[7:00] public hearing to order.
>> First up this evening is the first
[7:04] public hearing. The purpose of the
public hearing is to receive public
[7:07] comment on the consideration of the
proposed application for the community
[7:11] development block disaster grant uh
recovery grant. Mr.
[7:19] Good evening, commissioners. Um, we
talked about this at our last meeting
[7:23] when we uh did our public hearing for
the intent to apply for funding. Again,
[7:27] this is a community development block
grant disaster recovery funds uh which
[7:31] is being uh which uh is we qualify
because we're one of the Helen disaster
[7:37] counties uh that been designated. Uh the
reason why we're applying for these
[7:42] funds is in the first round of funding
uh they have a prioritization schedule
[7:46] and parks and recreation is on that
first prioritization. So it gives us an
[7:50] opportunity to uh look at uh our
greenway expansion and that uh in
[7:55] conversations with the state uh that
would qualify as as uh part of that that
[8:00] was damage to the existing greenway
during the Helen flooding. And so this
[8:05] project would uh would qualify uh and
the the uh the uh census track that the
[8:13] greenway is in also qualifies as a load
moderate uh income census tract as a
[8:17] whole. So that again qualifies us for
this opportunity. Uh the intent of the
[8:22] of the county staff is to ask the
commissioners to approve an application
[8:25] later on to apply for $1.25 million
towards the construction of that
[8:30] greenway. And um part of that is to
allow the uh uh community to to comment
[8:36] on that. Uh so that's what I we have
here for you tonight.
[8:42] And I believe
we have a couple people signed up.
[8:50] Quick reminder to everyone this evening
um especially with these while it's on
[8:55] the agenda. Um we've got a timer set up
on the screen for three minutes.
[9:00] purposes for us to listen, not to answer
questions. Um, we'll you'll hear a
[9:06] little beep uh at the three minute mark.
And with that, I'll start off public
[9:10] comment with Leanne Young. Miss Young,
[9:22] thank you so much.
I'm glad to be here. I came directly
[9:26] from the airport. I've was in Arlington.
um national cemetery yesterday interring
[9:31] my mother-in-law. So I made it a
priority to be here.
[9:37] Um
this letter is on behalf of friends of
[9:41] the Jackson County Greenways.
On behalf of the board of directors of
[9:45] friends of the Jackson County Greenways,
I am pleased to express our strong
[9:49] support for Jackson County's application
for community development block grant
[9:54] disaster recovery
funding offered by the US Department of
[9:59] Housing and Urban Development to help
western North Carolina communities
[10:03] recover and rebuild following Hurricane
Helen. This funding represents an
[10:07] important opportunity to support
continued investment in the Jackson
[10:11] County Greenway.
As an organization dedicated to
[10:15] supporting the development, stewardship,
and enjoyment of Jackson County's
[10:19] greenways, we have seen firsthand the
value these spaces bring to our
[10:24] community. Greenways connect people to
nature, to one another, and to the
[10:29] communities they call home.
The greenway represents a shared
[10:33] investment in recreation, public health,
outdoor access, tourism, and community
[10:40] development. A connected greenway system
is public infrastructure that can serve
[10:45] residents and visitors while
contributing to the quality of life and
[10:50] economic vitality of the communities
through which they it passes.
[10:54] Investment in resilient public
infrastructure is especially important
[10:58] following Hurricane Helen. Greenway
corridors provide valuable flood plane
[11:03] and storm water management benefits,
helping to slow and absorb storm water
[11:09] while protecting surrounding private
[clears throat] and public property.
[11:13] The proposed improvements will
strengthen these natural functions while
[11:17] making the greenway more durable and
better prepared for future severe
[11:21] weather.
Jackson County has already demonstrated
[11:25] its commitment through planning,
partnerships, land acquisition,
[11:30] engineering studies, and local
investment.
[11:34] CDBG DR funding provides an opportunity
to build on that foundation and advances
[11:41] a regional asset designed to serve our
communities well into the future.
[11:46] Friends of the Jackson County Greenways
respectfully encourages the
[11:50] commissioners to support Jackson
County's CDBG DR application and
[11:55] continued investment in the greenway
system.
[11:58] A connected, accessible, and resilient
Greenway network is an investment in the
[12:03] long-term health and quality of life of
Jackson County. We are proud to work
[12:08] alongside Jackson County and our
community partners to support the growth
[12:12] and strengthening of the Jackson County
Greenway. Thank you for your
[12:16] consideration and for your continued
investment in the future of Jackson
[12:20] County.
>> Thank you.
[12:22] » Next up this evening we have Gail Woody.
Miss Woody.
[12:33] » Thank you so much for this opportunity.
Um I want to tell two real short
[12:37] stories. Um, first of all, um, when I
was young here in Jackson County, the
[12:44] Tuckiji River was so polluted that no
one fished there unless you wanted to
[12:49] just throw the old fish away. It was
polluted by what was then the me
[12:54] corporation. No one swam in the river.
There was very little recreation that
[12:59] took place. And now it is one of the
most beautiful rivers in our region. And
[13:05] we are so thankful that you as
commissioners have purchased the land
[13:10] that has allowed us to um expand that
greenway. And I personally walk on there
[13:18] frequently. I take my grandchildren, my
great granddaughter and I walk many
[13:22] mornings. Um it is so wonderful to see
senior citizens. Some of them are
[13:28] recovering from heart surgery and walk
along the greenway with their walkers
[13:33] because it's paved, because it's pretty
level and it's a place where they can
[13:37] access. And if any of you drive along
the Tuckiji out towards Swing County and
[13:42] all, you'll see more and more building
going up right next to the river. But
[13:48] the fact that you all bought that land
and are protecting that for our citizens
[13:53] to use ongoing for the rest of of our
lives and on into the future for our
[14:00] children and grandchildren is a
wonderful thing. So, um we hope you'll
[14:04] support um this grant application so
that we can continue using the greenway.
[14:10] Thank you.
[14:13] With that, is there a [clears throat]
motion to close our first public
[14:17] hearing?
>> And a second.
[14:21] » All in favor?
>> I.
[14:23] » None opposed.
Moving on. Um, call this meeting to
[14:28] order. The purpose of this public
hearing is to receive public comment on
[14:33] the consideration of the proposed
community transportation program
[14:36] application.
Um,
[14:40] here to speak.
[14:45] » Oh, Renee. I'm sorry, Renee.
[14:59] » Good afternoon. Um, this public hearing
is u being held regarding Jackson County
[15:05] transits applications for FY28.
>> Hi Renee, you scared to pull that
[15:10] microphone.
[15:13] » Okay.
>> Okay. It's for FY28 community
[15:17] transportation program grant funding. As
the applicant, Jackson County Transit is
[15:22] seeking permission to apply for public
transportation program funding. Enter
[15:27] into agreements with the North Carolina
Department of Transportation,
[15:31] provide the necessary asurances, and
provide the required local match for the
[15:36] requested grant funds. The North
Carolina Department of Transportation's
[15:41] Integrated Mobility Division manages
applications with the FTA for mass
[15:47] transportation and community
transportation programs. These programs
[15:51] allow rural communities to work directly
with the state to access federal
[15:56] transportation funding.
This year, oil for FY28, the
[16:01] applications will be for three grant
programs. The 5311
[16:07] um administrative grant, which
subsidizes the administrative cost
[16:13] associated with operating a
transportation system.
[16:16] Also, eligible expenses include
administrative salaries and benefits,
[16:21] office supplies, training, uniforms, and
marketing.
[16:26] The second one is the 5310 operating
grant program. That program supports
[16:32] operating cost associated with providing
transportation
[16:36] services for elderly individuals and
individuals with disabilities.
[16:42] And then there's the combined capital
grant program which um helps us to
[16:47] maintain an up-to-date fleet. And then
it also addresses other capital needs.
[16:52] Um for FY28, we will only be replacing
one mobility transit raised roof van
[17:00] and that would include the lettering and
logos for that vehicle and a propane
[17:04] conversion kit. We also uh have
available two desktop computers and one
[17:09] laptop. So that's that's all we have for
that year on the capital grant program.
[17:14] Um I might add that the computers are
more than 5 years old. So they've
[17:19] reached the end of their useful life.
And I'll [snorts] just go ahead and say
[17:23] that the total amount requested through
these grant programs is $520,773
[17:31] and the local required share is $129,53.
[17:39] And it is just um this funding, it
really is essential to maintaining
[17:44] reliable transportation services for the
residents of Jackson County and to
[17:49] ensure that Jackson County Transit can
continue providing safe, accessible, and
[17:54] dependable transportation to the
individuals and communities that we
[17:59] serve. Have any questions?
[18:05] » Did anyone sign up for public comment?
No.
[18:08] » Should be. Okay.
>> I will.
[18:12] » Nope.
>> Okay.
[18:14] » Sure didn't. [laughter]
>> Thank you, Miss.
[18:17] » You're welcome.
>> Is there a motion to close this public
[18:19] hearing?
>> And a second. Second.
[18:23] » All in favor?
>> None opposed.
[18:27] I'll call our third meeting to order.
Purpose of this public hearing is to
[18:32] receive public comment on the
consideration of the proposed bond uh of
[18:36] the proposed bond order authorizing the
issuance of general obligation bonds for
[18:41] school facilities in the maximum amount
of $105 million.
[18:47] Turn over to Mr. King.
[19:04] First up this evening we have Miss Gail
Woody. Miss Woody,
[19:13] » um, thank you for letting me speak
again. Um, [clears throat] I just have
[19:18] two short comments to make. Um, number
one is as a retired teacher and um, as a
[19:25] person that went through public
education myself and my children did,
[19:30] um, I am a great advocate of public
education. And the second thing I want
[19:36] to say about that is that it's never
going to get any cheaper. And um, I'm a
[19:42] retired person. My husband and I are
retired teachers. We live on a fixed
[19:46] income, but we we know our taxes will go
up some if this bond passes, but our
[19:52] children are worth it. They're the
future of our community, and we need to
[19:57] support them. Thank you for considering
this,
[20:00] » Miss Wood. Next up is Michelle Samuel.
[20:13] I'm gonna try to keep this three
minutes, y'all.
[20:16] I'm gonna try.
Okay. My name is Michelle Samuel. My
[20:21] family lives behind the middle school
site. I want to be clear that I'm not
[20:27] against bettering children's education,
but I believe the middle school is not
[20:32] warranted, especially with all of the
schools other schools needing extensive
[20:37] repairs. As property owners, we were not
given the courtesy of a middle school
[20:42] going in. I understand this is a year
process, but my question is how this
[20:48] particular site was chosen. The question
comes after a quote in the Smoky
[20:53] Mountain News that Alchiteex are still
working on site plans for the proposed
[20:58] middle school and Jackson County Public
Schools has not yet put out a request
[21:04] for proposal on this project. As of now,
Miss Ays says the middle school numbers
[21:10] are a shot in the dark as there have
been over 30 generations of project
[21:16] planning in an attempt to find the best
possible location for the school's
[21:21] construction in logistically challenging
mountainous landscape. End quote.
[21:27] Usually, you submit in writing to the
board planning board and engineer
[21:32] drawings. Wildlife impact study. Was
this done? Because we have deer, bear,
[21:38] turkeys, all of that in our field behind
us. Conservation,
[21:43] environmental impact study like with
native flowers, wet walls, that would
[21:48] have told you how many numerous springs
were located there. EPA erosion, steep
[21:54] slope traffic studies, DOT entrance,
which is still questionable,
[21:59] submit um specialized lighting for
sports complex within the ordinances.
[22:04] core testing. There is all of the rock
there. Ask me how I know because my
[22:09] house is on. Okay. We didn't want to go
through the expense of d of the blasting
[22:16] because we didn't want to um hurt our
neighbors property. I'm also worried
[22:23] about the changes in the direction of
the water flow because of the numerous
[22:28] springs because we have an artisian
well. I attended a K through8 school,
[22:33] first class at Fairville. I graduated
Silvets High School in 87. I'm dating
[22:39] myself. Huge. I have a cosmetology
license. I own my own salon. I have an
[22:44] online boutique. I'm a partner of a
construction company. And that's all
[22:49] here in Jackson County. I am part of
successful citizens that did not go to a
[22:55] standalone middle school. With all the
new laws in place for grant writing, the
[23:01] language should have included
pre-existing renovations and new
[23:06] construction. The proposed bond
referendum is really not fair to the
[23:10] taxpayers of Jackson County to have this
burden with this huge undertaking of
[23:16] debt obligation.
I thought at one time, I'm not sure um
[23:21] about the sales tax on there. the tax
base in question could and will probably
[23:27] increase considerably and the proposed
amount needed keeps changing
[23:31] continuously. I feel that this is not a
citizen quandreum. We did not create
[23:37] this. It is however a tricky situation
because if the language of the bond
[23:42] referendum is not clear and precise. If
passed, then a lot of Jackson County
[23:48] citizens will be voting for considerable
cons continuous tax increase based on
[23:54] the assumption it is for the betterment
of the children. I feel putting this
[23:58] bond referendum is going to be a burden
of continuous rising taxes bases on our
[24:04] citizens without a clear feasible
guaranteed fixed stable amount of debt
[24:10] to fix all of the problems. especially
considering the county currently has a
[24:15] lot of existing debt obligation already.
Thank you for considering voting no to
[24:21] putting this on the November ballot and
I agree with Miss Jenny Lynn Hooper.
[24:25] This issue needs to have more work and
time spent researching this topic. I
[24:31] feel that it is being rushed for the
sake of meeting a deadline. Thank you.
[24:37] » Next up this evening we have Wes
Jameson. Mr.
[24:43] » [clears throat]
[24:57] » Good afternoon. Uh, appreciate having
the opportunity to come up here and
[25:00] speak. I'll be quick. Obviously, I would
like for this bond referendum to move
[25:06] forward and allow the taxpaying citizens
of Jackson County to vote on it in
[25:10] November. Uh, last time I checked,
there's probably I think around 13,000
[25:14] registered voters in Jackson County.
Maybe eight or nine thousand will vote
[25:18] in November. I doubt you've heard from
that many up to this point. So, I think
[25:23] it needs to be on the ballot so folks
can vote on it. Obviously, I'm in favor
[25:26] of a middle school. uh for every
negative article you can produce about
[25:30] one, I can find one in favor of it, you
know. Um but this referendum is about
[25:37] more than just middle school. There's
many school capital improvement projects
[25:41] on here that all need to be done. Um
Jackson County has one of the lowest tax
[25:47] rates in North Carolina, and all that
does is put you guys in a situation
[25:51] where you're continuously having to
search for money to fund uh these public
[25:56] activities that need to be done. So, um,
this is a way to help move that forward
[26:01] and, uh, I am definitely in favor of it
and hope to be able to see it on the
[26:05] ballot in November. Thank you,
>> Mr. Jameson. Next up, [clears throat] we
[26:10] have Miranda Bryson Jameson.
[26:28] Good evening. I want to take a few
minutes tonight to talk about why I
[26:31] believe Jackson County needs to give
voters opportunity to decide on a school
[26:35] bond referendum this November. This is
not simply about building a new
[26:40] building. It is about asking ourselves
what kind of educational opportunities
[26:44] we want to provide for the children of
Jackson County in 2026 and beyond.
[26:49] Jackson County currently has one of the
lowest property tax rates in North
[26:52] Carolina. That doesn't mean taxes don't
matter. They do. Every dollar matters
[26:57] and taxpayers deserve accountability for
every dollar we spend. But we also have
[27:02] to recognize that investing in our
schools is an investment in our
[27:05] community. Today, our students in grades
6 through 8 are spread across multiple
[27:09] KA campuses. And while our teachers and
administrators work incredibly hard, the
[27:14] structure itself limits the
opportunities we can provide.
[27:18] When you divide middle school students
and teachers among among multiple
[27:22] campuses, you cannot offer the same
variety of courses that you can when
[27:26] those students are brought together.
Think about what our sixth, seventh, and
[27:29] eighth graders could have access to in a
middle school designed specifically for
[27:33] them. Some examples are Spanish 1 and
two, home economics, shop classes, FFA,
[27:40] math one, English one, environmental
earth science, US history, child early
[27:45] childhood education, and so many more.
These aren't just extra classes. They
[27:51] are opportunities for a child to
discover something they're p they're
[27:54] passionate about, something that could
influence what they they choose to
[27:57] study, what career they pursue, and what
they ultimately contribute to our
[28:01] community. And this isn't about
abandoning the schools we already have.
[28:06] Quite the opposite. The proposed fund
includes investments in existing Jackson
[28:10] County schools and facilities as well.
As a community, we do have a
[28:14] responsibility to take care of these
schools we already have while also
[28:18] building for the future. K12 schools may
have been the right answer for Jackson
[28:23] County in the 1950s, but it is 2026.
Our children's world is different. The
[28:29] jobs are different, technology is
different, education is different, and
[28:33] the opportunities available for our
children should be different, too. We
[28:37] cannot be afraid to change simply
because something is the way we've
[28:40] always done it. Our responsibility is to
look at where Jackson County is today,
[28:45] and that's what our children need
tomorrow. A bond gives the people of
[28:49] Jackson County the opportunity to make
that decision. This isn't about
[28:53] buildings.
It's about opportunities. It's about
[28:57] making sure a child growing up in
Jackson County has access to the same
[29:01] education possibilities as a child
anywhere else. And I believe our ju our
[29:07] children in Jackson County deserve
nothing less.
[29:11] Jameson. Next up this evening is Steve
Bush. Mr. Bush,
[29:18] [clears throat]
[29:20] Steve Bush.
[29:29] [clears throat]
[29:31] » Thank you for the opportunity, ladies
and gentlemen, to talk to this board.
[29:36] Um, I probably will be the most
unpopular man in the room when this is
[29:39] through, but I have a lot of hard
questions.
[29:43] Where why are we missing $40 million to
this and nobody can explain it? Nobody
[29:49] can explain what's going on. The tax
base was already heavily heavily handed
[29:55] this past year and yet my understanding
is the Jackson County Tax Department has
[30:01] already sent people out for the
prospects of 2029 and they've already
[30:05] sent out letters different neighborhoods
to do assessments. So that tells me
[30:10] there's something wrong in the head
house. Um, I think schools are great and
[30:16] I understand that you already have $52
million uh already granted, but aren't
[30:21] grants matched money?
Most of them are. You know, you put up
[30:27] so much, they put up so much, usually
it's 50/50. Um,
[30:33] I just think there's a lot of unanswered
questions here. And I think a lot of
[30:38] people want to know where the money is
going to. And I truly think along with
[30:43] others that uh there actually needs to
be a forensic accounting of the county
[30:47] before anything moves forward. And I
think that's a fair assessment of
[30:52] anything. We keep getting taxed more and
more. And yet we see all those projects
[30:58] going on, but we see people
up Western for instance, you closed
[31:04] basically 54 businesses along 107 and
the tax base went down. Who's to account
[31:10] for that? You're counting on the
citizens to pick up what the tourists
[31:14] used to pick up. And that's a legitimate
question. They get a 17 foot wide grass
[31:19] strip in the middle from Walmart all the
way down to the middle of town. Well, to
[31:24] town and you know, u gets what two bike
lanes, but how much is it disturbed in
[31:30] the county? I mean, how much has it
disturbed the tax base? You got people
[31:35] that don't even want to do business here
anymore because of how it's treated. So,
[31:39] I'm speak for myself and others. You
know, I think a school is great, but
[31:44] here's the other thing. How many
non-English-speaking students do we have
[31:49] going to these schools of illegals? And
that's that's a pertinent question.
[31:54] We're supporting people that, you know,
are here illegally and yet we're
[31:59] supporting them. And
that's some of my hard question. The
[32:04] other one is is y'all bought a bunch of
land that was up there just nothing but
[32:08] a baldf face rock. How much more do you
anticipate that it costing when you get
[32:14] on rock and start finding fissures
waters you know talking about acryers
[32:20] and things like that. You know this
could go more a lot more just to
[32:25] circumvent those things just like we had
with the pool. You know you have
[32:29] everything but then you have nothing. I
thank you for your time and thank you.
