Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

so so We'll be right back.

Good evening. I'd like to call this meeting of the Board of Commissioners to order. Before we begin, I have a few remarks. One is we are going to have closed session this evening on a few matters. There probably will be action happening after that. So after a closed session, we will come back in open session and possibly have action. The meeting for closed session will be in chambers because we'll have a number of people with us, especially near the beginning, that I'll invite. And the room that we normally go to will not accommodate all of us. We're going to be in stuff like sardines, so we thought we'd do it in here. So usually at the beginning of a meeting, when we do the pledge, we identify a special guest to do the Pledge of Allegiance. But we also have a special guest that we'd like to introduce. We have a new librarian, Ms. Johnson. I don't see where you are. Would you come? Welcome. I don't know if this is your first day or second day, but... This is my first day. First day. All right, so briefly, I know if you would come up here and introduce yourself, because if you stand right there, 60,000 people in the county can see you. Oh, okay. Love everybody. Introduce yourself. Sure.

So my name is Chandra Johnson, and I'm the new library director. I'm coming from Utah. I was the former state librarian of Utah. My husband, who's with us... Dr. Ken Johnson took a job at Gardner-Webb, and so that is how I made my way here. And now I have the wonderful opportunity to serve as your library director and, you know, serve the wonderful community of Rutherfordton County. Rutherford County. There you go. Rutherford County. I'm going to get it. You got it. I'm going to get it, I promise. Let's give her a hand.

You've got a chance. All right. Thank you. Certainly welcome.

And now we're going to do the Pledge of Allegiance, and we're going to ask you to lead it for us if you don't mind. Okay, sure. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. You're welcome. Commissioners, the next item is agenda approval. What's the will of the board? Motion we approve the agenda. Second. We've got a motion to second. Any discussion? Hearing none, call the question. All in favor, raise your right hand. Any opposed? Likewise. The agenda has been approved. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the next two items, one is a public hearing, and after that we have public comments. So if you have public comments, you're welcome. We can't wait to hear them and present them to the board and the community. But the first item will be a public hearing on a certain matter, and that's what we'll be hearing commentary regarding that. So this time I'd like to open up the public hearing. This is Public Hearing 4482 for the proposed Republic County budget for FY2026-2027. So here we go. I got my cheat sheets here. So, commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, at our last meeting, we presented our budget message. These are the slides from that message. I'm just going to do a preview before we ask for public comments. So, as I presented, we talked about in the message the summary about the department. Pardon me. the continued inflation regarding sales tax, the challenges in employee recruitment, increased demand for public safety is big, human services, and then substantial capital facilities and vehicle needs. And, of course, this was all in our meeting on the last time. The purpose of this budget this year, we're looking at trying to be intentionally concise and focused on sustainability. And preparation, and that's the core emphasis of this budget. If you see the word, the capital investment plan, solid waste department, and we're looking for this to be a bridge to revaluation. This was mentioned during our many budget workshops and workshops prior to that, is that there were capital investments that are going to be coming before the commissioners and also coming before, I guess, the taxpayers as well, of needs for the various departments. And they include things like the VIPER radios. The law enforcement vehicles, and you can see the numbers, are $2.8 million. Public service vehicles, $2.9 million. IT software, $9,000 or $10,000. Election equipment, $275,000. Other vehicles and equipment, which is $1.6 million. And then, if you recall, the Rutherford County Schools is considering a possible reallocation of assets or planning, moving from a three-tier to a two-tier system. And with that, closing a possible school. That's their decision. They may want to repurpose one of the remaining schools. And for that, there's a North Carolina needs-based public school capital fund, which they can borrow up to, I believe, is it $32 or $35 million? No, $63.

$62. $62 million. For a high school and then $35 or something.

Correct. Thank you. And by having the required match available, this is much cheaper than building a new school at $150, $200 million. The next item, we had our ICC, had their FCAP assessment by the state, identified quite a few needs coming for them for safety and security and the well-being of the people on that campus. And so for that, for each of those, we've set aside in this capital investment plan $3.1 million from our fund balance. To address those needs in the future and all these needs are not immediate These are from the next one to three one to five years So we're preparing for that the capital facilities and building was was presented as well And you see it's almost 5.6 million dollars and these are most of our a lot of our buildings are going to be requiring new roofs new HVC those kind of things and they are all outlined for us and And then there's another item there, reserves for the full measure and list reevaluation for 2031. So the next revalve, but the followings, the full list and measure, and that's very expensive to have. And so generally what counties would do or could do is start saving that fund so the commissioners at that time won't be facing a gigantic bill or the taxpayers as well. So they talk about fund balance reserves. Basically, you see, you plan for emergencies. If we didn't have the fund balance we had, we could not address Haleen as quickly as we were versus other counties. Maintain a good standing with rating agencies and secure lower interest rates. In Rutherford County, the school system cannot borrow money. The college cannot borrow money. We're the authority that can borrow money. We have to pay it back. We have to maintain a good credit rating. We have to maintain a fund balance as a county level. I see the mayor looking at me. I'm not talking about the townspeople. So if we're going to take care of any of these actions, we have to be able to have a good credit rating with our agencies. And having a fund balance of Even if I'm on its period, it will have us avoid interest expenses. For example, when you have an emergency or something come up, you will have to go out and spend capital or spend dollars. If you already have it, you don't have to borrow money. And it also serves as a cash management tool because throughout the year, the revenue coming to the county ebbs and flows, and so this allows us to keep paying our bills on time. Okay. Solid waste was addressed in the message. Regarding that is that we moved it into a department instead of a standalone agency. We reduced some fees and replaced, one of the key things to replace a solid waste household, the solid waste homestead and recycling availability with a consolidated solid waste and recycling availability fee of $55 per improved property. That was a big deal, especially for those that live in the rural part of the county. Isothermal Community College is one of our key partners in the county, and this is the funding that was allocated to them in this proposal for operations. You can see it right here, 3.5, capital 700,000, debt service 440, and this is in total appropriations $4.7 million. This is in our budget right now. The rest of the county school system, and the operations, they've got 17.6. Teacher supplements, 1.5 from the county commissioners. Capital, 1.121. Debt service set aside, $7 million and some change. You can say total appropriations, $27 million, $346,014. In summary of the message, I know I'm going pretty quick, but we spent time on this last time. The total general fund budget was $93,447,130. The total budget for all funds is $121,211,412. Right then it was a 6.56% increase over current fiscal year general fund budget. It was recommended in the message that the current tax rate will remain at 45.4. No change in the tax rate. And this shows here, this is presented last time, was the different budget pie charts. The key thing to notice is that your public safety is now larger than education in 25-26. And then In 26, 27, public safety jumped up again. So I think it has been for the last three years. But this is the pie chart of what we spent our funding on. The key takeaways before I ask for a public comment is that we are trying to address continuing inflation, cost increases. We strike the support for public safety and public education. to ensure quality of service would be delivered and focus on workforce recruitment and retention. And that, my friends, is the ten-second tour of the message from last time. This is a public hearing. Sorry, yes, thank you. I'll pass that down. This is the public hearing on the message that was presented. And at this time, what I'll do regarding this matter, I'll ask if anybody wants to speak regarding this to come up. After we don't have anybody who wants to speak on this, I will say three times because my attorney says we need to ask at least three times. So regarding the proposed county budget, and before I jump off this, I do need to say that we will have a budget adoption on Thursday. And is that at 6 o'clock? So this time regarding the public hearing on the proposed budget, would anybody like to come up and speak? If so, please come up to the podium, state your name, and provide your commentary. Yes, sir.

