side of the road and it's not okay. So, we have to get back to the grassroots and have to work on, you know, educating the public, especially our children and and and young adults on uh the necessary things that to keep this from happening. So, um, the thought was that we bring these folks to Scott some, um, you know, got some interest in this problem, um, specifically the the the community and have them so they have a say and they have a a voice. And we're also working with um again representative uh speaker's office to uh look for some other um maybe some technology and some other things that um to bring to the table that will allow us to identify um who's doing it. Try to work on prosecution and and and those things. I know that the state's working on increasing the fines um around the problem and specifically on the commercial side. commercial trucks will have a pretty, you know, potentially have a pretty significant fine for not covering their loads and letting trash fly out of their truck. So, a lot of work is going to be done around this. I'm excited about it. Um hopefully we can make a difference and and continue to work on this. We the cleanup day is is a volunteer day that the uh soil and water has agreed to kind of lead the charge on this and take the lead on organizing and bringing this together. And it'll be on um what was it May 30th.

May 30th. Yeah. 30th. May 30th. Saturday, May 30th. Yeah. And I think employees are going to do um a pickup on the 21st. So, that's right. Hopefully, we can make an impact. And again, this is not a it's not going to be a quick fix, but it's a it's an opportunity for us to all work together, all parties involved to look for ideas and ways to correct this, improve this problem. Very well said. The reason of putting some of the partners up there is because everyone um individually is doing something to try to remedy this problem. And so bringing everyone together, the North K Department of Transportation shared with us that um this year alone, I think they've picked up about 10 tons of trash in Cell County, just in Cwell County.

Um the numbers are staggering for what we see on our end. And so it's still not enough. We still have to find new ways, innovative ways of trying to to figure this problem out. Um, and so these are some of the things that we will be talking about, continue to talk about as a part of the committee and taking what we hear from the public and you all as well into consideration and some of these new initiatives and what we're looking like. So, yeah. And and just so the commissioners know, one of the I know there was a lot of discussion on the loop um as we call the loop southwest boulevard that the state changed their contractor, got a new bid it out and got a new contractor got it and somehow or another the loop got listed off that l got left off the list. So they it's back on the list and they're now aware of it and we'll continue to keep it up.

Any questions on litter or trash pickup at this point? Do do we know how much our gold star group has picked up? Um to date I don't. I know um what we've had in the past and it it's beyond the 10 tons. It's about 20 tons is what we pick up. Um so it's a it's a good amount. It's a real good amount. So, tons. How much is that contract? Remind me. Um, we budget 70,000 a year. Okay. For that contract. And again, that is paid for through our revenues through Republic that we have at the landfill. Yep.

Okay. Moving on to our last um topic for the night, which is DSS and health governance. And so, um, over the last number of months, we here as a group, and I say we as in us collectively have had different conversations, um, and you've had these in the past about the overall governance of DSS and health and what that structure looks like. And we'll talk through some different options and what it is, you know, what we have currently and what others around us have. But the reason for tonight isn't for action as much as it's to just share publicly and you all and answer any questions public about some of the different options that are out there when we're referring to the governance of DSS and health. Um so that being said in North Carolina counties have essentially four primary governance or organizational options for DSS and health department. Not sure why that te's on the end there. Um, House Bill 438, which was part of session law um, in 2012, um, allowed for those four options. Prior to that, um, the first original governance date dates back to 1911 on the DSS side or health side and in 1917 on the DSS side. And throughout the last 100 years, there's been a number of changes, but the most recent was in 2012 that allows you all to have four options when we're talking about DSS and health. What we have currently is a separate agency approach with DSS and health being separate and appointed governing boards. So we have a health board and a DSS board that you all appoint along with the state and others depending on the seat itself with health or DSS. And those boards governing DSS and health. We still control the budget. However, they they govern policy. They hire the director. They do the evaluation of the director. Those are separate legal entities uh that you all appoint or appointed through you all plus a combination of the state as well. Number two would be a separate agency approach with the board of commissioners you all being in that governance seat that is

