City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I would like to welcome [music] everybody to the February 17th, 2026 board of commissioners regular meeting. I'll call this meeting to order. If you all will please stand with me for the pledge of allegiance and remain standing for invocation. 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. I'd like to welcome Dan Marshall for the invocation.

Would you bow with me in prayer? Our gracious and merciful Lord, we enter your presence through the finished work of your son, his death on the cross for us. We ask your hand of mercy to be upon these people who are your servants to this community. You have entrusted them with great responsibility, and they need your great wisdom, enlightenment, and faithfulness to accomplish all that you have called them to do. Lord, we acknowledge that they face temptations to abuse their power and authority. They are challenged to compromise the values that you have called them to uphold. They are enticed to stray from the paths of righteousness that you have set before them. Therefore, we call upon you to remind them of your counsel given in Proverbs chapter 10 and verse 9. People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed. Lord, teach them that you value diligence, honesty, and integrity in your servants. As King David prayed in 1st Chronicles 29:17, "I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there." Therefore, we ask that you grant them a heart to seek to do what is right in your eyes and to govern according to the righteous principles revealed in your word. We urge them to pray with the psalmist as recorded in Psalm 25:21. May integrity and honesty protect me. For I put my hope in you, Lord. As we look around us, we see public servants at all levels of government and others in the private sector who have yielded to the temptation to compromise God-given standards of conduct. Therefore, we intercede for these public officials, asking that their conduct will be such that they can say with the Apostle Paul recorded in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and

verse 12. We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God's grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world and especially before you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. You may be seated.

All right. So we will move on to approval of the corrections of the minutes. Commissioners, I need a motion to approve the meeting minutes as presented on page four. Second. Second. All in favor say I. Any opposed? All right, that carries. 5-0. I also need a motion of approval of the agenda with the changes on page 100. So move it. I got a second. All in favor say I.

Any opposed? That [clears throat] carries as well. Um we are going to move to uh recognition. Oh, almost did it again. I do want to welcome our youth commissioner, Katrina Machowski, who is here today from West Cabaris High School. Katrina, if you don't mind introducing yourself. Hello, I'm Katrina Machowski as she said, and I go to West Cabaris High School. We are thankful to have you.

Appreciate you being here. So, I will move on to recognitions and presentations. We do have Alise Pew here for the proclamation consolidated human services agency social worker month. Good evening commissioners. Thank you for this opportunity to recognize our social workers in honor of social work appreciation month um next month in March. Um so I will read the proclamation um which says social workers uplift, defend, transform. Whereas social workers positively impact the lives of millions of Americans daily in hospitals, schools, child welfare agencies, community centers, and within the federal, state, and local governments nationwide. Whereas for more than a century, social workers have worked to improve human well-being, advocate for justice, and support everyone's basic needs. In as much as social workers select this profession out of a deep commitment to help uplift, defend, and transform the lives of people, their families, and communities. And whereas the 2026 theme, social workers uplift, defend, transform, shines a light on the resolute spirit of social workers who transform lives while bringing hope, healing, and justice to the communities they serve, especially in times of profound change and challenges. And because social workers follow a code of ethics that calls on them to stand for residents in the Cabaris community and to uphold human dignity, whereas social workers are on the front lines uplifting vital social safety net programs and ensuring the rights of everyone and considering social workers assist those navigating trauma, grief, and systemic biases and help people recover from natural disasters, public health crisis, and other issues while transforming their

lives in encouraging ways. In as much as social workers confront oppression, advocate for human rights, and advancing fair policies for all persons by obliterating barriers that prevent individuals and families from thriving. And whereas social workers care for those who have mental health issues, are recovering from substance use disorders and support the well-being of children. And because the profession continues to grow with more than 810,000 social workers in the United States and approximately 130 social workers employed by Cabaris County who transform lives by shaping a more just and compassionate society through leadership, education, advocacy, and direct practice. Now therefore, in recognition of the critical contributions of Cabaris County social workers, the Cabaris County Board of Commissioners proclaim the month of March 2026 as National Social Work Month and call upon everyone to join the National Association of Social Workers and Cabaris County in celebrating and supporting the vital work of social workers who uplift, defend, and positively transform our communities each and every day. Thank you, Alise. Um, commissioners, I do need a motion and a second to approve that.

All right. All those in favor? Any opposed? That carries 5-0. Thank you. Thank you, Elise, for that presentation. Um, we will now move to the uh section of informal public comments. Today we have 15 informal public comments. Okay. Thank you, ma'am.

We will begin with Brian Heints. Good evening, commissioners. I am retired Sergeant Brian Heines with Cabaris County Sheriff's Office. I've read Commissioner Patrick's handwritten notes from your meetings with the Pierce Group. I've also read Foyer request outlining your contract with them. In the foyer request, never once did it mention any savings of $3 million. But while reading Commissioner Patrick's handwritten notes from that same meeting, a specific line stands out. $194 for 1381 employees, CABco. So, I did some quick math to see how 3 million in savings might equate into these numbers and found something astonishing. 194 per month times 1381 employees times 12 months is 3,214,968. There it is in black and white. Your alleged $3 million in savings in the form of monthly premiums to employees and retirees. Math is way too close to be a mere coincidence. Are the county commissioners planning on charging employees and retirees almost 200 a month in health care premiums, practically 2,400 a year on the heels of last year's property revaluations. We are taxpayers, too. Commissioner Pitman, you claim to support seniors and you don't want to force the retirees out of their homes. should retired county employees not be afforded the same compassion. Transparency would helped a lot here. But after Commissioner Lindsay marked herself safe on Facebook from voting against saving Cabaris County $3 million, she then doubles down and brands anyone asking questions about healthc care benefits as fear-mongers. This is when real questions about transparency began to surface. And Commissioner Jones also asks for transparency. Thank you, Commissioner Jones, for inquiring and not just accepting because it's obvious that commissioners Lindseay Pitman and Patrick won't reveal their plans until a time of their own, only telling employees retire and retirees they must wait until open enrollment. I sure hope

that these three didn't fire our previous broker based on these alleged savings. The answer is simple. Why did this happen? It's because there were never any um there were never any uh $3 million was never stated. Seeing this ensuing debacle, the Pierce group no longer wants to enter into a group with Cabaris County. Why would they want to get involved? Can you blame them? From watching previous commissioner meetings and reviewing documents that are publicly available, I have discovered the county has in excess of $97,600,000 in unassigned funds. These funds can be used at the discretion of the county commissioners to balance our budget. So in ef So in essence, we don't have a $30 million, $13 million deficit. We have an $84,600,000 surplus if we would just use a portion of these ex existing funds. In closing, there's no need to assess healthc care premiums on employees or to ask public safety reduce their budgets with this kind of surplus. You claim to back public safety, now is the time to show them. The taxpayers have already provided you with the means to balance your budget. Be good stewards of the funds you have at your discretion. Thank you. Keith Drake.

Excuse me. I put my eyes on so I can even see past my nose now. Good evening. I'm Keith Drake. I've lived in Midland all of my 55 years. Recently retired from the Cabaris County Sheriff's Office and thank you for allowing me this time. Commissioners, I've heard that the board is looking at ways to cut cost and there may be cuts to county employee and retirees health benefits. I've also heard this being called fearmongering and well, I could possibly understand that if it hadn't happened already, which it has. Employee benefits were cut in the past and all payraises were frozen for about 5 years. So, it's more like fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. And we're just doing everything we can to make sure we don't get fooled again. Cutting employee benefits as seen in the past is a bad idea. Have you ever thought what would happen if all your county employees didn't show up for work? If they all quit, no EMS to respond, no fire department, no law enforcement to respond when the wolves are at your door. No county employees working whatsoever. Your county services would absolutely grind to a halt. And that's how important our county employees are. They keep our county running. The public knows that the county employees have their backs. They can call 911, rain or shine, day or night, and someone's going to be on the way. Health and retirement benefits, those aren't perks. They're investments in your employees. If I need EMS, the last thing I want on their mind is the health benefit or retirement security being taken away. Take that security away and the morale drops as it did in the past. And it doesn't save money. Many of your experienced employees will leave for better benefits and pay elsewhere just like last time. Some of us stayed and we struggled through it. We worked second jobs because we also knew that we had paid health care that was guaranteed by the county until we reached 65. The county will spend more money in recruiting, hiring, training new workers. And cutting benefits well breaks the trust that your employers or excuse me, your

employees and retirees have in you. Cutting employees benefits. They hurt workers, services, and communities. As for the employees that are nearing the end of their career and retirees, well, we've ran the race. We played the county's game by the county's rules and policies for the better part of 30 years and finally won. Please don't move the goalposts after the game is over. Protecting these benefits isn't w is it's isn't protecting those benefits is not wasteful. It's smart. It's fair and necessary. And also, the last time it happened and the benefits were cut, the public had the backs of the county employees and voted those that were up for reelection out of office. I'm asking you to please work together, find a better way, and I highly encourage all of you to read Psalm 15, particularly verses 1-4. Thank you for your time. God bless you. Have a good night. Randy Buckwell.

