Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Welcome to the Pick County Board of Commissioners meeting. Um we're gonna have roll call, please. If you would please rise with me and Commissioner McLawhhorn's going to have our invocation. eternal God come first of all to give you faith. Thank you for life, health, and stress. God will ask you that you come into this meeting and help us to make the decision that will be pleasing to the the holy name we pray. Amen. Please remain standing. I'll invite Wesley Myers up to uh do our pledge tonight. Wesley, introduce yourself please ar m High School. Currently the sentinel of my FFA chapter. Thank you for having me this evening. At this time, please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and for a republic for which it stands, one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. You may be seated. Thank you and have a good evening. Thank you, sir I'll entertain a motion to approve the agenda. Got a motion in a second. Please vote. Madada Man Manager, do we have any public addresses? There are no public addresses signed up to speak. OK, we'll move on to items for report. Madada Manager ? Yes, I have a few report items for you this evening. First, to your next meeting dates, March 16th and April 13th in this room and reminder that you only have one meeting in the month of April. Also, a reminder that tomorrow is, uh, the primary election, March 3rd, and all polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. We encourage everyone to go out and vote if you did not already take advantage of the early voting period. Item C is a reminder of the NCACC, that's the North Carolina

Association of County Commissioners, District meeting, uh, which will be held on March 11th from 10 to 3 at Halifax Community College in Weldon, North Carolina, um, and Huggins is a director on that board and encourages all, um, uh, leadership team and mem and board members to attend. And at this time, if Public Information Office will queue it up. We have a short video message from NCACC President Wallace Nelson personally inviting you to that event. Hello, commissioners, I'm Wallace Nelson, NCACC president and Paquimmons County Commissioner. I want to take a moment to speak directly to my fellow commissioners and county leaders about our upcoming NCACC District meetings in early March . Quite simply, your presence matters. We're at a critical moment for counties. The decisions being made at the federal and state levels are having realed impacts on our local budgets. Our services and the people we serve , District meetings are more than routine gatherings. They are working sessions that shape how we move forward together on the agenda we will be discussing updates on our presidential initiative. Key association priorities and important legislative developments I want to especially emphasize the legislative updates we'll be talking about HR one and it's practical implications for our county budgets. especially related to programs like SNAP and Medicaid. We will also dive into ongoing property tax reform discussions at the General Assembly. which could significantly affect how we fund essential county

services. These meetings are a great opportunity to hear from each other and to build stronger relationships with Becom Commissioners in your districts, so please join us to share what's happening in your counties, what's working, what's challenging and where you need support. when attendance is strong our message is stronger When we are aligned, our advocacy is more effective and when we learn from one another, we are better equipped to serve our counties. I know schedules are always busy, but I encourage you to make attending your district meeting a priority . Finally, I would like to Mark your calendars for March 27th for our first Forum on our presidential initiative Counties care Access to healthcare. We will be meeting in Raleigh to talk about the importance of health care and especially our rural hospitals. More information will follow. but I wanted to make sure you have March 27th on your calendars. So let's come together and lead together for our counties and for the people who depend on us every day. Thank you for all you do. for supporting your association. I look forward to seeing you there. Your next item, March 20th from 12 to 2 that following week at the Community Center at the Alice F. Keene District Park will be your legislative luncheon where the board will join its state delegation to talk about its um upcoming priorities for the short session . And then items E, F, and G are just to report out. You may have seen, um, in a press release, but wanted to share at this meeting, um, that severe weather preparedness week runs March 1st through March 7th, and to raise

