In addition to hearing the initial presentation of County Manager Wayne Vest's proposed FY2014 budget, the Moore County Commissioners got the ball rolling on two key initiatives during their Tuesday, May 7 regular meeting: a deal to buy into a water plant expansion in Harnett County, and the purchase of a site for a new fire and EMS substation in the northeastern corner of the County.
More water from Harnett
Commissioners Larry Caddell and Jimmy Melton have been working with Public Utilities staff to narrow down the list of options the County has for increasing its water supply. After investigating the alternatives and negotiating with Harentt County officials, they settled on buying into the expansion of Harnett County's water plant, which draws its supply from the Cape Fear River.
During Tuesday's meeting, the Board authorized Public Utilities to issue a Request for Qualifications for a consultant to develop a preliminary engineering report and environmental assessment -- the first step toward securing funding for the project. Public Utilities Director Randy Gould said the overall project will take 3.5 to 4 years to complete.
As proposed, the County would pay Harnett County $5.25 million to purchase 3.0 million gallons per day of capacity in its water plant, as well as $200,000 for infrastructure improvements needs to move that water to the Moore County line. That will permit Moore County to pay Harnett $1.92 per thousand gallons for water, compared to the $2.40 per thousand gallons it is paying now.
A waterline extension along NC Highway 73, booster pumps, and a new water tank near West End will add another $5.4 million to the cost of the project.
"This is the first step in a twenty-year plan for water," Caddell said. That plan will also include at least three additional wells to be drilled on sites on Linden Road
Speaking on behalf of both the Moore County Chamber of Commerce Board and the Water Task Force of the Moore County Summit, Chamber Director Patrick Coughlin commended the Commissioners on their decision to move forward to secure additional water resources.
New Northeast Fire/EMS substation
The Commissioners approved an offer to purchase 3.8 acres of land on Carthage-Glendon road from Jordan Timberlands as the site of a new fire and EMS substation that will serve Northeast Moore. A sketch of the proposed site plan shows a modular unit that will be used as an office and sleeping quarters, as well as a sixty-foot by sixty-foot building to house vehicles and equipment.
Public Safety Director Bryan Phillips said the intention was to have the facility blend in with the existing homesites in the area.
County Attorney Misty Leland explained that a title research revealed two exceptions with the property that she is working to have resolved. The first would give International Paper fifty percent of the royalties from development of mineral resources on the site. The second would give an International Paper subsidiary fifty percent of the royalties from any compensation derived from telecommunications facilities on the property. She noted that the County would likely place a communications tower on the site and might want to lease space on that tower to cellphone or other communications companies.
"It won't stop you from doing what you want to do," she said. "We can wait to close until we get it taken off."
Responding to a question from Commissioner Picerno, Phillips confirmed that the $15,000 land purchase would be paid for with capital reserves in the Advanced Life Support fund.
Rough landing for airport
Three Moore County Airport Authority requests for County funding met with some stiff headwinds during Tuesday's meeting -- and a caution against expecting county taxpayers to fund airport improvements.
Airport Executive Director Steve Borden came looking for a local match for three projects:
• Terminal upgrades paid for with Federal Aviation Administration funds, requiring a $16,667 local match.
• Purchase and clearing of the Priest property, adjacent to the airport, requiring a local match of $26,000.
• A temporary control tower for use at the airport to manage traffic during the 2014 US Open Golf Tournaments, with the Airport Authority and County Commissioners splitting the $63,632 cost.
All three items were ultimately tabled pending additional information, but Chairman Nick Picerno laid out the Board's key concern:
"I don't want any money coming from the Moore County general taxpayer going into the airport," Picerno told Borden. "You get the sales tax rebate [that is, the County rebates to the Airport County sales taxes collected on the sale of aviation fuel]."
"We want to support you and want the airport to be a showplace. We don't want to expand the airport. We want to keep it right where it is."
"If it [the funding] is coming from the Moore County taxpayer, I can't vote for it, Picerno concluded.
What Picerno and the rest of the Board apparently would support is paying the local match for the terminal upgrades and Priest property using funds derived from the hotel occupancy tax. An interlocal agreement among the County, Airport Authority, and Convention and Visitors Bureau allows a portion of the tax to be used to support the airport.
But Picerno was unclear whether those funds could be used for these specific purposes, and asked to have the matter tabled pending County Attorney Leland's review of the agreement. The Board voted unanimously to table.
On the matter of the temporary control tower, Commissioner Randy Saunders noted that the County Manager's FY2014 budget anticipated increased airport revenues due to the US Opens. He added that it is common for a business expecting an increase in traffic and sales to expect to have increased costs.
That prompted Picerno to propose that the County pay half the cost of the control tower, but, if fuel sales at the airport were more than expected due to the US Opens, the Airport Authority would pay the County back.
"The whole county will benefit from the increased commerce during the Opens," Picerno said. "We do believe it is a winner, but we are trying to minimize the impact on the Moore County taxpayer."
Picerno asked Borden to come back with a firm fuel sales projection, and the Board tabled the item.
Picerno questions business incentive
A $15,500 economic development incentive to upgrade sewer service to International Tray Pads & Packaging in Aberdeen passed in a three-to-one vote, with Chairman Picerno opposed.
Picerno noted that the Aberdeen company is owned by Pactiv, LLC, which is in turn owned by Reynolds Holdings, "which had a $2.6 billion profit in either the last quarter or the last year." He questioned whether a company with profits of that magnitude really needed $15,500 from County taxpayers, and a matching $15,500 from taxpayers in Aberdeen.
Commissioner Saunders defended the incentive, noting that the County had agreed up front to match the town's contribution.
"The company has already employed thirty-three [the number called for in the incentive package] and are pushing to forty-five," Saunders said. "A number of them were former Gulistan [Carpet] employees."
"A company with that much profit has the potential to bring us more than thirty-three jobs," Commissioner Jimmy Melton added.
Other Business
In other business during the Board of Commissioners Tuesday, May 7 meeting the Board:
• Called a Public Hearing for Tuesday May 21 on text amendments to the Zoning Ordinance dealing with Group Care Homes.
• At the Request of Cooperative Extension, approved a resolution asking a federal bankruptcy court to look favorably on offers to purchase the Chatham County poultry processing assets of the bankrupt Omtrom USA, LLC. The hope is that a buyer will reopen the facility, providing jobs for the nearly 1300 employees laid off when the plant closed, as well as a market for local poultry farmers.
• Approved the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council's FY2014 funding plan, which divides a $181,745 state grant among Moore County Youth Services, Communities in Schools and the Council itself.
• Authorized Sheriff Neil Godfrey to enter into mutual assistance agreements with the law enforcement agencies of county municipalities and adjacent counties.
• Approved an amendment to the policy for extending water and wastewater lines to allow those lines to be extended across two intermediate lots in hardship cases.
• Approved water tank maintenance agreements with Utility Services Co, Inc. for maintenance of two tanks on Power Plant Road and one on Monticello Road.
• Approved a quitclaim deed that transfers the site of the former Vass wastewater treatment plant back to its original owner, Alliene, LLC. The town's sewer system is now connected to the County's treatment plant in Addor.
• Approved the sale of an unused county van to Friend to Friend in exchange for a promise that it will be used for public benefit.