like Burke County and what they currently have and they made that change in 2024 and we've got a little more here in just a few moments to go through a few slides talk about some of the differences between these four. The other two are considered consolidated. So the agency separate agency approach goes away and we have one consolidated human services agency and again in those two situations you have one that has an appointed health and human services board that you all would appoint and then they would be the governing agency or then you have another in which you all would be the health and human services consolidated board as well. So those are the four primary differences in the um structure governance organizational structure of DSS and health. Um there's 100 counties obviously 66 of them have either one or two which is the appointed or you all as being the board of commissioners being the governing agent but they're separated. 34 have consolidated. of those 66 and 34 if you look at all 100 counties there is a number of differences and how that could be broken out so I put here just our neighbors and started with Cwell looked at BERT Wilts Kataba Alexander Wataga and Yakin just those within this area and we'll start with the agency structure you'll see the first four are separate again DSS and health separate together or separate Alexander and Yatkin consolidated Waga separate but then you see there's even further differences the state human resources act the the state personnel plan that we currently have. Some have left, others have not. Alexander being consolidated did not and Yakin being consolidated did not. Um the health and DSS board even further has options to be broken out. So just because you all decide to be the governing agency of two separate agencies, you don't necessarily have to take on both. So, Wataga is a good example of which the health board is a

governing agent because it's a regional and then our D the DSS board is the board of commissioners. And so, not only do you have those four, but within those four, you have a number of different ways of doing things, especially with the first two them being separate. So when we talk about this tonight, we talk through some of the pros and cons. I just want you to be aware that there's a number of different ways of doing this, but primarily we're talking about are we going to keep DSS and health separate or consolidated? And then who's going to be the governing agency over the separate or the consolidated? Again, right now we have two separate agencies, DSS and health, and both of them have governing boards. So just to set the tone here if we look at some pros and cons quickly to go through this what we currently have um some of the pros are that those boards have subject matter expertise on them through DSS and health doesn't mean that they have them but the potential is there especially on the health size because those positions are required with a dentist and a doctor and some of the things that you all know chairman church you chair that board as well so you understand DSS same potential there to have subject matter expertise maybe potential DSS former employees or other you know backgrounds counselors etc. Um and each board as a pro each board has a singular focus and provide a buffer somewhat of you all. A con is that it does create um silo approach. government notoriously is siloed and has different silos and walls put up and this does put up a couple extra walls that's out there because we do have two governing boards that are not you all or not you know through the county um as a whole as staff. Um and then we do have some admin redundancy that is there as well because of having these separate. Um so this is again it's where we are currently. Again these are not all the pros and cons. Just wanting to start the conversation tonight. Um, number two, so separate agencies, you all as commissioners. Some of the pros there is direct accountability to the manager and

to you all. So, we take down that governing piece that is there with DSS and health with the boards and then they directly report to you through me as the manager. Um, and then financial uh alignment, the budget process, obviously a little bit more streamlined, not having those extra levels of buffer there. And again, these are not all the pros and cons, just ones that I wanted to share and start the thought process. Cons, potential loss of expertise. Again, that subject matter expertise could go away, especially on the DSS side. I will note on the health side, regardless of what we do, the health board, the health board is required to have a number of positions. Again, we can go through that detail later as we, you know, further develop this conversation, but you all, Chairman Church, know the dentist position, the doctor position, engineer position, a number of folks there, DOT that exist because of that. A con potentially with you all being the governing bot is um the political sensitivity. So the turnover of you all policy changes somewhat could change some of that as well. Um jumping into the two consolidated approaches. The first being the separate consolidated health services um or consolidated um health and human services board. And so if you can imagine taking DSS and health board now and meshing them into one that's what we're talking about. So that would be a separate governing board that you all would assist in helping appoint those positions along with some other requirements that the state has. But again, that would take the place of separate agencies combined into one. And so DSS and health would still exist, but they would answer up to this one consolidated position and this one consolidated board that exist. Again, some of the pros, integrated care, you have DSS and health, and there's a number of things there through operational efficiency that could happen with some of the collaboration. Um some of the cons it's another level of government it puts another level another board that you all are responsible for appointing also we work through as well and then the diluted focus potentially with the consolidated perhaps with the