awareness, Emergency Management and Pitt County Schools will participate in a statewide tornado drill on Wednesday, this Wednesday, the 4th, and the Public Information Office will feature daily safety-related posts on social media and our website. Res id ent s are encouraged to sign up for Hyper-Reach, which is our emergency alert system at Pitt CountyNC.gov. March is also March for meals Community champions Week. So, um , nationally this week is celebrated March 16th to the 30th, the Pitt County Council On Aging is celebrating at the 23rd to the 27th this year and for more than 20 years, Meals on Wheels has recognized March as a time to rally communities around meal delivery and senior nutrition support. March for meals is a community-driven campaign where local teams shape activities to meet local needs. Community champions Week is happening nationally, the 16th through the 20th, and we invite local officials and community members to deliver meals and raise awareness. Learn more to sign up at Meals on Wheelsamerica.org or you can reach out directly, um, to the, uh, Director of Council On Aging, Rich Zech. Just as a note, this will be the 5th year, um, that Assistant Manager and HR Director Florida Hardy and I will team up to deliver Em Meals on Wheels route . We look forward to it every year, and we will be out there on the 25th, I believe. So, um, a great effort to get engaged within the community. And then finally, just to follow up that we went to Washington DC for the NACTCO conference traveling this year where Commissioners Floyd Huggins and McLawhorn, and from the staff perspective, Mike Taylor attended IT events, um, and Matt Gibson, County Attorney, and I attended. We had a very

successful conference. We engaged with, um, the Rural Action Caucus. We, um, attended North Carolina specific events in North Carolina caucus and re cept ion that followed with a legislative charge to us, um, and then we were able to squeeze in a few educational sessions before we left, um, early due to predicted heavy snowfall in Washington DC and the Northeast. And we did get home ahead of that safely. Um, so with that, that will conclude my report. Think you might have Manager to have a motion for items for consent. Mr. Chairman, if I may, um, can I pull one of the consent items number 7 and move it to discussion. Sure, thank you. OK, so we've got a motion, um In a second, and we'll remove item number 7. Please vote. OK, Madame Man, do you want to talk about 7 Um, yes, uh, item 7 on your items for consent is a contract to provide law enforcement services for Mr. Beast LLC at an estimated value of $310,000. As this board is aware, the Sheriff's Office offers, um, contracted services to private, um, entities for a fee of $47 per hour. Um, at your last meeting, you may recall that we did a budget amendment because there was additional revenue and additional expenditure associated with that revenue, um , because of the increased volume of the work this year in comparison to what we had originally budgeted last July and you did a $400,000 amendment at your last meeting to, um, shore up the revenues and expenditures, and the board had discussion on that. That happened before we were aware um that an additional $310,000

contract was coming in. It may or may not require an additional budget amendment before the close of the fiscal year so that those revenues are logged to offset the expenditures. Um, and just as a reminder, the way the Pitt County Sheriff's Office works is folks contact the Sheriff's Office directly for that service , and then she decides the services that she will provide and enters into a contract. She collects that money as a revenue and then pays the off-duty officers and a half to provide that service. Um, that's different than, for example, the city of Greenville or other entities that utilize an outside company. So for City of Greenville Police Department, if you were going to get an off-duty officer to um participate in an event their website takes you to a link that takes you to an outside company. You contract with that outside company, the officer is paid by that outside company and so it's not this if you look to compare to see how others are doing, it's not this sort of delicate balance between the actual cost of time and a half and the $47 per hour revenue that you receive, um, and that $47 revenue is approved each year by this board upon recommendation of the Sheriff in her office to um include that within your fee schedule. Um, happy to answer any particular questions, and I believe Davita Dixon. um, or any representative from the Sheriff's Office? Madame Clark, did you, um, receive word today that somebody would be here? OK. So we don't see anybody from the Sheriff's Office present, um, for additional questions, although all department heads, um, and agents, any um departments or entities who have an item on the agenda, whether that be consent or otherwise are , um, instructed to be present in case there are any questions. Happy to answer any that I can answer for you, um, at this time . Mr. Chairman, I, um, Ms.