Hey, I'm a little late, but good evening. How's everybody doing today?

Come on in. Have a seat.

I'm actually just hustling in from the Spindale Commissioners' Meeting. So good evening, Chairman, Commissioners, County Manager, and fellow citizens. My name is Doley G. Brown, Jr., and I'm a real estate developer. And I just wanted to take a couple of moments to share an interesting development plan we're working on in Spindale.

Pardon me. Is this regards to the budget? No, it isn't. Oh, I'm sorry.

This was the open part for people to speak. Have you signed up? No, I haven't. I haven't. Okay. All right. Well...

This is not public comment. Okay. Okay, this is public hearing.

Did I miss the public comment?

No, sir, you have not. Okay, okay. So just hold tight right here. Right now, we're just going to focus on the public hearing regarding the budget. Okay. And then after that, we'll go into public comments. Oh, I'm so sorry. Oh, no, no, sir. No, you're fine. But if you would, go see Mr. Godlock right there, and he'll straighten you out. Just turn around. He'll get you what you need. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you. Debra, would you help him? All right. Regarding the public hearing on the budget, does anybody have any comment regarding the budget? There you go, sir. Come on in.

Good evening, elected officials, county commissioners. My name is Pat Chamberlain with Out of the Ashes. I'm here to speak about the elephant in the room. A lot of us... keep wishing it away, and it's not going away, and that's homelessness. We got a proposed opioid settlement budget that's coming up as well, and it fails to address housing. We can't arrest our way out of it. For 10 years, I've been faithfully serving this community day in and day out. We had four calls last week from the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office as well as from prison for people that are trying to find housing so they don't reoffend. And we could talk about all the millions of dollars in budgets and tourism, and we can talk about everything under the sun, but we as a people have an obligation to help the people. And I'm here to share that with you because I would be wrong not to say something. I'd be wrong not to come to you with my heart and say, hey, We, as the people, are missing something here at the table, and that's homelessness. We get a whole lot of talk about it, but we don't see too many people helping, doing anything about it. We don't mind doing the work. We just need the tools to do the work. Last year, we've seen almost 500 people come through our doors. That was up from 300 people the year before. This problem is not going away. And so I just want to share that with you. I really don't like coming up here. This is not my way of dealing with things. But I'd be wrong not to address the elephant in the room. As you go about your business, I'd hope you'd consider bringing this to the forefront. Thank you.

Chairman, I want a point of clarification. Yes, sir. Question for Mr. Chamberlain. Did you apply for the grant for the opioid?

We were unable to apply because unless we would house people that are being prescribed narcotic medications and we don't have that kind of hospital setting, we're not eligible to apply.

I know there's a lot of specific rules in applying for the opioid money.

Yeah, the MAUD, if it's not a medicated assistant, you have to accept anybody and everybody. There's multiple avenues to recovery. Thank you for asking that question. But there's multiple avenues to recovery, and we believe faith-based recovery is one of those avenues that people should have a right to. We should not be excluded.

I appreciate what you do in that vein.

Yes, sir. We should not be excluded. We've got one shot at this. We don't have money to just throw out the window and see if it works. Big Pharma got sued. A lot of us lost our loved ones. And it's personal to me. I'm in long-term recovery. I wear my heart on my sleeve. And I put the needs of our community up there and try to help people, put my time out there. And now what we're seeing is a lot of the money is going to prescribers to address consumers, is what they call it. I just need to address the elephant in the room and share my heart with you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Ladies and gentlemen, we're on 4482. This is the public hearing on the proposed Ruppert County budget for 26-27. Will anybody like to speak regarding the proposed budget 26-27? Please come up and state your name.

My name is James Ridgewell. I'm here on behalf of Pat Hamlin. you know what I'm saying, without him and his housing or anything that he has, you know what I'm saying, I'd be back on the streets, you know what I mean, so I came straight from prison and came straight out in the streets, my case manager was supposed to have me set up our housing, he told me he couldn't find no housing or whatsoever, he couldn't find no help in this county to help people like me, and if y'all are really trying to help then you would put some kind of effort into some kind of budget into helping people that are like me, that are really trying, that only got one chance out here, to try to help people like me, and that's all I've got to say.

Thank you. Appreciate it.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing on the proposed budget for 26-27. The budget presentation was made last meeting, and at this point, if there's anyone else that would like to speak regarding the Rutherford County budget, now is the time.

My name is Jeffrey Green. I would just like to speak on behalf of the Out of the Ashes. You know, from what I've been in and out of prison my whole life, You know what I'm saying? And it works. That's all I got to say. If you put somebody out of prison back in the streets and they have no housing, they have no body to love on them, nobody to try to help them and lead them and guide them the right way, nobody to feed them and clothe them, they're just going to end up doing the same thing and end up in the same system. It's going to be a revolving door. And I can say that what this man does, it works. And if you hit the root of the problem... right there at the root, then it really helps, you know what I'm saying? But I guess that's all I got to say. Peace and grace be to you. Thank you. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing regarding the proposed Rutherford County budget for FY26-27. Is there anyone else like to speak regarding the proposed budget? Yes, sir. Good to see you again.

So, first of all, I want to say thank you. Thanks for putting the budget together. Thank you for the solid waste fee going away. I mean, this is the first time I'm going to have a lower tax bill next year since I've lived here, right? Thank you for that, but I'm still going to ask you guys to further cut the tax rate. If you can't cut the tax rate, we should do a continuing resolution. Help the property owners here in this county. I know that the proposed pay increase for county employees is 4 percent, but if you look at the COLA increase, it was only 4.8 percent, right? We're kind of hurting out here, the people on a fixed income. So I'm asking you guys for more tax relief. And I also have to say I'm really concerned about using $10 million of the fund balance to balance this budget. It kind of seems like we're setting ourselves up for next year for a bigger problem. And so I would ask that you would do a continuing resolution, go back to the departments, ask them to cut those budgets, cut out that fund balance, borrowing from our fund balance, and then lower that tax rate. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

This is item 4482, public hearing regarding the budget for 26-27 for Rutherford County. Would anyone else like to speak regarding this matter?

Good evening, commissioners. I'm Annie Dance. I would just ask that you consider putting closed captioning in the budget for the video. I usually watch online, and right now it's very difficult for me to hear in person. I don't know if it's the acoustics or the microphones or what, but closed captioning would be greatly appreciated for people who are hard of hearing like myself. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. We're in the part of the meeting for a public hearing for the proposed Rutherford County budget for 26-27. Would anybody else like to speak regarding that?

This matter, excuse me.

Going once. Folks, we're here for the public hearing for the proposed Rutherford County budget FY 26-27. Would anyone like to speak on this matter? Twice. And to make my attorney happy, our attorney happy, we're going to do this three times. We've opened the public hearing for the proposal of the county-county budget 26-27. Would anyone like to speak regarding this matter at this time? I don't see anyone. The commission will close the public hearing. No action will be taken. We do have a meeting on Thursday evening at 6 o'clock, which is the normal adoption time. So thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the next item is for public comments. This is where citizens who wish to speak are limited to three minutes. This comments are time for a citizen, guest, to express an opinion or view on the county government to the county commissioners. Please, clapping, cheering, booing, catcalls, you know, all that. Please avoid that, you know, because we don't want to inhibit the opposing view or somebody else in the room. We want to be polite. We just asked the commissioners, asked if the audience members show respect for the other people and refrain from any of those kind of noises during the public comments. And that is listed somewhere on the guidelines, if you can read it. No certain order. They're kind of jumbled, but I'll start. If I can, I'm going to ask Alan to help me read the handwriting. So we'll have three meetings. This is Phil. Is that Bernie? We're going to have a handwriting class next month at the library. I know.

