The meeting will be held on March 20, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. at the Cooperative Extension, 300 Industrial Drive in New Bern. View the agenda here.
CALL TO ORDER
ROLL CALL
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
APPROVE AGENDA
1. CONSENT AGENDA
A. MARCH 6, 2023, REGULAR SESSION MINUTES
The Board is requested to approve the Minutes of March 6, 2023, as presented in the following document.
B. TAX RELEASES AND REFUNDS
The Board is requested to approve the tax releases and refunds, as presented in the following document.
C. SOCIAL SERVICES – ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE CHAFEE (LINKS) TRANSITIONAL FUNDS – BUDGET AMENDMENT
The John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, LINKS in North Carolina, assists current and former eligible foster care youth and young adults ages 14-21 in achieving self-sufficiency through support services, resources, and LINKS Special Funds.
This additional funding is needed to continue to access the LINKS State Scholarship funding. All expenses are 100% reimbursed. There is no County match.
The Board is requested to approve a budget amendment, in the amount of $10,000, as shown in the following document.
D. EMERGENCY SERVICES – HMEP GRANT – LP GAS TRAINING – BUDGET AMENDMENT
A Haz-Mat Emergency Preparedness Grant (HMEP) has been awarded to the Craven Pamlico Counties LEPC to host an LP Gas Operations and Training class for first responders. The grant is to help first responders be more resilient in response to incidents involving LP Gas. This includes live fire training of personnel giving realistic experiences dealing with LP Gas. Personnel from Craven and Pamlico Counties will participate.
The Board is requested to approve a budget amendment, in the amount of $11 ,800, as shown in the following document.
E. PROCLAMATION – APRIL THE MONTH OF THE MILITARY CHILD
The Board will be requested to adopt the proclamation, as shown in the following document, designating the month of April 2023 as the month of the military child in Craven County.
F. PROCLAMATION – CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH
The Board will be requested to adopt the proclamation, as shown in the following document, proclaiming April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in Craven County.
Board Action: A roll call vote is needed to approve the Consent Agenda items.
DEPARTMENTAL MATTERS:
2. Social Services – Caterer Bid for Nutritional Program: Geoffrey Marett
Social Services Director, Geoffrey Marett, will present to the Board a request for approval of the caterer for Congregate and Home Delivered Meals for Fiscal Years 23-24 and 24-25. A memo with specific information is shown in the following document.
Alissa Andrewsbrown, Supervisor of these programs, will be present for any questions.
Board Action: Approve Caterer Contract for Fiscal Years 23-24 and 24-25.
3. Human Resources – Trillium Opioid Remediation Grant Funding: Amber Parker
Trillium has awarded the Opioid Task Force a $50,000 grant in-connection with the Trillium Opioid Remediation Request for Funding. The funds will be used to purchase low-cost naloxone to distribute at no cost to municipal, non-profit, and private organizations within Craven County that serve people who are at risk of experiencing or witnessing an opioid overdose to assist with harm reduction. Craven County’s Opioid Task Force Coordinator will complete low-cost naloxone purchases and coordinate distribution and supply replenishment based upon need to all municipalities within Craven County including New Bern, Havelock, River Bend, Trent Woods, Dover, Cove City, and Vanceboro.
Naloxone distribution will include all volunteer fire and rescue squads, municipal fire departments, municipal police departments and the Craven County Sheriff’s Office.
Naloxone will also be distributed to non-profit organizations including, but not limited to, Religious Community Services, The Gathering Place, the Coastal Women’s Shelter, Vanceboro Christian Help Center, Merci Clinic, and Promise Place to increase naloxone availability across the community to reduce opioid-related overdoses and deaths where they are likely to occur. Naloxone distribution will also be considered based upon need for private agencies where overdoses do or may occur such as shopping centers, and large employers.
100% of the Opioid Remediation Program funding from Trillium will be used to purchase low-cost naloxone. Craven County’s Opioid Task Force Coordinator will provide training and/or training materials and overdose education to all agencies receiving the naloxone as required by the Craven County Opioid Task Force Distribution Standing Order.
No County match is required.
A budget amendment in the amount of $50,000, grant proposal, grant award email, grant fund purchase plan email and grant contract are shown in the following documents.
Board Action: Approve a budget amendment in the amount of $50,000 for the purchase of low-cost naloxone kits; a roll call vote is needed
4. Finance – Reimbursement Declaration – Sudan Temple Property: Craig Warren
On Jan. 11, 2023, the County closed on the purchase of the Sudan Temple property for $6 million plus closing costs. The source of the funds used to purchase this property came from the County’s fund balance. To preserve the County’s ability to reimburse itself from any future proceeds on a tax-exempt borrowing, the County must declare its intent no later than 60 days after the original expenditure. The following document is a copy of the reimbursement declaration that was executed on March 7th, 2023, for your review. It is requested that the Board make a motion to ratify the Finance Director’s prior execution of the reimbursement declaration.