Gallagher, thank you. First of all, you're doing an excellent job in explaining it. My question would be, are we losing money at the $47 an hour if an employee is making 65 at a time and a half and where does that money come from out of our general budget? or where to make up the difference and how would we do it if we did put a limit at 47 an hour is to say, that's the most you can make regardless of what your time and I have salary is Yes, and so, um, I anticipated based on the conversation at our last meeting that you might have a question like that And so um the answer is some officers at time and a half will make more than $47 an hour, and some officers at time and a half will make less than $47 an hour. And given the volume of work done heretofore at the end of the year, it has always um matched pretty evenly. right? So you'll have some that were paid more, you'll have some that were paid less. All of those revenues come in, offset the expenditures, and you're a pretty close match. where an imbalance could occur is if there are officers that are making more than $47 at time and a half, um, more of those officers than there are those making under. And, um, and I, I'm sure the sheriff will review that $47 rate when she presents her budget this year, but just as a, as a frame of reference as to how that would shake out. Um, for starting salaries, and a half for a Deputy Sheriff trainee would be 3828. So at $47 an hour, there's um that balances. Deputy Basic would be 4012, Deputy Intermediate would

be 4205. Master Deputy would be 44. So all of your entry up to Master Deputies would be under that $47 at time and a half. But when you go to the sergeant Lieutenant Captain, or Chief level, then at time and a half you're paying $50.72 an hour, 55 $71 an hour, 64, 12 an hour, or 84.95 per hour and so the question is how that balances and how you monitor that closely . The numbers I just read to you are step one on the entry level chart. Most employees are not at step one, so I randomly looked for example, um, a captain who does contract work, um his, although, uh, entry level captain, um, would be 6412, a random captain that I pulled is really at 7650. A Chief if they were to do the work, a starting level Chief would be at a 495, but if you pull a particular Chief, it's at 9896 an hour. Um, and then I pulled, um, uh, one of the deputies that had a wonderful picture, um, on social media that showed he just took his oath after finishing VLET, um, and his actual, if he were assigned that work would be 38, 28 an hour. So at the lower levels, the actuals are not far out. The higher you go, the longer you've been here, so the higher you are on your pay scale . And so the actual numbers matter. I guess to answer the second part of your question, which is, if it doesn't shake out, where does that money come from? Um, we hope to avoid that question, but it comes from General Revenues coming into the county. and we want to avoid at all costs, and I deferred to legal on this, if, if that situation ever arose, what would happen if we brought in less revenue for a

private service provided, um, then the expenditure because we would not, um, we would have to examine the public purpose use of tax dollars using to supplement a delta in a private security contract, right? So we're not necessarily, we don't use public dollars to fund a gap. So for example, the Sheriff, um, does not provide, does not allow us to provide contract security, right, at $47 an hour. So we have to go to a private security company, a private security company, you may recall, we recently did an RFP for that so that we could get the most competitive rates. Private security companies rates, um, if you recall, you awarded it to, um, North Carolina Protection Company at $47 an hour, but the bids that we got ranged from a little below that, um, to much higher than that. I mean, we had some bids come in at $80 an hour for private security, and private security, I would say, provides the incredible value that we need for this type meeting, but a sworn law enforcement officer has an ability to bring greater value to the table, and so, um, I think that's one of the reasons why I feel sure the Sheriff and her team will reexamine that number this year and make a recommendation to you on what we ought to be charging. Now, we ought not be making a profit, right? That's not our core mission. Our core mission is not to um take business from private security companies and make a profit off of it, right? We government does what the private sector can't do efficiently. That's usually, um, the core of our mission, right? Social services, public health, and those sorts of things. So, to answer your question, we haven't gotten into that situation, but if we did, um, it , it could be problematic.