Good evening. Thank you for allowing me to speak. My name is Randy Buckwell. I'm a lifelong me resident of Cabaris County. I'm here tonight to be sure to protect the retirees that worked 30 or more years for Cabaris County. I've personally worked 32 years at the sheriff's office. We signed a contract giving up vacation days every year for the county so they would pay our insurance until we were 65 and would get Medicare. I have a copy of my contract in my safe at home. The county employees that signed that contract back in the mid 90s gave up vacation days each year to receive this right. There are retirees that didn't sign that form, but when they were hired, they were informed of the policy that the county had. They gave up vacation days also in order to get this benefit. I believe after 30 years of loyalty to Cabaris County, you deserve this. I added my wife on my insurance in late 2010 for almost $400 a month. We've been fighting metastatic breast cancer since 2022. And in 2015, I was diagnosed as a diabetic, which upped the amount of out-of- pocket cost. We pay a minimum of $12,000 a year as we fight this cancer and diabetes. With the cost of her insurance, our deductible, and the meds that healthc care will not pay, if you make me pay approximately $200 a month for my insurance, then you're taking food off our table because we need to make a decision on what bills we can pay for. food, insurance, or the property taxes that doubled under your watch. I retired making less than $50,000 a year. The last 11 years I worked, I couldn't get a raise. If I scored perfect on my evaluation, I got zero. Nothing. Nothing. When I heard you were about to change

insurance providers and said that it was going to save the county $3 million, I knew it was going to hurt the retirees like it did last time. There was no way you could change providers and save $3 million. Insurance isn't getting cheaper. As a matter of fact, the insurance at our church, which I'm on our board, just doubled this year. And we shopped around and that was the cheapest insurance we could find. I spoke with Mr. Patrick at a meet and greet in the candidates in Romtown. I asked him about this issue with the insurance and he assured me, "Nothing's changing. Nothing's changing. I asked him how the changing providers was going to save us $3 million without hurting the retirees. He had no answer other than to say nothing's changing. Nothing's changing. If you're over $13 million over budget, then someone wasn't monitoring the money being spent, and it's not the retirees fault. I pray God helps you make wise decisions, and God bless Cabaris County. Dean Vernon. Hello there. I appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Dean Vernon. I retired from the sheriff's office in August of 2021 with 30 years of service. I began my law enforcement career in August of 1994. I also signed the contract that we have uh mentioned guaranteeing that I would have health insurance covered for me at age 65. I also agreed to give up vacation time each year in order to uh meet that obligation. This was a big deal to me in why I took the job at the sheriff's office because I had the foresight to look and see where I stand now at my age wanting to be retired and have that benefit taken care of. I want to share a little decision. And in January 1999, I decided to leave the sheriff's office and pursue a a career

in federal law enforcement for three years. I got tired of being on the road and being away and my family, I wanted to bring them back to Cabaris County. So, I did. [clears throat] I returned in 2002, thanks to Sheriff Riley, uh, gave my job back to me. I understood at that time when I returned that the contract I signed in 1994 was not valid on its face because I was gone for three years. But I was also told in 2002 when I ret returned that I fell into a group that was called guaranteed or originally grandfathered that if I worked 25 plus years of service, I receive 100% insurance benefit. My reason for sharing these details for you about that is simple. I decided to take my own money and purchase my federal time back like you can for um military service. That was a huge expense for me. The only reason I did that was because I wanted to make sure that I got those three years counted towards my 30 years of service. I'm really concerned u about the impact of this decision on retired folks like me, the financial impact that it would create upon many of us and we are on fixed incomes and forced to possibly pay for our medical insurance. I'm also concerned and want to be a voice for my fellow brothers and sisters that are still working at Cabaris County Sheriff's Office and the impact that it'll have on their lives. The Cabaris County Sheriff's always been and will always be family to me. I made a commitment to Cabaris County. I worked my 30 years to earn my state pension, earn my health coverage until age 65 covered by Cabaris County at no cost to me. I sincerely ask each of you as county commissioners to make a commitment to my fellow retirees, my brothers and sisters still currently serving in the sheriff's office and myself to honor the coverage agreement that was given to us concerning cost. I'd like to end with this and [snorts] I

have a simple question for each of you. If each of you were in my shoes, would you be standing here voicing your concerns to the group? In my heart, I believe you would. So, in ending, I would like to just say this. I'm praying for each of you that God guides you in the decisions that you make, and I appreciate your time. Thank you. Keith Frost.

First of all, I want to apologize for my appearance. I had to hurry up and get up here from Charlotte. I'm a small little guy that's lived out in Cabaris County for 14 years now and I have a little problem that the Cabaris County Sheriffs don't want to seem to address. And uh we moved out there in that neighborhood over 14 years ago and since then we've had a lot of illegals or Latinos or whatever move in across the road and I've had to fight with the property owners for chickens running all over the neighborhood this that and everything. And I have photos here of evidence. And I want to read something to you that I pulled off Google. It says, "If you move to North Carolina, you must register your vehicle within 60 days, get a North Carolina's driver's license, and obtain North Carolina insurance paying property taxes and fees. This process involves visiting, of course, in North Carolina da da da, your out of state title proof of insurance. I have any I have photos of 10 vehicles that are live in the back of me down the road from me and they're all owned by Latinos. I have to pay my property taxes. I have to pay my insurance. I have to register my vehicle. Why is it that the sheriff's department will not go ahead and pull these vehicles over and go ahead? Now, it's funny. When ICE came in, you know where they all did? They all went in hiding. They all move their cars either in back of their houses down in the woods, so on and so forth. It's awful funny that if I have to move here from another state like I did over 30 years ago, and I have to abide by North Carolina laws, why don't these other people that move here from other countries have to go ahead and abide by our laws? Plain and simple. And I also approached Cabaris County Sheriff with a gentleman that I know that has been pulled over numerous, numerous times. He's had no North Carolina license for over 10 years now. He gets a ticket, goes to court, pays the ticket, he's right back out driving again. He works

for a buddy of mine that own his own that owns his own lawn care company. He just was in a wreck a couple weeks ago up here on Popper Kent Road. Cabaris County Sheriff issued a ticket. Didn't take him to jail, didn't do this, didn't do that. How many times does an individual have to be pulled over in the state of North Carolina or Cabaris County without a license? I have to have a license. Why don't these people? Cabar's courthouse over there is nothing but a money laundering system. Plain and simple. I think what's fair for one should be fair for everybody. If you get pulled over a certain amount of times within a year or whatever, you need to serve some jail time. Plain and simple. All right. Another thing, 1380 Burrowwood Road. I understand. I've been to the board. I've complained about the chickens. The people that live there do not own the property. They own the trailer, but they do not own the property. Neighbors have complained about it. I've complained about it. They let the chickens run all over our neighborhood out there. We live on a dead end road. The owners have left notices there. I'll be back. Thank you for your

Jerry Anderson. Jerry Anderson. Um, tell you a little bit. Uh, I'm trying to tell a story, y'all's story, and it gets shut down a lot. Uh, if DSS social workers were like Miss Pew said, up here, it'd be wonderful. I would never be up here. But Miss Pew, I asked you the question many times. Why was my daughter taken from my house? And you never gave me that answer. And I'm asking the county manager. And that day was tragic, man. that on a Saturday social workers pull up and police, Canapapolis police, and they come in and take a child and I asked them why and they said, "You didn't get a phone call?" "No, they [clears throat] had some a paper in their hand. They try to give my son and uh I saw her throw it on the table, but it disappeared." I never got an order given to me. Of course, Cabaris sheriffs, if they'd been there, they would have gave me some kind of paper, but I never seen that uh thing. And I've asked this question, and now I got in trouble. Please come and took me to jail for asking this question. I don't know who to ask it to except to your agency. Y'all the only ones that know. I want to know. All you council members up here, I voted for them. Everyone that's been elected, you got my vote.

And I wish you'd have my concern. I'm getting older. I didn't do nothing for that child to be gone. They made me look bad taking a child out of my house. And now they come to my house in the morning, take me out like I'm me and my son. I'm not bad person. I vote every election. I never had a ticket. Never been incarcerated till now. Thrown in jail for asking a question. I don't mean harm to nobody. I love y'all. Jeter Anderson.