Board Action: Ratify prior execution of reimbursement declaration by Finance Director
5. Information Technology – Great Grant Contract: Steve Bennett
On March 28, 2022, the Craven County Board of Commissioners voted to submit a letter of support for Brightspeed’s (formerly Centurylink) Great Grant application and committed up to $500,000 in ARPA funds as a match should Brightspeed be awarded the Grant by the State. The Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Program funds the deployment of broadband within unserved areas of economically distressed counties. The grant helps bring high-speed internet to thousands of North Carolinians, businesses and farms in the most rural and remote areas of the state. These areas include both Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties as well as rural census trac~s located in development Tier 3 areas that are currently served by less than 25 megabytes per second download and 3 megabytes per second upload speeds. Underserved areas are defined as US Census tracts, that have no households served with high-speed internet access. In September 2022, Brightspeed was awarded more than $90 million in grants to install broadband internet to rural communities across 29 counties, including Craven. After review of the award, it was determined that Craven County’s final match was $250,000.
Board Action: To authorize the County Manager and staff to finalize the necessary Great Grant contract between the State of North Carolina, Brightspeed
and Craven County; to execute the final contract and to pay the County’s match of up to $250,000 pursuant to the final contract.
6. APPOINTMENTS
A. Pending:
B. Current:
– Craven Clean Sweep
– Craven County Planning Board
– Emergency Medical Services
– Fireman’s Relief Fund Board
– Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC)
– Local Emergency Planning Committee
– Volunteer Agricultural District (District 6)
– Fireman’s Relief Fund (District 5)
– Highway 70 Corridor Committee
– Danny Walsh (First appointed 2004)
– Bobby Darden (First appointed 2013)
– Fireman’s Relief Fund Board – all seek reappointment
– Keith Morris (TWP 1 Vanceboro)
– Marlow Jones (TWP 1 Vanceboro)
– Matthew Spirko (TWP 2 Tri Community)
– Milton Everette (TWP 5 Harlowe)
– Oswald Chance (TWP 7)
– Robert’Blalock (TWP 7)
– Fire Tax Commissioner – all seek reappointment
– Sammy Lilly (TWP 1 Vanceboro)
– Tommy Cowan (TWP 2 Little Swift Creek)
– Terry Gaskins (TWP 2 Little Swift Creek)
– Jackie McKinney (TWP 7)
– Thomas Gaskins (TWP 2 Tri Community)
– Emergency Medical Services – seeks reappointment
– Chuck Strickland (Vidant)
C. UPCOMING: Terms Expiring
– Juvenile Crime Prevention Council
– Jordan Sawyer (Attorney)
– Ira Whitford (County Manager Appointee)
– Chip Hughes
– Fire Tax Commissioners Board
– John Hawkins (TWP 3 Cove City Fire)
7. COUNTY ATTORNEY’S REPORT: Arey Grady
A. Initial Offer to Purchase Real Property – Lees Avenue, New Bern (Parcel Number 8-006-173)
The County has received an offer in the amount of $2,000.00 for this real property, which was acquired jointly with the City of New Bern through a tax foreclosure, with past due taxes and costs of foreclosure totaling $2,796.90. The tax value of this property is $4,000.00. The following documents contain copies of the Offer to Purchase, Foreclosure Deed, GIS information, and proposed resolution approving the offer and authorizing the upset bid process.
Note that this property is jointly owned with the City of New Bern, which has already approved this initial offer.
Should the Board of Commissioners approve this transaction, the proposed resolution should be adopted, which will in turn authorize advertisement for upset bids. Once the upset bid process is concluded, this transaction will be brought back before the Board of Commissioners for final approval.
Board Action: Adopt resolution approving transaction and authorizing upset bid process.
B. Opioid Settlement Phase 2
The North Carolina Department of Justice recently announced new settlements with several defendants in the opioid class action lawsuit in which Craven County is a named plaintiff. Correspondence from the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners describes the settlement in relevant part as follows:
“As you may have heard NCDOJ recently announced five new opioid settlements with CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Allergan, and Teva. These settlements will result in an additional $600 million to North Carolina state and local governments. This is in addition to the first round of settlements which resulted in $750 million being distributed to North Carolina state and local governments, with 85% going to local governments.”
The distribution formula will mirror the original MOA allocation model outlined in the first settlement agreement, which your county signed in 2021. This is good news, and we hope you will sign the agreements as soon as possible.
County staff and legal counsel (both the county attorney and the county’s class-action counsel) recommend approval of the settlement as proposed.
The following documents contain a resolution authorizing execution of opioid settlements and application of the MOA to additional settlements and funds.
Board Action: Approve the proposed settlement by adopting the enclosed resolution and authorize the Chairman and County staff to take any action necessary to executed and deliver necessary documents for same, including the enclosed settlement agreement.
8. COUNTY MANANGER’S REPORT: Jack Veit
9. COMMISSIONERS’ REPORTS
10. RECESS TO RECONVENE IN A WORK SESSION
Submitted by Alison Newcombe