Thank you, Madame Manager. Any, any other questions? I just have , anyway, either one of us is good for it. Yes sir. OK, yeah, you want me to go, uh, I presume that the sheriff that because of this dollar amount, that is a stated dollar amount in this contract with this organization. And so to go over that amount. and the sheriff would be aware that you can't use public funds to fund that activity. She would have to come back and modify the contract or something. It's, if later in the fiscal year. with this board's permission, because the sheriff has the authority to charge what this board has adopted in the fee schedule. So unless you modify your fee schedule or add flexibility into your fee schedule. regardless of what the sheriff thinks it may be worth, um, or would like to charge. She's bound by the fee schedule that you adopt at budget. And so, um, another thing we might want to do come July is look at adding a degree of flexibility or leveling, um, based on time and service in your fee schedule to provide that flexibility, particularly on a contract like this one. where you're looking at 3 officers a day, 24 hours a day, for over a year. and that's, you know, so, so they're, they're calculating how much that's going to cost. Yes. And that, and this is what they've come up with is 310,000. So I mean, we can assume that that's about what it's going to cost, but based on their projection of who's gonna be doing the job and if it was to change. that that would require her to come back to the board or do something to make a modification and maybe a changed the contract with the entity that's required was, is hiring the, the department to do that, correct? Yes, for her not to come back to the board, there would be an

expectation that she balanced the course of service at $47 an hour and I would think that's generally understood between the county and the sheriff. OK, that's, that's the main thing. Thank you, Commissioner Nunnnley. Um. thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, just to circle on that because this is a long line of question that I had what, what level of responsibility, I guess, fiscal responsibility is that the department, that signs this contract to ensure that if that's the stated number um, that it's, that it's imbalanced. I mean, it's really what what he said, but how much I mean, I guess how much leverage do we retain in order to ensure that department heads are staying within budget, uh, uh, uh within the allocated amount and not um saying, well, you know, this is really kind of like a, I mean , this is, this is, you know, there are a handful of people that maybe want to be on that assignment. They're all captains and they're making the $85 an hour, not to say that they couldn't, couldn't be done with other people, but they're not, it's not getting done. Is that a potential is that? I guess is that a soft underbelly to the approach. Is there, is there a way that we could blow the budget here, um, and essentially like run afoul of the intent. Um, the potential is there and I think, I think there are options and just hearing you share that one option that comes to mind might be a conversation between, um, so the Sheriff is separately elected. We don't tell her how to run our business, but we do pick up the phone if we have a suggestion. So one suggestion might be if Matt wanted to call, um, if the County Attorney wanted to call the Sheriff's attorney to relook maybe at the contract to add a provision that says this price is contingent upon the total cost balancing out at $47 an hour, and if it does not,

there will be a surcharge. and then maybe in, um, in July 1 , we allow that fee schedule to say $47 an hour or whatever that number is that the sheriff says is the is the rate because as the average salary goes up with cost of living and merit increases, so does the average rate for all of the officers. So maybe we add in there an ability to, um, surcharge. if, um if it goes over. It's easy to manage in a 3 hour I'm gonna accompany a jewelry store to the bank, right? You sort of know what you've got right in there. It becomes more difficult to manage when you're providing 3 officers 24 hours a day for a year. Mr. Manon, just prompts one more question in my mind. Is the fee schedule that the sheriff is having to work with hamstringing her in making a contract that actually reflects the actual cost expected. She recommends the fee schedule OK. But because I have no idea to know who she may assign, when she may assign them, how many she desires to do. That's all within her purview and as part of her budget presentation, she shares the amount that's recommended, and we adopt that because we wouldn't have any other information to know otherwise which gets back to what she's managed the Sheriff's Office is going to manage this and basically try to keep it in, within the budget of what they're asking for here, I think . Yes, but this year they have not done that. So we've come back to adjust. Right. and we can do that because of the large contracts. We, we, uh, but, but when we had made that adjustment, we weren't using county tax dollars. We were using revenue. That was just to match revenue with expenditure and that's what I would expect to happen here. Provided we have that revenue. Well, that's where I'm saying the sheriff has to manage that. That's my point. So I think she will. She and her staff, so