[32:36] » Next up this evening we have Dean Woods.
Mr. Woods.
[32:46] [clears throat]
[32:50] I want to say hello and thank you. Uh I
won't take much time. I'm pretty direct.
[32:55] Um, like he just mentioned about the the
loss of the money not accounted for. I
[33:02] bet I'm just betting if your power bill
went up enough you'd know where the
[33:05] honey's going. So there's a reason
there's got to be a reason why that
[33:09] lights going up. You should know why.
And another thing is if uh blue get on
[33:15] the back burner every year there's a
sign up in the in the front yard of the
[33:19] school saying construction coming. And
now that has changed again. For years,
[33:24] it's been that uh for some reason Blue
Rig's not getting the construction and
[33:31] the necessities that they need. They
they don't they're not a handicap
[33:35] accessibility to the soccer field.
Did y'all know that? Nobody want to walk
[33:42] soccer from the street. There's not a
ramp going to the bleachers at the
[33:46] soccer field. That's how bad Blue Ridge
gets treated. And I just want to say
[33:50] there's no way about no guess for
another school when you can't even
[33:54] support the ones you got. That's all
I've got to say about it. M
[33:58] » Woods.
Next up is Brandon Lewis. Mr. Lewis.
[34:09] [clears throat]
[34:11] » Good evening, Board of Commissioners.
The first time I ever heard the word
[34:17] referendum in my life, it was about 31
years ago by a dear friend that was a
[34:23] Gideon over in Asheville that got
annexed in by the Asheville city limits
[34:27] that used to be in Buckingham County.
When many people over that way said,
[34:31] "Our tax r's great here in Buckingham
County. We're just the whole country
[34:34] people still." And then when the man
died on his locker in the nursing home,
[34:38] they was taxed on the poor house.
explains to me what a over 30 years ago
[34:43] a bond referendum was and the people
that want it and they're more than good
[34:47] to find someone to come in and vote for
that and um but u anyway I'm a resident
[34:55] and a homeowner in Jackson County and
I'm opposed to the county funding the
[35:00] new middle school has proposed. [snorts]
I believe that the site is unstable as
[35:04] per reports and software cost estimates
have shown
[35:09] and it is unwise to rush into this just
because a grant is available. If the
[35:15] school is really necessary then a viable
alternative should be searched out. I
[35:21] further oppose the bond referendum.
With all due respect, I voted for you
[35:27] board to represent me in these matters
such as this to vote for decisions that
[35:32] need to be made instead of kicking it
back to the public again. And uh you
[35:38] know, people don't really have time to
that. And if uh why do we vote on
[35:44] anything? Why could we not just take the
budget for the year and put that up to
[35:49] the people and let us all come in here
and vote on the budget instead of a
[35:52] board of commissioners? that's voted in
to be leaders, make decisions that are
[35:56] hard with information they see during
your work sessions that you know the
[36:00] things that are going on and know
decisions that need to be made. It's
[36:04] despite popular opinion, despite what
someone may decide because there's
[36:09] always going to be a difference of
opinion and there's going to be a lot of
[36:12] ignorance involved at the polls, people
coming in, well, if I don't vote for
[36:16] this, it won't be for the kids. I'm not
gonna stand here and argue and pull out
[36:20] things like been said earlier that I can
argue that the middle school is not
[36:25] good. Well, my family and my kids have
went to places where it is. So, I have
[36:30] direct experience with that and I say
you can't prove on me that it does make
[36:34] a big difference. And as a matter of
fact, they was the least popular school
[36:38] they liked and they got kind of behind
and then swain from the elementary
[36:43] school until high school and they loved
high school again.
[36:46] I remember over 15 years ago as my board
was involved in new sports and the first
[36:52] thing I heard about a middle school was
that board would stink at football here
[36:57] and if we can all get together
petitioning the school board to get us a
[37:01] middle school, a centralized middle
school, make sports better and we're
[37:05] going to win championships here. This
was going on with many of the parents,
[37:08] many of the coaches. Well, I was leaving
in that because I really like football
[37:12] then and want see my boy make a bunch of
tackles telling you we can't base it
[37:16] just on those kind of things. You got to
look at the hard key facts and not set
[37:20] up our people for a generation or more
than one generation of a tax burden and
[37:26] being in debt. You know, when I was a
child, I spoke as a child and had to
[37:30] have the latest pickup and trade in for
it. And that's put me back in life
[37:34] because I was in debt for years and I'm
finally at a place where I'm a little
[37:38] bit fiscally responsible. not rich, not
a millionaire, but I make choices. I
[37:42] don't go to the beach when I don't have
money to go to the beach. I don't borrow
[37:45] money just because I have a coupon in my
hand. I'm not going to pop the balloon
[37:49] fortune warehouse and buy the new
biggest gun that I also have to pitch in
[37:53] $800.
Now, I don't say that's necessarily a
[37:56] bad thing, but when Swain can deal with
middle school, the new middle school the
[38:01] ground's broken for the $52 million
grant mode and not have to contribute
[38:05] any herself, I think there's a chance if
we look into it. We might figure out
[38:09] something like that, too. That we look a
little bit wise before.
[38:14] And uh but anyway, um I thank you for
your audience and uh God bless Jackson
[38:19] County.
>> Thank you.
[38:21] » Thank you.
Next up, we have Garrett Craig. Craig.
[38:26] [clears throat]
[38:29] » Hi, my name is Garrett Craig. I'm a
homeowner in Silva. I'm here this
[38:33] evening to speak in support of putting
the proposed school bond referendum
[38:37] before Jackson County voters in
November. I do have notes, but I want to
[38:41] call back momentarily and just say that
no person is illegal, let alone a child.
[38:46] I also believe that property ownership
comes with great responsibility. None of
[38:51] us owns in isolation. The value of our
land depends on the roads we share, the
[38:56] emergency services we rely on, the
strength of our local economy, and the
[39:00] public institutions around us. In some,
it depends on the community that we
[39:05] choose to build together. And educating
children well is one of the most
[39:10] important things that we can choose.
accepting taxes as part of that social
[39:15] con contract
and the mechanism of a bond refendum
[39:20] occasionally being necessary. Our goal
should then be to use shared resources
[39:25] wisely. That is for things that make
Jackson County a better place to live
[39:29] both now and in the future. And provided
that specific expenditures are allocated
[39:35] smartly and transparently, it's
difficult to think of many wiser ways to
[39:40] spend our tax money than on schools.
Good schools, beyond their potential to
[39:45] actually increase property values,
affect whether young families feel
[39:49] welcome to put down roots. They affect
businesses confidence that they can find
[39:53] people to hire. And crucially, they can
make a life-changing statement of hope
[39:57] in coming generations.
The buildings that need our attention,
[40:01] not just the middle school, will serve
this community for decades. So, we
[40:06] cannot afford to be shortsighted.
Maybe this bond will cost a tax payer
[40:11] like myself an extra $150 next year. But
how much more will it cost us all to
[40:17] keep postponing critical needs and
handing problems down the line? We
[40:22] aren't being asked for luxuries here. We
should be able to transport our kids
[40:26] safely, feed them properly, accommodate
them physically, challenge them
[40:30] academically, and give their teachers
and staff the tools and space to do
[40:34] their jobs. These aren't extravagant
expectations for public schools. They're
[40:39] basics that a community like ours should
be able to provide. In closing, I'd like
[40:44] to see Jackson County embrace the
mentality that it takes a village, and I
[40:49] want to give our kids schools that they
can be proud of. I believe it will be
[40:53] worth the money. Thank you,
>> Mr. Craig.
[40:57] » With no one else signed up for public
comment this evening on this referendum,
[41:01] is there a motion to adjourn?
>> So move
[41:04] » and a second.
>> Second.
[41:05] » All in favor? I. None opposed.
Now call to order a regular meeting.
[41:12] Everyone will please stand up this
evening for the pledge.
[41:22] I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic
[41:28] for which it stands. One nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
[41:34] justice for all.
[41:38] » Thank you everyone.
Welcome.
[41:43] First up this evening we have a couple
of proclamations. Uh first one we have
[41:48] is the firefighter rescue squad and
first responder week.
[41:56] Whereas firefighters, rescue squad
members and first responders provide
[42:00] valuable services through their
assistance to citizens of their
[42:03] communities in Jackson County during
times of need and crisis. And whereas
[42:07] they respond to emergencies without
hesitation when the call of duty arises
[42:12] and tirelessly give of their time and
energy and humanitarian efforts, making
[42:16] themselves available every hour of the
day, every day of the year. And whereas
[42:20] responders have physical strength,
stamina, extensive training, courage,
[42:24] and selfless concern for the welfare of
others. And whereas it is appropriate to
[42:28] recognize the duties of services uh that
firefighters, rescue squad members, and
[42:34] first responders perform by observing
September 6th through 12th as
[42:38] firefighter, rescue squad, and first
responder week in Jackson County. Now
[42:43] therefore, Jackson County Board of
Commissioners does hereby proclaim
[42:46] September 6th through 12th as
Firefighter Rescue Squad and First
[42:49] Responder Week in Jackson County and
encourages all residents to take time to
[42:54] show the volunteers how much their
service is valued in the county. Is
[42:58] there a motion for approval of this
proclamation?
[43:00] » So move.
>> Is there a second?
[43:02] » Second.
>> All those in favor?
[43:05] » None opposed. This evening we have our
fire marshal, Michael Forbes, here to
[43:08] accept this uh proclamation. Mr. Forbus.
also
[43:19] assistant chief green Wilson.
Perfect.
[43:31] [clears throat]
[43:47] Just be like Nike and just do it.
[laughter]
[43:52] » Look this way. You good job. You're
doing great. [laughter]
[43:56] Good job.
>> Thank you guys.
[43:58] » Appreciate it.
[44:08] All
[44:11] right,
next up we have
[44:15] proclamation declaring September is
Jackson County opioid awareness month.
[44:19] [clears throat] Where is the disease of
substance use disorder and overdose
[44:23] death,
excuse me, pose a threat to the life,
[44:27] health, and well-being of Jackson County
residents and family units. And whereas
[44:31] three Jackson County residents lost
their lives to fentanyl overdoses
[44:35] between January and May of 2026.
And whereas Jackson County has a higher
[44:41] rate of medication and drug overdose
deaths and opioid related deaths when
[44:44] compared to the state rate and three of
the four surrounding counties. And
[44:49] whereas the opioid epidemic has
contributed to a rise in serious and
[44:53] costly health consequences and and a
significant number and rate of
[44:58] hospitalizations associated with drug
withdrawal in newborns and a high number
[45:02] of children in foster care. And whereas
a lack of behavioral health services,
[45:07] treatment facilities, harm reduction
measures in the region leave residents
[45:12] and families without access to resources
for help. And whereas substance abuse,
[45:16] substance use disorder, and overdose
deaths cause pain, suffering, and loss
[45:21] to individuals and families and
communities across all demographics and
[45:26] regardless of socio socioeconomic status
that can never be measured. Now
[45:31] therefore, be it resolved that the board
of commissioners of Jackson County that
[45:35] September is in Jackson County is open
awareness month. Is there a motion to
[45:39] approve this proclamation?
>> And a second.
[45:44] » All in favor?
>> I. None opposed. With us this evening is
[45:48] Anna Liippard and Jody Rodall to accept
this proclamation.
[46:17] We take two
this way. One more.
[46:27] Look this way. I'll do it again for you.
>> Thank you.
[46:51] » All right,
moving on. Now, first up this evening is
[46:55] the approval of the agenda.
>> [clears throat]
[46:58] » There are no needs for any amendments.
I'll seek a motion for approval.
[47:03] So move
>> and second.
[47:05] » All in favor?
>> I opposed.
[47:08] » Moving on now to our approval of the
minutes. We have special call meeting uh
[47:13] on the 10th of August, public hearing
for uh the CDBG DR grant, public hearing
[47:19] for the data center moratorum and our
regular meeting um from August 18th. If
[47:25] there are no needs for any amendments to
those me minutes, I'll seek a motion for
[47:29] approval.
>> So moved
[47:31] » and a second.
>> All those in favor?
[47:35] » None opposed. Moving on now to
administrative reports. Uh last Thursday
[47:40] I was able to attend
the reopening of uh what is now the
[47:47] Elden Jameson uh rescue squad center up
in uh Hamburg in Glimble Cashers. It was
[47:54] a great event. A lot of uh ancillary uh
um help. uh the the auxiliary unit was
[48:04] there and served up a nice meal and it
was great to remember J uh Elden um all
[48:09] that he did in southern Jackson County
and just uh seeing his family and what
[48:13] it meant to them was well worth the
renovations. It's great and um it'll be
[48:19] representation for for Elden his family
for a long time. So do any other
[48:24] commissioners have anything to report
this evening?
[48:28] I was able to take my son get enough
time take my son down to the Koala
[48:34] Whittier Park and that looks looks real
good. Looking forward to some some
[48:40] different things coming I hope. But uh
it's looking good. I'm glad it's open
[48:44] and it's it's good for that community
because community's been left behind for
[48:49] a long time. So appreciate what parks
and red done for that. He loved it.
[48:57] » [laughter]
>> That's most
[49:00] » any other reports from commissioners
this evening.
[49:04] » I'll turn it over to County Manager King
in his report.
[49:11] » Just got a couple things this evening.
One, on the 12th of September is the
[49:16] 175th birthday of Jackson County at
Whittier Heritage Ground. It'll be
[49:22] between 4 and 8:00 p.m. There are
tickets on sale to ride the train
[49:26] between Dillsboro and the event center.
Um, so those are on sale I think through
[49:33] Thursday of this week.
>> They go from Dillsboro to
[49:37] » Oh, next week, I'm sorry. Excuse me.
>> Dillsboro to
[49:40] » from Dillsboro to the Heritage. Yes.
So
[49:46] uh the second thing is I was in um I
want to bring you a little bit on the
[49:50] cashers water and sewer discussion. So I
have um been up there a few times
[49:55] talking to different stakeholders in the
community. Uh we are engaged with the
[50:00] public utility uh there and all the
different partners that's kind of come
[50:04] out of the come out of the woodwork. So,
we are in a really good discussions uh
[50:09] on the the 28th this month of the take
up there and we're going to have some
[50:14] some more uh discussions with those
folks and try to figure out a good
[50:18] method to move forward both in the water
and the sewer arena for the future. So,
[50:24] just want to let you know about the
y'all I've got today.
[50:31] Moving
[50:34] [clears throat]
[50:38] on to uh
public comments. Quick reminder about
[50:44] our threeminut rule and we're here to
listen and um not answer questions. With
[50:49] that, open [clears throat] it up with
Brandon Lewis. Mr. Lewis.
[51:03] Once again, good evening, Jackson County
Board of Commissioners. My name is
[51:07] Brandon Lewis. I'm a resident homeowner
in the Little Savannah community of
[51:11] Jackson County.
Let me pose a question. In an engine,
[51:16] what is more important? The oil the oil
pump, oil filter, or the oil plug?
[51:24] If the county government goes down the
slippery slope of giving payroses to
[51:28] only one department, it would create an
environment of jealousy of
[51:33] discontentment that could exacerbate
current hiring and workforce
[51:37] difficulties.
How could you weigh the impact of such
[51:40] actions? How can the cost be measured?
You could have a salary study conducted
[51:46] given an impartial report based on facts
and real world figures that could guide
[51:52] your decisions and calm the human
emotions of the people with transparency
[51:57] and equity. Make no mistake, just
because you may have not heard from
[52:03] every department, many employees of
other Jackson County departments are
[52:07] feeling the burdens of the inflationary
cost of living and the draw of higher
[52:13] paying jobs. Elsewhere, as Sheriff
Farmer has stated, the lower you go down
[52:19] the pay scale, the greater the hardship
than employee to make a living and the
[52:24] more difficult it is to fill those
positions. There are also skilled trade
[52:29] workers employed by Jackson County that
were not compensated for their
[52:32] experience. They had to start at the
bottom of the pay scale while stepping
[52:38] um the state of North Carolina and the
private sector credits employees for
[52:42] their experience.
A low starting pay with small step
[52:46] increases leads to a feeling of being no
better off after years of service. These
[52:51] skilled laborers with many years of
experience, expertise, education,
[52:57] certifications, and licenses have saved
Jackson County taxpayers thousands of
[53:02] dollars.
[clears throat]
[53:05] Um, other employers are hiring, paying
higher wages with competitive benefits,
[53:12] and good health is hard to find. Uh,
there are also teachers in the same
[53:16] boat. They can find positions in nearby
school systems with higher pay due to
[53:21] higher state and county supplements. In
my opinion, teachers are more important
[53:27] than new school buildings or ball
fields. Jesus taught multitudes on a
[53:31] mountain side. Most county employees
were counting on a salary study that
[53:35] would lead to increased pay to help with
low starting wages and inflation and to
[53:40] give a little hope of attaining
retirement a little while before death.
[53:44] There is much discouragement with many
right now and a lot of job shopping is
[53:49] going on. If the county loses any of our
highly qualified and experienced
[53:53] employees, it will be very difficult to
replace them. Retention is key. It is
[53:59] very difficult in today's job market to
get any applicants, much less highly
[54:04] qualified ones to fill positions.
Without employees uh to maintain and
[54:10] care for what you have, county
properties will become dilapidated. And
[54:15] how will that have the budget looking in
a few years?
[54:23] This brings me back to the question that
I posed. My answer is that we need them
[54:27] all. The oil, the oil pump, the oil
filter, and the oil plug
[54:33] for this engine to run and to last. We
need all of our productive employees to
[54:38] keep this counted going. And we need
equity and fairness for all their pay.
[54:44] The Bible tells us in Daniel 2:21, "He
removeth kings and setth up kings. He
[54:51] giveth wisdom unto the wise, and
knowledge unto them that knowing."
[54:56] May God give you wisdom, understanding,
and knowledge. We, the people of Jackson
[55:02] County, chose you to represent us. Be
wise leaders. Thank you for your
[55:08] audience. God bless Jackson County.
>> Lewis. Next up this evening, we have
[55:14] Cornelia Waldram.
[55:26] Hi, good evening you guys. Um,
I am
[55:32] Koya Waldron. I live in Silva up on
Ridgeway right up by the library. Um and
[55:39] um you guys are
dealing with a lot of weighty issues. Um
[55:45] and I'm not here to talk about any of
them. Um yeah. So but I am coming
[55:53] as I always try to remind you that I
come as your neighbor.
[55:58] We are each neighbors. We are all part
of this community. I do want to very
[56:05] quickly, not a public comment, but speak
Todd to the um how many folks I work
[56:11] with out in Woodier and on the boundary
that are so excited to finally have that
[56:15] park open. So, I want to say that
completely aside, but anyway, yes, as a
[56:21] neighbor, um, and as I was mentioning
over the past few years,
[56:27] you guys have really been, uh, sometimes
creating at least navigating whole
[56:33] series of messes that have really kind
of heaped up in a big pile. Um, and as a
[56:40] somewhat sympathetic neighbor, um, I
haven't [clears throat] wanted to
[56:43] continue to nag you about my own
particular concern. Um, that is that is
[56:49] affecting me as your direct neighbor.
Um, but maybe this would be an easy win
[56:56] and not as heavy as all this other
stuff. Um,
[57:01] I would really strongly I am strongly
requesting once again that you please
[57:07] address the condition of your property
that sits between Kener Street and
[57:12] Ridgeway Street.
It is marginally safer than it was when
[57:18] I first started bringing this situation
up, but it continues to impact the
[57:24] adjoining properties. It is a mess.
There is a large stand of bamboo that is
[57:32] rapidly spreading now well beyond your
property line into adjoining properties
[57:39] and the bamboo and the cudoo are
all over the utility lines. I have sent
[57:47] you guys pictures of this and I've not
heard back from anyone, but this
[57:52] continues to be a problem and it's just
getting worse every year. So, um,
[57:58] I would really like it to be addressed
and may I respectfully suggest that this
[58:03] winter would be a fabulous time to do
it. Once the leaves are all down, the
[58:07] kudzu's died back, everything's gone
dormant, it's great time to take care of
[58:11] this problem, and I would love to see
that happen. Thank you.