Good evening, Jeter Anderson. I come up here to help advocate for the veteran about his family on 4916. Had a child taken away. That's about 10 years ago. Nine nine months. Nine years. 10 months. and I help advocate for this veteran and uh he gets nowhere. I've called everybody. I've called constituent services and everybody, but never got an answer. The only people that could answer it would be the agency that took the child because nobody else took the child, only the agency that took the child in front of us. and this agency. Listen y'all, if if this if we can't get the answer of why a child's been taken, what makes y'all think y'all can get answers about taxes and transparency? This government is translucent. If it's going to be translucent about taking children, how much is a child worth? Y'all could y'all saying 3 million for this and 3 million for that. How much is a child worth? And and these ch these children are getting taken and no answers. That's the one thing you get an answer for is why a child is removed from your home. So on 4916, this child was just taken from our home. And we ain't never got a reason. We don't know why, but we do got a prosecutor Jay White, a DSS lawyer, Jay White, that works with a judge, Christy Wilham. And they work together and they even they work together and then go over there in that court. And it is a racketing system. You're right. This is the proof right here. Jay White and Christy Willham work together, but they can they can have trial together. That's legal. But you know that judge I heard on the podcast slam the gavl that that judge Christy Willham kept his children and that ain't right. That ain't right to have trial on people and people lose their li their the lives and kids that they love didn't even need to lose. So

that sounds to me kind of fraudish. But anyway, I what do I know? You know, I just know that I need an answer to why this veteran child has and and his mentally ill daughter didn't get the care she needed from Department of Social Services. So, this this lady come up here and lied lied up here. Whereas, Cabaris County DSS lies to you. Lies and treats your family wrong because my sister was mentally ill and she got exploited. She got exploited so bad she died because Jay White over there abused her. Abused her. She was a federal helpless child and needed assistance. Look, we we got some an we got some questions and this this county DSS is in shambles. People been fired. Karen Calhoun. Uh Elise Pew was the the manager. Now she's not now. And then she goes back. We We ain't getting no answers. We ain't getting nothing. I don't know if it's incompetency or what it is, but they should be the ones that answer the question. They're the ones that done it.

Ter Miller. Good evening, commissioners. Um, my name is Tanda Miller um at 30 3835 Charlaw Walker Road in Canapapolis. I'm here to reintroduce this board to my some of awesome neighbors, friends, and family who are members of the Fisertown Princeton Park Community Association. We are all wearing kind of a blue in the second row here if y'all wave your hand. All right. Um, Fischer Town is an unincorporated historically black community in Cabaris County located in Canapapolis just off Highway 3 and Charlie Walker Road. We have actually had several community um, Cabaris County Board Commissioners join us for meetings that we hold every second Saturday at 11:00. They are they came to hear our concerns. They listen to our goals to lend a hand to assist us in our hopes to get the neighborhood back to greater days. But we just keep hitting gaps in services and roadblocks to our progress. We are surrounded by the growth and development of the city of Canapapolis. Yet, we're left behind. We need this board's help. We need that person who is willing to pick up the baton, work with us, hardworking, taxpaying Cabaris County residents. We need your knowledge of policy, your resources, your programs to help Fisertown to be to be restored to the to the neighborhood. That's a place

that's worthy of our hopes and dreams. We want to have a safe, well-maintained and welcoming neighborhood for future generations to live, to work, and thrive. So, who among you would join us and help us to get to that point? Thank you for your time. We look forward to hearing from you. Marsha Morris. Good evening, commissioners. Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you. Um, as you're working your way through the budget process this year, I and there are several others with me want to remind you of the value that libraries add to our communities. In the 21st century, libraries are about a lot more than books. They are community centers, help desks, venues for special events, and places to find a wide variety of resources. In this time when people are more isolated than ever, libraries are places to make connections. I volunteer for the Mount Pleasant Library, and our branch, thanks to shared facilities with the active living center, is a place to exercise both the body and the mind. But I want to take just a moment to talk about a growing community to which our libraries provide a tremendous service. Homeschooling families. As a former homeschool parent, I know that the choice to educate children at home comes with a financial burden. Curriculum is expensive, and if I hadn't had access to resources at my local library, my family likely wouldn't have had the option to choose homeschooling. Libraries make homeschooling possible for families regardless of income level. Homeschool families also face the challenge of finding affordable enrichment programs or ways to teach

subjects with which the parent might be unfamiliar. Every Cabaris County Library branch offers a monthly program for elementary age homeschool students on variety of topics. Dozens of children attend in Mount Pleasant each month and the numbers are growing. In addition, preschool and toddler story times provide opportunities to build literacy skills and community for families whose children do not attend preschool, whether by choice or financial necessity. So, in tough economic times, libraries become even more important because they provide access to educational materials and resources for everyone. I hope you'll keep in mind the tremendous value libraries provide to homeschool families and to everyone in Cabaris County. Thank you,

Julianne Huffman. Good evening, commissioners. [clears throat] Um, I'm Julianne Hoffman. I am the vice president and communication manager of the friends of the Harrisburg Library and I'm also the library trustee. I'm here to speak specifically about our children's and kids programs at the Harrisburg Library. The Harrisburg Library only has 11% of the total staff at the Cabaris County Public Libraries, but we usually have 30 to 40% of program attendance, door count, and material circulation. Especially during summer reading programs, our bookshelves in the sections are almost empty and we're reaching capacity limits. We have to turn away families and children at summer reading programs. So, the Harrisburg Library really is reaching capacity limits, especially with the children programs and we are hoping to expand the Harrisburg Library, expand it or even have a new building. And I just want to say especially literacy doesn't start at elementary school. It starts right after birth when we start reading to our little babies. Go to baby programs, children programs and support our kids as best as we can. So, thank you for your support and I hope that you keep supporting and

funding our Cabaris County Public Libraries. Thank you,

Jessica Pesek. Hello, my name is Jessica Pacik and I'm I've been a homeowner in Midland since 2013 and a board member of the Friends of the Midland since 2022. On behalf of the Friends of the Midland Library, I'm here to reiterate the need for a standalone library building at Midland. I realize that this is a tremendous ask and at a time when there is a desire to cut taxes and costs, but the need for one is there. Seven years ago, we were thrilled to finally open a library branch in Midland, the last of all of the municipalities to have one, and 18 years after the previous branch open. But our space is also a rented one. And with a question of who will pay the rent, the county or the town being on the line in the past. It's also a 2,000 foot space, a fraction of the size of the 20,000 and 40,000 foot branches that have recently opened. Midlands town population is estimated to be 5,026 people and there are 2406 library card holders. The library serves a large population of homeschoolers and children who are preschool ages and younger. In fact, the library averages 30 participants in the baby toddler story time. Program attendance and door counts continue to increase as our population and needs grow. According to the latest census data, about 5% of the population in Midland is under 5 years old and 22% are under 18 years old and approximately 5% of the population are considered in poverty. A standalone library building with a larger space would allow our library to serve more people and expand program participation for all ages with stories like serve story times, homeschoolhub, and tech time. Our friends of the Midland Library Board has continued to keep a reserve amount of funds available in the hope that we can one day supplement a standalone library building and we continue to look for ways to increase that amount with fundraising events, a CD and grants.

Please consider this tremendous need and help make our county and the library services equitable across the board. Thank you, Jessica Reed.

[clears throat]

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Jessica Reid and I'm here tonight to speak about the importance of continued support and funding for our public libraries. I grew up going to the Concord Library and those visits shaped the course of my life. The library staff who encouraged my curiosity inspired me to go to graduate school and become a librarian myself. I've now worked in libraries for over 20 years and I'm currently a school librarian. So I see every day how essential libraries are for learning, growth, and opportunity. I also have the honor of serving as the president of the Friends of the Canapapolis Library. Through that role, I get to see firsthand how our libraries bring people together. I attend their programs not just to learn new crafts and skills, but also to connect with neighbors of all ages and backgrounds. Those programs build community in a way that few other institutions can. Recently, Canapapolis launched a seed program that allows families to check out vegetable seeds and learn how to grow their own produce. If they need help, they can find books on gardening right on the shelves or they can attend one of the libraries hands-on classes. It's a small program with a big impact. Teaching self-sufficiency, promoting healthy living, and strengthening community lives. These are the kinds of services that make libraries more than just buildings. They make them essential community anchors. But programs like these only thrive when our libraries have stable, reliable funding. I'm grateful for your past support, and I ask you to continue investing in our libraries so they can keep inspiring, educating, and connecting the people of Cabaris County just as they once inspired a young girl at the Concord Library who grew up to become a librarian. Thank you for your time and for your commitment to our community. I hope to see you in one of our libraries soon.

Dan Reading.

My name is Dan Reading and I am a concerned citizen of Harrisburg. [clears throat] I feel compelled to speak this evening based on some of the actions and comments from the January meeting in which we had a clear process issue at hand. First, the confusion and what seems like a lack of communication between the board members regarding the broker change, which only led to the public being confused. The deal was framed as being a done deal, not only during last month's meeting, but during the public comments in the immediate aftermath. Clearly, that's not the case. It also felt rushed. And my question is, why was this process not started many months ago? We know when the fiscal year starts and all five members of the board knew that there's a 90-day termination clause. None of that's a secret. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that a big decision by the board has felt haphazard and poorly planned. Other examples include the vacant appointment process last year as well as the ongoing fiasco with the permanent county manager position. Next, I am very concerned about the recent appointments process to water and sewer authority. Why was someone appointed who did not apply to the role? Why was Commissioner Patrick chosen over candidates who did apply? Will that not interfere with his current role on the board? And why were candidates who did apply not even considered? Maybe this is a normal standard practice. I don't think that it is. And the optics are incredibly problematic. I urge the board to follow proper procedure and due diligence with future committee appointments. The public deserves the bare minimum effort. Lastly, one of the commissioners made a comment last meeting that the county is quote overpop populated and over businessed. And that stuck with me. Maybe you did not mean it the way it sounded, but to me and many others that live and work here. We heard that as

other people in businesses, you're not welcome. So, I have a junior in high school. He wants to return to Cabaris if he goes away for college. Would he be welcome? Would he be welcome back to a job in the county, to buy a home, start a family, even start a business? What about Commissioner Patrick's children, Commissioner Lindsay's children, Mr. Workman's children as well? Would they be welcome back? They all would look to do these things in this county. I'm sure they would. But if we take your words at face value, they would not be welcome either. I'm concerned that when the next generation of leaders, whether they be entrepreneurs, teachers, small business owners, EMS, hear a comment like that from a public leader, they will feel inclined to take their talents and taxpaying dollars somewhere else, and Cabaris County will be worse off for it. In closing, we could not close our borders if we wanted to, but it seems like that some of this board would try with every fiber of their being to do that if they could. That's not a cabaris that I want to live in. And I know that is not a cabaris that 99% of us want to live in either. I hope the board will work towards making a better cabaris instead of implying no, you're not welcome. We deserve better than that.