My dad's a pharmacist, and I got his handwriting.

Welcome, sir. You have three minutes.

Good evening. I'm Phil Burney, and I've been thinking a lot lately about what public service actually looks like. And I've come to believe that it starts before anybody wins an election and continues well after someone ever holds office or not. Sometimes that looks like volunteering. And sometimes that looks like asking questions, listening, paying attention, or just showing up reliably. Like a lot of people here, I care deeply about Rutherford County, and I want it to be a place where families can build a life, where older residents feel supported, and small businesses can succeed. Where people feel like our local government sees them and takes their concerns seriously. Rutherford County has a lot to be proud of. But we also have some real challenges, and I believe that honest conversations about those challenges matter. Families in Rutherford County know better than most what it means to make difficult decisions on a shoestring budget, and they deserve a county government working just as hard to stretch every dollar. When budgets feel unclear or priorities shift without explanation, people quickly lose trust in county government. Good stewardship of public dollars is not political. It is one of the most basic responsibilities we have. What I hope for, whether I ever hold public office or not, is that a county government feels close enough to ordinary people to where that they trust it, they understand it, and they feel heard by it. Folks shouldn't have to wonder why certain decisions were made or whether anyone was listening when concerns are raised. County government works best when people feel informed and confident that somebody in government is paying attention to their concerns that they bring forward. And that sort of trust has to be earned. Now, I know this is an election year, and that means people are going to spend a lot of time making promises. But whether I ever hold office or not, I believe caring about the county means showing up before elections and staying present after them. Rutherford County deserves people who care enough to stick around, and that's why I plan to keep showing up. Win or lose, I care about Rutherford County and the people in it.

Excuse me, you said win or lose? Yes. Are you campaigning? No. Because you're not allowed to campaign. I know. Okay, I just wanted to make sure.

All right. I care about whether this county feels like a place where people are heard, where government is worthy of our trust, and where we leave things a little bit better than what we found them. Thank you.

At the beginning of the election cycle, it was mentioned that one of the county commissioner's rules that was in place before was that we're not to use this public comments for political campaigning. This is for messaging for our citizens to us. And I really don't see that was that. I was just trying to make it clear that we don't allow that. Per our rules, they've been established for more than a long time. All right. The next item is... Dan Hyland? Welcome, sir.

Good evening, gentlemen. My name is Dan Hyland, and I guess I just have a simple request for you, Mr. Chairman. I actually listened to you on the radio last month. And to me, I guess I'm in the Bills Creek community, and you saying that it was a rumor about the mini houses is very misleading. When you had a, there was a fellow chairman, your vice chairman was there at the meeting, a state representative was at the meeting, and you basically kind of dismissed us in saying it was totally a rumor. So I really wish next time you're on the radio or wherever, Corrected because it's not a rumor We're just in front of it before we understand they haven't come in front of you but there is a development trying to start this mini house development, which is not a Solution for our housing problem because we we know it's not a cheap housing solution. I guess that's my My request I guess.

Thank you.

All right

Jeffrey Green, Forest City. I believe he left. James Ridgewell. Just moving right along here. Grayson Porter. Did you leave?

No.

I'll try not to be so obnoxious. Government by the people is back, and I'm going to... I can see it. I'm going to read you a post by a gentleman named Beau Johnson of Liberty Dialogue's website and YesToHellWith.com. His story is just incredible. You'll have to read it for yourselves. This was posted the other day. Cooperation is not freedom. Modern government constantly praises one word, cooperation. Federal agencies cooperate with states. States cooperate with cities. Courts cooperate with agencies. Corporations cooperate with government. It all sounds so peaceful, but the Liberty Dialogues asks a terrifying question. What happens when cooperation replaces confrontation? Because the American republic was built on confrontation, not violence, but constitutional confrontation. The three branches of government were designed to resist each other. States were designed to challenge federal power. Citizens were expected to confront unlawful authority. Why? Because confrontation creates boundaries, and boundaries preserve liberty. The moment boundaries blur, power expands, and federal creep is created. Federal creep is what happens when every institution slowly merges into one administrative organism. The federal government issues guidelines. States enforce them. Local governments comply. Courts defer. Citizens obey. And suddenly, no one knows where federal authority ends and local authority begins. This is why the Supreme Court language praising cooperation over confrontation is so dangerous. Because cooperation without limits becomes absorption. States stop resisting. The courts stop questioning. Citizens stop confronting. And the republic quietly dissolves into administrative management. Liberty Dialogues teaches a principle a modern America desperately needs to remember. Confrontation is healthy in a free society. Not hatred, not chaos, not violence, just lawful confrontation. Questions like by what authority, under what jurisdiction, what is the limiting principle, where is the delegated power? These questions preserve liberty because once government no longer has to answer questions, it no longer has limits. The apparatus of avoidance depends on politeness without principle. It survives through silence, comfort, and procedure. and fear of confrontation. But freedom survives only where citizens are willing to draw lines. The Founders understood this. That is why they created separation of powers instead of centralized management. A republic survives through disciplined confrontation. An empire survives through obedient cooperation. And America must decide which one it wants to be. May truth reign supreme. He's really something. He's really worth listening to. There's a lot of great people out there saying basically the same thing. We need to claw our government back, but we need to be responsible.

Thank you.

I guess Pat Chamberlain has already been here, too. Pat Chamberlain?

You spoke during the poll, sir. I'm sorry I'm leaving with others. All right.

Doyle Brown, Jr.? Mr. Brown, welcome back.

Commissioners, how are you doing tonight? Good. Three minutes, sir. Thank you so much. I am here tonight to share a vision for the redevelopment of the Tri-City Motel property located in Spindale's historic Ledbetter community. As many of you know, Rutherford County continues to face a growing need for quality workforce housing. Teachers, health care workers, first responders, manufacturing employees, service workers, and young families increasingly struggle to find affordable housing options close to where they were. We've heard some of those accounts tonight about affordable housing, work-life housing, and just people just being strapped. I've been in discussions with the owner of the Tri-City Motel regarding a redevelopment partnership that would transform this property into a productive community asset. Our vision is to redevelop and expand the site to quality workforce and affordable housing community with the potential to include housing opportunities specifically targeted towards veterans. We believe this represents the highest and best use of the property. Rather than allowing the site with a troubled history to continue under utilization, we have the opportunity to create housing, stimulate investment, strengthen neighborhoods, and improve quality of life for county residents. This project has the potential to provide safe, attractive, affordable housing while contributing to economic development, expanding the local tax base, and supporting employers who need access to stable workforce. It also represents an opportunity to revitalize an important gateway into Spindale while honoring and investing in the historic Ledbetter community. As we move forward, we intend to work closely with Rutherford County, the town of Spindell, housing agencies, veterans organizations, economic development partners, community stakeholders to pursue available grant funding, housing initiatives, and public-private partnerships that can help reduce development costs and maximize community impact. My goal is simple, to transform a property that has been long associated with challenges into a development that creates opportunity, stability, and pride for Rutherford County residents. I believe this project can serve as a model for how meaningful redevelopment, private investment, and community partnership can work together to address housing needs while strengthening our local community. Thank you for your time, for your service to the people of Rutherford County, and your consideration as we work to turn this vision into a reality.