[58:15] » Thank you, Miss K. I'm sorry.
>> All right. If no one else signed up for
[58:21] public comment, we did receive one. Uh,
Miss Laura Watley, we did get your
[58:26] public comment via email.
Moving on now,
[58:32] first up this evening is Miss Fox in the
sheriff's office budget amendment.
[58:42] Good afternoon.
I've heard several budget amendments and
[58:49] I presented you options on the salary
discussions. Now I just need some
[58:55] guidance on which what you can do.
[59:02] » I I do feel like we need to table this.
I
[59:06] you know
no matter what the increase it's going
[59:11] to be felt negatively in other
departments and I I I do feel like the
[59:18] salary study is the better option for
for right now. Um just so that we're
[59:25] what should I say equitable across all
departments. It it's it's not that I
[59:30] don't feel that the the sheriff's office
is under crunch.
[59:35] Everybody is. Um and so with that, I I'm
I'm going to I'm going to support that.
[59:43] I've heard a lot from a lot of different
people and it's really not fair to give
[59:49] one, you know, to carve out one
department and give them a raise and
[59:52] ignore everybody else. U they're all
hurting.
[59:57] So I think I I would support a salary
study and and go from there.
[1:00:03] » Reference, what does a salary study cost
in time frame in which it can be?
[1:00:08] » It probably would be between 30 and
$50,000
[1:00:12] » and it would take several months to
>> I think that's a good investment to
[1:00:17] » Okay, so that's several more months that
we're going to go without the proper
[1:00:22] police staffing. I'm for looking at it
across the board. Why can't we give the
[1:00:27] police what they need to keep us safe
and work our communities and our streets
[1:00:34] and then we can tighten our belt on the
budget for next year. But look at the
[1:00:39] study as well and see what we're going
to do about increasing and see where we
[1:00:42] can cut.
>> Looked at the turnover rate. Both DSS
[1:00:45] and the health department has a higher
turnover rate than the share.
[1:00:49] » But who protects the community? I know
DSS does the kids. I'm not saying that.
[1:00:53] health department. Yeah. Protect the
health of the community.
[1:00:56] » I deserve I agree. But I think we need
to go on and give the in my opinion
[1:01:02] because who do you call first? The
police. I think we need to give them
[1:01:07] what we're going to give them and then
look at the study and take care of the
[1:01:11] rest of them.
>> I think that you call us dispatch.
[1:01:17] Dispatch has had a higher turnover rate
than all three of those departments.
[1:01:25] And I'm not saying that everyone is not
deserving of this.
[1:01:30] » But you're also saying let's cut the
budget next year. If we give a raise to
[1:01:35] a department, where's that money coming
from?
[1:01:37] » There's plenty of ways to cut the
budget. There's plenty of places in
[1:01:41] there to cut it. There's a lot of
overspending.
[1:01:47] [clears throat]
[1:01:50] address that during the next budget.
>> Well, yeah, if you don't wait and bring
[1:01:55] the budget in week or two before it's
ready to be passed.
[1:01:59] » When do we start budget?
>> We we start in January.
[1:02:04] » The actual approved budget till it's at
least a month before we do it, if it's
[1:02:10] even that.
>> I was at a budget meeting in February.
[1:02:14] » February is when we have
>> approved budget yet. No, but we kept
[1:02:18] directives in where we're wanting to
>> budget in in February. We're just then
[1:02:22] getting all the information from the
different departments.
[1:02:25] » Well, and the required budget is
>> we do the approved budget. You mean the
[1:02:31] recommended budget?
>> Yeah. Whatever. [clears throat]
[1:02:36] » The state law requires and it's
presented to the board by June 1st.
[1:02:41] » Well, it has to be voted on before July
1st. So, that's
[1:02:44] » correct.
But the board sets the priorities in
[1:02:48] February at the retreat for the budget.
>> And I've talked to several departments.
[1:02:54] I've talked to emergency management
prior to the
[1:02:59] this year's budget. And
I have to say I'm sorry to you guys, but
[1:03:04] we were trying to cut and he come to me
and asked if we could, you know, get get
[1:03:09] some more money for them, but we were,
you know, tight. we've trying to cut and
[1:03:15] you know all departments deserve a raise
because
[1:03:21] it's it's sad what some of these folks
are making
[1:03:25] but and again I agree with you sheriff's
office
[1:03:30] they provide safety and everything for
the community
[1:03:34] um but our other departments are just as
important
[1:03:38] um as far as retaining staff
>> raises has to come from somewhere
[1:03:45] and county employees are not going to be
part. So taxpayers will have to be
[1:03:52] paying more for anything
and they're already earned to begin
[1:03:57] with. So
[1:04:01] I'm all for everybody get as much as
they can get. I mean but it's got to
[1:04:05] come from somewhere.
But the most important thing in our
[1:04:09] county in my opinion is [snorts] our
sheriff department because
[1:04:13] without them what chaos you have. I know
everybody's important. I'm not saying
[1:04:18] that nobody's less important but I am
saying
[1:04:23] uh I think there's enough money in that
budget that we could give some raises. I
[1:04:29] I I think there was enough found last
year that could have been taken out and
[1:04:35] spent more appropriately.
I agree.
[1:04:42] » Want a table? That's fine. But my vote
sheriff department if nobody else if
[1:04:47] nobody else gets my
[1:04:56] » there a motion.
>> I think we need to table. Um
[1:05:02] how long does it would it take to get a
study?
[1:05:05] » Months. It would take several months
>> because we'd have to interview.
[1:05:10] » And what's the what's the um just so
everybody knows and
[1:05:17] [clears throat] what's the increase that
the sheriff's office asking for?
[1:05:21] » They ask for $10,000 per employee.
>> What total? What does the total come to?
[1:05:28] » Depends on how you give it. If you put
it on step one of the grade, it'd be
[1:05:31] $866,000.
If you gave it to them developing a new
[1:05:36] grade table and just straight 10,000 in
each step increase, it'd be $662,000.
[1:05:46] » If every other department in the county
came to us and said we want the same,
[1:05:51] what would that cost us? Well, I
calculated it. That's $4.5 million. We
[1:05:56] don't have that. We don't have that in
the budget buried anywhere. And that's
[1:06:00] what they're going to come and ask for.
I [snorts] uh Kathleen and HR send me
[1:06:05] those numbers and I put them in the
spreadsheet and that's what it worked
[1:06:09] out to. So I I don't see singling out
one department and saying, "Yeah, you
[1:06:15] can have 10,000 and everybody else you
don't get anything until we do a salary
[1:06:20] study." If we're going to do it, then we
need to do it across the board and do it
[1:06:23] the proper way. The last salary ster
survey was done in 2022
[1:06:29] and it was $3 and a half billion dollars
to implement
[1:06:35] » and it's it's probably going to be close
to that or more
[1:06:38] » or more now.
>> So, and like Michael said, that money's
[1:06:42] got to come from somewhere and we just
can't pull it out of thin air. So, it'll
[1:06:45] have to be factored into the next budget
cycle. So,
[1:06:56] Is there a second on tableling?
I'll second.
[1:07:00] » Are there any other
um motions?
[1:07:08] All those in favor of tableabling and
and working towards a salary study say
[1:07:13] I.
>> I. I.
[1:07:15] » No.
>> All those against.
[1:07:18] » Yes or no? Whatever I just say. I I do
have another budget amendment for the
[1:07:23] sheriff's office. The state of North
Carolina is giving a bonus to the sworn
[1:07:28] officers, $1,750,
and they're they're covering the five
[1:07:34] Medicare on that also. So that amendment
is 92,30988
[1:07:42] and it would be all state funded.
>> Okay. All state funded.
[1:07:46] » Yes. Is there a motion for approval of
the budget amendment as presented?
[1:07:52] So move.
>> All in favor? I
[1:07:55] » I.
>> None opposed.
[1:07:57] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:08:00] » Moving on now to uh fireworks display
requests and Mr. Elders.
[1:08:11] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, I'll
come before you to uh get fireworks
[1:08:15] approvals. I'd be more than happy if you
set that threeminute clock if you want
[1:08:18] to. I'll be quick. Uh we have two before
you. Uh the first one, Saturday,
[1:08:24] September 12th for the Jackson County
anniversary celebration. It'll be down
[1:08:28] at the Elder Event Center or your
Heritage Grounds. Familiar with it down
[1:08:32] there. It'll be a smaller lower caliber
show down toward the treatment plant
[1:08:38] between there kind of along the river.
Uh it's the same company that did the
[1:08:41] county fireworks here at 4th of July.
That's September 12th. They have another
[1:08:46] one to be approve Saturday, October 3rd
up at Castle Lady Hawk in Tuki. It's a
[1:08:50] private wedding. It's a pretty large
show. They've had them up there before.
[1:08:55] Fortunately, that excuse me, this
property has a pretty big track of land
[1:09:00] and there's not really any neighbor
complaints on it. We've had those
[1:09:03] before, but for private events, if
you've been up there, it's on the side
[1:09:06] of the hill before. So, those are the
two. And again, it's the same company
[1:09:10] that did the counties. Uh we will be
making an additional site visit to the
[1:09:14] castle lady hawk because there's a a
change in where they're shooting from.
[1:09:18] But other than that, everything's ready
to go for both of them.
[1:09:21] » Is there a motion to approve both
fireworks?
[1:09:24] » So moved.
>> Second.
[1:09:26] » All in favor?
>> Thank you, Mr.
[1:09:29] » Thank you, John.
>> On now to the CDBG DR grant application
[1:09:35] and Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Poston.
[1:09:47] afternoon.
Um we're just here just to pres talk to
[1:09:52] you a little bit about what we are
asking for within this uh with this
[1:09:56] grant process. Um it's the parks and
recreation and planning staff with
[1:10:01] assistance with southwestern uh
commission have prepared a grant
[1:10:05] application for the community
development block grant for disaster
[1:10:08] relief funding available to local
governments uh located within the
[1:10:12] hurricane hurricane HUD or state
identified mid counties. Uh their grant
[1:10:17] request is for funding for the
construction or the help for the
[1:10:19] construction of the 1.6 six mile
expansion of the greenway as well as
[1:10:23] stabilization efforts on portions of
existing greenway damaged in the
[1:10:27] flooding associated with tropical storm
Helen. The new portion of the greenway
[1:10:31] will incorporate mitigation measures and
a design to limit the potential for
[1:10:35] storm related damage in the future. Um
Equinox Environmental has completed a
[1:10:40] preliminary cost estimate for the
project at just over $2.4 million. The
[1:10:44] estimate does include the
following.420,000
[1:10:47] design, engineering, hydraulic modeling,
and permitting.
[1:10:51] 1,258,286
[1:10:55] in greenway construction,
$375,855
[1:11:00] in construction contingency and $410,881
in conceptual design level estimating
[1:11:07] contingency. The county is requesting
1.25 25 million from the CDBGDR
[1:11:13] grant. The grant does not have a match
required. In addition, the county staff
[1:11:17] has also applied for half a million
dollars from the parks and recreation
[1:11:21] trust fund for the project. So, the
remaining balance would be $715,286,
[1:11:28] which would come from the county's
already approved greenway construction
[1:11:32] fund. So staff at the board of
commissioners approve staff's request to
[1:11:36] apply for the CDBGDR grant funds and
appoint the county manager to sign and
[1:11:41] execute documents on behalf of the
county for the application and all other
[1:11:45] required documents if awarded the grant.
Questions from the board?
[1:11:52] Not
>> is there a motion move?
[1:11:54] » Second.
>> All those in favor I none
[1:11:59] » oppose. Thank you. Thank you Mr.
Moving on now to um
[1:12:06] 5311 5310 and operating combined capital
transportation grants resolution R26-4
[1:12:15] and Miss Moore.
[clears throat]
[1:12:22] » Yeah,
[1:12:26] » we're good. Any questions for the board?
If not, is there a motion for these uh
[1:12:31] grants?
>> And a second.
[1:12:36] » All in favor?
>> None opposed. Moving on now to our
[1:12:41] wittier Heritage Grounds fee schedule
and Miss Henry, economic development.
[1:12:46] » Good afternoon.
[1:12:51] So, as you all know, um the Charles
Elders Event Center is now complete and
[1:12:56] we have had the opportunity to host
several events in the facility already,
[1:13:01] including the Great Smoky Mountain
Railroad and the NRA. Um as we move
[1:13:05] forward, um those initial events and
those initial uses, um it's time now to
[1:13:10] really look at making the event center
available for broader collective rental.
[1:13:14] And so what we need to do is we need to
set a consistent fee structure and some
[1:13:19] put some rules in place. So tonight
I am going to find the mouse.
[1:13:29] Oh, I don't have them up here. Well, you
have them in front of you. The fee
[1:13:32] schedule. I'm sorry. I thought they were
up here. Um the fee schedule and the
[1:13:37] rules and regulations um for the
Whittier Heritage Grounds. So, for the
[1:13:41] Charles, our Elders Event Center, we're
proposing a regular pay rate of $1,500.
[1:13:49] And
>> we don't have those in front of us.
[1:13:59] » Tada. [laughter]
Here we are.
[1:14:02] » Okay. So,
it's like magic show. [laughter]
[1:14:08] Um so what one of the things that we did
is we looked at neighboring counties and
[1:14:14] regional um event centers that were
comparable to what we have there or what
[1:14:19] we will have with the future arena. And
so we used what they were doing. We
[1:14:23] talked all of them and that's kind of
where these rates came from. So
[1:14:28] specifically um the Charles R. Elder
Event Center.
[1:14:33] We are proposing that we set the regular
daily rate at $1,500 a day and the
[1:14:37] nonprofit daily rate $1,300 and an
hourly rate with a minimum of four hours
[1:14:43] at $200. Um, I think it's important to
note that these include access to the
[1:14:51] county own tables and chairs with no
additional charges. Um, and then we have
[1:14:57] other
specific things as far as like what is
[1:15:02] expected of the people that use the
facility as far as taking out their
[1:15:06] trash and cleaning up after themselves
and that rules and regulations. But
[1:15:10] we've got the I went ahead and put both
the Charles R. Elders event center and
[1:15:18] the arena
space in here because we know that is
[1:15:23] forthcoming. And then if they wanted to
rent both the whole sort of whole
[1:15:27] property, if you will, and what that
rate would look like. And so the arena
[1:15:33] would be $1,000 a day, an $1,800
nonprofit rate. And if they combine the
[1:15:38] two, again, 2,300 per day or 1,900. We
have
[1:15:45] specific hours, 8 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
That is what's sort of considered a
[1:15:50] rental day for an event period. that
would need to include the setup,
[1:15:55] decorating, event activities, clean up
and tear down. So, they'd have to do it
[1:15:59] within that time frame. Outside of that,
then they would be expected to pay an
[1:16:04] hourly rate for some of setup or take
down if they were beyond those hours.
[1:16:09] Um, and then of course we talk about
hourly renewals. And I um can go through
[1:16:16] again. I think it's important to remind
everybody this is a 24,000 square foot
[1:16:21] facility with a um current maximum
occupancy of a thousand people. Um so we
[1:16:28] felt these rates were reasonable
starting point and
[1:16:33] um let's see.
>> I'm just curious like on the arena when
[1:16:37] if it's 4, I mean they're obviously
nonprofit. Is it still going to cost
[1:16:41] that amount of money for them to have
like lamb shows or cow shows or whatever
[1:16:46] they're going to have in there?
>> So, obviously we've got I'm just going
[1:16:50] to kind of skim through here and get to
that, but additional fees if they need
[1:16:54] additional rental time or unauthorized
overtime that they use the facility.
[1:16:58] Excessive um cleaning, that's actual
cost of what it would cost us to clean
[1:17:02] up after an event. Um and then the any
damage actual cost, obviously loss of
[1:17:07] keys. Here's the nonprofit eligibility.
Um I'm skipping down here
[1:17:12] [clears throat] because um
we obviously have the availility here
[1:17:18] rental um fees may be waved event
sponsored by Jackson County or partner
[1:17:23] on an event. So I would imagine
specifically to your question we would
[1:17:28] be a part of that in some degree.
Um we also for nonprofits for example
[1:17:35] organizations requesting um
this eligibility would need to provide
[1:17:41] suffici sufficient documentation showing
that they are truly taxexempt um to
[1:17:46] qualify for that rate.
[1:17:54] » So you looked at other counties and to
come up with the price
[1:17:58] » I did what Haywood County's
enclosing event center is smaller than
[1:18:05] ours. It's probably 15,000 or something
like that, I guess.
[1:18:10] » So, they have
I'm not sure.
[1:18:14] Their arena is $1,500 a day um for
non-aggriculture events, thousand for
[1:18:21] nonprofit events. They have pretty
complex schedule or fee schedule.
[1:18:28] They're Apple Orchard Event Center, it's
$800 per day, 700 for nonprofits. the
[1:18:34] Dogwood Event Center, 700 per day, 600
for nonprofits.
[1:18:40] » But now, Haywood also has stalls.
>> But I was just talking about
[1:18:45] » Yeah, but that's probably included in
like the
[1:18:48] » I was just thinking about the enclosed
event center.
[1:18:51] » I'm not sure [clears throat] which
specific room that is. They also charge
[1:18:54] stalls um that they rent.
[1:19:00] Did you say this is the rental fee for
both buildings when they get built or is
[1:19:04] this just for Charles Elders?
>> There's two different breakdowns. So, if
[1:19:07] they only wanted to rent the Charles R.
Elders Event Center, that would be the
[1:19:11] rate for this if they just wanted to do
the arena once that's built. Or if they
[1:19:16] wanted to do both.
>> Yeah,
[1:19:24] [clears throat] both.
>> Not too bad for the whole thing. Yeah, I
[1:19:27] think we're pretty reasonable.
>> I think it's important like we're trying
[1:19:32] to, you know, protect the facility um
set clear expectations on this, keep
[1:19:37] enough flexibility um for different
types of events and not really pigeon
[1:19:41] hole ourselves into that. Um I also
>> who's approving events is that going
[1:19:45] through the county manager?
>> Yeah.
[1:19:51] » And these are the rules and regulations
that we have. And so again, we put in
[1:19:56] here the max occupancy for the event
center. There's
[1:20:01] a lot of different stuff in here. Um
felt like it was appropriate to put that
[1:20:05] in there. Of course, the access setup
tear down so people have reasonable
[1:20:09] expectations of what is expected. the
keys and facility access, what that
[1:20:14] includes, when when to return it, what
happens if they lose it. Um failure to
[1:20:19] return tables and chairs once they have
access to that cannot be removed from
[1:20:24] the property. Um prohibited items um
obviously open flames, combustible
[1:20:31] items,
smoke um and special effects. We did
[1:20:36] also address firearms and weapons,
smoking and tobacco use. I just have a
[1:20:40] question on that.
>> Which part?
[1:20:42] » The firearms.
>> Because it says uh
[1:20:47] uh in accordance with North Carolina
law, does that mean concealed carry and
[1:20:51] open carry is fine? Because that is
allowed in North Carolina law as long as
[1:20:54] there's no alcohol being served. So it
it's kind of open to interpretation. And
[1:21:01] then you say, you know, including law
enforcement or law enforcement's allowed
[1:21:05] to is and part of event staff or
whatever is allowed to. But by North
[1:21:11] Carolina law allows both open carry and
concealed carry
[1:21:15] as long as you have a permit for the for
the concealed carry.
[1:21:21] » Do you want me to talk about this part
or you want to talk about this? Okay. So
[1:21:26] we talked about in um the open bowl
indicator and sort of whether or not
[1:21:31] like these could be loaded um weapons.
So firearms associated with approved
[1:21:37] events displayed handled or transferred
or offered for sale must remain unloaded
[1:21:42] while on the premises. Um ammunition
must be handled and stored in accordance
[1:21:47] with applicable law and any special or
event specific safety requirements
[1:21:51] established by Jackson County. So,
>> yeah, but that that kind of ties into
[1:21:58] the approved with an associated event.