Lee Brown. Good evening, commissioners, and thank you for serving our county. I would like to discuss distracted driving with you this evening and the impacts on our county. The 2025 data from North Carolina Vision Zero, which is part of the highway safety program for Cabaris County only, we clocked three fatalities directed from distracted driving, nine serious injuries, 31 minor injuries, and 830 car crashes. Perhaps none of them would have been avoided had people put their phones down. But are any of those accidents or injuries worth it? Our county is facing very serious issues as we hear tonight and will continue to hear about. And of course, growth is one of the biggest conversations we're having. The growth we have has brought traffic and traffic by its nature brings danger. There is no reason to add to that by making videos while driving. It is not necessary because you can make these comments in a parking lot as easily as you can do driving down the road. My ask tonight is that each of our elected officials in specific and frankly all candidates for public office make your campaign videos in a parked place, not while you're driving. Commissioner Patrick, I reached out to you by private message and I asked you respectfully to please stop making videos while you're driving. Your response to me was one word, interesting. You've proceeded to make more videos while driving. I have two young drivers in my house. They are distracted enough without phones. A grown person with a phone can't help but be distracted from the road. We already live in a time when people don't abide

by red lights as it is. We cannot add to it. And as leaders in our county and as anybody running for office should be aware of, our county, our citizens, our safety should be a priority. I respectfully ask that each of you campaign and govern with safety in mind. Thank you. Chris Cranston.

Good evening to all. Special thank you to the hardworking taxpaying citizens of Cabaris County. It's you who keep this county running and funded. Thank you to all who have voted. Thank you to those who will. We need to flood the polls with fiscally conservative voters or we will lose the ground that we have fought so hard to gain. Speaking directly to the fiscally fiscally conservative Cabaris County voter, please do not vote off any yellow sheets handed to you that do not have Alexis Hughes, Ian Patrick, and Barry Richards endorsed. The phony yellow sheet is a clear path to yet another tax increase much sooner than later. The copycat sheet is filled with candidates that align with the status quo style of spending and operations that have us in perpetual debt. Even with the largest increase in funds in the county's history, there will never be enough money for them. These Republicans are not into smaller government, but the opposite. The candidates on that sheet are not running on lowering our taxes. They aren't running on dignity or logic. In fact, they are still endorsing the current clerk of court who would be almost 90 if he survived his term. I have had two different folks in his campaign tell me they aren't sure he will still be with us to serve his term. When I ask, "Well, how can you still vote for him?" They talk about friendship and loyalty. I ask you to be loyal to logic and reason. I ask you to be loyal to the truth. I ask for loyalty to your own standards and ideas. No person can ever say they are for term limits, then vote for a man who's been working in the courthouse 45 years and in failing health. We deserve better. And everyone on that fake sheet knows that's true, too. I'm told Mr. Bags is currently in the hospital and has been since last week. Assuming this is true, I ask you please add his health to your prayer list. I humbly ask you to vote based on policy and ability. As there is no left and right in politics, but only up and down, I'm ready for some

up. Let's get to the polls. Taking at least a few others with us. Together, we can create a government that represents we the people and ditch the folks who represent government back to we the losers. Mr. Jeff Jones, it's come to my attention that you've lost tens of thousands of dollars paid and fines for illegal and immoral practices. Was it 75,000? You're le you lecture us in these chambers about our word choices and tones. You attempt to throttle our First Amendment rights as you stand by and campaign for a man who is the most vulgar and obscene as any I've ever met in my lifetime, even in the courthouse. Ask my wife. The man Bill Bags appointed isn't going to save the Republican party from itself. Mr. Jones, you were the unity guy. Remember? Why did you go behind the board's back writing inappropriate demand letters to potential healthc care provider providers? Apparently, Lara, Larry, and Ian have to work on savings before the others can find them and sabotage them before they get started. Fellow Conservative citizens, let's fight back by being highly informed and united in our mission for open, honest, and transparent spending of our tax dollars. All of us deserve to be able to afford health healthcare. I hope we all can agree on that. Thank you,

Madam Chair. We also have three comments for the public hearing. And I just wanted to confirm that whoever filled out a green slip that will be for the public hearing and not for informal comments. Is your for is yours for informal comment? Yeah. Ingred Nurse.

Okay. In nurse, greetings, commissioners. Um, y'all are giving Midland the majority of our taxpayer dollars as they are not even close to being a majority of our population. Midland only accounts for 2% of Cabaris County. We have six cities. Seemingly Midland wants to control water and sewer when in fact you did not review any other applicants that applied and you are currently buying water from the city of co Concord. These Midland favors keep adding up. You're always talking about people getting over on the government, but y'all are getting over on the taxpayers. Why is it that Midland is exempt from their financial responsibilities? Everybody else is paying their library tax lease. Why can't you? Let's do a grant or fundraiser in your city. With this current administration, when it is previously understood in the last administration, Midland would take care of their own taxes. Thou shalt not bear false witnesses. Ninth commandment, Exodus 2016. You lied. You lied. You lied. The BOC termination of insurance broker agreement with USI and the selection of Pierce Group. $3 million was going to be saved. H and nobody investigated his claim of such savings. Thank you, Jeff, for doing your research. We are proud um taxpayers because of you doing research. Taxpayers deserve the truth. Defraing our citizens will never be okay. We have a plethora of animal shelters. There is no need for a $23 million sinking fund that would not provide any return on investments. We already know dogs cannot get a job. If people wanted

to buy dogs, our existing shelters would not be overcrowded. We need a house. We need to house our homeless back into society. Plenty of them are educated, employed, but with constant with constant rising cost of living paired with stagnant wages. This makes it hard. Okay. You can point people to animal shelters, but they are too far but we are too far in debt to be making careless errors with taxpayers money. In closing, I remain committed to serving and representing my community with honesty, integrity, accountability and transparency. I am for the people, by the people, because I am the people. And I strongly s recommend, as they did with um Harrisburg, that you consider these um recommendations and vote yes to get our homeless back into society. Thank you.

That is all. Lever Graves.

Leverne Graves. Good evening. My name is Leverne Graves and I'm here representing uh the homeless here, the growing population of the homeless people here in Cabaris County. But most of all, I'm here representing our heavenly father's kingdom on earth and ambassador. I'm here to make sure that our creator's resources are being put in places where they are mostly needed. especially for the poor and the needy and widows. Zechariah 79:10. Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Rend true judgments. Show kindness and mercy to one another. Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sjourer, or the poor." Genesis 1:28. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply it. Fill the earth and subdue it. have dominium over the fish, over the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. We true believers, followers of Jesus Christ, are here to extend our heavenly father's business here on earth. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. the very things that you're trying to give power over. You're trying to put animals before human beings when in the word we're above all of them. We have authority over them. Um and lastly, John 10:10, the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have that they may have it more abundantly. Choose life or death, who side or Thank you for letting me speak.

We are now finished. Thank you all. Uh we will move on to the consent agenda. Commissioners, I assume you have read the consent agenda. I do need a motion. I have a motion to approve items on the consent agenda. Can I get a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Thank you. That carries 5. Uh we will move down to item G, which is new business. We do have uh the fiscal year 2025 annual comprehensive financial report and audit report by Jim Hen.

Welcome, Jim. Thank you.

Thank you. [clears throat] Good evening, commissioners. Thank you. Thanks, sir. Martin Starns and Associate conducted our two 2025 fiscal year audit and they are here tonight to give you a highlevel review of that audit and also our financials. I would remind the board and encourage you that as you go through the financials and you have questions, please do not hesitate to either email manager Cifford or myself or set up time with me and come on in. Be glad to go through them and answer any questions that you do have. So with that, I'd like to introduce Matt Brazwell. He's a senior manager with Martin Starns with over 20 years of experience. He and his team performed our audit and he's here tonight to go through the highlights.