that's, that's, I just want to make sure that's understood. Right OK. Any other Commissioner questions? Mr Brown, Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I, I have a lot of my questions were have been covered, so thank you very much. Just at the end of the day, I guess my final question would be , if we approve 310,000 and then there's a different fee schedule that's approved. We still only approved $310,000. Therefore, that fee schedule is now going to, it can't trump that 310, correct? Unless there's an amendment to the contract, no, no, OK. And so if there is, if it's not revenue neutral and the county would have to hypothetically subsidize at any point. she would have to, the sheriff would have to come back and get approval to do so. Yes, and if you want to, having pulled this from consent, if you want to include that condition in a motion for the approval of this contract. I'll look to the Attorney, but I think that would be appropriate. I mean, it needs this board's approval to enter into. And this board can, is the one who has the authority to modify that rate. So to the extent you want to approve this contract subject to some um trigger that it be um approve this contract, um, subject to, um, the average costs not exceeding $47 an hour without bringing it back to the board. Matt might have a better way to say that. I guess I would, I would need to look into that. That's because once the funds are given to the Sheriff's department, she gets to determine how they're spent, um, and so that would be tough to modify the contract in that way to say she could only send certain deputies for that position, um, unless we adjusted it as a whole. And then the other thing we can do if you'd like is to allow some time to look into that and have some conversation with the sheriff and bring it back at your next meeting. And then we can let you know

whether you have any discretion or whether it's within the sheriff's discretion and she is agreeable to it, um, because she , um, isn't here to have the benefit of this conversation. So this is not sensitive. Um, it is , it, it is, so it, it's not unusual that I get the contract after the service has already been provided. I believe the service is anticipated to begin in March. Um, but it's not a contract until you sign it. OK, it's a pleasure to board I that the contract OK. We got a, a motion to approved. We'll hear a second? 2 any discussion. Anybody want to add any language to, to that, or are we good with Commissioner Manning's All right, let's vote then OK We'll move on to items for decision, and I will turn that over to Madame Manager. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, and if I could call and introduce Harrison Marks. Um, your first item for decision is one that I think is pretty exciting. You've heard about this previously, um, in a, a closed session with regard to acquisition of property as we considered the potential to lease this property . Harrison Marks is the executive Director of the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust. Um, I told him he didn't need to come with any sort of prepared presentation this evening for you, um, but it's here and available so that you can see his face, and he's here to answer any questions about the coastal Land Trust itself or, um, the limited information that he might be able to share publicly about this pending transaction. Um,

but what's in your materials lays it out, um, that North Carolin that the Coastal Land Trust is a North Carolina nonprofit conservation organization. And we have experience working with them areentia Creek area is a coastal land trust um, uh, easement and we, um, we also have an easement, they have an easement on land that we own on Stantonsburg Road. So we have a couple of properties where we have worked together and the purpose is that land is identified, and then, um, an easement is put on top of it to limit the growth on there so that we may maintain it for conservation purposes, um, and open preservation of land. Well, coastal land trusts as an opportunity to, uh, acquire land , um, off of River Walk Drive in the Greenville City Limits, sort of at the back end of the Ironwood subdivision. It's about 65 acres of land, and that's what you're a materials describe as the property. Um, and we, the Coastal Land Trust reached out to us and, um, we've been meeting for, uh, a good bit of time on this. Um, Harrison and I and the team with Cultural Arts and Recreation and Engineer and PJ and the whole group of us and Jonas from the planning perspective, um, and we've talked about the different options. And then we brought the city of Greenville into the conversation because when we collaborate, things always get better, um, and particularly since this was in the city of Greenville's jurisdiction. And, um, there were some really exciting ideas that came to light in those conversations. So for example, the city of Greenville has their Greenway plan to come all the way up behind the VA and that's where it's coming to now. The city of Greenville also owns a parcel in between the VA and the highway interchange. Um, that could potentially one day connect and with appropriate easements, we could take an an away over the highway, um, we could take that all the way to