>> So, if you go back to in accordance with
[1:22:05] North Carolina law, that's different
than being displayed in a, you know, as
[1:22:10] part of an event.
>> So, I I just think we need to clarify
[1:22:13] that and what the
>> Do we want to ask?
[1:22:16] » Do we want to ask?
>> So, in all of our county billings, we do
[1:22:19] not allow conceal concealed firearms.
So, and that building would be specific.
[1:22:23] When they're talking about like the the
events, we're talking about the gun
[1:22:27] shows, the NRA events, things like that.
Any unloaded firearm would need the OBI
[1:22:32] in it or open bolt indicator, just
making sure that anything that's going
[1:22:35] in the facility is not loaded.
>> Right. I'm just saying [clears throat]
[1:22:39] by North Carolina law, if there's not a
that normally has people in it, allowed
[1:22:46] conceal.
>> Yeah. It's going to be restricted. So,
[1:22:47] there there's going to be no concealed
weapon. I just
[1:22:51] » change that language.
>> We just need to change that language to
[1:22:53] call it out.
>> Okay.
[1:22:55] » By North Carolina law,
>> somebody with concealed carry could
[1:22:58] still walk in there with a gun without
appropriate signage without it being
[1:23:03] spelled out.
>> Well, if we don't pay the police, they
[1:23:05] might need to.
I don't see a problem.
[1:23:10] » Well, I I don't but I don't want
somebody to be caught up,
[1:23:15] you know, get their license revoked or
arrested or whatever because they
[1:23:20] misinterpreted what's written in the
policy.
[1:23:25] » Yeah,
[1:23:28] » thank you for that feedback.
[clears throat]
[1:23:30] » I wouldn't want to get arrested if I
walked in with mine. So,
[1:23:37] Um,
[1:23:41] we also have alcohol listed on here as
well. If um, alcohol may not be
[1:23:45] possessed, served, sold, or consumed at
Weeder Heritage Grounds without prior
[1:23:49] written approval from Jackson County.
Rener is responsible for determining and
[1:23:52] complying with applicable
um, North Carolina alcoholic beverage
[1:23:57] control requirements and obtaining um,
any required permits. Copies of required
[1:24:01] permits must be provided to Jackson
County before the event.
[1:24:06] noise hours. Again, amplified sound um
reasonable levels must end by 11 p.m. or
[1:24:13] at the end of an approved rental period,
whichever occurs first.
[1:24:17] Of course, we address vendors, catering
and food service, and what that might
[1:24:21] look like for food trucks, other sort of
cooking equipment, catering trucks, um
[1:24:25] and the like. And then, of course,
decoration, tents, and temporary
[1:24:29] equipment.
What is um expected of that? Of course,
[1:24:34] insurance, permitting, fire safety, um
the larger tents have to be inspected um
[1:24:40] by our code enforcement. And then of
course, the fire marshall also at times
[1:24:44] needs to inspect that as well. And then
of course cleaning trash and and damage.
[1:24:49] Um they have to remove all of their
personal property, decorations,
[1:24:52] equipment, any spills or things that
they have made a mess with and need to
[1:24:58] clean that up. return the tables and
chairs as directed by um facility staff
[1:25:03] and then collecting and bagging the
trash and putting it in a dumpster that
[1:25:07] will is on the property. And then of
course we did note on here excessive
[1:25:11] cleaning. If there requires excessive um
cleaning after they have left that's
[1:25:16] beyond you know what's reasonable,
they're expected to pay that excessive
[1:25:20] cleaning fee that is listed in the fee
schedule. And then any other damage,
[1:25:25] same thing.
If there's anything damaged or
[1:25:29] accidents, they need to report that to
Jackson County staff. Liability for
[1:25:33] personal property. Jackson County is not
responsible for personal property,
[1:25:37] equipment, decoration, supplies, food,
rental items, or other property brought
[1:25:41] on to Whidier Heritage Grounds by the
renter, guest, vendors, contractors, or
[1:25:45] other persons associated with an event.
Renters are responsible for safeguarding
[1:25:50] their property and arranging for
security of valuable items. items left
[1:25:54] of the facility after the rental period
may be removed or disposed of in
[1:25:57] accordance with county procedures. And
then we have the parking and
[1:26:00] accessibility
animals
[1:26:04] um animals associated with approved um
agriculture, livestock, educational or
[1:26:08] other events may be permitted in
designed outdoor or arena areas with
[1:26:13] prior approval from Jackson County and
subject to any applicable health,
[1:26:17] safety, sanitation, or event
requirements. Of course, children must
[1:26:22] not um be left unattended. Emergency
exits cannot be blocked. Of course,
[1:26:28] there's use of fire extinguishers and
sprinkler systems. Security and count um
[1:26:33] county access kind of talk a little bit
about what that looks like. Obviously,
[1:26:37] with our um law enforcement, fire
officials, emergency personnel um would
[1:26:41] need to be able to retain the ability to
access the property during events should
[1:26:46] that be necessary. And then compliance
and enforcement renters responsible for
[1:26:51] compliance with these rules and
regulations and the fee schedule. We
[1:26:54] also have um worked on a facility use
agreement that we're going to be getting
[1:26:59] um John Cubis to bless us um after we
get this information approved to make
[1:27:05] sure that it complies with all of the
rules and regulations um and laws. We
[1:27:11] reserve the right to stop or terminate
any activity that violates these
[1:27:14] requirements, presents any immediate
safety concern um threatens county
[1:27:17] property or materially differs um from
the approved um rental application.
[1:27:28] » [clears throat]
>> So, what we had planned to do if you
[1:27:32] approve these two documents, we will
have a landing page on our website that
[1:27:37] will include both the rental application
for them to go through. they'll have
[1:27:42] access to these two documents. And then
if approved or when approved for their
[1:27:46] specific event, then they will be
required to provide the
[1:27:51] nonprofit status documentation or permit
copies of their permit or insurance um
[1:27:56] documents that we will need um to be
allowed to have the event. And then the
[1:28:01] facility use agreement will follow and
all of that will land on our homepage or
[1:28:06] not on our homepage but on our website.
What's going on with the other property
[1:28:11] we that we purchased to complement the
fairgrounds
[1:28:19] forward
[1:28:22] initially purchased for
[clears throat] my husband on the
[1:28:29] livestock side and the shooting sports
on the other. shooting sports has used
[1:28:34] utilized that their side a couple times
on the animal husbing
[1:28:43] that and I know I think one of your one
of your thoughts was opening up public
[1:28:48] use and that that's up to y'all but I
think the encamp was it was going to be
[1:28:53] for educational proponents with
utilizing that space
[1:28:59] that can be dispens
I think that needs to be for later
[1:29:03] discussion, but um I just had a lot of
people call me and like I said, I think
[1:29:08] just curiosity and want to go down
there, but anyway.
[1:29:12] » Yeah, Rob Hawk and I actually have um we
had to reschedle our meeting today, but
[1:29:16] we have a meeting scheduled for Friday
to kind of dig into that just a little
[1:29:19] bit.
>> Oh, okay. Yeah, I'd like to I'll talk to
[1:29:22] Rob about it, too.
>> Yeah, that' be great.
[1:29:26] Is there a motion to approve both
documents with the amendments presented
[1:29:32] for the concealed carry firearm carry?
>> Well, I don't know. I I want to say if
[1:29:40] if you got if you're having an event,
horse show
[1:29:46] or something, what why do we care if
concealed carry permitted people carry
[1:29:53] their guns?
I mean, why should we go against what
[1:29:57] the state law
because it's it's not a courthouse. It's
[1:30:03] not where there's offices and people are
going to be upset center if they're not
[1:30:07] going to be out probably we shouldn't
not
[1:30:10] » I I don't see a problem with it either.
>> I agree.
[1:30:13] » But I'm just saying as it was written,
>> right?
[1:30:16] » You could get in trouble.
>> You could get in trouble.
[1:30:18] » Yeah.
>> Just I mean I I have no problem with
[1:30:21] concealed being out there either. um
>> need to be rewrite.
[1:30:26] » Well, we can
>> Yeah, that's what we were doing about
[1:30:29] » Yeah, I'm going to make an an amendment
on that will allow
[1:30:32] » you need to pass it through Cubis. But
>> yeah.
[1:30:35] » Yeah.
>> Make make sure that we're not violating
[1:30:38] any laws. But the way I read the statute
is that as long as there's not people in
[1:30:43] an office there all the time, it's not
considered a Yeah. place to conceal
[1:30:47] carry.
>> John, do you want to chime in here?
[1:30:55] Um, I'm just going to add that, you
know, we'll we'll look through the
[1:30:57] language. I think what's been discussed
so far is probably um the appropriate
[1:31:02] way to go about it. Make sure that we're
preserving applies with North Carolina
[1:31:06] law, but also uh you know, given the
flexibility that we want to have
[1:31:10] available in inside of their event
center.
[1:31:14] » Okay.
[clears throat] You know, if suppose it
[1:31:17] doesn't violate any statute, I would
prefer that if you have conceal carry,
[1:31:22] you've already
done the course,
[1:31:26] you have your license and sheriff's
approved, you should be able.
[1:31:40] So, how do you want them to handle that?
Do they need to do we need to come back
[1:31:44] or do they need to vote it as is with
that amendment?
[1:31:46] » Can we just go ahead and accept that
amendment based on state law under
[1:31:50] concealed carry?
>> I think let's table it till we get that
[1:31:53] garbage back.
>> Let's see what we're going to do.
[1:31:55] » Go ahead and approve the fee schedule so
we go ahead and get that in place and
[1:31:59] then
bring the
[1:32:01] » that's up to you language back on the
rules the next meeting.
[1:32:07] » That's up to you guys.
>> Doesn't matter to me.
[1:32:12] I mean, we are getting inquiries um all
the time. They're wanting to know more
[1:32:17] about how to access it.
>> Schedule approved. That's fine. And and
[1:32:20] and I mean, we're talking two weeks.
>> I was going say we can put it on the
[1:32:23] agenda for next meeting.
>> We're just talking about very small.
[1:32:28] » Yeah. Of the rules.
>> Yeah.
[1:32:31] » And maybe by then I I'll now that I've
got the fee schedule, I can do the
[1:32:35] facility use agreement as well. We'll
have that.
[1:32:38] » FE schedule.
and a second.
[1:32:41] » Second.
>> All in favor?
[1:32:43] » I opposed.
>> Thank you.
[1:32:47] » Moving on now to the bond order
authorizing the issuance of 105 million
[1:32:51] general obligations for bonds.
>> Could we take a quick recess? A quick
[1:32:56] quick break.
>> Yeah, that's fine. Is there
[1:32:59] [clears throat] to take a quick recess?
Five minutes. Second. Second. All in
[1:33:05] favor?
[1:42:00] Next up is the bond order authorizing
the issuance of 105 million general
[1:42:04] obligation school bonds. Mr.
>> I think we've been over this a few times
[1:42:10] in the last few meetings. Uh this is the
final piece of the
[1:42:15] um the bond order. Uh the next one on
the agenda is actually the resolution
[1:42:19] authorizing the the referendum to be
sent to the board of um elections. So
[1:42:25] this is for um bond order authorizing
the issuance of 105 million general
[1:42:30] obligation school bonds of the county of
Jackson, North Carolina. Whereas the
[1:42:34] board of commissioners of the county of
Jackson, North Carolina, uh has
[1:42:38] ascertained and hereby determined that
it is necessary to pay for capital cost
[1:42:42] of constructing, improving, and
renovating various school facilities for
[1:42:45] Jackson County Public Schools, including
but not limited to Smoky Mountain Middle
[1:42:50] School, Smoky Mountain High School, Blue
Ridge School, and the school bus garage.
[1:42:54] acquiring equipment and furnishings
required, therefore acquiring land,
[1:42:58] routes of way and easements in land and
if necessary and constructing public
[1:43:03] infrastructure improvements related
thereto. And whereas an application has
[1:43:09] been filed with the secretary of the
local government commission of North
[1:43:12] Carolina requesting local government
commission approval of the general
[1:43:15] obligation school bonds here and after
described as and required by the local
[1:43:21] government bond act and the clerk of the
board of commissioners has notified the
[1:43:26] board of commissioners that the
application has been accepted for
[1:43:29] submission to the local government
commission. Now therefore be ordained by
[1:43:33] the board of commissioners of the county
of Jackson, North Carolina as follows.
[1:43:37] Section one, in order to raise money
required for the purposes described
[1:43:41] above in addition to any funds which may
be made available such purpose from any
[1:43:47] other source general obligation school
bonds of the county
[1:43:51] are hereby authorized and will be issued
pursuant to the local government finance
[1:43:55] act of North Carolina. The maximum
aggregate principal amount of such
[1:44:00] general obligation school bonds
authorized by this order will be $105
[1:44:05] million. Uh section two, taxes will be
levied in an amount sufficient to pay
[1:44:09] the principle and interest of the
general obligation school bond. Section
[1:44:13] three, a sworn statement of the
countyy's debt has been filed with clerk
[1:44:16] to the board of commissioners and is
open to the public inspection. And
[1:44:19] section four, the bond order will take
effect when approved by the voters of
[1:44:24] the county at the referendum scheduled
for November 3rd, 2026.
[1:44:34] » Any questions by the board?
>> No. Again, I have something to say. Um,
[1:44:41] it will be the taxes will be levied. the
the cost on that $105 million bond or
[1:44:50] will be 57.5
million in interest alone. It will raise
[1:44:56] your taxes 5.26
on the tax rate which is $5260
[1:45:03] per 100,000.
And like I said before, I think this is
[1:45:07] very rushed. I think it is not well
planned through. Um, I think we need to
[1:45:13] go to value engineering
when we do this again. And we don't have
[1:45:19] enough teachers, bus drivers, and
custodians [clears throat]
[1:45:22] for what we got. And I think we need to
maintain and fix up what we got and back
[1:45:27] up and punt and
go from there. We got plenty of schools
[1:45:32] to take care of what we got. And the
number of students is not growing and
[1:45:37] has not.
That's my two cents.
[1:45:41] » I got a question about it, too. Uh, it's
for 105 million, but nobody yet has said
[1:45:48] this middle school can be built for this
amount. That's still up in the air. So
[1:45:54] without knowing that what happens if
let's just suppose it gets voted on
[1:46:00] uh people vote it through uh we start to
build this middle school start these
[1:46:06] other projects and all of a sudden well
it's going to cost 25 million more than
[1:46:10] we thought. What happens then?
[1:46:15] Where's that money going to come from?
So, you did get an initial estimate of
[1:46:19] the 108 and that was for all the school
plus all of the sports complexes and
[1:46:24] everything that that y'all wanted at
that joint meeting that was discussed.
[1:46:28] » We got 60 million to do all that.
>> We need to clarify all that
[1:46:34] » school board wanted.
>> We at the joint meeting that was what
[1:46:37] was brought out. Yes.
>> We didn't bring the proposal. The school
[1:46:39] board brought the proposal to us and
that's what we
[1:46:43] » discussed and talked on.
>> Correct. Yes. Okay.
[1:46:46] » And so that that number is is pretty
accurate. Also, the $78 million is is
[1:46:51] accurate based on the information that
has been supplied from the designer to
[1:46:56] the Seymour or the construction manager
at risk, which is Vanoi Construction.
[1:47:01] Between those two, those two are
accurate. Um, if you don't do the sports
[1:47:06] field, it's the $78 million figure. If
you do the sports fields, it's the $108
[1:47:10] million figure. The money that's
allocated in this bond referendum is 48
[1:47:16] million just for the middle school. And
that's part of that 108.
[1:47:21] That's how you come up with that. It's
48 plus the 60 that's already been
[1:47:25] allocated.
>> That equals the 108.
[1:47:27] » And that does not include all of the
fields. Correct. [clears throat] That's
[1:47:30] just
>> No, that 108 does include all of the
[1:47:32] fields. So this bond referendum, the 48
million that's a part of this 105,
[1:47:38] » right,
>> would do the sports fields.
[1:47:41] » And you know, I've had a while to
process and went back and thought about
[1:47:49] our joint meeting and what we wanted to
do is put it's all or nothing. It's all
[1:47:54] it's a consensus of both boards.
>> Well, yeah. I mean, I suggested during
[1:47:58] that meeting we split it into
maintenance and repairs, upgrades.
[1:48:03] » When I got to thinking, hang on now a
minute, you know,
[1:48:07] » we've already allocate, we've already
started Fair View. We've already
[1:48:11] allocated, I mean, correct me if I'm
wrong, Darlene, 15 million for Blue
[1:48:15] Ridge. We was going to borrow that.
Um, you know, the bus garage, it's was
[1:48:22] up in the air. Um the extra stuff at
Smoky Mountain High School was up in the
[1:48:27] air and
the consensus was to get everything done
[1:48:32] with a bond. Um they we wanted the
fields at the
[1:48:37] middle school and you know the whole
nine yards. But I've got you know I've
[1:48:41] got to thinking
we've already spent that money at Fair
[1:48:46] View. We've already got 15 million going
to Blue Ridge.
[1:48:50] So,
[1:48:53] and then we've got 60 million for a
middle school. And I had county manager
[1:48:58] today call other counties um
and um look at I brought up tonight
[1:49:04] actually look at uh the middle schools
that are being built in other counties.
[1:49:08] And what did you come up with for Swain?
>> The one at Swain is right at 100,000
[1:49:15] square feet and it's 48 million. It was
designed for 650 kids.
[1:49:20] And how many students are we going to
design for? 800.
[1:49:24] » Uh we're doing 800. Yes.
>> And how big's the square footage?
[1:49:27] » Uh 129 129,000 square feet.
>> So just to And how many times have you
[1:49:34] asked Pinnacle for a threetory? I know
this board's asked Pinnacle multiple
[1:49:39] times for a threetory drawn and they've
not got it and they work for Jackson
[1:49:43] County. So, I'm tonight I'm putting
Pinnacle on notice to get us what we
[1:49:48] want because they work for us. We're
paying we're paying them. Um, and if
[1:49:54] they can't, then I guess we need to look
at others. Is COP is cope doing that and
[1:50:00] Swain? And
>> um, no, LS3P is the one in Swain. Cope
[1:50:08] is over in Graham doing a elementary
school.
[1:50:13] Well, how big is that school?
>> Uh, that one's 108,000 square feet, 38
[1:50:19] million for that one.
>> And then site prep's included in that.
[1:50:23] Correct.
>> Correct.
[1:50:25] » Where was that at?
>> Graham County.
[1:50:27] » And none of these none of these includes
fields. And we don't
[1:50:34] those locations aren't flat either. So,
>> right.
[1:50:36] » Yeah. Um,
[1:50:41] do most middle schools tend to have
fields?
[1:50:45] I All I know is Jackson County. All I
know is K8. So
[1:50:49] » I know we don't have enough fields in
Jackson County. [snorts]
[1:50:53] » Did middle schools usually have anybody?
John, did you go to middle schools?
[1:50:58] » I did. And we all all we had two
different middle schools in the county I
[1:51:03] grew up in and they had
>> share. Did you [clears throat] Did you
[1:51:07] share with
>> No, each school had its own football
[1:51:09] field,
>> everything.
[1:51:10] » Soccer wasn't a big deal there, but had
their own baseball, softball, multi-use
[1:51:14] field, and tennis courts, but they all
both schools,
[1:51:18] » they were geographically separate, kind
of like Blue Ridge is from here. And
[1:51:22] they they had their own fields.
>> Well, we, you know, we've already
[1:51:25] allocated $60 million
and we're at 79
[1:51:30] million. 78 79. Is that right?
Wait a minute. We've already allocated
[1:51:37] 60.
>> Well, not allocated. We've allocated
[1:51:39] eight and we've got $52 million grant.
Sorry. Um,
[1:51:45] so
for a three-story building, you're going
[1:51:48] to take down the footprint, you're going
to take down site prep.
[1:51:53] I I don't see why we don't change
architects. If it's if we're getting it
[1:51:57] done in Swain County for $48 million,
we'd be stupid not to change it.