Thanks, Jim. Um good evening, chairman, uh members of the board. Um my name is Matt Brazzle. Um I've had the pleasure of working with your staff and everyone involved in uh preparing your 2025 audit. Now, I will say that this is a snapshot in time. This is as of 6:30 2025 and so just want to go through the highlights briefly. Uh let me know if you have any questions. Uh audit highlights. We issued an unmodified opinion which means it's a clean opinion which means your financial statements are materially correct in accordance with GAP generally accepted accounting principles. Um very cooperative staff uh Jim and everyone involved from from uh HR to health department to DSS everyone that that had a hand in the audit. We greatly appreciate their cooperative uh being cooperative uh getting us everything in a timely manner to uh perform our procedures that we need to. Uh no findings or question cost to relate um no material weaknesses or significant significant deficiencies as well. So uh all that is very well and uh good for Cabaris County and uh some more audit highlights. As you can see 2024 compared to 2025, you can see your property tax revenues um inrec increase um about 35 35 million there. Uh you see the tax collection rate fairly consistent with the prior year, just a slight decrease in collection rate there. General fund summary. This is going to compare your 2024 to 2025 uh revenues and expenses. Uh revenues increased about 36 million. That's going to be the majority of the tax revenue increase that you had. um expenditures increased roughly 31 million. And so that's going to be related to school funding, uh public safety increases, and human services increases as well. So in the next few slides, uh after we talk about fund balance, we're going to go into your top three revenue sources and top three expenditure functions. Total fund balance here, you're going to see a three-year trend. Um as you've seen see an increase there. So total fund balance, this is not your unassigned fund balance as we will state

in the next slide, but your total fund balance for your general fund increased roughly $68 million to about $34 million. Fund balance position in the general fund. This is going to show your total fund balance that we showed on the previous slide. Um then we've got to take out your we're going to come up with your unassigned here. So your non-spendable, that's going to be your inventory and prepaid. It's not available for appropriation. your restricted uh fund balance that is going to be stabilization by state statute or accounts receivable money that's not received in yet that's not available for appropriation. Um you had restrictions for public safety and school debt and construction as well. And then your committed fund balance that is the majority of the community investment fund that you have. So that is committed and already set aside. your assigned fund balance that's assigned for various restrictions for internal use uh whether that's general government or public safety uh function there to give you an unassigned fund balance of roughly $97.6 million. So you can see an increase compared to last year of roughly 14.5. And then this next slide is going to kind of show your reserves on hand based on the unassigned fund balance that we discussed in the previous slide. So, we're going to take that unassigned fund balance on the previous slide, divide that into your expenditures and transfers out that you had for that fiscal year. So, you can see you had a slight uptick there to roughly 24%. So, the way we kind of relay that in terms is 8% is roughly one month supply on hand. So, you have roughly 3 months supply on hand there at the end of 2025 there. So, your top three revenue sources, uh, property taxes. This is going to be the largest one for for every, uh, local government there. So, you can see an increase of roughly 35.6 million or 13%. Uh, average average valuation increase over 50% tax rate decrease from 74 cent to 57.6. Other taxes and licenses, you had an increase of roughly 5 million or 6%. U,

this, the main driver is sales tax here. So, um, had an uptick there of about 6% in sales tax. Intergovernmental revenues, this is going to be your federal and state funding there. Um, whether it's related to DSS, health department, v various funding there. So, you had a decrease there of roughly 3.2 or 8% just timing of grants and funding there. This is your top three expenditure functions here. So, human services increased roughly 7 million or 11% $3.5 million in personnel increases uh $1 million um Cabaris Health Alliance uh contribution and 2.5 increase in operations uh for roughly to um for that increase there. Public safety had an increase of roughly 15 million or 20%. Um roughly 11 million was uh driven by increase in the market study there. uh increase in new hires and decrease in open uh positions there in public safety function. Education increase of roughly $11 million or 11% and this was approved in your 2025 uh fiscal budget there. So that increase was approved. That is all I have. Any comments, questions?

Commissioners, do you have any questions? No. Okay. And as you uh look through your auto report, you have any questions, just as Jim noted, um let uh uh Jim or County Manager Kelly um uh any questions. Uh we'll be happy to answer and get back to you at any time. Thank you.

Thanks so much. All right, we will move on to um [clears throat] this is uh item two under new business uh lobs refund. Uh this is regarding a public hearing and Mr. Hen if you would like to explain this.

Yes. So good evening board. staff has identified an opportunity to refund our 2016 labs which were used to construct Canapapolis Middle School, Mount Pleasant Middle School, Royal Oak Elementary School. We believe there's a potential savings of $2.5 to $3 million over the remaining life of the debt by doing this refunding. Per statute 168-20, we need to hold a public hearing. So, I'm asking for that public hearing tonight. Afterwards, I'm asking the board to approve the preliminary resolution. That preliminary resolution notifies that we held the public hearing and then also allow staff to fill out the application to the LGC. At the at our March 2nd meeting, I will bring to you the um approval approving resolution which then allows us allows staff to actually um sell those 2026 bonds. So, tonight just asking the board for a public hearing afterwards approval of the preliminary resolution.

Okay. Thank you. Commissioners, do you have any uh questions regarding this public hearing? Okay. I will open the floor for our public hearing now. If there's anyone that would like to come and speak. We have one comment. Okay. Okay. Never mind. We don't have any comments.

All right. Seeing uh no public comments. Order. Order. All right. Seeing no public comments, I will close the public hearing. And then uh commissioners, I would need a motion to approve the preliminary resolution as presented. So moved. Can I have a second? All those in favor, please say I. Any opposed? All right, that motion carries. Thank you.

Okay, we will move on to u boards and committees change here. There's a couple of these. So, first I need a motion to remove Lee Schuman from the Commission of Financial Efficiency Rosetary and thank him for his service. Got a motion. Can I have a second? All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? All right, that motion carries. We will move on to a motion to remove Chris Meismer from the Commission on Financial Efficiency and thank him for his service. So move. Okay. All those in favor, please say I.

I. All right. That motion carries 5. Okay. Then we will move to Laura Lindsay. Uh, I need a motion to reappoint me to seat number one to the commission of financial efficiency term ending December 31st, 26 and to include any necessary exceptions to the appointment policy. So move. All right. All in favor, please say I.

Any opposed? All right. That carries 5-0. [snorts] And then we will move a motion to reappoint Wes Honeyut to seat number three on the Commission on Financial Efficiency with a term ending December 31st, 26. All in favor say I. Any opposed? That carries five to zero as well. And I also need a motion to appoint Ian Patrick to seat number two of the Commission on Financial Efficiency with a term ending December 31st of 26. So move. All those in favor, please say I. I.

Any opposed? Thank you. That motion carries 5. Okay. We will move down to facilities and design and construction. Um, and this is going to be presented by Michael Miller if we have any questions for this. Um, this was for the uh alternate bids for the Prosperity Place Progress Place. Yes, ma'am. Excuse me. [clears throat] Yes, ma'am. It was for the preferred brand and alternates for Progress Place renovation. Were there any specific questions that you had or you want me to just go through the information again? Um, sure. Okay.

I want to just run through it real quick that way.

So, uh, we're proposing the use of of a preferred brand alternate when bidding the renovation for Progress Place buildings. That alternate would be for the building automation system and for the contractor who would integrate the system. According to statute, this needs to be approved by the board in an open meeting. and the alternate equipment must provide a cost savings or maintain or improve the function of a processor system. The Johnson Controls FX system will match the HVAC controls used in a majority of the large square footage buildings that the county owns and operates. Um, and obviously this system is what the infrastructure and asset management staff are familiar with. um the use of another control system will require extra training and possibly a proprietary software and it would also mean that the infrastructure and asset management department would have to be familiar with two different systems. Um so for those reasons we're requesting approval of the preferred brand alternate list um with the Johnson Controls FX system and platinum building automation for the renovation of the Progress Place buildings.

Thank you. Commissioners, do you have any questions? Okay. All right. I will take a motion to approve the preferred brand alternate list for equipment for progress place renovation. All in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? All right. That motion carries 41. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. And we will move down to um commissioners. You have read the reports that have been included uh for your packet. um for review. We do have vacancies still available u for any committees. Um please submit applications online if you are interested in being on any of our boards and committees that have vacancies. And I will kind of start down the line here for anybody that has any reports. Commissioner Pitman.