the back of Ironwood, which would be really neat. We actually went out and walked the property It goes right to the water where you could go down to the edge of the water. There's the potential for a kayak, picnic stop, if you wanted it there. The land would not necessarily be appropriate for fields or anything that would bring a large group of people, but it would be very appropriate for trails and particularly connecting trails, um, and so, uh, if you approve this item tonight, you will be approving a memorandum of understanding that that has some contingencies in it, um, but really lays out a collaboration between the Coastal Land Trust, the County of Pitt, and the city of Greenville, whereby the coastal land Trust would own this acquire this land. And once they acquire it, um, the city and the county would consider, and that would come back to you for approval, entering into a long-term lease, um, at a nominal cost, um, so that we can leverage, um, state and federal grant dollars like ParI funds, um, that we may have a better opportunity to receive than coastal land Trust. to be able to fund the development of trails and interconnectivity through this parcel, um, and preserve that land at the back. It is very, very wet land, and in your package on page, your agenda package on page 49, you'll actually see where the parcel is and what it looks like. It's partial 80594. So I'm happy to answer any questions. Harrison is happy to answer any questions and, um, and, and if you don't have any questions, I would ask for you to entertain a motion to approve the memorandum of understanding. Good. Any Commissioner questions ? Oh, question. Yes, sir. What's the, um cost expectation to cut the trails through there and keep them maintained I, I would have to tell you honestly, we don't have a set number because we haven't really designed the trails. We've done

similar work, uh, in other places. A lot of it has been done historically with volunteers or with our staff. We do have, uh, two people on staff that are qualified, uh, trail trail designers, trail builders. so to the, would that also include the bridges over the wetlands and with the proper permits if they had to go through somewhere there was considered wetlands. Well, the wetlands that are there are small and and uh I, I don't these days, especially, I'm sure they're not jurisdictional, so I don't think that that would be an issue right now it's pretty dry. You can walk through the property without the need for anything, but we're in a drought , so we, we'd have to see what happens over time. yeah. any other Commissioner questions ? It was a pleasure to board Motion to, um, enter into the memorandum of understanding with the Coastal Land Trust. Second, got a motion in a second, please vote. Thank you. OK, Madada Manager, next up. Yes , I'll call up Jim MacArthur and Randy Gentry, um, to present a request for an additional position in Emergency Management , um, for logistics and the accom and the associated operating expenses. Good evening , Chairman Smith, Commissioners and Ma Manager, uh, we, as the manager said, we are here to request a position and funds necessary in which to uh start providing medications for our EMS system. Uh, on December 16th, we were notified, uh, that effective April 1st at ECU Health will no longer provide medications to the EMS squads in the Pitt County EMS system. For the past 30 years, receiving medications from the hospital has been a long-standing practice though not required by any contract or agreement, and we're very grateful, uh, for their support over the years.

ECU Health is discontinu discontinuing this practice to align its ambulance restocking policy with governing laws and national standards. And after working with ECU Health, we have mutually agreed to extend the transition deadline to May 1st. to give us time to implement the necessary systems and equipment for a smooth transition across the EMS squads. and approving this request will allow us time to recruit the right candidate and order the necessary equipment, ensuring operations are up and running by May 1st. The request is for 235,000 $90 excuse me, 235,921, uh, to for the position, the equipment, and the vehicle necessary in which to make this pro uh project successful, and that is our uh request. Do you have any questions? Any Commissioner questions, motion to. Uh, would this be an advantage to the citizenry of Pitt County, uh. Water Manages or disadvantages. Well, the medications are necessary to stock on our truck as uh EMS protocol requires us to have these medications on our truck. So it's something we, we have to continue to do is just uh for over 30 years, the hospital has, has graciously provided those and, and so that they can become in an, in compliance with new standards and regulations. We're going to have to foot the bill for it, and it's not something that we already have staff to do and manage medications I don't I'm sorry. If I can just add Add to that answer as well. By having a dedicated person because it is unusual for us to come mid-budget cycle and ask for a headcount. By having that dedicated person, we will minimize errors and have somebody's full attention on medication management, um, as a full-time job and to me that