[1:52:02] something needs to be done because not
to me I mean all right so if if we were
[1:52:06] set on the 105 and nothing could
possibly change which we all know it
[1:52:11] can't our interest on it's already grew
by 22 million
[1:52:16] » from what we've started hearing that
that alone's that much more money but I
[1:52:22] know good and well just because of the
way thing the world is it's not it's
[1:52:26] going to cost more than what they say
>> and these projects need to be you know
[1:52:30] phased instead of throwing it all in
there. And that's what we should have
[1:52:34] done. We should have stepped back and
done done them in a phased approach. And
[1:52:40] we're to blame for that, for agreeing to
put it all together um on a on a bond
[1:52:45] referendum. But if we step back and
think a minute, we've we've got Fairview
[1:52:50] started.
Blue Ridge has got 15 million already,
[1:52:53] and they're nobody's going to take that
away because we've already set that
[1:52:57] aside. I don't think they have to spend
it on what it I don't think once it's
[1:53:02] given that it has to be spent on that.
>> The bond.
[1:53:05] » You think it has to? You don't
>> the bond would have to. But
[1:53:08] » you talk
>> what we give them like
[1:53:10] » for Blue Ridge. Well, I think we can.
It'd be us. It' be
[1:53:14] » We pay that because we do the
facilities. It's not the school board.
[1:53:18] » Oh, cuz I was once you give
>> allocated they can do it what they want.
[1:53:23] » Up to the county to ensure that 15
million is they're writing the checks
[1:53:26] for that. Nothing's going to the school
that's going through Darlene.
[1:53:30] » Yeah. See, and I'm I see both ways. I
see where you're coming from. It's going
[1:53:34] to put a burden big time on the people
of this county
[1:53:38] » to especially the elderly and the living
on a fixed income.
[1:53:42] » Yeah.
>> But at the same time, our schools are
[1:53:47] behind
and again, we've I've been thinking
[1:53:51] about it and we we've put a bunch of
money towards it already.
[1:53:57] Well, and you look at all the kids that
if we did the middle school, they won't
[1:54:01] be able to play ball. I mean, that cuts
a lot of kids out
[1:54:05] of being on the team.
>> But if we can get the middle school for
[1:54:10] 60 million
that's already there by going through
[1:54:15] another architect,
why not? I mean, if we're going for a
[1:54:21] three-story building and that's going to
reduce the footprint,
[1:54:26] » that would be that would be great if if
we had a number. This is what it's going
[1:54:30] to cost for sure.
>> And we won't know the for sure number
[1:54:35] till it goes to bid.
And then I've also been contacted about
[1:54:41] my representation of my district. And
I've got to remember my district and
[1:54:47] that would be Smoky Mountain Elementary
School.
[1:54:51] You know, they're left out of this bond
as it's written.
[1:54:56] So, it's
>> so is Scots Creek and Cold Valley.
[1:55:01] » That would be Jones and then be yours.
Um, and you been representing your
[1:55:08] district very well for Blue Ridge, but
um I just feel like There's money there
[1:55:16] to get all these projects done.
>> My district's
[1:55:22] » Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Anyway,
I just feel like there's money there to
[1:55:29] get all these projects done
[1:55:33] and
not have to have $105 million.
[1:55:38] » I don't want to put it on the taxpayers.
Either way, it's going to be put on the
[1:55:43] taxpayers.
>> Well, we don't get it out thin air. It's
[1:55:45] just when and how much.
>> Well, I don't want to put that big of
[1:55:49] amount on them
>> because I will tell you this. I've had I
[1:55:55] support the school system. I always I've
had done that my whole
[1:55:59] » term. I've done that my whole term.
>> But I've had a lot of people concerned
[1:56:04] about not the fact that the schools are
getting upgrades, but the fact that of
[1:56:10] what it's what they're going to have to
the tax burden.
[1:56:13] » Yeah.
>> And taking care of what we got. And like
[1:56:18] Michael said
meetings ago, is this a need or a want?
[1:56:23] » And that brings it back to needs and
wants. you know, what does Blue Ridge
[1:56:26] really need? What [clears throat] does
Fairview really need?
[1:56:30] So, and the 60 million that's been there
>> since two years before you guys took
[1:56:36] office. So, I mean,
[1:56:41] » I'm just the um the
current cost of steel and concrete is
[1:56:50] five and a half% inflation every year.
>> Yeah. And
[1:56:54] » so you're you're you're already saying
if we kick it down the road and we apply
[1:57:01] for this grant as soon as we can do that
is two years. So there's 11% increase in
[1:57:07] cost plus another two years to find
property
[1:57:11] uh do more civil, do more engineering,
architecture, there's another 11%.
[1:57:19] » We don't need to kick it down the road.
I mean, I just feel like we're
[1:57:23] [clears throat]
>> But again, there
[1:57:26] » again, the taxpayers just had the
largest tax increase. Even if we do have
[1:57:31] a low tax rate, they're not used to
that. They just had the largest tax
[1:57:36] increase on the land re-evaluation. I
just don't think they need another one.
[1:57:41] Not now.
>> Why? that's up for them to vote.
[1:57:44] » Well, they people will come to the polls
that and they won't be informed
[1:57:49] about what they're voting for.
>> We can't baby
[1:57:54] 40,000 people.
>> I mean, like
[1:57:58] Mr. Lewis, he said that they elected us
to make tough decisions. Amen.
[1:58:06] » So many so many people vote that are not
taxpayers to but as far as property
[1:58:12] taxes.
>> True.
[1:58:13] » And I you know I want to see our school
system succeed. I mean I think all of us
[1:58:18] want that.
>> Yeah.
[1:58:21] » But I just I'm up in the air about it.
I think that
[1:58:28] we can get it done. I think first step
would be get rid of Pinnacle. I'm just
[1:58:32] being straight honest. I' I've been
harsh on them for several months now and
[1:58:37] it's they work for Jackson County and
they need to get us what we've asked
[1:58:42] for. If they can't do it, they need to
go on down the road and we can hire
[1:58:45] somebody else that can.
>> I I agree. You know, I'm I'm 100% behind
[1:58:49] that.
>> So, I mean, there's no reason
[1:58:53] that
>> they they knew up front how much money
[1:58:56] we had.
>> Exactly. They told us they could do it
[1:58:58] for that amount of money.
>> So now they're throwing all these wild
[1:59:03] numbers at us and you know we either
build it for what you said and I know
[1:59:08] there's some inflationary numbers that
come in
[1:59:11] » the job. They wanted the job.
>> Yeah. Or we'll go get somebody else.
[1:59:17] » Yeah. I mean the schools that are being
built are pre-cast. Is that right? And
[1:59:22] that saves money.
>> Yeah. So the design you know that has
[1:59:26] been brought before with with the
numbers is not pre-cast. So that if you
[1:59:31] go pre-cast option it is cheaper to do
that. Um you know Vanoi has said that
[1:59:37] that the steel is going up about 3 or 4%
a month. You know it's because right now
[1:59:42] it's kind of volatile. But
>> so it if it's cheaper to do the
[1:59:46] pre-cast, we've been asking them to drop
the price. Why haven't they suggested
[1:59:50] that? Have they have they suggested
that?
[1:59:54] There has been discussions between
Vanoi. Vanoi has asked that of the
[2:00:00] designer, but they've not come back with
any any mockup. The designer does stuff
[2:00:04] and they keeping we're not going to give
that to you.
[2:00:07] » I got I got a question. If if the the
money that they have, when was it? Was
[2:00:13] it in the spring that we had to break
ground on doing something or they would
[2:00:18] lose that money? No, it's not until
next.
[2:00:22] » Next September.
>> Next September 27th.
[2:00:25] » Okay, then why can we not go with
keeping it off the ballot this year and
[2:00:29] let's back up and punt if they can wait
that long on them and hold that money
[2:00:33] and see what other options we have to go
with.
[2:00:37] » Has to be in a general
>> year be two year. If we don't ask this
[2:00:44] year, it'll be two years during the next
regular election.
[2:00:47] » I thought you said it had to be
September. That's when groundbreaking
[2:00:50] is.
>> But we can only ask for a bond during a
[2:00:53] normal election cycle.
>> Okay.
[2:00:55] » And you know, even if it come in at 65
million, we've been accused for months
[2:00:59] for having a general fund way more than
what we need. So I mean,
[2:01:07] » what is that general fund sitting at
right now?
[2:01:10] » It's about 31.
>> 31. And what's the 25%
[2:01:14] that we
[2:01:18] probably.
>> So, we don't have a ton of money above
[2:01:22] what
>> and then is there any money in article
[2:01:26] 46
two
[2:01:29] » there is money in the sales tax reserves
there?
[2:01:38] » Well, currently
[2:01:42] » keep in mind SEC is still part of that
as well.
[2:01:45] » That's correct.
part of that's already allocated for
[2:01:50] them.
>> Yeah.
[2:01:54] » 3.6 million
[2:01:59] or 46
and then 42 and 44 combined.
[2:02:05] » Would you speak into the microphone,
please?
[2:02:11] » Got $3.6 million in article 46. Some of
that money will have is used to pay the
[2:02:17] debt on the SEC project and on the
other articles got 5.6 million
[2:02:28] » and that has been built into the plan we
originally had to fund the projects that
[2:02:34] we had talked about.
>> That's pretty much already allocated
[2:02:39] that 5.6.
>> Yes.
[2:02:42] » Okay.
[2:02:45] And the 15 million we're borrowing that,
right?
[2:02:48] » That's correct.
It could be borrowing in combination of
[2:02:53] sales tax.
>> Do you know how much uh reserve the
[2:02:58] school board has in their general fund?
>> I don't at this time.
[2:03:02] » Dana, I [clears throat] put you on the
spot. Do you know how much that money
[2:03:06] » balance?
>> Your fund balance in general.
[2:03:11] between 2.6 and 2.8
>> 2.6 and 2.8. So less than three
[2:03:20] [snorts]
[2:03:27] » there motion. I I want the projects to
continue, but I think we've got adequate
[2:03:32] money to finish these projects even even
if we don't do these
[2:03:37] » the current projects without adding any.
>> Correct.
[2:03:40] » Even if we don't do these fields and all
this other
[2:03:45] nice stuff that would have been nice,
but
[2:03:51] um
there's money there. There's $60
[2:03:54] million. We give them that $60 million
at the very very beginning. They knew
[2:03:58] what we had.
>> They said, "Oh, we can get it 40
[2:04:02] something million."
[2:04:05] » That really
aggravates me to death.
[2:04:09] » Yeah, it eats at me, too. So,
>> you know, I think they let us on to get
[2:04:14] the job. So,
>> I do too. And it's been a it's been
[2:04:17] going on and on and on for
>> over two years.
[2:04:20] » Uh two years. And the money's just been
sitting there. And I think Commissioner
[2:04:26] Humper's very first
times we might have had a a joint
[2:04:30] meeting, you mentioned a three-story
building because of the footprint,
[2:04:33] » right?
>> And they said it wasn't feasible.
[2:04:36] » Yeah.
>> Well, it's way cheaper to go up than it
[2:04:39] is out.
>> I mean, in this situation, it is because
[2:04:42] it's been brought up tonight and it's no
secret the side is rock. Um,
[2:04:49] there's some rock there, but we're in
the mountains. We spent
[2:04:54] a year plus picking that site.
>> How many sites we look at?
[2:05:00] » 13.
>> I thought it was 13. Somebody said 12
[2:05:03] and somebody said 18. So, I'm not sure
what the real number is.
[2:05:08] » 13.
>> You know, I didn't necessarily like the
[2:05:11] site because the folks in my district
having to go all the way across town.
[2:05:16] Um,
>> but trying to put it somewhere in the
[2:05:18] middle for Blue Ridge and then for yours
too. I agree. Y'all are both way out.
[2:05:23] Still way out.
So, I just feel like we can get these
[2:05:29] these things done if
Pinnacle can't get us the numbers by
[2:05:33] this week that we've asked for. I know
that's a short timeline, but hey,
[2:05:38] they've had two years. Yeah, they
they've had a lot longer than
[2:05:42] » uh so
I I just they should be able to take
[2:05:47] Swain's footprint, make it a little bit
bigger, whoever that is that's doing it.
[2:05:52] And I know we probably have a little bit
more sight prep.
[2:05:55] Even if you add 20 million on to that's
$68 million for 20,000 more square foot
[2:06:01] and a little bit more sight prep. That's
$8 million difference that
[2:06:08] surely to God this county that's got
millions sitting around, we could come
[2:06:12] up with $8 million gap for that to get
it done. And it probably wouldn't be
[2:06:18] this board anyway. It would be the next
board. It would be the next board for
[2:06:22] any of this.
So
[2:06:26] » the bond order is for a maximum amount
of 105 million.
[2:06:31] » You don't have to borrow. That's way too
much money.
[2:06:34] » That's outrageous. Um,
>> and it's includes those projects, but
[2:06:39] it's not limited to those projects. So,
you could do something at another school
[2:06:45] if needed.
>> Our schools are very outdated, but we
[2:06:50] need to have we need to develop just
like parks and recck does. We have
[2:06:54] master plan and you're you just go
through the plan and doing this doing
[2:06:59] that doing this doing that instead of
trying to
[2:07:04] trying to do it and the reason we done
it there again it falls back to pinnacle
[2:07:08] we tried to do all this because Pinnacle
was promising us the moon and then
[2:07:13] where's it at
I'm just I'm real aggravated with them
[2:07:21] they can smile they can talk Good talk.
But if they can't give us the numbers we
[2:07:26] need, they need to go on down the road.
[2:07:33] » Motion
motion you want. Whatever motion y'all
[2:07:38] want.
[snorts]
[2:07:47] And
[2:07:51] I think we could keep trucking on the
projects that we've got and
[2:07:58] continue on with the middle school as
planned. And if they can't get us what
[2:08:04] we need, we'll go somewhere else and
find it because there's no reason why we
[2:08:09] can't if Swain County can build one for
48 million, there's no reason we can't
[2:08:13] build one for $12 million more.
When did Swain start the process?
[2:08:22] » I I don't know the date. I know that the
bids have gone out. They've got do have
[2:08:25] a GMP at the 48. Did verify that today.
>> Then they get the they got a grant for
[2:08:30] theirs as well. Yeah.
>> And it was right around the same time.
[2:08:33] » This the same amount. Yeah.
>> Yeah. I think it's the same time, same
[2:08:36] amount. They may have got theirs a few
months.
[2:08:40] » It was announced that they got theirs a
few months before ours. But
[2:08:43] » I don't want to lose this grant. I mean,
I don't either. I mean that that puts us
[2:08:46] way behind.
>> I want to be very clear on that. I I
[2:08:48] want to go ahead with the the middle
school, but I think looking at other
[2:08:52] projects and saying, well, 48 million
and we're just for the school, we're at
[2:08:59] 79 million,
something ain't adding up here.
[2:09:03] Something's wrong with these numbers.
Um, so that's just where I stand. I I
[2:09:10] support the school system. I support our
middle school. um going forward with
[2:09:16] that. But I at this point I've
I just I just don't think that the tax
[2:09:24] burden on the people's the right thing
to do.
[2:09:28] » Amen.
>> I agree.
[2:09:31] » Totally agree.
>> I'm sure I'll get backlash over with
[2:09:36] that.
We've we've spent a lot of money, a lot
[2:09:39] of time, a lot of money on getting these
schools.
[2:09:43] » Matter which way it goes, we're all
going to get backlash one way or the
[2:09:46] other.
>> Um, we've spent eight on middle school.
[2:09:50] I It's allocated, so might as well just
say spend.
[2:09:53] » We going to spend 15 million in Blue
Ridge. We spent seven How much Fairview?
[2:10:03] » Seven. Seven and a half.
>> Seven and a half at Fairview.
[2:10:07] And we spent how much on the track?
>> Two and a half.
[2:10:11] » So what does that add up to? Anybody got
a good number?
[2:10:15] » I mean that's
>> What' you say again?
[2:10:18] » I just want I just want
>> No, I know. What was the
[2:10:21] » 33? Mike Mike's good. You said 33.
>> 3 Yeah. 15 plus. Yeah. So that's
[2:10:30] $33 million that we've spent schools. I
think that's pretty darn good for
[2:10:37] » um for our county. I'm proud of it.
>> Yeah.
[2:10:42] » But
>> it's real good.
[2:10:44] » I just uh I feel like the next board,
you guys
[2:10:50] can take this at a phased approach. I
think you guys want to see all this
[2:10:54] stuff done and do this at a phased
approach. The bus garage, the Smoky
[2:11:00] Mountain stuff is needed. It's a need.
[2:11:07] And even if you want to do fields at at
the at the uh middle school, that's that
[2:11:14] can be done in phases. It don't have to
be done overnight.
[2:11:22] There a motion.
[2:11:30] I make a motion that we approve the $105
million general obligation school bonds
[2:11:34] because I don't feel like
we're ever going to have this
[2:11:40] opportunity again where we can set our
[2:11:47] schools in a better place moving
forward.
[2:11:51] » I make a motion that we deny it.
Uh, real quick, Darlene, how much are we
[2:11:57] generating in article 46 and all those
other ones each year?
[2:12:04] » I can get you those numbers.
>> Just to estimate. I ain't going [snorts]
[2:12:08] to hold you to it.
[2:12:12] » It's about seven to 10 million. Depends
on the year.
[2:12:17] » Per year.
>> Yeah.
[2:12:19] » There you have it. I mean, we got
>> some of it's committed already, too.
[2:12:24] » Yeah, but there's still money there to
do each phase. Um, build the bus garage,
[2:12:32] build the
uh Smoky Mountain High School ADA stuff.
[2:12:39] Um,
[2:12:43] just we need to we need to take a step
back
[2:12:48] and focus on
And I ain't saying stop the middle
[2:12:52] school. Just focus on what we're doing
and go forward.
[2:12:57] Because how long is this going to take?
How long is project going to take? We
[2:13:01] got 60 now. How long is it going to
take?
[2:13:05] » You mean when it started?
>> Yeah.
[2:13:07] » It'll be, you know, it's a two-year
project, but that's only after it bids.
[2:13:12] So over time we're going to gain some of
this article 46 and others
[2:13:18] and that
well when it goes out to GMP
[2:13:24] from that point if we're annualizing
$7.5 million a year in both articles
[2:13:30] let's say5 million because we know
something's going to go to SEC
[2:13:35] that's $10 million is what we're going
to get. So by the time projects complete
[2:13:40] then we would make up that six that $8
million that we're
[2:13:44] » I'm just throwing out an estimate of $68
million.
[2:13:47] » Yeah know but
>> well we would be close to the 19 million
[2:13:52] that
>> that was one year is that what what you
[2:13:54] said one year about $5 million.
>> Yeah. So
[2:13:59] if it was 75 then three years recoup
that
[2:14:03] » by that time the general fund will be
build up. Darlene be happy as can be.
[2:14:11] » There's a second for either motion.
Keep giving her a headache. She's like
[2:14:15] we retired.
[laughter]
[2:14:19] I make a motion that we continue on the
projects that we've set to do
[2:14:24] and plan to do
and put Pinnacle on notice. They can't
[2:14:30] get us what we need. Find somebody else.
Three motions.
[2:14:38] So there's a motion to proceed with the
$105 million bond.
[2:14:42] What was your motion again, Miss Super?
>> To deny the request.
[2:14:47] » Okay. So no [clears throat] bond.
>> It's okay. [laughter]
[2:14:53] » I
Okay,
[2:14:58] with no other motions, [sighs and gasps]
all those in favor of Miss Hoopers say
[2:15:04] I. I
>> I
[2:15:07] » I
>> opposed. I
[2:15:11] motion does not or motion carries. Uh
with no need for legislation.
[2:15:19] Is there a motion to adjurnn our regular
meeting?
[2:15:25] » We are. [laughter]
[2:15:28] » All right. Oh, we got another meeting.
>> We got a whole another meeting. Now
[2:15:32] we're
>> got a work session.