separate boards that you have the focus on DSS and health singular consolidating those two together may potentially lose some of that focus or some of that um um complexity would be greater than what it was as a singular. Um and then if you all were to consolidate DSS and health and then you would be the um board of commissioners would be the governing board over that consolidated piece. Again, some of the pros potentially a single point of reporting through you all for both DSS and health um and direct oversight similar if you were to take um governance with the separate agencies. Again, that has a direct report to you all. And then some of the cons, the high complexity of having those two combined along with having a separate director um that would be over both DSS and health. One thing to note, if we do the consolidated or the counties that do consolidated, you do have to have someone named a consolidated health and human services director. It can be a new position or it can be a combination of DSS or health or it could be someone that's not associated with either of those as being in that position. cannot be the county manager. However, that is written within the um statutes. So, if we were to move forward with any changes um to what we currently have, a number of things have to be considered. Um first, are we going to be moving towards keeping it separate with a change in governance? Are we looking to consolidate um and then what does that look like again for you all and what's considered? Um we do have to hold a public hearing. This is a public process, a very open public process. So, not only does it require public hearing, it's a 30-day notice of a public hearing um with exact details of what we are proposing. Um we do these changes typically through a resolution. We would have you all at that public hearing adopt the resolution that would then give us the authority to move forward with which of the changes if you know that we were looking at. Um we do have to create that public health board if we were to change anything. um whether it's

the separate agency with you all governing, we still need to have that public health board function as an advisory board. And we can if we were to change you all as the governing body over separate agencies continue with the DSS board as well and that could be considered an advisory board versus versus the governing body. And then the last question is whether or not we're going to keep our folks within the personnel state personnel plan or what I mentioned earlier the state health or state human resources act as being another consideration here. So these are some just high-level slides to start communication and conversation and be able to answer any questions that you have to this point um of where we are but again where we are currently DSS and health separate agencies and we have separate governing boards um and that has been the case through the history of Cowell County. We have discussed potential changes in the past but not got to the point of where we've acted on any of those changes. So with that I will pause and try to answer any questions you might have. Anybody have any questions about it?

Was quiet. Again, I'll just say

we're hearing this tonight in the public, but it's it's something we've been talking about a good little bit as as opportunity. So, uh, I appreciate just being able to get it out and in a meeting and and to say that we're thinking along that line and specifically for from my perspective is just having that oversight and governance from this board because ultimately we're responsible anyway for it. And so it gives us a little more oversight I think if we do consolidate or do bring this under the commissioners. Yeah. The purpose tonight was as we were talking through some initiatives and we go into the budget season which is um coming up um it's here but as we come up publicly with the budget um season is some of these initiatives and and what these may entail if they have changes that would be budget related. And so the point of bringing it tonight obviously is along with the updates of the other items is to to be able to to broach this subject publicly as as well as give you some some things to start thinking about and some different options there. And we here at the staff level will be um you know open and willing obviously to try to answer any questions, do some research, bring folks in if need be and have conversations as we move forward with this topic. All right, my last slide is our budget workshop is next Wednesday. So, um we will have it in this room starting at four o'clock. Um did not want to go into much more detail because I knew we had a lot on the agenda tonight and we'll have a whole lot more starting next Wednesday at 4 o'clock in this room. Um and that um time is determined to start at 4. Not sure when we will end. I guess we'll see how long we go and what questions we have, but that is open to the public. And so that concludes my updates for tonight. I appreciate your willingness to allow me to speak and go through a number of initiatives and be glad to answer any questions you have on

anything that I either talked about or didn't talk about tonight. I think you covered quite a bit and I certainly appreciate it. Hope the public gets gets the knowledge that they desire out of it as well. So all in transparency. That's the game. Thank you. All right. I'll give him a moment to uh reset there and and moving to our uh consent agenda which is not as lengthy as some have been but we do have a few items there. And so when you're whenever you're ready, Mr. Fox,