will enhance the quality of service provided to our citizens , assuring that every ambulance is accurately stopped and monitored in compliance with the law. So it will enhance the service. Commissioner Mann. Well, my question is either to Mr. Gentry or Ms. Gallagher. would any portion of this increase this, be able to be added into the billing the fee schedule or whatever of, of the billing that'll go out. because I remember we, we approved that at some point in time. I mean, not by a line item, knows, but we do bill for our services, but we've never I don't, I, I don't think we can bill for the actual medication. per patient. that's, that's my question. I mean, uh, if, if, if it's possible part of our services when we respond. the things on the truck come, they're there and provided, but so we may already be collecting for that service. Not specifically for a medication, but for the service. I mean nothing's for free, so. That's right. So, and we adjust and you've recently adjusted the , the prices that we charge so that we match the Medicare, Medicaid rates. Right. So, as you see those rates come up, you would anticipate that the um cost of that, which includes the medications for that services would be built into an extent. One of the things that makes this um palatable mid-year is that the service is provided have increased in their volume at the same time we have contracted outside billing and collection. So we are maximizing the billing and collection revenues that are coming into the county at the same time we're increasing the ridership and providing more complex care, um, in our community, despite our best efforts, there's complex care on those ambulances which result in um fees coming in.

Those fees coming in above prior budgeting amounts have created a a a fund balance um that is restricted to EMS use and so those restricted funds will cover this cost and all of those um so you have fees and then you have your EMS tax, and each year when you consider budget, you look at the fees plus the EMS tax against the cost of the service provided. And so I believe based on the fees and the current tax, we can absorb this additional position and the cost of the medications, and we will watch it. Emergency Management staff, Randy and Jim MacArthur and the finance Office and I will watch it very closely so that if any point during the year there appears to be an imbalance. We let the board know and we adjust as needed. I mean, I'm just assuming that like if I go to the doctor and they give me a medication in the office, it's going to be on my bill Yes. You know but, but the amount of the bill that you're going to pay or the amount of that bill that we're going to receive rarely equates to the amount of the bill. because you'll see if it's covered by insurance, for example, there'll be a discounted, um, write off on that bill. You may have a part or not have a part, but if your bill captures your ride, your medication, your service but you are a Medicare recipient It really doesn't matter what that actual cost may be. You're going to get that Medicaid rate for that service. So you can build it into the bill, but it may or may not, um, ultimately be collectible. We also are very sensitive um in assuring that people are not discouraged from calling an ambulance due to cost. We're just as diligent to make sure that people don't call ambulances if they don't need one. but for those if you legitimately need an ambulance. We don't want cost to be a

factor in your ability to utilize that service. Um, their mission is to save lives. and so we also don't want the bills to add on too much additional fee. although we do want to capture our costs to the best of our ability. I think it's a delicate balance. Well, that, all I can say is keep working on that delicate balance there. That's, that's all I ask. Thank you. Any other Commissioner questions? It's a pleasure to board. I heard something about tax Does it mean, uh, there is a possibility of an increase in taxes. I don't believe so. So my mention of taxes was to say that when you add the taxes that we're currently collecting at at our current rate for EMS. and you add the fees that are coming in from the transport services. um, that that would be sufficient to cover the cost of this additional position and the medications that we have to purchase. I didn't want the taxes to have to go up. in order to cover this cost. It is always our goal to keep taxes as low as possible, um, and I do not anticipate um attacks increase in the EMS tax in the budget that we are presenting for, um, your current year and then we'll continue to monitor it closely, and then remember ultimately no tax changes without a majority vote of this board. You control that. OK. OK, it was a pleasure to board. Motion to approval. Second. Got a motion in a second, please vote. My life is still All right, thank you, Randy All right, we'll move on to number 3, Bat Manager. Yes, this one I'll turn over to County Attorney Matt Gibson, um, to bring back an item that you