[2:15:36] » That's what all these people's here for.
[2:15:44] » Thank you board.
>> Thank you.
[2:15:53] » Okay.
[2:15:56] Go ahead and call our work session to
order.
[2:15:59] First up this evening, we have uh Jody
Rowald
[2:16:03] from rec recovery housing support and uh
here for recovery housing support and
[2:16:09] substance use prevention coordinator for
our health department.
[2:16:19] » Okay.
>> Good evening. Thank y'all for having us.
[2:16:24] We're um excited to be here tonight to
share some updates on how the opioid
[2:16:29] settlement funds have been spent over
the last year and also to ask for some
[2:16:35] um additional funding to be released.
So since thank you since July of 2025
[2:16:45] the county funded um three different
priorities. So we funded recovery
[2:16:50] support services, early intervention and
prevention and also nlloxxone
[2:16:56] distribution throughout last year. So
from July 2025 through June 30th of
[2:17:02] 2026,
75 individuals with opioid use disorder
[2:17:07] connected to services. 32 students
received substance use prevention and
[2:17:12] intervention services and over 1,400
nlloxxone distrib kits were distri dist
[2:17:17] distributed within the county.
I do want to give a thank you to Jod the
[2:17:23] opioid settlement council um and the
organizations that provided these
[2:17:28] resources to our community for all their
hard work and dedication.
[2:17:33] And now Jod is gonna share about our new
proposal we have.
[2:17:42] » Hello. Um so we are looking at a new
strategy. So this is under the opioid
[2:17:48] settlement memorandum of agreement. So
it's recovery housing support. Um so
[2:17:53] this is funding um programs offering
recovery housing support to people in
[2:17:57] treatment or recovery or people who use
drugs such as assistance with rent move
[2:18:02] in deposits or utilities or to fund um
recovery housing programs to provide
[2:18:08] housing to individuals receiving
medication assisted treatment for opioid
[2:18:12] use disorder. Um so um we as a county
have been facing ongoing opioid and
[2:18:18] substance use challenges. We have
housing instability. um we have limited
[2:18:23] long-term recovery support. So, one of
the gaps continue to see is what happens
[2:18:27] when someone is trying to get stable,
right, trying to receive treatment um
[2:18:34] but doesn't have a safe or structured
place to live. Um, so if they leave
[2:18:38] treatment or they leave direct jail or
prison or crisis care, they go right
[2:18:44] back into the same environment. Then,
um, it's really hard for them to find
[2:18:50] work, to get a driver's license, um, to
find safe and stable housing, to access
[2:18:55] medical care, um, and benefits, um, and
as well as other needed resources. Um,
[2:19:03] so we're seeing about 69 residents um,
returning from prison every year. Um,
[2:19:10] 33% of those claim to have um, graduated
high school. We're seeing about half of
[2:19:16] those folks are coming back in the
county and they're unhoused. They don't
[2:19:20] have anywhere to go. Um, and we also are
continuing to see um, opioid overdoses
[2:19:27] as well.
Um, so we have strong potential here to
[2:19:31] support multiple houses, but intentional
outreach and dedicated local development
[2:19:36] capacity are needed.
[2:19:40] So,
so we've got a one pager on the um the
[2:19:46] program that we're kind of looking at.
[2:19:50] Um, so we're looking at recovery
housing. So the the need is not just
[2:19:55] housing because we know that there is a
great need for housing in our county,
[2:19:59] but the need is for safe structured
place for people who are trying to
[2:20:04] stabilize in recovery. Without that,
people can leave treatment, they can
[2:20:09] leave jail or prison, they go right back
um into the same environment. Um and so
[2:20:15] it makes long-term recovery much harder
and it can lead to that cycle just
[2:20:19] continuing. The recetivism rate is
really high. Um, those released from
[2:20:23] detox to jail or prison are 40 to 129
times more likely to die of an overdose
[2:20:30] within the first 14 days of their
release, but that doesn't really
[2:20:34] diminish over time either. Um, and
that's due to lowered tolerance and then
[2:20:39] that lack of continuity of care.
[snorts] So, recovery housing is
[2:20:44] recognized by SAMA as best practice. And
this model is actually codified in
[2:20:48] federal law as part of the Anti-Drug
Abuse Act of 1988.
[2:20:54] So we're looking um to partner with
Oxford House.
[2:20:59] So um these are houses that have been
around since um the program has been
[2:21:04] around since 1975. They've got houses
all over the country. They have more
[2:21:09] than 300 houses here in North Carolina.
They don't have any in western North
[2:21:14] Carolina. The closest um office house is
in Asheville.
[2:21:19] Um these houses operate democratically
electing house officers who serve
[2:21:24] six-month terms. So these houses are
financially self-supporting. So members
[2:21:29] of the house split the expenses which
average $110 to $160 per person per
[2:21:35] week. Residents must either have secure
employment or they must receive
[2:21:41] retirement or disability payments. any
resident who has a reoccurrence of
[2:21:46] substance use will immediately be
expelled. So there's no substance use
[2:21:51] allowed at the houses. Um the
eligibility to be a member one of these
[2:21:55] houses um in Jackson County, we would
prioritize Jackson County residents that
[2:22:01] are motivated to pursue recovery but
they lack that financial stability or
[2:22:06] stable support system. Um it is that
individuals complete a treatment program
[2:22:12] prior to entering an office house and
they must be substancefree for 13 or
[2:22:17] more dates.
Um applicants have to go for an
[2:22:21] interview with
>> test while they're in there.
[2:22:25] » They I don't know the answer to that but
I know that there's a zero tolerance
[2:22:30] policy. So I don't know about that but I
know that there's a zero tolerance
[2:22:34] policy for for use. um they have to go
through an interview process with other
[2:22:38] house members and the house members
there's like an 80% of house members
[2:22:43] must accept this person as a roommate.
[2:22:51] Um so um you can see in your handout um
the breakdown of their budget and how
[2:22:56] the office has plans for sustainability.
So they are asking 165,000 for a year.
[2:23:04] So this is special revenue funds that
are set aside for opioid settlement. So
[2:23:11] these are funds that has started coming
into our county in 2022. They'll
[2:23:15] continue to come into the county 2038
and beyond because of all of the
[2:23:19] different newer settlements that are
happening. So this money is set aside
[2:23:23] just for this purpose. So this is one of
the strategies that's in the MOA. The
[2:23:28] money can't be spent on anything other
than these strategies. And so this is
[2:23:32] one of the strategies. Um so they're uh
so this cost includes $12,000 in
[2:23:38] one-time startup funds for two houses.
So they're looking to set up two Oxford
[2:23:43] houses. So one male, one female. Um so
that would be six to 16 recovery beds.
[2:23:50] Um, and the primary cost driver for this
startup is personnel because they would
[2:23:54] need to send um, employees into the
county to secure the housing um, and to
[2:24:01] to get everything started up. Um, equal
expense shared assistance is also part
[2:24:07] of those upfront costs because the folks
that are coming into these houses, they
[2:24:11] don't have employment yet. So there's a
period of time where they those expenses
[2:24:17] are paid for them and then they have a
period of time where they need to look
[2:24:20] for work or have secure disability
payments or retirement.
[2:24:25] So these houses are designed to be self-
sustained. So once we have given you
[2:24:30] know 165,000 for that one year there's
no more money that needs to come out of
[2:24:36] the settlement funds for them because
their house will be sustained. Um, so
[2:24:40] the goals of this project are to expand
recovering housing um, capacity in
[2:24:46] Jackson County and to strengthen
recovery support and housing stability.
[2:24:49] Um, and their timeline is once it gets
approved, it takes them between 90 and
[2:24:55] 120 days to hire staff and establish a
house.
[2:25:00] So this evening, we're just here to ask
you to approve the release of the
[2:25:04] $165,000
from the opioid settlement special
[2:25:08] revenue fund over the next 12 months to
help meet an unmet need of supportive
[2:25:14] recovery housing for Jackson County
residents.
[2:25:16] » I I have a question. Um
I think y'all spoke about you had over a
[2:25:22] million dollars to spend back of this.
Yeah, there's there's a lot of money
[2:25:28] that's still there. So, we have
>> like what have you done with that
[2:25:32] » with the money so far? So, um at the
beginning um so Megan went over what we
[2:25:37] had um spent so far at the beginning.
So, last year you all moved um to
[2:25:43] support uh Sunrise Community Recovery
and Wellness and so they have moved into
[2:25:47] the county. They have a peer support
center. Um, and then Life Challenge of
[2:25:52] Western North Carolina has continued to
be sustained. So, they have been able to
[2:25:57] help 75 folks over this year.
>> 75. Okay.
[2:26:00] » Yeah. Just this first year. Um,
>> I wondered if that's what that part of
[2:26:04] the money was for. I wasn't sure. So,
I'm sorry you're having to repeat
[2:26:07] yourself.
>> No, no, no. That's okay. Yeah. So, so
[2:26:09] yeah. So, we've helped um 75 folks with
opioid use disorder, 32 students, and
[2:26:14] we've distributed over 1,400 in the
lockdown. So obviously,
[2:26:18] » and these are Jackson County residents.
>> These are Jackson County residents. Yes.
[2:26:22] Yeah. So, and we don't know how many
lives have been saved in the lives.
[2:26:26] » You know, um because we've only had
three overdoses reported, but that
[2:26:30] doesn't mean there have been other ones
unreported, right?
[2:26:33] » Because the majority of, you know, of
responses are citizens that are
[2:26:37] responding, and so we don't always know,
but at least we know that that this is
[2:26:42] working.
[2:26:46] I think it's a great great asset.
>> Where's the houses come from? You said
[2:26:51] they set up a
>> So they right they come into the
[2:26:55] community and they talk with landlords
um and they look to you know also to you
[2:27:01] know they there's a possibility of
purchasing homes. So
[2:27:07] » here's
there's a lot you know backand support.
[2:27:11] I I know but I'm that's what I wondered
if there support two houses where where
[2:27:16] the houses come from
>> right
[2:27:20] » what ideas you guys have about problem
you got
[2:27:25] » we actually talk about that they're
going to look at I'll let you talk
[2:27:31] » Sure um so you know there are a couple
of areas um that have been noted as some
[2:27:37] problem areas we're going to go visit
those areas and kind figure out, you
[2:27:41] know, how we can help. Um, we don't have
needle exchange at, uh, the health
[2:27:46] department. The only, um, entity that
comes into the county to do that is
[2:27:51] WindCap, and they only come in Wednesday
afternoons from 1 to 4, and they are
[2:27:55] parked at Blue Ridge. Um, and so we, you
know, I could reach out to them, talk to
[2:28:00] them, and see if there's a different
location that maybe they could go to,
[2:28:04] um, that we're seeing more of an issue.
Um, we have talked to folks about um,
[2:28:09] placing needle receptacles. The only
problem with that is statistics. So, who
[2:28:13] goes to those places?
>> That kind of people that use drugs and
[2:28:17] do needles, they're not going to be
responsible enough to go put it in a
[2:28:21] proper receptacle. They're going to
throw it down wherever they're at
[2:28:24] » or share it or whatever.
>> Think about who wants that in front of
[2:28:28] their business or
>> Yeah. things like
[2:28:30] » they're not going to go drop it off. I
think there are some options just in
[2:28:34] terms [clears throat] of options where
we put some of these things.
[2:28:37] » Some of these options some of these
buildings need to be demolished where
[2:28:41] they're staying and throwing stuff out.
>> That's the option.
[2:28:45] » Yeah, that's true. You use some of this
money and purchase some of those
[2:28:48] locations and tear [snorts] them down.
>> But yeah, there's a lot of these places
[2:28:54] where
people are squatting and they need help.
[2:28:59] Don't get me wrong. They need this help.
But I don't I agree with you. [snorts] I
[2:29:04] mean, when they're in that shape,
they're not going to take them either.
[2:29:08] » I'm just thinking about the next high.
>> Yeah.
[2:29:11] And we needed to
try to help with the root of it instead
[2:29:19] of giving them a place to get rid of
their needles,
[2:29:25] get them off of it.
>> Right. And that's what Sunrise and Life
[2:29:30] Challenge are working towards, helping
folks with that. And then these recovery
[2:29:35] houses will be that step down. So if
they go, for example, they go to Life
[2:29:39] Challenge and they get treatment there,
then there's a step down. If if these
[2:29:44] Oxford houses are allowed to be here,
then there's a there's a place for them
[2:29:47] to step down to.
>> Yeah. Good. They're good homes. And
[2:29:50] there's
um
[2:29:53] place over in Tennessee. It's Christian
base, I think. I can't believe remember
[2:29:58] what it's called, but um they're really
good, too, as far as bringing in homes
[2:30:04] and stuff like that for and it's like a
two-year program, I want to say, for
[2:30:10] that. I don't know how long.
>> There's a place like that down in
[2:30:12] Franklin, but they only accept men.
>> Yeah, there's Yeah.
[2:30:15] » Yeah. Men's Yeah. Men's Challenge of the
Smokies.
[2:30:18] » This one's six to 12 months,
>> correct? in this facility and then it
[2:30:22] would be
to the next location or hopefully
[2:30:26] they're on their feet a little bit.
>> Right. The goal is to get them
[2:30:29] independent
>> into what?
[2:30:32] » To get them independent.
>> Oh, independent. Okay. How long did you
[2:30:34] say it was? How long?
>> Um, it's just kind of depends on the
[2:30:38] situation on on how where someone's at,
but it's about six to 12 months or so.
[2:30:43] And then, you know, hopefully they're
independent. moving along and then
[2:30:46] they're
>> work with the sheriff's office and
[2:30:48] places like that for people that's
looking for help.
[2:30:53] » Oh, sure. Yeah.
>> They need a good relationship there. But
[2:30:57] that's that's where it starts. Mhm.
>> There's some people that, and I I know
[2:31:03] this cuz I've got family and
>> a close family that's that's battled
[2:31:07] with it for years and
[2:31:12] » they're, you know, they're not just
going to go out here and walk out and
[2:31:16] say, "I'm going to go get help. Got to
have a
[2:31:20] fire."
>> Exactly.
[2:31:22] » I had a half brother that lost his
battle with it years ago.
[2:31:27] my my brother-in-law, he's uh well, I'm
not going to get into that, but it's um
[2:31:34] » these people need help big time.
>> And they're good people,
[2:31:39] » but they also have to be willing to want
to help theirel
[2:31:44] work period. It don't matter what you
do.
[2:31:47] » Underneath they're good people. And if
we have a good system set up for the
[2:31:52] sheriff's office, offer them a future,
>> that's what we want,
[2:31:56] » right?
>> We don't want to say, "Hey, let's just
[2:31:59] let them out and roll down the road, you
know."
[2:32:03] » Exactly. Yeah. And working with
community supervision as well. That's
[2:32:06] really important because they're the
ones receiving these folks coming back
[2:32:10] from from prison and they don't there's
nowhere for them to go. But so many of
[2:32:15] them, they'll go and get help and then
they fall right back in the same rut
[2:32:18] with the same friends, the same town,
the ones they're familiar with. And
[2:32:23] » you know, nobody wants to see anybody
else do any better than them. So they
[2:32:27] try to antagonize them and drag them
back down, you know, and it's it's
[2:32:31] terrible, but it's a vicious cycle.
>> It is. Yeah.
[2:32:34] » Something long term, something follow
them along to keep them on the right
[2:32:37] track. But this is a good great start. I
mean I mean what y'all are doing is
[2:32:41] great all the way around. So
>> thank you. Any anything helps that for
[2:32:45] sure. And
the sheriff's done the uh
[2:32:51] » Vivitrol program.
Are you guys overlapping with that or?
[2:32:58] » No, but there would be, you know, if
folks were involved in that program at
[2:33:02] the jail and they were being released
and they were going to continue that
[2:33:05] program or go another route, I mean,
obviously this would be a great
[2:33:09] placement for them. So if they're
continuing on this pivot trial, they can
[2:33:14] y
>> continue and
[2:33:15] » yeah,
>> this program will help them.
[2:33:17] » Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. So there's no
they're not prohibited um if they're
[2:33:23] receiving treatment, they're receiving
maintenance like Vivitrol or something
[2:33:27] like that, they're not prohibited from
living at the house. They're they're
[2:33:31] supported. So they'll make sure that
they get Yeah. They'll make sure that
[2:33:34] they get their treatment.
>> Yeah. Regulation assisted therapies
[2:33:38] probably [clears throat] crucial to
getting them clean. So
[2:33:41] » yes,
[2:33:46] » is there consensus or do we need to take
a vote?
[2:33:49] » Agreed.
>> I'll need to present a budget amendment.
[2:33:53] » Perfect.
>> That's what I was thinking.
[2:33:56] » I think there is consensus to put this
on the next agenda.
[2:33:59] » Okay.
>> Thank you ladies.
[2:34:02] » Thank you.
>> Have a good night.
[2:34:03] » Yeah. Appreciate what y'all are doing.
Next up, we have Miss Ash, our tax
[2:34:08] administrator, talking [snorts] about
resolution in support of Senate Bill
[2:34:12] 349.
>> Good afternoon.
[2:34:17] I hate that one gentleman left. I was
going to mention what we were doing for
[2:34:20] the 2029 reappraisal, but he left before
I could get a chance to. Um, just for
[2:34:25] information purposes, we're just out
there collecting data and ensuring our
[2:34:28] data is correct for the 2029
reappraisal. We are not revaluing
[2:34:32] properties until 2029. Just to be clear
on that. Of course, if you added a new
[2:34:36] home or renovated or something, that
could be a little different,
[2:34:39] » but we're not out there actually
reappraising. So,
[2:34:41] » yes, you have I think probably at least
three of you.
[2:34:45] » You skip my properties, please.
>> I think we already did yours.
[2:34:48] » You can skip it, [laughter] I believe.
>> Yeah. Do it again. I'll do it again. Uh
[2:34:52] I know
>> they're gonna add the Wii Park into
[2:34:56] yours.
>> She knows mine's hard.
[2:34:59] » We're gonna come for you. Good. I know
what what a lot of the issue is and
[2:35:02] people don't realize is we do all of our
reappraisal in office now. It's all in
[2:35:06] staff. There's 40,000 parcels in our
county takes what two hours to get from
[2:35:12] one end to the other. And we have one
reappraisal filing. So if we didn't
[2:35:16] start right after the one's done, we are
not getting a port the county visited.
[2:35:21] » I think it's good to start three months
before. Well, we get about
[2:35:27] » a quarter of one township maybe done.
Um, but either way, I just wanted to
[2:35:31] mention that uh that we're not really
revaging. We're just making sure our
[2:35:34] data is correct. A lot of these
properties we have not been to in
[2:35:37] probably 10 plus years,
>> and we need to make sure the data is
[2:35:40] correct. We had mentioned that um I know
you you two weren't part of a lot of our
[2:35:44] previous reappraisal conversations, but
that was one of the things that got
[2:35:47] brought up is how long has it even been,
you know, and we're like, we had even
[2:35:51] really been to a lot of these properties
in a decade. So, um, it's it's much
[2:35:55] needed. It's just a slow processing. We
do have one team.
[2:35:59] » Your business yet?
>> You're It's in the town.
[2:36:03] » It's in the town, right?
>> Yeah.
[2:36:04] » We We haven't done the town just yet
because we did do the all the
[2:36:07] municipalities last time before. So,
we're going to finish those off.
[2:36:12] » I doubt we will get up to um Mr.
Jennings and um properties for this. We
[2:36:19] will be for the next round. So,
>> I think it showed up last time.
[2:36:22] » Yeah. Well, we showed up to yours
individually just because we checked all
[2:36:26] of the commissioners to make sure
because we will get called out on that
[2:36:29] for sure.
>> I I think I was I think number one.
[2:36:33] » Oh,
>> yay.
[2:36:34] » Oh, good. Well, you can't be
[2:36:39] » when you go
number eight.
[2:36:42] » No, we check everybody. We check
Darlings and Kevin and everybody else.