Oh yeah, I'm gonna try as quick as I can. I got a bunch. Um the Cabaris Ryan MO TAC uh had their meeting um on January 28th. Um we recognize Connie Cunningham who was secretary to that board or committee on her retirement after 25 years of service to the MOO which is pretty uh significant. U we elected Brian Devalt as the vice chair and we passed the consent agenda. Um in regarding well there were discussed uh we discussed numerous projects in progress or in uh planning stages and scoring for funding. So uh that was all fine. Um the u 2026 local priority methodology uh was discussed and unit cemetery realignment this was a biggie uh is going to start soon. I don't know what soon means, but considering stuff that's already have been projected to be going on now has been put off to 2030 and 2035 and 2050 and stuff like that, just hearing them say that's going to be done soon. You know, we're going to get something going on on a project soon, that sounds good. Um, on February 16th, I attended DHS uh transportation advisory board. Um we stated the budget for that is on track with our fiscal year. Um and so far 30,467 trips uh have been uh completed during the year to date. The average return time being 41 minutes. Um we lost two drivers recently and uh the office office staff is full but we're um getting a new driver soon. And so hopefully going to be coming back up to

speed on that. Only a few drivers could make it in the snow that we had and ice and all, but they handled it well and u they uh put a lot of emphasis into getting people into um have their testing and stuff done that they needed to have. So that was that was good. But I'm sure that was a comfort to a lot of those families that were involved. As I said, new drivers about to come on duty. He's they're also working on hiring more, seeking to improve their training and especially focusing on safety. Uh new cameras being installed on the buses for live feed so that you can see the people who could deal with this stuff can see what's going on with those buses at all times. The 5310 grant from city Concord came in two parts. $260,000 for trips with $130,000 from the county and $180,000 for a new bus and reducing maintenance cost to the county, 36,000 from the county. um 55% has to go for capital cost and some uh has to go back to the federal government if it's not used by a deadline at the end of February. 5311 grant for salaries and administration. No new business or that was there but uh no new business or I'm sorry I keep saying that wrong. No new buses for fiscal year 27. For fiscal year 28, buses have to have a certain uh mileage by the end of this March. They need to get um Boxy LTV buses, kind of a broad built bus in order to have room for

wheelchairs. And there are two new buses coming on Friday, February 6, which is of course already passed. Uh it may be April 1st, getting them equipped with radios and cameras. Part of the reason that they're needing those bulky buses is to accommodate wheelchairs that some people have to use because a regular bus just doesn't always have room for that. Um, they're going to move, they currently meet up there near DSS up in Canus, but they're going to move to the Milestone building up off of um George L. Um, and they're just getting started with that. The problem that they're going to have or have to deal with there is how to park the buses there because that parking lot there wasn't fixed up for that. So, they're working on what to do about that. Um needs that needs to be decided as parking lot is not designed for it and working with uh Kyle to figure that out. Thank you for your help. Um, next meeting of that is May 6. Local emergency planning committee met on February the 4th. They elected officers. They updated the uh incident response plan uh seeking better efficiency and quicker response time and to provide more adequate information. Reports from various agencies were given. Uh there was a presentation from Corning including a report on a drill that they held at their facility dealing with the hazmat situation. That was pretty interesting, but I wasn't able to take notes on that whole thing. Uh Midland Town Council met February 10th and um the police report included 89 speeding violations over the previous month. Um and so that's pretty

significant for a little community like that. Um they were mostly along uh 2427. Uh Elizabeth and Vania discussed the desired new high school and asking about why it's still delayed and she asked about having a bond referendum for that. So it might be something we might want to consider later. Um she stated that it has moved up some on the priority list with the school board which they were pleased to hear. Uh Isaac Davis stated a need for a bypass due to an increase in traffic in the area. Um the head of the DHS uh transportation advisory board is coming to the March meeting in town uh town of uh Midland to discuss some of those issues. Doug Paris, the town manager, stated that a contract with the county had been obtained for fireworks to take place on July 4th at 9:30 p.m. I spoke about their concerns, which they keep bringing to me, uh, concerning solar panel fires and their desire for better and more thorough inspections. And I said I would try to talk to Mike Cy, commissioner of insurance about that. I have contacted him and um I'll be speaking to our legislators about legislation to address this issue uh for better oversight of those facilities. And I did u send him an email which I included you and Kelly and some other folks, our state legislators and fire department and and Doug Paris on on that email. So hopefully something be coming forth from that. uh home and community care block grant advisory committee met yesterday um approved minutes for the November 19th meeting. They welcomed new members. Uh I can't remember name young lady that's going to be taken over for a lady

who's moving up to something else and I can't I can't remember all the names but anyway um received and got a brief summary of the uh operations manual and I have that here if anybody wants to look at it. Um, so that's kind of a an updated operations manual. Um, they receive reports from various involved agencies, including a report on trips funded by various agencies involved and the numbers of care recipients and trips involved. They discuss likely changes in funding and will give a report on um their outlook and budgeting at the next meeting on March 16th.

That's what I have. Thank you, Commissioner Pitman. Commissioner Wartman, did you have any reports?

I attended the Central Regional uh Council is a group of nine counties that work together to try to push uh legislation because nine counties carry a little more weight than just one. Um, Mayor Jennifer Teague is on there from from Harrisburg and she was appointed as the secretary for Central Regional. And, uh, Naomi Hatchel uh, has replaced Mayor Hennitt on there for Canapapolis. And Lori Clay is the city of Concord representative. I'm with the county and I believe Elizabeth represents Midland. Um, so I I attended that. I attended the child fatality team task force. uh unfortunately I cannot share because we have to sign a confidentiality agreement. They will be coming either next month or in April to do a presentation but but what I will share is that there is an alarming uh rate increase of youth suicides and so they they will be touching on that but I can't share in detail. Uh I attended the EMS Hearts and Heroes banquet. It was amazing. Um they've about outgrown uh the building for a third time. It started at the hospital and then it moved to it moved somewhere else and now it's at the milestone. And uh but it's a lovely event to where the providers that provided care for cardiac arrest get to meet um the families [clears throat] get to meet the people who saved them and it's uh it's very um touching and and it's a very great um great event to attend and EMS always does a fantastic job with that. Uh uh I attended with with most of you last night the legislative meeting at the school board to where we heard the school's um top priorities and top needs. It's always a good chance to be able to be in the room with everybody at one time. And I did not make our work session last meeting as you know. I text you I could not get out of my neighborhood. I tried three different

times. Um but per our policy I can't attend um remotely anymore. So, I did watch it live on YouTube. So, thank you. Commissioner Jones, do you have any reports? Okay. Commissioner Patrick, did you have any? Just a few. Um, Harrisburg Town Council was a pretty light meeting. They had two public hearings. One was a sort of minor annexation um and the other one was a reszoning request for commercial property. [clears throat]

The second the second one um similar was a fireworks contract. And if you don't know about Harrisburg, they always go big for the 4th of July. And because this is the 250th, they're going even bigger. Um so I recommend you guys all put that on your calendar and find a way to get there. I may have may or may not have heard there might be some jets involved. Um so think about that for our 250th. Um, Cabaris County Active Living and Parks. That was probably the funnest meeting I got to go to. Um, couple of events I just want to make you aware of and plug for them. Health and Wellness Expo. It's their 20th 25th anniversary doing that. It'll be arena and Event Center March 18th, 10:30 to 2:00 p.m. Admission is free. Um, there's fitness demonstrations. There's free lunch. Uh there's usually about a thousand particip participants. It is open for exhibitors still but sponsorships are closed. They have filled that up. Um there's also a uh car fit um which they have a group come in and they'll do economic e ergonomics for people that want to kind of get their car all the all things fit so they you know fit properly and it's the best ergonomic opportunity. Um so that's one event. Don't forget about that. Senior games are coming up. Um they have 306 registrations now. Uh 228 early bird registration ends. So you save five bucks if you get registered before then. Um registration officially closes at the expo. So you can register there, but you know save the five bucks if you can. Opening ceremonies will be at Frank Lisk Barn on April 2nd, 11:00 a.m. Uh, this is sort of tied to us. Um, it's actually Friends of the Mount Pleasant Library. I'm glad to see we had so many

librarians in here tonight pushing their their local organizations. Um, they're doing their Mount Pleasant literary festival on March 19th, 20, and 21st. It is free but reservations are required to listen to all the uh authors that have been invited. The two main sort of headlining authors sold out within 48 hours. So if you want to be part of that I recommend you get on that soon. Again as I said it was free. Um they put it on but they share our facility. Um we offer that to them to share. So recommend going to that. Um, and finally, if you want to support them financially, they're having a dine to donate, um, which 10% of anything you eat on February 23rd from 3:30 p.m. to 1000 p.m. The Texas Roadhouse at Concord Mills will donate 10% of whatever you spent in food um, to the Cabaris Council on Aging. So, I recommend you do that as well. um plugging their events and uh I think a few of you mentioned the other meetings we've went to so I won't bore bore you with those.

So I I would like to just kind of concur about the hearts and heroes event that we did go to uh last week. Last year was my first time going. Um so this year was my second time and it's always an emotional event. This time we were actually able to celebrate one of our very own schoolboard uh members who um thankfully was resuscitated and is is still with us and just grateful that he's he's here and we were able to celebrate him and all of the EMS workers that were able to be there as well. Um the other thing I wanted to mention um was that we are we had voted on the boards and committees uh for the commission on financial efficiency. Um we started that last year. It kind of got thrown to the wayside only because we've had so many so many changes, but we are starting that back up. Um and now Ian Patrick is going to be the chair uh for that. Um, and we are having another meeting or our first meeting for this year will be on February the 26th at 6 PM and we will meet in the multi-purpose room here. Um, I also wanted to make sure that I give a quick reminder that we have the bruise bites and budget coming up on Thursday, February the 26th from 6 to 8. Um, and we still have a few seats available. It'll be held at Southern Grace Distilleries in Mount Pleasant. Um, we're in the middle of the budget process and this is a great opportunity to be part of the conversation. Um, if you've ever been curious about how our budget works, this is a relaxed,

interactive, and free way to learn, ask questions, and connect with county leadership. If you'd like, you can arrive early for a private tour of the distillery. Um, and if you've never been, it is an amazing place. Um, I was able to, uh, participate in these last year. Um it is a panel of multiple uh employees as well as board members um to give information regarding any questions that you have regarding our budget or anything else uh regarding how how the county um works. For details to register, uh you can go to cabariscount. us uh and select the government 101 tab for under upcoming events or contact communications manager Dominique Clark. Um and her number is 704-9209266 and we would love to have you come and join us. Um I'll also use this opportunity to talk about Muffin who was here earlier. I don't know if you got an opportunity to meet her. Um was hard for me not to sit her up here on the dis with us and possibly take her home with me, but I didn't. I didn't do it. Um but she is about 8 weeks old and she is available for adoption at the Cavaris County Animal Shelter and thankful that we were able to get our video done for this month with Tofu and Gracie.

