MINUTES

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

COUNTY OF HENDERSON NOVEMBER 7, 2003

The Henderson County Board of Commissioners met for a special called meeting at 8:30 a.m. in the Cafeteria Building at the WNC Justice Academy in Edneyville. The purpose of the meeting was a Fall Retreat (day one of two days).

Those present were: Chairman Grady Hawkins

Commissioner Bill Moyer

Commissioner Charlie Messer

Commissioner Shannon Baldwin

County Manager David E. Nicholson

County Attorney Angela S. Beeker

Planning Director Karen C. Smith

Budget and Management Director Selena Coffey

Fire Marshal Rocky Hyder

County Engineer Gary Tweed

Finance Director J. Carey McLelland

Deputy Clerk to the Board Amy Brantley

Facilitator Steve Allen

Clerk to the Board Elizabeth W. Corn.

Also present were: Larry Rogers, President of Partners for Economic Progress

Dick Baird, WHKP Radio Commentator

Jack Lynch, County Comprehensive Plan Chairman

Absent was: Vice-Chairman Larry Young.

CALL TO ORDER/WELCOME

Chairman Hawkins called the meeting to order at approximately 8:37 a.m. and welcomed all in attendance.

Selena Coffey reviewed some housekeeping items with everyone, breaks, bathrooms, lunch, etc.

Steve Allen stated that his responsibility for the retreat was process and the Board’s responsibility was content. He started out by asking everyone present to name the good things about Henderson County:

History

People

Setting

Weather

Quality of life

Growing

Stable economy

Community values

Good government

It’s home

Natural environment

Great opportunities for future

Great place to raise kids

Great place to retire

Safe place to live

Culture/Heritage

Community services

Access to good healthcare

Education

Mr. Allen then asked for a list of constituent concerns which were enumerated as follows:

Junkyards

Animals

What neighbors are doing with their property

Septic tanks

Out migration of local human resources

Traffic

Growth

Transportation

Absence of planning

Losing sense of “place” because of growth

Cost of living

Cost of housing

Cost of land

Decline in agri-business

Mr. Allen then reviewed some of the comments from written surveys and read excerpts aloud. Some of the comments were:

Government cannot do it all

Government should protect water, air, noise limits, etc.

Eliminate wasteful spending

Send all developers back to Florida and South Carolina

Make expenditure of every tax dollar count

Give up old courthouse restoration and tear it down

Protect and improve existing neighborhoods

Roads and bicycles don’t mix

Person buys property and pays taxes and should be able to do what they want with it

Solid waste

Government needs to listen to the people

Jobs

Lower taxes

The Consultant’s executive summary of the questionnaire listed the following as being least and most important issues:

Most Important

Protect air quality, water quality, and prevent development in the flood prone areas

Spending priorities

Air and water quality

Farmland protection

Open space protection

Least Important

Cost of affordable housing

Regulation of outdoor lighting

Establish architectural standards

Programs that encourage tourism

Support public transportation

Following a short recess, Mr. Allen distributed a hand-out, attached as “A” which defined a strategic issue, listed three kinds of strategic issues and the benefits resulting from the identification of strategic issues. Everyone then brainstormed, listing strategic issues:

1. Where should economic emphasis be?

Travel & Tourism

Business

Agriculture

Have/maintain a stable thriving economy/balance

2. Prioritize fiscal priorities

Only have so much money

Only so many things we can do

Funding

3. Must take (or continue to take) the pulse of community citizens

Communication

Population growth continues, in-migration with different mixture of interest, education, background, etc.

Rate of growth and demographics impact demand

State demands

Policy changes

How do you accommodate?

4. County government’s response to service needs in response to growth

How efficient and effective are we in performing these services?

5. Hispanic population or Diversity of population

Culture

Difference in values

Mass transit needed “buses smell bad”

Sports, recreation interests

Culture – raised in a democracy that understands responsibility vs. doesn’t understand the concept

Different expectations – rural, urban

Communication

Education

Government role: public health, DSS, eventually use more services

Matter of acceptance

6. Our relationship with other governmental units within our county

State and Feds pushing regionalism

A lot of mandates

How do we deal with other governments?

State pushes to save themselves

Dollar underuse of regionalism

7. How do we do what we “have” to do?

Staff

Commissioners

Deal with growth

Technology

Facilities

People

Be efficient and effective

8. Fundamental functions and responsibilities of County Government

Perception vs. reality

Do fundamentals and do them well

Fundamentals are changing

How to plan for changes when State makes the rules?

9. Mitigate the impact of urbanization on the environment

Soil and sedimentation control

Storm water run-off

Open space

Built environment

Impact on natural/open space

Different opinions re: who is responsible?

Smart growth

Steve Allen distributed a hand-out of key definitions “B” and “C – The Role of the County”.

Lunch

We broke for lunch and enjoyed spaghetti and salad in the cafeteria of the Justice Academy.

After lunch everyone worked hard at cleaning up the strategic issues:

MISSION OF GOVERNMENT

Provide public safety

Carry out state/federal mandates

Insure quality educational opportunities

Quality of life & public welfare

Supplement services that aren’t covered – authorized vs. mandated

Establish policy to implement

GROWTH MANAGEMENT

Preserve natural resources

Indentify/define level of growth desired in each area

(what is happening and what you would like to happen – kind, where, how much)

Infrastructure and role of utilities

Impact of growth on: culture

traffic

service delivery

crime

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Analyze component parts and pursue accordingly (agriculture, retirement, industry)

Maintain balance of components

Utility planning – proactive vs. reactive (heretofore has been decided by developers)

Pursue joint efforts with: City/County

County/State

County/other Counties

Agency/Agency

Public/Private

FISCAL PRIORITIES

Provide facilities: Schools, Court System, DSS, Law Enforcement, County Government, Library, etc.

Programs with citizen input

Pursue all other funding opportunities to preserve tax rate

Develop alternative ways to provide services (study effectiveness and efficiency)

Insure funding levels are concurrent with services being provided.

The meeting broke up about 3:30 p.m.

Elizabeth W. Corn, Clerk to the Board Grady Hawkins, Chairman