[2:36:47] So, anyway, um got sidetracked there. Uh
so um I got a little something wrote
[2:36:53] down here to go through because I got a
few points I want to mention. Um so uh
[2:36:59] the main reason I'm here tonight is to
um see if this board is interested in
[2:37:03] submitting a resolution in support of a
Senate bill that some positive
[2:37:08] modifications to our property tax.
Other county boards are submitting a
[2:37:13] similar resolution um to the general
assembly in hopes that we can get this
[2:37:17] bill to get some movement behind it. Um,
before I discuss that, I'd like to give
[2:37:21] just a little
and then talk about an upcoming
[2:37:26] referendum that is completely separate
from that school bond referendum we just
[2:37:29] talked about. And um those anymore I'm
trying to brief past it, but it is a
[2:37:35] word on here. So separate referendum and
I give a little bit detail on that bill
[2:37:39] that we're referring to
like this to Anna or anything Ferguson
[2:37:46] » um
>> in the Senate.
[2:37:49] or the house. Sorry.
>> Um, if you can get me a copy of this,
[2:37:54] I'll send it to her.
>> The bill.
[2:37:56] » Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
>> Yeah, I hope so. Um, so
[2:38:03] » well, I'm let me go through my little
spiel here. So, currently the state
[2:38:08] offers three homestead exclusions,
elderly and disabled, disabled veteran,
[2:38:11] and the circuit breaker. The exclusions
are limited to both age and income of
[2:38:16] course except for disabled veterans.
So every year there's around 10 bills to
[2:38:21] have the general general assembly to
expand homestead exclusions. None of
[2:38:25] them ever passed. Based on statute
history, the homestead exclusions have
[2:38:29] not changed at all since 2009.
Um I also want to point out because I
[2:38:35] get this a lot in my office. I don't
know if you do as well, but this board
[2:38:39] has no control over the homestead
exclusions. Uh you can't modify them.
[2:38:42] you can't change how they're set up. You
can do nothing about those besides hope
[2:38:46] that the general assembly will make some
configurations to move that. Um, so we
[2:38:51] do get that a lot with, you know, this
board didn't do homestead exclusions or
[2:38:56] something like that. Um,
so I am also on a legislative committee
[2:39:00] with several other assessors and we have
attempted to get real fast to expand
[2:39:04] this exclusion program with zero success
as well. One of the options was to use
[2:39:09] the HUD area medium median income. Uh
that was deemed unconstitutional because
[2:39:15] of the uniformity clause because they
basically said it's got to be the same
[2:39:18] statewide no matter what. Um to me that
is ignoring the fact that the incomes
[2:39:23] and the property values can vary
drastically throughout the state. Um the
[2:39:27] median household income in North
Carolina ranges from about 42,000 to
[2:39:32] almost 100,000. Um, so they're lumping
all of those people in under the same
[2:39:37] standard. Uh, there was also a bill
filed to add language to allow for them
[2:39:43] use of the AMI and that also has not
moved at all. Um, I know this board also
[2:39:49] submitted a resolution in February of 25
in the hopes of expanding that and I
[2:39:53] don't think you heard anything back from
that either. Um, currently Jackson
[2:39:58] County has 541 or 1.32% of our parcels
receiving the exclusion.
[2:40:05] Uh, my office does not have any aid or
income information to know if there's
[2:40:10] individuals currently in the county who
qualify and are not aware of the
[2:40:13] exclusion. Uh, we took the information
out. Um, but most of the time that
[2:40:17] people come in, they say either they
heard it from a neighbor or a friend or
[2:40:21] someone else more than reading our tax
bill or going online or uh seeing the ad
[2:40:26] in the paper. Uh, so we like to spread
the word as much as we can. So I like to
[2:40:31] bring it up every time I can just to
make sure that if people do qualify for
[2:40:34] the limited portion that we have
available that they are getting that
[2:40:39] benefit.
Uh, one of the major limitations is
[2:40:43] although the income limit increases
annually, the increase coincides with
[2:40:47] the same increase individual see and
their social security payments. So,
[2:40:51] they're required to increase it at the
same amount of those payments. So, if an
[2:40:55] individual sole source of income is
social security and they're just over
[2:41:00] that limit, they will likely never
qualify because their social security
[2:41:05] payments are going up at the same amount
every single time. So, they're always
[2:41:10] that window. Well, so usually new
individuals who qualify are just those
[2:41:15] who are now new to meeting the age or
disability requirement, a spouse passes
[2:41:19] away or they
had supplementary income coming in from
[2:41:24] some job or source that they no longer
have.
[2:41:28] So on the legislative side, uh the House
did um do a select committee on property
[2:41:34] tax form that was created last year. The
committee's purpose was to that provide
[2:41:41] property tax relief to taxpayers while
balancing potential impacts on local
[2:41:45] government revenues. So after they went
through and listened to all things local
[2:41:52] government uh they came up with two
propos what did you say?
[2:41:58] Oh sorry uh they came up with two uh
proposals. One was an act to amend the
[2:42:04] constitution to require to enact a
property tax levy limit. That is what
[2:42:09] I'm going to talk about as a referendum.
And then an act to update and modify the
[2:42:14] low-income housing exemption. So there
will be a referendum on the ballot in
[2:42:19] November. The referendum will state the
general assembly shall enact general
[2:42:23] laws limiting the amount by which the
levy of taxes on property may increase,
[2:42:29] which may include exceptions. Um I
assume that referendum will likely pass
[2:42:35] um because it states the result will be
to limit properties tax increases of
[2:42:39] course. Um however there really is no
actual plan on how they plan to achieve
[2:42:43] that limitation.
discuss um the uh something that NCACC
[2:42:49] had trying to and you guys talked about
how they were kind of I don't know how
[2:42:54] they plan to limit that but um so
there's really no plan there uh for how
[2:42:59] they plan to achieve that. Um history
says they might not achieve anything
[2:43:04] because that's just how normal things
go.
[2:43:07] Based on the committee comments, the
referendum came about because
[2:43:10] substantial increases in the tax base
were not always met with similar
[2:43:14] decreases in the tax rate, especially in
municipalities. Uh we saw that a lot in
[2:43:19] Wake County. Um so my concern, like I
just mentioned, is that nothing comes
[2:43:25] from that. And my office and this board
takes the blame for a referendum that
[2:43:30] passed that promised property tax levy
limits that never came to fruition. Um,
[2:43:36] the modification to the lowinccome
exemption is is definitely needed
[2:43:39] because law currently allow forprofit
owners to give a minimal percentage
[2:43:45] ownership and I'm talking about 01%
ownership to a nonprofit and receive a
[2:43:50] full tax exemption even though the
complex only has a limited number of
[2:43:54] low-inccome units. Yes.
So, on to this bill. I'm hoping to get
[2:44:00] this board support in creating a
resolution for Senate Bill 349, which
[2:44:04] I'm hoping we can get some movement on
because it's a it's a good bill. Um,
[2:44:09] this is separate from the referendum and
is specific to the homestead exclusion.
[2:44:14] This bill really doesn't expand it like
I would like to, but it does address a
[2:44:18] couple limitations. The main one that
will benefit our citizens expand is
[2:44:23] expanding the income to help with what
we call the marriage penalty. So
[2:44:27] currently the income requirement is the
same for individuals and spouses. So if
[2:44:32] this were to pass um and you can see
right here it would increase the income
[2:44:39] eligibility limit for a married couple
to 115% of the income limit. Um so that
[2:44:45] would hopefully allow more married
couples to qualify. Um and based on the
[2:44:50] applications that we had for married
couples, a lot of those that we did have
[2:44:52] to deny because they were over have the
potential of being approved in that
[2:44:56] scenario. So I think that that portion
would definitely benefit our citizens
[2:45:00] and you know and take away that kind of
penalty. Um you know you can be married
[2:45:05] and get you get less benefit. So um then
one of the other items in the bill we
[2:45:11] don't really have anyone utilizing but I
think we could potentially in the future
[2:45:15] um of the deferred taxes that people owe
back are owed back after the circuit
[2:45:20] breaker with the circuit breaker
program. And so that program limits um
[2:45:25] your tax bill percentage of your income.
So most people that qualify for the
[2:45:30] normal are going to get the elderly
exemption just because it's probably a
[2:45:34] better benefit. And then if you're over
that income up to a certain amount, you
[2:45:38] can get it based on 5% of your income.
So basically that law is saying you
[2:45:41] should be able to afford 5% of your
gross income in a tax bill. Anything
[2:45:45] over that could be deferred.
But because our tax rate is so low for
[2:45:51] the most part outside of maybe people
that are in municipalities, we don't
[2:45:54] really have anybody that qualifies. And
then a lot of people are also not
[2:45:58] interested when they realize that they'd
be leaving their children with a
[2:46:01] deferred tax bill that they would have
to then pay back.
[2:46:03] » No, that's what I was wondering. So a
deferred means when you sell it or when
[2:46:07] you pass or
>> it's very similar to our present use
[2:46:10] value program where if you know changes
in ownership or use then you could be
[2:46:14] removing that program and then you owe
those previous amounts that you saved on
[2:46:19] the tax bill. Now you won't be paying
back all of those years but you would be
[2:46:22] paying a portion of those those years
which could definitely be a death to
[2:46:27] especially a kid trying to come in with
resources
[2:46:30] » taken people like the state and the
government. They probably be with
[2:46:34] interest and penalty.
>> It will be.
[2:46:36] » Oh, that's nice.
>> It absolutely will be.
[2:46:39] » Your taxes, you're going to have to pay
a penalty.
[2:46:42] » Yeah. Yeah, it absolutely will be. So,
um
[2:46:47] so and hopefully we could get some more
interest in this program as well if that
[2:46:50] portion would be um removed. Um,
so I know I threw a lot at you, but that
[2:46:57] is really what I'm hoping that we can
um, and I've already sent up a similar
[2:47:02] resolution to um, Kevin and Angie of
what it's just a simple resolution just
[2:47:06] saying that the board would support
this. I mean, we can expand it to say
[2:47:11] support other avenues or something like
that. But this one is actually a pretty
[2:47:17] good bill and it's already out there and
I think it's something that would at
[2:47:21] least cover a couple of the main issues
that we have with our current exclusion
[2:47:25] which is helping a little bit with the
marriage penalty and then removing that
[2:47:29] deferred tax penalty. I'll call for
those that qualify. I think us all that
[2:47:35] are primary residents ought to be some
type homestead exemption and then the
[2:47:40] folks up the mountain that are not
primary residents should have to pay
[2:47:45] significantly more because they're the
ones that's driving our property values
[2:47:50] out the roof. Nothing against the locals
up there at all. It's the ones that are
[2:47:54] moving in.
>> Well, they're definitely trying to drive
[2:47:56] drive them out. But um
>> billion dollar homes.
[2:48:00] » Yeah. Yeah. I think we had $11 million
home sale not long ago. Um
[2:48:07] yeah, I mean and they did discuss a lot
of different avenues in that committee.
[2:48:11] Um so we'll see what they come up with
at you know at the end.
[2:48:15] » They'll leave it up to the county.
>> We should be able to do
[2:48:20] » well they'll have to get rid of that
uniformity
[2:48:22] and that's really where it comes down
to. They want to make sure that all
[2:48:25] counties are doing things they want to
do. This probably won't even pass.
[2:48:31] I hope it does.
>> I I I believe that the referendum will
[2:48:35] absolutely pass just because
>> Well, I mean, do you think it won't if
[2:48:41] they say that the you know, they're
going to enact laws limiting the amount
[2:48:45] by which the levy of taxes on property
may increase?
[2:48:48] » I hope it does.
>> Yeah. I I mean, I would say that it
[2:48:50] will. I don't know how they plan to
achieve that, but I mean, that's
[2:48:54] » even Do they have
>> That's a referendum.
[2:48:57] » It's a referendum. It will be on the
ballot.
[2:48:58] » Yeah.
>> Yeah. even if the referendum passes.
[2:49:02] » Basically, the referendum was saying,
"Yeah, we we support you doing that, but
[2:49:06] we don't know what that means, how long
it may take, if it ever actually does
[2:49:09] anything."
>> That's what I'm saying. [laughter]
[2:49:11] » But because of that, you know, with
anything that they say is going to pass.
[2:49:16] » Yeah. I believe the referendum will
pass.
[2:49:18] » Yeah. It's going to come back from the
people who are the faces of those local
[2:49:22] governments that are going to get the
complaints as to why why did I vote for
[2:49:27] this and then enough to happen? and
that'll be this this board in my office.
[2:49:31] I mean, you don't you you won't have to
deal with that. You know, they can I can
[2:49:34] send them out to the your place of
business to complain to if you want.
[2:49:38] » I think when you look at it, too,
they'll talk about the So, I think it's
[2:49:42] going to happen pretty fast. If the if
the voters voted in November, the
[2:49:46] general assembly is going to jump right
on it because they've already put a
[2:49:48] moratorum against all everybody doing a
reevaluation in 27, right?
[2:49:52] » Not everybody.
>> We had two exclus.
[2:49:57] So
>> talk about uniformity,
[2:50:00] » right?
>> There was several counties that were not
[2:50:02] included in that and then I think
ultimately unfortunately that ended up
[2:50:06] we haven't got all the data back but
being more of a detriment because most
[2:50:09] of those counties ended up having to
increase their tax rate anyway. And so
[2:50:12] it's really not sure if the between
changing the rates based on the new
[2:50:16] values and increasing the rate and the
current value was a better
[2:50:22] payoff or not. Um yeah, they did they
did put that into effect. I mean, it is
[2:50:27] very possible they could move something
along. We don't know what that's going
[2:50:29] to be and we're trying to, you know, I
can make some suggestions, but you know,
[2:50:35] nobody cares about that opinion.
>> Nobody cares about us either. So,
[2:50:40] » I see the sponsors and the co-sponsors.
Is our representative not co-sponsoring
[2:50:46] that Kevin Corbin? Um, I don't believe
so on this one,
[2:50:54] but we can definitely pass it along
along to
[2:50:57] » it doesn't mean he won't add on. This
was in March 202.
[2:51:01] » Yeah, it's an older one, but it's still
in an active session.
[2:51:04] » It could have been added as a
co-sponsor.
[2:51:06] » I hope so.
>> Yeah. [snorts]
[2:51:11] So there's I mean there's been a lot
come through, but this one is one I
[2:51:15] think could possibly maybe
[2:51:20] » Yeah. Yeah. And it's it's not it's very
much fair and consistent for all. It's
[2:51:25] not saying, you know, that we're going
to do some one way and do some another
[2:51:29] way. And I think that you can look at
the numbers and usually see that we do
[2:51:34] not have hardly anybody doing the
circuit breaker. Um, most of them I
[2:51:38] think are in Wake County and there's
still not that many. I mean, we don't
[2:51:41] have any. I don't think there's hardly
any in any surrounding counties. I would
[2:51:44] say probably 80% of the counties, if not
more, don't even have an individual
[2:51:48] doing it. Um, so it's really not a
successful program. I mean, the thought
[2:51:53] is great that you have, you know, this
option to limit an amount and then defer
[2:51:57] it over, but you know, even if you
qualified, the thought of having to pay
[2:52:02] back those old taxes and especially
passing it on to your children, which is
[2:52:07] more likely what people are going to do.
I mean, if they sold it, they probably
[2:52:10] could care less. You know, if the new
owner had to pay for it, but you're
[2:52:13] going to pass it on to your children,
which probably the case, then
[2:52:18] it would be limiting. So,
>> but that's that's my spiel for this
[2:52:24] afternoon. So, is there any interest in
us doing that? Okay, perfect.
[2:52:29] » Absolutely.
>> All right. Oh, we'll be back.
[2:52:34] » You want to add any modifications to it?
I mean, supporting this bill, but also
[2:52:38] adding in the traditional homestead,
what y'all would consider?
[2:52:41] » Yeah, we can add in whatever
>> primary primary resident.
[2:52:44] » Absolutely.
>> Yeah, we could take a lot. we can mirror
[2:52:46] a lot off of the original one that was
submitted and then add in um you know
[2:52:51] that there's a current bill or I think
if we have I think the one that you sent
[2:52:57] before was more just kind of generic you
know generic right is that right
[2:53:03] » more just we would like to see so I
think if we um build on that and then we
[2:53:08] have a specific at least bill to help
with the current tax exclusion that's in
[2:53:13] place
>> [snorts]
[2:53:14] » um but they they definitely did mention
about in that committee about offering
[2:53:18] up some things for everyone that was in
one of the sessions. Did you hear that
[2:53:21] one? So, it was considered what happened
of it. I don't know. So, um
[2:53:27] » other states are already doing it. We're
basically the only one in the country
[2:53:31] that doesn't.
>> Yeah.
[2:53:33] » Yeah.
>> Yeah. A lot of counties do or a lot of
[2:53:37] states do a lot of varying things, but
most of them do offer some kind of
[2:53:41] better homestead exusion than we offer.
For sure. have a bunch of rental
[2:53:44] properties. Those are not considered,
>> right?
[2:53:47] » Residences,
>> right? Yeah. I think I I ran a numbers
[2:53:51] just out of curiosity and I think
there's around 8,000
[2:53:55] parcels probably if we look at people
with local addresses and take out the
[2:53:59] multiple, you know, own properties um
that could potentially qualify for
[2:54:04] something if more was offered.
Um so, but I don't know where that would
[2:54:11] end. I mean, that would be great, but
right now, I'm just hoping that they'll
[2:54:15] expand at least what we've got to offer
for now and then see what that committee
[2:54:19] comes up with. That committee is still
going to continue to meet. Um, and I
[2:54:23] know the NCAACCC is going to make
recommendations. Um, because I get
[2:54:28] involved in a lot of that and and uh so
I think it says a lot when the to me
[2:54:35] when the tax assessors are like, can we
do something a little bit more?
[2:54:39] [laughter] I mean, you know, they're not
the people that you usually think are
[2:54:42] the ones out here trying to fight for
them to expand a, you know, a benefit to
[2:54:46] people, but um that's absolutely what
we've been doing. And I think they
[2:54:50] started off a lot that committee did
talking about how can we keep people in
[2:54:53] their homes and and then it just kind of
shifted away and I kind of want them to
[2:54:59] pull it back back this way. But, uh,
we'll see where it, like Kevin said,
[2:55:04] maybe they might they might have
something done in six months and we'll
[2:55:08] have some kind of policy and as long as
it hopefully doesn't be to the detriment
[2:55:12] of local governments and then we have no
you're so handicapped that you can't you
[2:55:16] know hand you can't do anything then
that you know because they could come in
[2:55:21] and say you know you have to adopt a
specific rate and if you don't adopt a
[2:55:24] specific rate then you know you're going
to have a problem and that's one of the
[2:55:27] things that we've talked about too. So,
um, but we'll just roll with that as we
[2:55:33] as we get it. [laughter]
That's a conversation for a different
[2:55:37] day. So, okay, good deal. I appreciate
you and we I will be back then in a
[2:55:42] couple weeks with Angie's work on her
record.
[2:55:48] » Thank you so much.
>> Thank you.
[2:55:50] » Next up this evening, we have Miss Moore
again from the transit department.
[2:55:55] » Is this a different night or is this the
same knot?
[2:55:58] I'm I feel like I'm having deja
>> vu. [laughter]
[2:56:06] Sleep [snorts] good.
>> We love you, Rene. We're just kidding.
[2:56:12] » Logan,
this is transit, not part.
[2:56:16] » Yeah, I'm not part.
>> Come on. He's He's sleeping back.
[2:56:22] » He's ready to go home.
>> There we go. Stay until the end.
[2:56:28] How are your ball fields, Miss Ray?
>> What?
[2:56:31] » How are your ball fields?