heard about a long time ago. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, the next item is acceptance of uh an offer to purchase county own property is laid out in the agenda, um, as Mada Manager stated, this was brought to the board, uh, due to an initial offer by Ms. Williams for a 0.09 acres of land in the uh in Farmville, it's identified as, uh, Pitt County Partial 11346. Um, per, uh, the board's request and per statutory procedures, um, the bid was accepted and it was placed as an upset bid. Um, notice was given, um, in the Daily Reflector, and as you can see in your, uh, summary of information, there was numerous bids that were made all throughout, um, December, January, um, with the final bid coming January 23rd. After that final bid, we went through the process again of advertising, no further bids have been offered at this point. And so you'll see the final cost or the final bid of 7900 for that parcel. At this point, you can, uh, make a motion, second to accept, um, you can reject, um, or again you can have a counteroffer at this point. Mr. Chair, I'm moved that we accept the offer and authorize the Chairman of the sign a resolution. Yeah, we've got a motion on the 2nd. Please vote. OK, moving on to number 4, Madada Manager. Yes, it has been recommended that you nominate Marlow Blake, Sue Ann Phipps, James MacArthur, and James Pinner for reappointment to the Pitt County Child Fatality Prevention Team. Their terms are up. They are all eligible, um, for reappointment without exception. OK, it's a pleasure to board motion to approve. All right. Got a motion in a second. Please vote. OK, we are down to Commissioner comments. I'll start from my right, Commissioner Brown, no

comment. Thank you very much. OK , Mr. Berkin Williams. Tomorrow is election day. to highlight more and then just see. Starts at 6:30 and ends at 7:30, 6:30 a.m. and ends at 7:30 p.m. Go vote. Don't vote, don't complain. Commissioner Homan Commissioner Manning our prayers on the. er news right now. Yes, yes Absolutely Commissioner Nunnly. No problem Now Huggins Mr. McLahhorn. Listener I'll just say the same thing to Sheriff Manning said on especially if you have someone in the military as I do, um just keep those families and those people in your prayers that are in the military over there right now. Thank you. OK, thank you for being with us tonight. We have a closed session to go into. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's been suggested that this body go into close session under the following grounds, one to consult with an attorney employed or retained by the public body in order to preserve attorney-client privilege under no client statute 143 318 11A3, which privilege is hereby acknowledged. 2, to establish or to instruct the public body in negotiating the price or other material terms for the acquisition of property under North Carolina General Statute 143-318 1183, and 3 to prevent the disclosure of information that is not considered a public record under North College General Statute 143-31810. All right. Thank you, Matt. Yes, ma'am. I'd like to know where the young people came from the night. We didn't even recognize. They were just some I've not seen that. They were just some students from randomly here from East Carolina . We checked on it. They were not from a particular group. And so, Mr. Chair, if we could get a we get a motion to go into closed session. I got a motion

to hear a second. All right, please vote.

Oh, certainly, if you just want

to turn around and

That We're ready Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, Pursuant to 143 3 1811 A3, uh, all settlements, our terms of settlements should be reported to the public body and entered into the minutes. And so we do have a settlement, um caption of that one was Ronald Ray Smith, first Pitt County. It was settled in September 27, 2023 by the former County Attorney, and this was done without the consent of this board. Uh, the consideration of the settlement was 150,000 for release of all claims. Um, that settlement expended no more county funds as we had already met our deductible of $50,000. OK, thank you, Matt Um anybody have anything? I think we need a motion on the minutes. I'll make a motion to approve the minutes from January 12th got a motion got on the got 2nd, please vote on that. And then we'll entertain a motion to dismiss. You ready? Ready. Of the motion that we adjourn this meeting. Got a motion to adjourn to hear second. When we go home. All right. Please vote. Thank you, everybody. I'm already sleeping