[music]

Hey, Cabco Commissioner Laura Lindsay here at the Cabaris County Animal Shelter where love is in the air. We're here with a few new furry friends that are one adoption away from a new home. Let's go say hello. It's my oldest one. This is Gracie. [music] She's a 10-year-old gray tabby that was brought into the shelter as an owner's surrender. She's a sweet little grandma looking for a new home to live out the rest of her days. This is Tofu, [music] a 1 and 1/2year-old pitbull mix who was a stray and been here about 2 months. He's very energetic and needs a family that has a lot of time and can take him out for a lot of walks. [music] [music] Before we go, I want to give a special shout out to the Cabaris County employee, Helping Hearts and Hands, better known as CH3. The shelter was the nonprofit of the month for the organization that has been going strong since 2004. In addition to the jeans day payroll deductions, staff brought in toys, food, paper towels, and a lot more. The shelter is always accepting [music] donations. Please reach out to them at 704-9203288. And I do want to give a special shout out to the staff who does this every month. and picks a nonprofit. And I do believe this month is veteran services. So, thank you to all of the employees and staff that participate in that program. It's very much appreciated. Um,

commissioners, did you have any other additional general comments? Mr. Wartman, Commissioner Wartman. Oh, please, please feel free. I I wanted to I forgot to mention for the EMS uh hearts and heroes event, I believe the statistic that they gave was one of seven counties in North Carolina do the blood transfusions. Uh we approved that grant last year and that blood transfusion that they did on scene actually saved a life. So for our EMS to be able to to do something like that, which is not done statewide largely, it was uh it was pretty impressive to see that they were able to get that done.

All right. And did we have any other additional Madam Chair? Uh I just wanted to say I'm sorry I couldn't make it to that meeting last night. We were celebrating our son's birthday and I figured I needed to be there for that. So otherwise I might have come. [clears throat] Okay. Any other general comments, commissioners? Commissioner Wartman.

For general comments, I I had a few. Um, we heard several people speaking tonight. It's been, I'm pretty sure, sent to to all of us throughout the last month. Uh, I wanted to put the timeline out that I have for the insurance. Um, on January 6th, I accepted a calendar invite um for USI. That is what we do every single year. uh where the current insurance company actually sits down with us and they give us a preview of what the benefits are going to be before we get to the budget retreat. That calendar invite was actually cancelled because it was after they were terminated that we were supposed to meet with them on January 9th. Uh an email came from from our attorney Doug Hall uh that gave the USI current contracts and the background information for USI on January 13th. the original agenda was uh posted. Insurance was not on there. Um it's been said that we don't read agendas. Uh the original agenda was not on. Insurance was not on the original agenda. On January 14th, the layman group and the Pierce group were interviewed here. Um as the two insurance brokers that that we went with, Pierce, I did not know about those interviews. That has never been a commissioner decision. It's always been a county manager decision, but they were brought in by by our commissioners to interview. On January 15th, I got a phone call from county manager Cifford to let me know that um that they were terminating the contract with USI and that she was advised by by Chair Lindsay that um you had your three votes. So, she was told to call and let Jeff and I know that it was being terminated. Um, January 15th, I sent an email to Doug Hall expressing my concern about the ethics of a meeting that could have possibly happened behind closed doors because Jeff and I did not know about

it. Doug responded back on the 16th and then on January 16th at 9:07, you called me. Um, you told me that Kelly didn't convey the message, right? And when I asked you why you could call Ian and Larry but not call me and Jeff, you told me that the decision had already been made. Um, you asked if I wanted the info, which I said, "Of course I do." And you told me that we were going to save $3 million and the benefits would be better. Um, I still never saw anything in writing because that's when I told you on the phone that this could be a 5 to0 vote if we had all the information. Didn't have to be 32, didn't have to be 4-1. It could be a 5 to0 vote, but I can't vote on something I've never seen before. Then on January 16th, the updated email was sent out with the agenda and the insurance was still not on it. There was an item at the bottom that said an additional item would be added as soon as they had more information. On January 20th, the original email from Pierce was sent to Kelly at 1:45 p.m. It was not sent to all of us. That was the day of our commissioner meeting. It was sent to Kelly at 1:45 p.m. And finally, at 2:53 p.m. on the day of our actual meeting, the insurance item was added to our agenda, but no supplemental material was added to it. On January 23rd, an email was sent to all of us with the Pierce contracts. That's the first time I had seen a contract two uh 3 days after the vote had taken place. Um I've never been it. I don't have a problem being on the losing end of a vote. I don't I've been on the losing end of votes sitting up here all sorts of times. But what bothered me is the fact that I didn't have the information and you took it to Facebook to mark yourself safe to make it look like we didn't do our job. For three and a half years, I've read every single agenda that comes through here. I have looked at absolutely everything and I have been prepared to do my job. I did not have the information. When it got brought up that Commissioner Patrick had handwritten notes, I requested the human resources notes from that meeting. And human resources notes said no mention of

savings other than the fees are less than USI, but not sure how much. Um to me that that's alarming that that you advised you had three votes. In my opinion, at that point, that becomes a board decision. However, before I even got a phone call from you, the decision was made to go ahead and terminate USI and to move forward with Pierce. That decision was made on January 15th. I didn't get a phone call till January 16th about any of it. To me, that's a problem. I will gladly sit up here on the losing end all day long as long as I have the information provided to me to where I can make a decision. And and that's what I'm asking for. And ethically to me that is not wrong. And Commissioner Patrick, when you and I met before you were appointed, you said our meetings were an embarrassment and they were chaotic and the goal is to have as much conversation behind the scenes. So our meetings are so boring that nobody comes to them. That's what it appears like happened and I don't appreciate that that we weren't included. If you had your three, you had your three, but we didn't have the information. And so with that being said, Doug, I I'd like to know if if we can start an ethics violation investigation because there was a decision made with three commissioners with three votes supposedly, but two of us didn't have it. And that goes against the statute for an open session meeting law. And I would like to see what our options are for that.

Again, I have no issue as long as I have the information, but I didn't get the information. And then we're accused of having a temper tantrum. were accused of of not reading an agenda and marking ourselves safe. That's not what happened. I didn't have the information for that. So, that's my comment and I'd like to hear Doug from you how you feel about that. I I appreciate the question and I'd be happy to address it. I would recommend we address it in the close session that's on the agenda for consultation with the attorney if you don't mind. Yeah. But be happy to address it. Definitely. Thank you. Commissioner Pitman, did you have any?

Madam Chair, uh, in regards to all that, I I don't keep up with dates all the time when I talk to somebody on the phone, and I didn't have uh I wasn't in on any meeting. I didn't have any thing to look at. Um, when you called me, tell me about it, sounded good to me. And, uh, you saying you were calling all of us. And so, I didn't see any problem with it. So, I said it sounds okay to me. You know, there wasn't actually a uh meeting of the three of us anywhere. You just talked to me individually and I assume you talked to the other individually on the phone about it and it sounded good to me. And I said something about uh what good experience I had with Pierce. Well, since then I found out it's not the same Pierce insurance that I thought it was. So anyway, it just sounded like a good idea. Um going to save the taxpayers money and and hopefully have better coverage. That sounded good. If I may address a couple other things. Um, it was mentioned earlier about property taxes were doubled by uh this board of commissioners. Actually, that was done by the previous board. I was not on the board at that time. Neither was Laura Lindsay. Um, the effect showed up last year uh but it was decided the previous year of calendar year. But anyway, um Laura and I tried to undo it last year, but we were outnumbered three to two. I hope that we're going to be able to reduce this burden on our taxpayers, our citizens this year as we do the upcoming budget now that we are in the majority. I hope that'll happen. That's certainly my goal and it has been from the beginning. As you all know, I didn't even want to be here. Uh, I only ran because so many people kept saying, "You have to run. You're the only way we can get rid of Steve Morris." And that