Thank you, Mr. Brown. Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, that's all the public comments we had tonight. Thank you, everybody, for speaking. Commissioner, the next item is the consent agenda. Is there a matter that a commissioner would like to add or remove from this?

Hold on a minute.

Did you turn the one in?

Yes.

I don't know. They must have stuck together. He's stuck to another page. I apologize. I did it on purpose, Debra. You know that. We ran against each other. Public comment's not over with. We have one more speaker. Ms. Debra Keller will leave in a row.

I wanted to speak tonight about the opioid settlement funds. First, the Clean Needle Program. Sounds lovely on paper, and expert studies support it, but let me tell you one thing. An addict does not care that their needles are clean, only that they're accessible. As has been recently highlighted on social media in the L.A. mayor's race, it just encourages addicts from other places to come here to get their free needles. Second, you say addressing housing would help only the few. I and many others say the few matter. Helping an addict has a ripple effect in the community that goes far beyond the individual. My faith teaches me the value of whenever you help one of the least of these. You are relying on experts and paid studies by these same experts that have so far been unsuccessful at this for years on end. Third, we the people are tired of the smoke and mirrors games being played here by the NGOs that are being funded by our tax dollars in court settlements. And yes, government grants come from tax dollars. Companies and organizations that tell you what you want to hear but can never seem to show results need to be held accountable. We have boots on the ground organizations right now that are successfully helping in our community but are not being financially supported by our own government. Why exactly is that? Could it be that they don't play the game that outside professional NGOs do with each other? To hold onto and tightly control funding? This is your decision, gentlemen. You are elected to be the stewards of the people's money. We ask that you make oversight and transparency a priority. Hold these organizations accountable for their programs with total transparency on the success or failures of them. Who, what, where, when, and how needs to be explained. Do not let them use HIPAA, as we've seen in the past, to hide program information. In the past, the organization spearheading this fund distribution has had issues with providing legally required information to the public on their supposed programs. We see no success rates, and in some instances, no evidence of the actual programs that were funded. Do not let that happen this time. We know how this has worked in the past. We are watching to see if you, the responsible government body, actually sees results from where the money goes. Again, it's your final decision. But we will not close our eyes anymore to the lack of quantifiable results and questionable relationships. We will stand up and we will speak out. Thank you for your time and thank you for your service on this meeting.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

public comments, and Debra, I do apologize for throwing you to the side like that. Next item is a consent agenda. Commissioner, is there an item that you'd like to add or move from consent agenda? If not, I'll look for the will of the board. I make a motion to approve. Second. I've got a motion to second. Any discussion? Hearing none, I call the question. All in favor, raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. We're now on section 5, 4485, recognition of Rutherford County Transit. I'd like to recognize Carrie Giles. Oh, there you are, Carrie.

Good evening, gentlemen. I'm pleased to come this evening to share with you an award we recently received from the North Carolina Public Transportation Association. Every year they give out an award for the rural and urban systems of the year. And this year, due to our aggressive actions as a team to get our Medicaid revenue back, which is our highest revenue line item, since Medicaid managed care began in 2021, we have lost over half our revenue from that change. And rather than accept that loss and cut service, we aggressively went after ways to get it back. And we were able to do that in this last budget year, which has been very much a team effort on from the drivers to the office staff to how we scheduled to be able to take more trips and get the job done. So we were awarded this award at our annual conference in April. And as a note, we also received this award back in 2024. And we received it collectively with all Western North Carolina agencies last year for the efforts with Hurricane Helene. So we consider this a three-peat. But very glad to be able to recognize the staff that's here with me this evening, but also to let you and the public know what an outstanding job our department really does.

So congratulations. And you have staff members with you. I do. Well, you know, this is a great time for a photo op.

I think it is.

I'll tell you what. If you would introduce your staff.

Okay.

And you guys will line up in front of us. We'll stand behind you. And one of you guys can hold.

That would be great. I've got Jeff Hill is here. He's our operations manager.

Okay.

Kyle Connor is also here, who is our billing and compliance officer. Candace McDonald is our scheduler, who makes all the magic happen. And Mary Mock Higgins is here, who does our dispatching.

Thank you. Congratulations, guys. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations.

She was still taken out. All right. We can make it stage taller.

Next item, commissioners, is 4484, World Elder Abuse Awareness Proclamation. I don't believe Acting Director Todd is here, but Susan Epley? Yes. I think she's still in transit coming back home today, so thank you for being here tonight.

Thank you. I first would like to recognize we have a lot of our Adult Protective Services staff here, and if it would be okay, I would like to have them stand up too.

That would be wonderful if you would just say their name. I don't know their names. You know it would be wonderful if they would just stand up.

Protective Services of the County DSS. Please stand up.

All right. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm here today to present a proclamation recognizing June as Elder Abuse Awareness Month in Rutherford County. Elder abuse is a serious issue that affects millions of older adults each year and can take many forms, including physical, emotional... financial, and neglectful abuse. Unfortunately, many cases go unreported, leaving vulnerable adults at risk. As a community, we all share a responsibility to protect and support our older citizens who have contributed so much to our families, workplaces, and communities. By recognizing June as Elder Abuse Awareness Month, we reaffirm our commitment to raising awareness encouraging reporting, and promoting resources that help prevent abuse and protect vulnerable adults. This proclamation serves as a reminder of the importance of recognizing the signs of abuse and working together to ensure older adults are treated with dignity, respect, and care they deserve. Thank you for your consideration. And I respectfully ask the board to adopt this proclamation, recognizing June as Elder Abuse Awareness Month. And I think you have the proclamation.

Yes, we do. Thank you. It is in our packet. And at this time, I'll look for the board for the will of the board.

Motion we approve the proclamation.

I second. We have motion to second. Any discussion? If you're going to call a question, all in favor raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. Okay, so that's approved. Thank you. Hang where you're at. Commissioners, we have next item is 4504. Nothing new to our board meetings. This is something that's going to be happening going forward. We have our Department of Social Services monthly update, if I can recognize it.