I am ready. I am ready. I should have taken it with me and just did it from the podium. So, um Mr. Chair, chairman, and um board of commissioners. We do have a number of items on consent tonight for consideration. The first and only budget revision for tonight is a budget um amendment in the amount of $33,649 of new money coming um from the state through the health department to be utilized for employee training and retention. There is no match. This again similar to last month's um revisions, new money as the year has been reconciled at the state level through our health department. So again, no no match. The next four items number nine, 10, 11, and 12 are all applications for grants. The first being a Golden Leaf Foundation site um application. We have worked with Golden Leaf plenty in the past. This would be used as a match potentially for our airport sewer project that we have been talking about for the last few months. Um, so this money would be coming to us with no match required, but we could use this as a match towards the overall sewer project, the the actual installation of the sewer line to our airport. Number 10, 11, and 12 are all from the sheriff's department. And Mr. Depel is here tonight as well if you have any questions. Um, who has been great at writing these grants and receiving these grants. Um the first is a congressional directed spending application and again through the sheriff's department and it would be utilized for a mobile command unit with no match from the county. Um number 11 is our firehouse subs grant. Um it's in the amount of 16,392 and I apologize this is not for the application of number 11. This is to receive number 11. And so we actually have been awarded this grant in the amount of $16,392 and it was that money will be utilized to replace five AEDs that have um hit their useful life. Again, no match required in this. And then number 12 is an application. This is for our newly

started drug uh treatment court, our adult drug treatment court. Currently that money is being spent through um the county as county dollars. for this grant would be up to a million dollars. And we are applying for this grant in partnership with Burke County to help offset the cost. And that's a multi-year four-year grant um to be able to offset the cost of our drug court program. Number 13 um is the revision of circulation and access policy at the Kawa County Library primarily focused around eligibility and registration. So our new um library director, Mrs. four um has proposed these changes and we have reviewed those. Uh number 14 and 15 are both fireworks. Hopefully we get enough rain that we can have the fireworks, but the first is town of Sawmills on May the 9th at the park and recck facility there. And the second one um a little bit before the week before would be for the town of Granite Falls again at their park and wreck facility on May the 1st. Again, under North Conan General Statutes 14-413, our fire marshall's office is required to um approve those and bring those to you all for approval. And then our um next item for consent um is our approval of regular and closed session minutes from the March 23rd, 2026 board of commissioners meeting. And then the last item that we have is the resolution that we added late. This came to us just this afternoon um through our attorney um and it is labeled resolution authorizing participation in the remnant defendant opioid settlement agreement. Um over the course of the last few years you all have agreed to participate um on the front end of a number of these class action suits and settlements with regards to opioids. This is another one that does have a deadline of May 4th that's coming up. And so we present these items to you all tonight for consideration. All right. Here is the recommendation as read by our county manager. What's the pleasure of the board in adopting our consent agenda this evening?

Mr. Chair, I move this evening that we accept this evening's consent agenda as the county manager is presented. All right. Any other questions, comment, or discussion? All in favor say I. Any opposed? And that motion carries unanimously. And that brings us to a uh closed session this evening. We're going to enter into that the North Carolina General Statute 143-318.11A4 and this is EDC. That's correct. Is what we're going to be discussing. So, some of those potentials of businesses that we're trying to lure here and talk about that we can't say in public, right? Correct.

So, we have to keep it all on the download. We don't like it. We don't want to, but that's what the it's what's required to be done. So, With that, do I hear a motion that we enter into close session this evening? All right. All in favor say I. I. And we will be in close session. Don't expect anything out of a decision out of that. So, thank you again for being here. Thank you for your attendance and watching our Cwell County government in action. Have a great evening. Lot of lot of talking tonight.

They about turkey. You didn't win.