finally the last day of filing in December of 23 got to me. And I said, "If they think that, I can't let them down." So, I ran. Um, but I was elected because people knew that I would want to reduce property taxes because they gotten outrageous and cut EDC out of our budget and things like that need to be done. and that's why I got elected. Um, I thought I was going to Raleigh tomorrow. You know, they have that committee on uh property tax reform that's been meeting. I thought they were going to take public comment tomorrow, so I was going to go, but found out I I checked with Mitch Settzer, uh, head of that committee, and um, he said they had too much of an agenda tomorrow to have public comment. So hopefully next month when they meet I'll be able to go and I have some ideas for them. I don't know u how far I'll get with those but I have been told that some of the ideas I want to suggest is kind of what some of them have in mind anyway to do away with government revaluing your property. That shouldn't be the government's business at all. The value of your property should be uh dynamic of real estate market not a government imposition of what you they want to say your value is. I also uh want to try to convince them that um they they need to push reducing tax rates. I'd like to get it down to revenue neutral here. I'd like to see them try to get that across the state. Um, I have some other ideas that I want to talk with them about, but I haven't had chance to. I have sent my ideas to the committee, so hopefully they're seeing them already, but I do want to kind of talk with them and see what we can do. Um, but one my one of my

ideas is whatever you paid for your home, you should never have to pay on a higher amount, a higher value than what you paid for your home. you sell it for more money, that person pays on the higher amount. But especially, now I don't go along, sorry, but I don't go along with some of the ones that say if you're over 65, you shouldn't have to pay any property taxes. We've been paying property taxes since before there was an income tax. I tried to get rid of the income tax while I was in Raleigh, but uh you know, I'm 71 years old and I don't think somebody else ought to be paying, you know, for my share of property taxes, but they do need to be lowered and it does need to be only on the basis of what you paid for your property and we need to cut the spending to fit that. So, that's what I'll be talking to them about. And and I just wanted to clarify so there's no mistake. I am not accusing three of you of having a secret backdoor meeting somewhere in person. I want I wanted to make make sure that in no way, shape or form am I am I sitting up here saying that my issue was that I was told that there were three votes and then I was told that a decision had been made. So before it gets out of hand, I want to make sure that I I'm not accusing you guys of meeting somewhere in secret to make some sort of vote off the record. That my issue was with the terminology of there that there was three votes and the decision had been made.

Understood. Thank you. Um Commissioner Jones, did you have any general comments you'd like to make, sir? I guess so.

I seem to have started this mess. Um, [clears throat] I got the short chair today, like the short straw. So, I I'll close this so you can see me. Um, this insurance, um, I sort of look at it as I sent a letter. It's sort of like, you know, the shot heard around the world. The letter heard around Cabaris County. Um, that letter was between me and Pierce asking for information based on a motion that was based on a statement that we were going to immediately save $3 million. I had no documentation to support any such thing. Um, that didn't sit well with me. We were basically telling these people we were saving them $3 million every citizen in Cabaris County and that one single bit of evidence to prove it. We did not know what it was. We didn't know what we were saving. We had no clue. Nobody has ever provided any documentation where we were going to save $3 million. It's been a month since I wrote that letter. I wrote that letter on behalf of my position here [clears throat] on the commission. I did not publish that letter. I did not send it on motion on social media. I did not disclose it to anyone. That was something I did on my own to get my information. However, when it came back and the group, it's sort of like when you shine a flashlight in a room, roaches run. And that letter was a flashlight. I shown it on Pierce. So if they made that statement to Ian, shame on them. If he misunderstood it, we need to be better about taking our notes and knowing what we're saying. If it was intentionally as a political hoax

on the county, then that needs to be looked into. I don't know. Again, I have not discussed it with any of them. I've not discussed my letter with any of them. I asked for information and to this day I got zero. Absolutely zero. And the person who could clean this up or the people peers ran and they ran quickly. Um so that says a lot to me. Um [snorts] again, I'm not accusing them of doing anything. They may have heard that. I was not in any of these meetings. But if somebody's going to tell me they're going to save me $3 million, I want them to show me. That was old Jerry Magcguire. I'm showing my age. Show me the money. That's what I'm looking for. Don't say you're going to do something. Prove it. And that's all the purpose of the letter. So, what we need to do now, and Doug, I think I understand how the ethics or whatever Kenny asked for works. That's in your hands. Uh, leave it. The facts are what they are. I think everybody's there's been so many foyer requests. Everybody knows what the facts are. They know what the timeline is. They know who had what. Look at that. Decide what you think. We can talk about it more in close session. But what I want to do now is we got to focus on a budget. We got to come together on a budget. Our integrity, our transparency of this board is tainted by all of us sitting up here. Each of us had a hand in it. And what we have got mistrust in our community. Whether you're against me or for me, it doesn't matter. Some of you don't trust me. Some of you do. Whether you're for or against either one of them or any of them. You either trust them or you don't. Not for any reason, though. A lot of this is just made up in people's head because I'm not on their side, and I

don't even know what their side is half the time. Um, we politic through social media in Cabaris County, which is the worst thing you can do. We do not need to do that. We need to do it here as a board. We need to work together. We need to get into that room, get our insurance, what we need to do to protect our retirees, protect our employees, save the taxpayers money. We need to work together as that. You know, forget about what my letter scared somebody off. If they ran that quick, damn it, we don't need them. That's how I feel. If you're not going to stand behind your word, don't come do business with Cabaris County. [clears throat] So, what I'm asking the board is let's put this insurance thing. Doug can find out the facts. People can get the facts. They can make their own decisions. Let's get to this budget and let's do what's right for the taxpayers of Cabaris County and get together and move forward. That's all I'm going to say about it.

All right. And Commissioner Patrick.

Yeah. Um I think it's clear there's an election upon us and I'm sorry you are all subjected to the politics. Um I think it's a shame as you mentioned. Um, so if I can bring us back a little bit and maybe just talk about a couple positive things that happened tonight. We had three speakers at least advocating for their libraries. We had a group of folks in here that were advocating for their communities, the Fiser Town folks. I see that they've leaved left. Um, we had a woman here advocating for the homeless and using scripture to do so. And I thought those were all very positive things and I think we should focus on those things and not the politics of a election that's clearly getting out of hand. I think I've been pretty clear on what happened with the insurance thing. All of my information has been foyed. I've put out multiple videos and and explanations. Um, I think that I think there's a lot of wrong information out there and I'm afraid that it's on purpose. So, that's unfortunate. Um, I guess that's just the nature of politics. Um, you know, it's it's really just a fundamental misunderstanding of how brokerage services work. Uh, and and I've addressed that and I'm not going to I'm not going to go to it anymore. Um, but I did want to address one item in in public comment that was that was directed at me specifically about whether I'd support the employees or not and their benefits. And I think you can just take a look at my record when I was in Harrisburg on whether I supported the employees and their benefits or not. And the town of Harrisburg in October of 2025, that was I think the month before I resigned, won the healthiest employer in North Carolina. And just a quick couple of

bullet points on why they won that. Financial and career support, 457 retirement savings, student loan repayment, college scholarships for dependents, financial counseling, family and lifestyle benefits included child care expenses, elder care, adoption, surrogacy support, fertility treatments, and home health care. Wellness and personal care included therapy and counseling, nutritional counseling, fitness trackers, personal trainers, and even exercise equipment. Lifestyle and leisure included some discounts on pet care, dining, entertainment, even travel expenses, and convenience options such as meal prep, gardening, and housekeeping. And finally, healthc care assistance. We provided credits towards FSA, medical premiums for their dependent and work site solution benefits. These are all the things that we did and supported for the employees of Harrisburg. Um, and so it really just hurts me to my core when I get accused that I don't want to support the employees of Cabaris County because it's all just hearsay. I have a record. You can Google me. You can Google it. Google Harrisburg healthiest employer in North Carolina and you can find these items. So once again, I'm sorry it's been shown that there's an election looming that's starting to get nasty. Let's try to remember the great things that we're trying to get done here. Let's try to remember the people, you all that are out there that are advocating for your communities and the things that you love, know, and love about this place. And I would echo what Jeff said. Let's try to work together instead of fighting each other and sniping and crying over spilled milk. That deal is dead, guys.

It's gone. We'll find other ways to save money. I'm I'm confident of that. We have to get the deficit under control. I'm confident that we can do that, and I think we will, and I think we'll do it for the people of Cabaris County. That's all.

Okay. Any other comments? So, I I am going to add a comment tonight, and this might be a little unconventional um to do, but uh as a Christian, I've had something weighing on my spirit over the last week. Um I know that as a county commissioner, this is not anything that I have control over. Um but I think that we've all seen some things nationally in the world uh that are very disturbing and I will say demonic and satanic that are happening in our world right now. Probably some of the most horrific things I've ever seen and heard in my life. And I am but one voice here on a county commission. And this supersedes any political affiliation that you may have. I'm sorry y'all. It weighs heavy on me. It really does. And uh I think that this is the time more than ever that we need to pray. Pray for guidance. Pray for discernment. Pray for those children. This is something that we can all unite over. And I would encourage you all I I don't want you to see some of the things I've seen because you can't put it back in the in the bottle once you've seen it. [snorts] Um, but as a people, as a human race, we can do better together.

And we have to fight against these demonic and dark forces that have been brought to the light and we know exist. If you didn't know they existed before, you know that they exist now. Please pray. Please pray. Pray for these children. Pray for these victims. and pray that anybody that has any control over any of this provides justice to them. We should see justice happening. We should not just stand by and allow this to continue on. [snorts] Um, commissioners, I do need a motion. We do have a need for a closed session to go. All in favor say I.

I. Any opposed? All right. Thank you very much. We are ajourned.