I have three different topics for an update today. The first is Child Protective Services. Previously, part of the Child Protective Services went through the PATH-NC. Now our in-home services and foster care is getting ready to move into PATH-NC. The go-live date for that is July 20th, 2026. There's much training going on. It's a big move to get those programs into that PATH NC. And this enables any county to be able to look up a case inside PATH NC so you don't have to have the cases transferred from one county to the next. I was also asked to speak on the House Bill 696. That was signed into law in May by Governor Josh Stein That is the stabilization of Medicaid to give more oversight to the program. This bill funds a significant Medicaid shortfall while implementing stronger eligibility verification, accountability, auditing, and program integrity measures aimed at controlling future costs. There was over a $300 million shortfall for Medicaid because of the HR1 changes. So the House Bill 696 in essence changes how the HR1 bill will roll out for North Carolina, limits coverage to only what is federally required. The key points for the House Bill 696 to Medicaid is added language that NC will opt out of any designations that are optional. The only beneficiaries that will be eligible are the ones that is federally mandated, so North Carolina will not be opting in for any Medicaid. things that the state generally would have opted in already for lawfully residing children under 19 will no longer be eligible unless meeting one of the three non-citizen statuses which those statuses are legal permanent residents Cuban Haitian entrance or COFA entrance Pregnancy for non-citizens will no longer be covered as an emergency unless they are a legal permanent resident, Cuban Haitians, or COVID entrant. Prohibit self-attestations unless federally recognized or court-ordered, meaning we can't take their statement on many things anymore. The loopback period for work requirements, at first we thought was only going to have to be for one month. Now, under this House Bill 696, caseworkers is going to have to start looking at a three-month look-back period, which is going to be even a lot more work and a lot more citizens ineligible for the program or become eligible and then pretty much be terminated and then come back in and apply again, which would be a lot of churn for Medicaid caseworkers. Co-payments starting in October of 2028 will be the max that the federal allows would be $35 for every visit. And then eligibility checks increase from quarterly to monthly. which exceeds the federal requirement. This will be interesting on how North Carolina will be accomplishing this because the federal reports is only run quarterly. So that's going to be a lot more work on the caseworkers as well to review these reports monthly instead of quarterly. This will increase the work for these caseworkers even substantially more than what we thought HR1 would be. increasing the expanded Medicaid workload. For the HR1 change updates, the state was expected to receive the policy from CMS today, so our state really hasn't received the formal guidance from the state on even how we can manage that at the moment. So work requirements for expanded Medicaid will start January 1st. The six-month renewals will start January 1st, but the non-citizen eligibility We'll begin on October 1st of this year, 2026. And then the third topic that I was asked to speak about to give you changes that's going on at the DSS agency for now is the Rylands Law of 2017. required DSS agencies and the Department of Health and Human Services to come to a memorandum of understanding that there would be specific standards that the agencies must meet or the agency would have to go into a program improvement plan. Those include... adult protective services. The county will complete 85% of adult protective evaluations involving allegations of abuse or neglect within 30 days. The county would complete 85% of evaluations involving allegations of exploitation within 45 days. Under child support services, a percentage of the paternity establishments would be would exceed 50% at the end of the state fiscal year. The county support order establishment performance level must exceed 50% at the end of the state fiscal year for child support cases that have a court order establishing support obligations. Percentage of current child support paid would exceed 40% at the end of the state fiscal year. And then payment of cases receiving a payment towards arrears would be more than 40% at the end of the state fiscal year. Those are measured annually. Child welfare foster care. The county will ensure that 95% of all foster care youth have a face-to-face visit with a social worker each month. For the energy programs, they have, county will process 95% of the crisis intervention program applications with no heat and source within one business day. If they do have a heat and source, then they have to be completed within two business days. Under food and nutrition services, county will process 95% of expedited FNS applications within a timeframe. which is four days. The county will process 95% of regular FNS applications within the timeframe, which is 25 days. And the county will ensure that 95% of recertifications are processed on time. For special assistance, 85% applications for SAA would be processed within 45 days, and then SAD, meaning on disability, would be processed within 60 days. For work first, 95% of work first applications would be processed within 45 days. And the county will process 95% of work first recertifications within 60 days. And under child care services, the county will initiate 95% of all screened-in reports within the required time frames. So this... MOU has been waived because we had been in the Hurricane Helene disaster area. This coming July 1st, we will be signing. The MOU is due now. That coming July 1st, they will start monitoring us again. We have not been monitored until now. through hurricane until now. But we still strive to meet all those deadlines anyway. Our county actually does really good at meeting our requirements.

Well, thank you for the update. I really appreciate that. Are there any questions?

Do you have any concerns?

Are you going to have any negative effect?

No. Like I said, we generally meet all of these requirements. The requirements are not new. Okay. It's things that would generally be required anyway. So if it's measured annually, then you have to meet it the second year that you don't meet it consecutively is when they will request a program improvement plan. Okay. And then for the ones that's measured monthly, if you miss three consecutive months or five months out of 12 months, then the state would request a program improvement plan for you on that. And I don't see any of our... standards that is listed on our MOU that we would have a problem with.

We did an MOU about a year ago, didn't we? Or two years ago?

I think it was two years ago.

Right. And then the only difference they had was they make the county responsible for any findings financially? Is this the MOU?

Yes, they could actually come down to that.

And, Commissioner, that was the big change. The social service was already doing the work, complying with the work, but the state changed the rules that, okay, we have a finding. We're going to come after your treasury to recoup the difference. So that was the big difference.

The actual process is... you could go into program improvement plan and then if that's not working you alter your program program improvement plan and eventually i'm sure that it would um be several time frames down the road but they could actually stop reimbursing the county correct for the services or states that has gone through that.

Thank you. So this is for information only. We appreciate you bringing it to us. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. 4495 is a voting delegate for the National Association of Counties. Hazel Haynes.

Yes, sir. The National Association of Counties will have their annual conference in New Orleans, Louisiana in July this year. We do have one member of the board who plans to attend, and that's Commissioner Benfield. And Commissioner Benfield has said that he would be willing to serve as the voting delegate if the board so chooses.

What's the will of the board? Make a motion we appoint Mike Benfield as our voting delegate. Second.

Got a motion to second. Any discussion? If you don't want to call a question, all in favor raise your right hand. You can use those likewise. Thank you, Mike. Next item is 4492, Appointments to Rutherford County Boards and Commissions. I'd again like to recognize Hazel Hanks.

Yes, thank you. There are several boards that have terms that are ending on June 30th of this year. You do have a list in your agenda of those folks who indicated that they are willing to serve an additional term. The first board was the Foothills Regional Commission Board of Directors, and you do have two members that are willing to serve.

Make a motion we appoint Mike Lugo and Brian King. Second.

Got a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing no call, question, all in favor raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. Second. Thank you.

There is one member who has indicated he is willing to serve an additional term on the Forest City Board of Planning and Adjustment representing extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Make a motion we appoint Robert Melnick, Forest City Board of Planning and Adjustment, representing Extraterritorial Jurisdiction.

Second. We got a motion to second. Any discussion? Hearing none, I call the question. All in favor raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. Carries. Thank you.

You have one member who has said that she would like to be reappointed to the Home and Community Care Block Grant Committee.

I'd like to make a point with Ms. Kelly-Hudson. Second. Got a motion to second. Any discussion? If there's no call to question, all in favor raise your right hand. Likewise. Thank you.

There are five individuals who are willing to be reappointed or who have applied to serve on the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council. Those individuals were Ms. Taryn Young, Mr. Brian Gooch, Miss Tiffany Dodd, Miss Adrienne Becton Marsh, and Miss Taylor Hill. And they do meet the requirements for service on that board.

Make a motion we appoint these individuals. Second.

Got a motion to second. Any discussion? Hearing none, the call to questions. All in favor reach your right hand. Any opposed, likewise.

Mr. Angelo Parks and Mr. Jack Elliott have applied for reappointment to the Library Board of Trustees.

I make a motion we appoint them.

Second. We've got a motion to second. Any discussion? If you're going to call a question, all in favor raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. It carries.

You have three members, Mr. Preston Janko, Mr. Jimmy Huckstickler, and Mr. Tommy Holland, that have indicated their willingness to continue to serve on the Rutherford County Planning Commission.

Make a motion to appoint Jimmy Huffstickler, Tommy Holland, and Preston Jenko to the Planning Commission.

Second. No motion. Second. Any discussion? Hearing none, I call the question. All in favor raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. Carries. Thank you.

Chairman Brian King and Mr. David Herndon will continue to serve on the Rutherford County Economic Development Association if the Board wishes to make these appointments.

Make a motion we appoint both of those.

Second. Got a motion, second. Any discussion? If you're going to call a question, all in favor raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. Carries. Thank you.

We do have three members who are interested in being reappointed to the two additional terms on the Tourism Development Authority.