>> What do you mean? My ball feels for park
[2:56:34] recreation. I thought that was an absurd
question. [laughter]
[2:56:39] » I was going to say I had a good lines to
start with. I'm changing gears here. I'm
[2:56:43] talking about transit. Um anyway, I'm
not going to say a lot. Um as you can
[2:56:50] see, there's a picture of of see if I
can get this word. Um I have to
[2:56:57] Okay. Um, there's our group, our lovely
group, and we do have a full staff right
[2:57:03] now, and that's a big deal. Um, because
it's been without that for a while. Um,
[2:57:09] our, um, mission statement is to provide
dependable, regular, affordable
[2:57:15] transportation for persons in Jackson
County by coordinating resources and
[2:57:19] expertise within the local and state
governments, consumer agencies, and the
[2:57:24] community. And I do like the vision
statement which is to be recognized as
[2:57:29] the leading innovative resource in rural
mountainous transportation.
[2:57:35] I'm not going to talk a lot lot about
the funding sources because we already
[2:57:38] talked some about those earlier. The
5311 the 5310.
[2:57:43] Um we do have this uh rope funding that
we get which provides transportation and
[2:57:50] they'll break it down just a little bit
more here in in a minute. and and we
[2:57:54] also get some help from block grant
services. We have contracts with DSS and
[2:57:59] Medicaid um for Medicaid trips, both
rehab mountain projects, which we don't
[2:58:05] do a lot with them at this time, and
local nursing homes that we provide
[2:58:10] transportation for those as well. And we
get some funding of course because we
[2:58:15] charge fairs and occasionally get
donations.
[2:58:19] Um there again is the U community
transportation program the 5311 that I
[2:58:25] talked about earlier and what that helps
us with. Um the rope program helps us
[2:58:32] with just general public transportation
u somewhat with the elderly and disabled
[2:58:38] transportation program employment
um somewhat supplements operating cost.
[2:58:44] Um, we do use ETP as a match fund for
that 5310 grant that um, I talked about
[2:58:51] applying for. The 5310 grant is a 50/50
grant. That's uh, 50% from federal and
[2:59:00] 50% from local. Um, and it really does
help a lot with with we put a lot of
[2:59:05] people on that program that are over 65
or if they have disabilities and it
[2:59:13] really it really does help them to get
the transportation that they need. The
[2:59:19] block grant, we do get a little over
$20,000 a year for that on that uh
[2:59:24] particular one. And we do a lot of um
a lot of the adult care trips. Um, we
[2:59:31] have a whole group that goes every day.
We take them to and take them back home.
[2:59:36] So, we use that a lot for that. This is
just a little breakdown of the staff. We
[2:59:41] don't have big staff. We have, of
course, the director, the assistant
[2:59:44] director. We have a dispatcher and an
operations manager. And of course, under
[2:59:49] that is the drivers who are equally as
important.
[2:59:54] Um,
the tab board. Right now, we have
[2:59:58] currently we have 11 members. We have
room for more than that. We meet every
[3:00:03] quarter, uh, four times a year. Um,
[3:00:10] right now we have five full-time drivers
and six part-time drivers.
[3:00:15] We have four full-time drivers with a
CDL with a passenger endorsement. We
[3:00:21] only have two vehicles that require
that. Um, all the drivers, full-time and
[3:00:27] part-time, have to go through a drug and
alcohol
[3:00:31] testing. It is a pre-employment random.
We've never had to do a reasonable
[3:00:37] suspicion thus far, thankfully. Um, or a
post accident, but everybody's in the in
[3:00:43] the group for a random pool. And
those are not pulled by us. We send them
[3:00:50] to a different facility. They they pull
the the people that have to be um tested
[3:00:58] for that
uh quarter and we take care of sending
[3:01:03] them and all that. We have a very close
you know the the trainer is very good
[3:01:09] with the wheelchair and the passenger
assistance program when he does
[3:01:13] training. Um,
we also they go every year they go
[3:01:18] through defensive driving training which
it's a computer training program but
[3:01:24] it's it lasts about three hours. It
takes them about three hours to get
[3:01:27] through it and everybody no one wants
you to do it but they do it every year.
[3:01:32] Um, it's really not that bad. It just
takes time. The other training
[3:01:36] bloodborne pathogens and first aid. Um,
right now in our vehicle fleet, we've
[3:01:43] got two
seven passenger. We never put seven
[3:01:47] passengers in there. It's too too
crowded. But, um, they are 4x4 crossover
[3:01:53] vehicles. Um, Nissan Pathfinders. We've
got one ADA minivan. We've got seven
[3:02:00] nine passenger vans that are lift
equipped that we um, we call them a high
[3:02:06] top mobility van. We've got a um the two
LTV eight passenger vans are what we use
[3:02:16] for the trolleys that loop around town.
And then we have a 15 passenger and a 24
[3:02:22] passenger van, which are the bigger ones
that we use going on trips and and
[3:02:26] things mostly. And there's just a
picture some of the of the fleet that I
[3:02:32] put in there and a picture of one of the
drivers. um
[3:02:38] helping a lady get shows the lift that
we use for people that are in
[3:02:42] wheelchairs or if they just can't manage
the steps, we use that as well. Um
[3:02:49] we do have charter service regulations.
There are exclusions with that and we do
[3:02:56] get um we do get some requests for um
for that service but there's some things
[3:03:04] that you can't do with it but the
exemptions down here as you can read are
[3:03:10] transportation of employee contractors
and government officials and then you
[3:03:15] know we can do anything with the um
human service organizations like the
[3:03:19] senior centers we do quite a bit of
trips with and and especially the
[3:03:23] cashier senior center right now. They
take a trip um typically about once a
[3:03:29] month and we almost always provide that
service for them and also if if needed
[3:03:36] of emergency response and or emergency
preparedness planning and operation.
[3:03:43] Some of the routes that we have uh for
medical routes, we do trips to dialysis.
[3:03:48] Um we have the Medicaid the people that
qualify for that 5310 program. Of
[3:03:55] course, we have just the general public
and we do go out of county Monday,
[3:04:01] Wednesdays and Fridays. We go to the
Asheville area, Bunkham County,
[3:04:05] Henderson County primarily for for
medicals. Um,
[3:04:12] we do quite a bit of employment trips
right now. Um, some trips to Western and
[3:04:18] SEC, but not a lot. Um, and there again,
the adult daycare and the trips with the
[3:04:24] senior citizens.
And the trolley, I don't know if
[3:04:28] everybody's knows anything about the
trolley, but it loops around town. It
[3:04:34] starts at 7 in the morning in Dillsboro
and it loops around out to SEC and it
[3:04:39] turns and it's back at Dillsboro at the
top of the hour again. So, u for a
[3:04:44] dollar you can ride the trolley um all
day long and you don't have to schedule
[3:04:50] for it. You can just get on and off
there. You don't have to schedule for
[3:04:54] that.
>> But if you're in a county employee, you
[3:04:55] can't ride any of these.
>> H
[3:04:57] » you can't ride any of these. If you're a
county employee, that's what it Oh, it
[3:05:01] said earlier
government or county.
[3:05:04] » That's to do with that charter service.
>> Okay.
[3:05:07] » You just have to be careful. Like we
can't do
[3:05:10] » we can't pick up kids and take them to
school.
[3:05:13] » I got you.
>> Because there's already a service for
[3:05:15] that. A bus. I mean it's there's some
exemptions. That was one of the
[3:05:20] exemptions that was on that. I know I'm
going through here fast. I'm sorry.
[3:05:24] » Okay. I just was curious.
>> No, anyone can write it. Um we just have
[3:05:29] to be careful about the charter service
because there's some things we can't do
[3:05:32] with that. The um we still do Medicaid
trips. We don't do as many as we used to
[3:05:39] because things there have have changed
and um but we still do do trips for them
[3:05:45] and those trips are build on a per mile
rate of right now it's 288 a mile. Um,
[3:05:53] of course that eligibility has to come
through DSS and they will um email us
[3:06:02] people that need rides and where they
need to go and the dates and all that.
[3:06:07] We do some employment. Like I was saying
earlier, we do quite a bit of employment
[3:06:11] right now. Um, and that just shows some
of the places that that we go. West
[3:06:18] Bridge, we do a few there. um quite a
few to Western that we take up there to
[3:06:22] work. Um some of the agency sponsored is
uh Voke Rehab um upward mound and
[3:06:31] occasionally the UP program at Western
there. Again, we don't do a lot of trips
[3:06:38] right now there. It it fluctuates. It
changes all the time. Um
[3:06:45] and we do the trips again. It's this is
just repeating itself for the seniors
[3:06:49] and the adult daycare. And then the
cashers um senior center up there that
[3:06:55] we have a a person that stays up there
and that one operates also five days a
[3:07:00] week. Um
she works four hours a day. Um typically
[3:07:07] » do they pick people up at their home and
take them to let's say or where?
[3:07:12] » Yep. All they have to do is call and
schedule. We do some of that right now.
[3:07:17] We have, you know, maybe a half dozen
that uses that.
[3:07:20] » I know a couple that that have
they haven't used it just because I
[3:07:26] mean,
>> well, some people don't realize they can
[3:07:29] use it,
>> right? They don't
[3:07:30] » that it's available.
>> All they have to do is call and and just
[3:07:35] simple information.
>> A lot that don't realize they can use
[3:07:37] it.
>> It is a good service, but yeah, up there
[3:07:41] we could use a few more. Um, initially
it was to go to the senior center and it
[3:07:47] well you know everything changes the
need dropped and we don't have as many
[3:07:51] now but yeah that driver takes people to
Engles or to some to get a haircut or
[3:07:57] anything like that but if you know of
someone they just need to call and I
[3:08:02] think once they used it would help and
then they would probably probably use it
[3:08:08] more after that.
Right now with this 5310 grant program,
[3:08:15] um people that qualify for that can ride
in Jackson County for a dollar each way.
[3:08:22] Um for those medical trips out of
county, the cost for that for Haywood
[3:08:28] Mon and Swain is $30 round trip. For
Bunkam and Henderson, it's $50 a round
[3:08:34] trip. uh for those people that qualify.
Um the good thing about those trips, and
[3:08:40] I don't know if you are aware of that,
if they have if it's a medical trip out
[3:08:46] of the county, the driver waits for them
because it's just not feasible to drive
[3:08:50] back to Jackson County and then go back.
That helps people to know that the
[3:08:55] driver is still there waiting for them.
Um,
[3:09:00] a little bit about I just pulled up the
the numbers for fiscal year 25. We had
[3:09:07] 15,670.
That's service hours with 205,546
[3:09:14] service miles. Our total trips was
24,298
[3:09:19] for that year. And I kind of broke it
down into the the general public 10,227.
[3:09:27] The contracts like I talked about before
there was 1,812
[3:09:32] employment 3,961
[3:09:36] and then on that 53 310 grant um but
it's not all together that some of it's
[3:09:43] the um the block grant too 8,298
trips for that. So that to me shows that
[3:09:51] um the grants that I asked for are
important because these people are using
[3:09:57] the service. Those numbers show that
there's a picture of some of the adult
[3:10:03] care ladies. Um
and that just talks a little bit about
[3:10:09] some of the trips that we have done for
um in the past. So, we don't do co
[3:10:16] changed everything and we haven't really
got back to doing as many of those trips
[3:10:20] as before, but we recently did one for
the um casher seniors going to Pigeon
[3:10:26] Forge. Um I don't think they went to
Dollywood, but they went to Pigeon
[3:10:30] Forge. Um but that's just an example of
some of the things that we do and and
[3:10:35] the services are available to everyone
in Jackson County. That being said, that
[3:10:40] is if we can fit them in there and get
them in the schedule. It's it's the
[3:10:45] other part of it.
The two types of services, the
[3:10:50] doortodoor service where we will come to
your house and take you to your
[3:10:54] destination.
Um your front door to the front door
[3:10:58] where where your destination is. We do
not go inside anyone's house to uh to
[3:11:03] help them or anything. and we we will go
to the front door, but we don't go
[3:11:07] inside
the trolley. Again, I already uh talked
[3:11:11] a little bit about that. It completes 10
runs per day, and actually our that
[3:11:17] service has increased in the last while.
Um we're doing pretty good with that.
[3:11:22] Also being said, we've reinstated the
Saturday trolley beginning June 1st, and
[3:11:26] it's it's been doing pretty well. Um it
had not operated, we hadn't operated on
[3:11:31] Saturday in a little while.
there. Again, it's $1 per boarding or
[3:11:37] you can pay for a monthly pass and ride
as many times as you want to for that
[3:11:43] month
or you and we also do tickets that you
[3:11:47] get 15 um or 20 20 tickets for $15.
[3:11:55] [laughter]
>> Take you to work.
[3:11:58] » Not on the trolley.
>> 20 bucks. Hey.
[3:12:01] » Yeah. That's not imagine. Come get me,
take me to lunch.
[3:12:04] » Yeah. Yeah, we could do that. Come get
you and take you to lunch.
[3:12:07] » Cheapest show forever.
[laughter]
[3:12:11] » You have to um on the trolley if there's
there's stops along the route, but we
[3:12:18] can go up deviate up to a quarter mile
off of that regular route. But the
[3:12:23] passenger has to call and and um request
that. Actually, I can tell the driver
[3:12:28] that when they get on, but if you're not
at a regular stop, you have to call and
[3:12:33] and tell us where you're going to be.
And there's our a lovely bunch
[3:12:38] [laughter]
um of people. But that is really quick.
[3:12:43] Something we do at transit. I if you
have any questions, I try to answer
[3:12:48] them. But I can't come to Wither and get
you on the trolley.
[3:12:53] I can take but I can take you
>> I can take you to lunch from work
[3:12:58] » anyway. Anybody have anything
>> any questions?
[3:13:02] » No.
>> Okay.
[3:13:03] » Todd just wants to be able to sleep on
the way to work.
[3:13:06] » You can do that now. Just got to get you
a Tesla. Let it drive [laughter] you to
[3:13:11] work.
Next up this evening we have uh
[3:13:17] emergency management director uh Zapa.
[clears throat]
[3:13:22] Good evening. Good afternoon. Thank
y'all for having us. Uh I want to start
[3:13:27] off by thanking you for all the support
uh from me and from emergency services
[3:13:33] in Jackson County. It really really
means a lot. And uh
[3:13:39] first slide here. I hate we couldn't get
that funding for your dispatch, but
[3:13:45] maybe these guys will do that this next
budget cycle. I won't be here for that.
[3:13:49] That's right.
>> That'd be great.
[3:13:54] » Currently, our our staffing, we have one
one intern from Western Carolina
[3:13:59] University, eight part-time staff, 12
full-time telecommunicators, and four
[3:14:05] people on our command staff for a total
of 25 employees.
[3:14:10] Our primary responsibilities in
emergency management uh planning,
[3:14:16] response, recovery and education.
[3:14:25] So in our planning section uh this year
we have reviewed uh revised updated many
[3:14:33] different plans. I just wanted to give
you a few here as examples. Uh not only
[3:14:38] do we keep track of the county's
emergency operation plan, but we partner
[3:14:42] with uh our community lifelines. So a
big one, Duke Energy, uh we have a big
[3:14:48] meeting with them every year updating
the hydroelectric hydroelect electric
[3:14:52] dam plan. Uh we also worked with uh
health department DSS on our county
[3:15:00] emergency shelter plan. Jackson County
Tourism Development Authority crisis
[3:15:06] communication plan.
We also worked a good while with Great
[3:15:10] Smoky Mountain Railroad on a new
confined space rescue plan.
[3:15:15] Great,
excuse me, Silva Valley Health and Rehab
[3:15:19] for their emergency action plan. Uh, and
that's something that we do annually
[3:15:24] with a lot of the senior centers
assisted living facilities is kind of
[3:15:28] help them with their emergency action
plan. uh we don't necessarily approve
[3:15:32] them. We just give them recommendations
and go through and and help them with
[3:15:36] that.
[3:15:39] On our response side, of course, we
respond respond countywide, whether it
[3:15:45] be a disaster planned event, uh
emergency,
[3:15:49] uh and we collaborate with all of the
agencies in Jackson County. Our
[3:15:54] emergency management staff respond to
hazardous material incidents,
[3:15:57] landslides, vehicle accidents, law
enforcement, search and rescues, water
[3:16:02] rescues, and more. Uh the pictures here,
uh the bottom left was a a boat rescue
[3:16:09] call on that was actually on Lake Shou.
assisted them with a drowning. Uh the
[3:16:18] top one there, tractor trailer roll
over, a hazmat there on the bottom, and
[3:16:23] another hazmat call. That was a a
tractor trailer, propane tractor trailer
[3:16:28] that rolled over and cashers, we
assisted with it.
[3:16:36] our recovery section. Uh we estimated
this past year we spent about 480 hours
[3:16:43] in our recovery section. Uh so those
pictures there uh some of that was a
[3:16:48] debris cleanup that we did uh for Helen
recovery. That second picture, it really
[3:16:54] talks a lot in itself. Uh just a quick
glance there, I see a 30,000 out there
[3:16:59] at the top. It's kind of hard to see
there, but those were all points in the
[3:17:04] county that we visited uh with our staff
along with the debris tech, a company
[3:17:08] that assisted
>> with monitoring of uh disaster debris.
[3:17:14] So, we were very busy with recovery.
[3:17:21] Something I'm passionate about along
with the rest of our staff is education,
[3:17:26] our public outreach. Not only are we
talking about disaster preparedness, uh,
[3:17:31] but we're assisting with things like car
seat safety, uh, hot car displays, motor
[3:17:37] safety, water safety events. Uh, we
visit the schools each year and, uh, we
[3:17:43] also are going to the senior center for
events. And, uh, anywhere that anywhere
[3:17:49] that wants it, we'll be happy to go and
and tailor a presentation to whatever
[3:17:53] the audience is.
[3:18:00] So, our training this year, um, we have
increased it tremendously, uh, compared
[3:18:06] to years past. That first picture there
was a countywide training that we did,
[3:18:12] um, on a commercial building. Uh, we
simulated an explosion uh, with people
[3:18:19] trapped inside of a building. Uh we had
three of those countywide trains this
[3:18:24] past year and and we're trying to plan
some more uh in the in the future. Um
[3:18:28] those are all emergency response
agencies in Jackson County were invited
[3:18:32] to those. So uh police department,
sheriff's office, all seven fire
[3:18:37] departments, two rescue squads, and both
EMS agencies. So those are a big deal
[3:18:41] and have become very beneficial for us.
uh not only does it test our
[3:18:46] capabilities uh but it builds those
relationships amongst our agencies. So
[3:18:51] uh every time we see each other, it's
not on a bad day, it's a good day. Uh
[3:18:56] our 911 center alone, our
telecommunicators had 720 training hours
[3:19:01] this past year. Um I'll talk a little
bit more about 911 here in just a
[3:19:05] minute. Uh our emergency management
staff, those are the ones responding out
[3:19:09] in the field, uh had 860 training hours
this past year and we participated in
[3:19:17] nine exercises. So uh some of the
exercises we done, the state does a
[3:19:22] hurricane exercise every year, a cyber
security exercise, things along those
[3:19:27] lines. Um the picture there in the
trailer, the bottom left picture is a uh
[3:19:34] sonar training we did that's uh has all
has to do with um water rescues. Uh the
[3:19:41] top one there on the right side was one
that Glenda, our 911 director, went to
[3:19:47] down on the coast. Um that training
simulated a complete communications
[3:19:51] failure with uh public safety
communications. Um, so they actually had
[3:19:56] to go to an island and set up public
safety communications to talk back to
[3:20:00] land. Um, so we were actually the
farthest traveled for that. So we're
[3:20:05] we're excited. And then the bottom right
hand corner was a emergency emergency
[3:20:11] mercy vehicle trailer driving course
that all of our staff did.
[3:20:17] Just some other things we do outside of
our daily work. Um, all of our staff,
[3:20:23] uh, mainly our command staff are on
boards and committees. Uh, some of those
[3:20:28] are the Jackson County School Safety
Task Force, the sheriff's office and
[3:20:33] school system, a local emergency
planning committee, safe, the Jackson
[3:20:38] County Emergency Services Planning
Committee, the road naming and
[3:20:42] addressing board, and domestic
preparedness region 9.
[3:20:50] So, of course, um the county we're
responsible for, uh having a PAP, public
[3:20:55] safety answering point.
So, our PAP uh actually covers all
[3:21:03] Jackson County first responders. