Observations from the June 3 County Commission Meeting
On June 3rd, about 27 people were in attendance, many for a special occasion.
First, though, David Jackson from the Chamber of Commerce spoke during the public hearing portion to announce that this was the second day of Western North Carolina's Open for Business Week. He also thanked the Commission for their funding, including support for early childhood. (I noticed the Children’s Council neither asked for nor received funding this year, while a new line of funding showed up for the Chamber’s project.) Jackson commented that “we are seen as a community that can be a change agent, that people look at how we do things as a model,” and he thanked the Commission for their support.
Such a fascinating concept—a public/private partnership regardless of background or agency or religious beliefs, that sounds so laudatory. If you hear a bite in my tone, read my response to the county commission's decision to cut funding for the hospitality house.
Anyway, moving on to something more pleasant to observe. A fellow Girl Scout with me half a century ago, Anita Fogle retired as clerk of the commission after 24 years as of June 1st. The commissioners spoke warmly of her service, and her family stood with her so we could all stand and applaud her service. She stated how much she enjoyed working with every commissioner “and even Deron” (the county manager).
Next, the commissioners made a proclamation expressing deep appreciation of Caldwell Community College and that they looked forward to continued cooperation.
Lindsay Sullivan from App Healthcare reported on their agency’s review and recommendations of how to award over $500,000 dollars our county received as part of the opioid settlement cases. Seven proposals applied for over a million dollars, and they could fund all but two of the requests. The funding went to High Country Caregivers, High Country Community Health, Mediation and Restorative Justice Center, and Western Youth Center. The board appropriately thanked her and AppHealthcare for their service in managing these awards.
Next, representatives from our local social services and projects on aging proclaimed June 15th as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Neglect and exploitation of vulnerable and older adults are grossly under-reported. In the statement approved by this board, it claimed we have a responsibility to support the safety, welfare, and dignity of North Carolina’s vulnerable and older adults. Hmm, I wonder if that includes those without housing?
As part of their responsibility to oversee state and federal funds that support local social services, the board had to approve an adjustment to some block grant funds. There was a discussion of some challenges with delivery of meals, and the representative thanked the board for increasing the food allowance–their ability to provide meals is based on that food allowance. They also have to be strategic about planning the routes to serve more people. She estimated they deliver about 90 meals a day. One commissioner seemed very sympathetic, open to providing further support in a pinch. There was a discussion too faint for me to pick up details, but apparently one source erratically funds them, one year yes, one year no, and they never explain why. I was struck at this report of the piecemeal support for governmental agencies and the challenges they face. It's almost as if you wish there were some private services that could collaborate with them with the full support of the county, but I digress.
Next up, my ears perked up and eyebrows raised, because there was actually a representative from SDR, which I finally found out means: Southern Disaster Recovery, the agency the Commission had already reluctantly approved funding for a previous change order in light of such slow progress on debris clean-up. A governmental affairs representative for SDR explained their request for the Commission to grant the increase from $3.8 million to 5.9 million “not-to-exceed” amount. And Debris Tech, the required monitoring company, needed an increase from $1.5 million to 2 million.
The county commissioners have received calls every week from people complaining that they don’t see any progress on the debris clean-up process. I didn’t exactly feel as if I came away more enlightened by the representative’s comments, but I now understand that one reason for the cost change was that one facility had been providing free mulching services to them, and now it was full, so they had to go elsewhere where it was more expensive and also overloaded.
At any rate, it seems as if SDR has cleared ¼ of sites they had identified as needing attention, and they anticipated being able to clear the rest within the next three weeks, thanks to 7 trucks now being available and the company making our county a top priority (welcome news). Also, detailed billing of all work will be provided to the monitoring company, something they can review in the future if the Commissioners ever want to fully understand what the county received for these funds, half already covered by federal sources, and the rest anticipated to be reimbursable. The SDR representative commented that this monitoring was a positive federal solution after some mismanagement of disaster funding in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Commissioner Marsh, unhappy with any change order but especially from SDR, had some salty comments. In the end, the County has little choice but to approve this change because to stop the contract and seek another contract elsewhere would cost more money and time. So the change order passed 4-1.
Maintenance Director Robert Marsh reported on the bid process to build a sports facility at the Old Cove Creek School, and one commissioner mentioned an interest in a pickleball court.
Elections Director Matt Snyder asked for and received support for out of state travel.
After these agenda items, they then voted to approve the proposed budget, including the cut of $10,000 from the Hospitality House. There was no discussion other than a note of one change to take $8,900 from the fund balance to address one agency’s additional need.
I reviewed the original budget proposal to make sense of one of the last-minute changes (other than the Hospitality House cut that I discussed at length elsewhere) that made it appear as if they were cutting an associate fire marshal position. Based on my review, the commissioners must have decided not to commit to fund a brand new position, instead returning to a limited assistant position. A previous commission meeting included a report on the challenges faced by our sole fire marshal, but the goal then was to seek state funding, so that may partly explain this decision.
At any rate, I am all for cautious management of public funding. I would simply prefer transparent and good faith explanations for unexpected cuts.
After voting to approve this budget, several commissioners spoke vaguely about making hard decisions and that they hope for the best outcome. One Commissioner appreciated the chance to hear firsthand from the different agencies during the budget sessions, the same sessions that were never advertised on a public calendar (not that I'm bitter).
Brian Bonville gave an update on the stream flow rehabilitation assistance program. He described some work on the section between the Temple to the Ag Center with goals to reduce flood risk, including moving a concrete wall left from an old factory. Riverkeepers check on most of the streams and rivers, but Boone Creek hasn't been part of that and needs some extra attention. Much of the work is only partially funded from the state, with significant funding from the Nature Conservancy. Wow, such a lovely thing when private and public agencies work together for the common good.
A change order for the new EMS facility was hesitantly approved, with the goal of insisting that a representative attend if they have to make any new requests.
Next, the board approved canceling the July 1st board meeting. It was announced that they would be celebrating the new improvements of the Sanitation Scalehouse Facility on June 9 at 10 AM. One commissioner celebrated the graduation of 362 students and appreciation for the administration. There was mention of a WAMY fundraiser.
The chair concluded by saying, “We tried to do what's best for the citizenry overall, and we are blessed to live in Watauga County.”
Perhaps instead he should have said, We who are lucky enough to have housing are blessed to live in Watauga County.