Mr. Wheeler, board. I make a motion we appoint them.

Second. Got a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, call the question. All in favor, raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. Thank you.

Ms. Jill Miracle, Mr. John Jarrett, and Ms. Susan Effley have applied for reappointment to the Transit Advisory Board.

Will the board make a motion with appointees?

Second. Motion to second. Any discussion? Hearing none, call the question. All in favor, raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. Carries. Thank you.

Mr. Tim Bovender is eligible to serve an additional term on the Watershed Commission, and it has been recommended by the Watershed Commission that he be reappointed.

Make a motion. We appoint Mr. Tim Bovender.

Second. Thank you. Got a motion to second. Any discussion? Hearing none, I call the question. All in favor raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. Thank you.

And lastly, Ms. Amy Gala meets the criteria for serving on the Workforce Development Board and is willing to serve an additional term.

Make a motion to appoint Amy Gala to the Workforce Development Board.

Second. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. We've got a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, call the question. All in favor, raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. Thank you. All right, Commissioner. Next item is 4506, Appointment to the Rutherford County Economic Development Association.

There is a vacancy on the Rutherford County Economic Development Association, and Commissioner Houck has expressed his willingness to fill that vacancy, so the board may wish to make that appointment.

I make a motion we appoint Mr. Houck. Second. Thank you.

We're going to motion a second. Thank you. Any discussion? Thank you, Donnie. All questions? All in favor raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise? Carries. Thank you. Commissioners from now on to new business. 4499 budget amendments is next. I'd like to recognize Deputy Manager and Finance Director. Paula Roach.

Good evening. There's a few budget amendments finishing up the fiscal year. The first one's a budget amendment for the out-of-county inmates. Based upon the current trend, that's another $50,000.00. The sheriff has received some donations for the canine program. They've also received donations for STAR program. STRAP received, or Soil and Water received some grant money for the stream flow rehabilitation program on a STRAP. The funds this year were a little larger than usual because it will help finish up some of the waterway cleanup, bank restoration, post hauling. The schools have received, or The county capital projects, that interest earning on the state-directed grants for the detention center is restricted to that purpose. That's appropriating those funds to date. The school received several HVAC, chiller, bull, or grants related to Helene. That does pass through our books. And then the solid waste, the last transfer is to the transfer for the reserve fund, and that's for post-closure cost.

Commissioner, is there any questions or concerns?

So, you know, I know the sheriff's coming in and out and it's allocated. I got pictures this week of a cell that was knocked holes in a block cell and inmate. I don't know how he did it. How does that get funded when they have to do a repair like that? Or is that a Danny question? When we don't budget, do we budget for inmates knocking holes in the walls?

When it does happen and the sheriff does turn in paperwork to the court system, we have on occasion received restitution. But unfortunately, damage to the cells is a cost of doing business.

Thank you. Any other questions?

Commissioners, does there recommend a motion before you? What's the will to vote? I make a motion we approve the budget amendments. Thank you.

Second. And a motion to second any discussion? Hearing none, I call the question. All in favor raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. Thank you. Commissioners, you received this earlier. This is the compilations for volunteer fire departments, 4497. I'd like to recognize our CPA, Crystal Hemrick. Sneaks out of the back room. How are you?

I'm good. How are y'all?

Good.

So this is the reviews of the June 30, 2025 fire departments. I'm going to just briefly touch on the summary, additional information, and just want you to know that each department received an unmodified report. There were no material misstatements discovered during the review. The financial statements are presented using the nonprofit cash basis form. Assets, revenues, and expenses are shown in two categories, with donor restrictions and without donor restrictions. And the Fireman Relief Fund is basically the only donor-restricted fund that they have. Each statement will have a column for that information. This year end, June 30, 2025, still included some of the transition from K-10 trails death at Financial Data Center. The bulk of those departments went to Kim Spicer's office, so we worked really close with them, getting the transition to the way we like to receive the information, and that's working out great. Some of them did different things, but the bulk of them ended up going straight to Kim Spicer. The financial period that's covered under here is July 1, 24, pre-Helene. Through June 30, 25, Helene hit on my birthday, September 27. Horrible birthday present. And that impact is shown in these financial statements. The delay is because of that as well. We got a lot of stuff before the hurricane hit, then the hurricane hit, and the delays just started. Each department received grant funding. Two departments, STO and Greenhill, have multi-year grants for new facilities that will be reviewed by an auditor that is for those funds. I will facilitate some of the paperwork and the numbers related to that, but there's an outside department that'll handle that because it's so much money. And it does cover multiple years. The departments can contribute to the Governmental Fireman Pension Plan. All except for one did not contribute during fiscal year 25. There are 10 departments with 501c3 status, one with 501c4, and one with no non-profit status except that they are passed through with the government. This year, This June 30, 25 year will be the predecessor to Fairfield closing and merging into the other departments up there. They ended in December. We made a point to have all the money dispersed by December 31. So they'll have a half a year this fiscal year. And then they're completely done. I already have all those records. Everything is in my office once they closed. It was all brought to me in December, January. All of the fire department's tax returns were filed timely with the extension that was gotten. The original due date is November 15th. Extensions were filed and all were done by the May 15th. All departments except for three have cash in excess of the federally insured amounts. There are three departments that don't have that threshold. Other than that, it's real clean. It's just a lot of work recreating some documents, delays on getting documents that were lost, post-hurricane stuff. It's just a bad year paperwork-wise, but not money-wise.

Well, there is a recommended motion. The first word is important. So if you would, Mr. What's the Will of the Board?

I make a motion we accept the compilations for the volunteer fire departments for the year ended in June 30, 2025. Thank you. Second.

We've got a motion and a second. Any discussion? If you're going to call a question, I want to favor you to raise your right hand and any folks likewise. Thank you. Good to see you again.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Commissioner Dick's item is 4501. This is the opioid settlement funds project proposal.

I want to make a motion that we defer consideration to a future meeting. That way I've had time to be able to look through all the information. I know we just received it, and I really haven't had time to go all the way through it. I second it. Okay. Thank you.

We've got a motion to second. Any discussion? Okay. If you're going to call a question, all in favor raise your right hand. If you need to pose, likewise. Thank you. Thank you very much. It's been deferred.

Thank you, Don.

Commissioner, the next item is 4496. Then a Mosley Construction Agreement.

Carry it with me as my computer wakes up.

I'd like to recognize Aubrey Clay. You may have some guests with you tonight. Please introduce your guest and tell us what's up.

Good evening. The detention, renovation, and expansion project is ready to move from the design planning phase into the construction phase. Over the past several months, county staff has worked with Vannoy and Mosley through the phase two of the design phase where we – the construction documents, specifications, review and approval through NCDHSR, bidding, and coming up with the final guaranteed maximum price. This evening, we have Stephen Boyd with Vinoy Construction here to give a quick presentation or brief presentation over the project as well as the recommended budget for the project as well.

Welcome, gentlemen. Please state your name again so we have it for the record. We'll go from there.

I'm Lance Haney, Vinoy Construction. Steven Boyd with Vinoy Construction.

Thank you.

Thanks for having us again tonight. Yes, sir. To piggyback on what Aubrey said again here tonight to talk about the detention center inspection or expansion, please stop me as we go through this. I'm happy to take any questions as we go along. Please feel free to interrupt me. When we were here before you back in October, we presented the DD budget. We've got a few slides here just to talk about where we've been, where we are now. Again, at this point, we have bid out the project to our subcontractors, ready to work through a contract amendment and proceed into construction. A couple other introductions we have here tonight, T.J. Hollars. He's our Director of Operations in the Asheville office, as well as Jesse Woodruff. He'll be the project manager on the project. We've also been, over the past 18 months, we've been working with detention center staff, with Aubrey and Dane, with Mosley, architects, to really... Try to focus on the budget constraints of the project, but also keep the goals of the project. I'm at the forefront of our minds. The needs of the county. We've worked through lots of value engineering some of those goals that really rose to the top as we were working through this process. Some of the stuff you guys have seen before. So really just a refresher. But improved booking and intake space, increased female housing capacity, and then improved security and safety for the officers. The floor plan that you see down below there, it's a little small, but the green there in the bottom left-hand, that's the small, about 2,000-square-foot addition that's part of the project. That's the new booking and intake space. space. Right above that the red and then the long corridor that's also in the red that's the property storage to accompany that new booking and intake space as well as the new inmate corridor that allows easy flow to and from booking and intake to the new, excuse me, to the existing four-story pod. The dark green, the new magistrate area directly adjacent to the booking and intake space for ease of operations, as well as the blue areas, which is the existing sheriff's office that will be gutted and built back to be new offices and admin area for the detention staff. Really, in the booking and intake, we're adding four new holding cells, two new observation cells. This really improves the operations of the detention center so they're able to maximize the space that they do have for what it should be used for. I'm going to hand it over to Mr. Steven to talk about some dollars.

Yeah, so starting with that base scope of work, what we're seeing is an overall construction cost of $7,863,394. That would be the amendment to our contract for the cost of construction. That includes about $1 million in site improvements, those site improvements going towards securing the space, as well as some ADA accessibility for our public access. In addition to that is $6.8 million for the expansion of the new booking and intake space, renovating the existing sheriff offices to be compliant for the magistrate and the jail administration, as well as improvements throughout the facilities for increased property storage and improvements on both inmate and officer safety. The cost there achieves kind of those three goals for the facility and maximizes the impact of every dollar spent on this renovation. In the slide below, Beyond this cost for the base construction, we've worked with Mr. Searcy, Mr. Clay, and the detention facility staff to identify some items, whether they be maintenance or improvements, that we feel could be managed and purchased more efficiently within the construction project while trades and installers are already on site. If those alternates were accepted as part of the overall construction amendment, it would increase that construction cost of work to $8,466,011. Did you address the Sally Ports?

Yes, sir. So part of the floor plan that was there didn't really have an outside, but part of the project is a fenced-in sally port outside of the new booking and intake area, so it'll have an automated gate. Officers that have an arrestee can pull into that space. They'll be inside of a secure fenced area, so they're able to properly get those folks out of the car.

Now, is it still one sally port or two sally ports?

Just one, sir.

Okay. So that's what you have as the back sally port? Yes.

Yeah, so the... Just quickly, that is included in the base construction cost of work. What we are proposing with a couple of the alternates is some improved security. So alternate... Number four is for the backside at kitchen delivery, turning that into a secured Sally Port, but right now it is just a covered awning. And then alternate number three is the exit where there's a lot of traffic in bringing inmates over to the courthouse. adding a secured sally port to that space as well so base construction cost gives us our critical one for delivery of inmates and the vehicle traffic and then alternates three and four provide that additional security in spaces that are more vulnerable to inmate traffic and movement

Okay.

Thank you. Go back to your floor plan one more time.

Can you zoom in on that a little bit, Mr. J, if you don't mind?

Would you be able to pull up the PowerPoint presentation? I think we've got a PDF.

I missed it. Seriously, while he's pulling that up. Sheriff was involved. Sheriff approves.

If you do build these new cells, make them really strong. Non-breakable blocks. Concrete. Those folks get creative. We've got all that time on your hands.

Yeah, the solid port that we were talking about, the vehicular solid port, is kind of planned south out in the existing parking lot, kind of below the light green area. Yep, exactly. Will you go to the last sheet, please, sir? Just to hit on the schedule real quick, to kind of complete what we had. This is still a phased project. One more. Thank you, sir. This is still a phased project, so assuming approval denied, assuming notice to proceed, we would roll right into giving notice to proceed to our subcontractors so they're able to order any long lead items, detention frames, HVAC units, structural steel. The first phase of the project is the temporary booking and intake space, as we will be demoing the existing booking and intake and kind of that ADA windy ramp that's there. existing. Once that's established, we'll roll into about nine months of what I'll call kind of the new construction, the new booking and intake, gutting the existing sheriff's office, building it back. The big star there that you see in kind of April and May of 27, that's inspections are complete, the HSR is signed off, detention staff gets to use the new space, and then the last piece is just restoring that temporary booking and intake space that becomes the new staff break room. I think there were some questions asked about could this move any quicker last time. I remember we were not a, it was an improvement we were targeting coming to you folks in July. We are here in June. It started a month earlier, finished a month earlier. We did hear you and working with the Rutherford County staff, we're able to expedite by one month.

Thank you.

Appreciate that. Thank you guys for your advocacy of the legislation and that deadline for

I was going to ask if that got finalized. Yes. That's done?

I didn't hear officially. We got something in there. I remember an email that came across. We did. We did. And we have a county we sent a letter requesting. And they actually were expecting it. Okay. We spoke to our representatives. Yeah, it was pretty unreasonable. Yeah.

Yeah. Especially for this type of work.

Yeah. Well, Commissioners, are there any other questions? If not, there's a recommended motion before you.

Another question. The sheriff, is he recommending the alternates?

Yes. To speak to the alternates, some of the alternates actually are going to enhance some of the habitual discrepancies.

So, Chairman, I don't see specifically in the action about the alternates.

If I'm not mistaken, just as a reminder, after Willow Wedgelocks and everything else, we're very grateful for that $10 million grant that's funding all of these improvements and repairs at this point.

It's in the amended proposal. Yeah.

Well.

We'd be most grateful if the alternates were included.

Okay. I propose that we authorize the interim county manager and the county attorney to negotiate the terms of contract and authorize the county manager, finance officer, clerk to the board and other county officials to sign and execute all documents in support of this, including the alternates. Correct. In case it's needed.

Thank you. Got a motion need a second second and much second any discussion and I really appreciate the items that you guys Put into this those that were coming up time and time again on the previous design that we were Written up on basically exhaust system man. Yeah, just it was just outdated and to bring it in a month early is appreciated Yeah, yeah, yeah any further discussion? All question all favor raise your right hand any folks likewise carries. Thank you gentlemen.

Thank you

Commissioners, next item is 4494. This is a resolution approving ordinance concerning the fire code, fire marshal, and outdoor burning. I'd like to recognize the attorney or Frankie.

We have our fire marshal as well.

Well, that's what he told me.

I'm going to pass it.

So this ordinance kind of has three parts to it, one being the fire code, one being fire marshal description, and one being outdoor burning. But the fire code, the reason for that is we have never adopted the actual North Carolina State Fire Code. And what that's going to allow, several things on the inspection side. the inspections office, but one really important thing on our side that we've been dealing with for many, many years is illegal burns. So we go out now to illegal burns constantly every week, sometimes several times a day, and We tell them you can't do that. They turn around and do it again. This would be household burning material, actual trash, tires, whatever else. We do take pictures. We send them to EPA. Well, over at Division of Air Quality, they have two people, most of the time one person, but two people that cover all of West North Carolina. And so they never get out to actually address the issue. So we have a lot of repeat offenders on that. But by adopting that fire code, that will allow us to – write citations or fines for illegal burning. The fire morsel portion of that, after we got to dig into the county ordinances, that job title has changed multiple times. What's listed in our ordinances still has it all under the same umbrella, doing inspections and all that stuff. So that kind of separates it all out as it is today. And then on the outdoor burning, which is another big issue that we've had for a long time, is that will allow my office to issue a burn ban that's within 100 foot of the residence. And you might ask why the state can issue a burn ban, and that's because when the state issues a burn ban, it does not cover that 100 foot up against the residence of the property. The state can go out and issue citations all day long for violating the burn ban for the state, but if it's within that 100 foot of the house, they can continue burning no matter what the conditions are. So that kind of shores that up. Most counties around us and across the state have that where they can issue that along with the state, but we do not. And so we've been pushing for that for several years. And finally... got all of our ducks in a row to get that done. So I will defer to the county attorney for all the legal verbiage on that. And if y'all have any questions for me, I'll be happy to answer those too.

Yeah, Mr. Chairman. And to elaborate on what our fire marshal has shared with us, what is proposed this evening is officially, it's a new ordinance. It's an extension of Chapter 6, of the Rutherford County Code, which is fire prevention and protection. Presently, there is an Article 1 of that chapter that addresses, essentially covers two items, covering false fire alarms and regarding pyrotechnics displays, in other words, professional fireworks displays. This would propose to add an Article 2 that would cover the issues that Mr. Hamrick has just shared. This is tonight not for adoption. This is for the Board to be presented to the Board essentially as a first hearing or a first reading with a request that the Board consider holding a public hearing to hear from the citizens regarding this matter. It's July 6th meeting. And following this, potentially for adoption amendment or as the Board wills. I think our fire marshal did an outstanding job explaining the particulars of this, but I'm certainly available for any questions.

Is there levels with the state or is this, when we adopt a state fire code into Rutherford County, are there different levels that the state does or just one code?

There is a, well, it's a complex question just because all of this is part of the state building code. And there is a sense that the county has, in fact, through a different provision, adopted the state building code. Right. This makes it more explicit that we have indeed adopted the fire prevention code, which is a part of the state building code.

But there's not ABC option with the state as one? No, sir.

There is a single fire prevention code under the state building code.

And when I read through it, I saw that the sheriff's office can issue citations as well. Is that accurate?

Yes, sir. That would provide that law enforcement, not just the fire marshal, but in a pinch of the fire marshal. Well, the perfect example is very recently we faced a severe drought and a severe dry condition at one point in time statewide, but in Rutherford County in particular. We face the position when we're in severe drought simultaneous with warm conditions, simultaneous with extremely not just dry conditions but also windy conditions. That's what I'm trying to spit out. When we still have plane damage, lots of brush, lots of limbs that are still down all over this county, and we face a very high risk at such times. In the event of multiple fires, we have a single fire marshal who has a staff of one other individual. This provides that any law enforcement official would have the same authority that the fire marshal would to enforce this particular ordinance. Now, for the most part, this ordinance comes in the form of civil fines. We are not talking about criminal law enforcement here. This is a matter of folks getting fines.

And I saw in the ordinance that unless it was a habitual offender, the fines were not...

It scales up on the fines. Yeah. There are, I think, four levels that are proposed. The maximum permitted by state law is $500. In our ordinance, we reserve that $500 for an habitual individual who faces repeated violations of the same matter.

Any other questions? No. There's a recommended motion for you.

I make a motion that we acknowledge the first reading of the proposed fire code, fire marshal, and outdoor burning ordinance and set a public hearing for July 6, 2026, the regular meeting of the next Board of Commissioners of Rutherford County. Second.

We've got a motion and a second. Thank you, sir. Any discussion? Commissioners, I would like to say I am concerned about the debris from Helene that's still out there in the woods. That is tender, that is fuel. That is a lot of fuel in the ground. I just want to say that. Any other discussion? I'll call a question. All in favor raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. Okay, carries. Commissioners, I'm looking for a motion to go to closed session under personnel under NCGS 1433181186. Closed session under land acquisition under NCGS 1433181185. Closed session under attorney client under NCGS 1433181183. I would also like to invite Deborah, our HR. manager, our clerk, our deputy managers, our board of commissioners to participate in this closed hearing, and we'll have that in here. This is, I'll look for a motion.

I'll make a motion to go into closed session. Second.

I'm going to motion to second the discussion. We may have action afterwards. We'll open the doors at that time. Hearing this, I'll call the question. All in favor, raise your right hand. We discussed, and two of them now we're going to present to the public. I will now look towards Commissioner Donahall.

I make a motion that we appoint Ms. Tiffany Dodd as the new director of DSS for Rutherford County.

Thank you. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, I call the question. All in favor raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. Carries. Congratulations, Tiffany. We have a second matter that we discussed in closed session. It's now an open session item. I will look at it now. Commissioner Hunter-Haines. Commissioner.

I'd like to make a motion to approve the resolution authorizing legal action regarding a public nuisance. Whereas Sheriff Aaron Ellenberg has, pursuant to North Carolina General Statute 19-2.1, requested the Alcohol Law Enforcement Division of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety to investigate alleged public nuisances and to make recommendations regarding actions to abate the public nuisance on specific properties within Rutherford County. And whereas, special agents of the nuisance abatement team of the Alcohol Law Enforcement Division, working with Sheriff Ellenberg and deputies of the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office and with the cooperation of its owners, have investigated an alleged public nuisance at 482 Mourner Star Lake Road in Forest City, North Carolina. And whereas, the Alcohol Law Enforcement Division recommends that a civil action pursuant to North Carolina General Statute 19-2.1 be instituted by Rutherford County to enjoin all persons from maintaining a public nuisance and to enjoin the use of any structure or thing adjudged to be a nuisance under Chapter 19 of the North Carolina General Statutes and whereas public nuisances as defined under Chapter 19 of the North Carolina General Statutes have strong and negative effects on neighboring homes and businesses and its residents. with both negative financial impacts and negative human impacts that affects the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of Rutherford County, and whereas the Board of Commissioners of Rutherford County supports the efforts of Sheriff Ellenberg, the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office, and the Alcohol Law Enforcement Division of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety to protect the citizens of Rutherford County in this investigation and accepts and endorses their recommendations to proceed with such action. Now, therefore, the Board of Commissioners of Rutherford County resolve that 1. Civil action by Rutherford County to abate a nuisance under Chapter 19 of the North Carolina General Statutes regarding 482 Morning Star Lake Road, Forest City, North Carolina, is hereby authorized. The Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, working with the County Attorney, County Staff, Rutherford County Sheriff's Office, and the Alcohol Law Enforcement Division of North Carolina Department of Public Safety, is authorized to institute such civil action and execute such instruments as may be required to effect the purposes and intents of this resolution. And the same hereby are, in all respects, ratified, approved, and confirmed. Adopted on this first day of June 2026. approved by Chairman Brown, King, and Rilliford County Commissioners.

Do you make that as a motion? I do make that as a motion. Second. We've got a motion and a second. Any discussion? Okay. If you're going to call a question, all in favor raise your right hand. Any opposed, likewise. Carries. Thank you. Commissioner's next item on our agenda is the tax collector's report. That's for information only. And finally, there's an item to adjourn. What's the will of the board? So moved. Second. Got a motion to second. Any discussion? Hearing none, I call the question. All in favor raise your right hand. Do you oppose? Likewise. We are adjourned. Thank you, gentlemen.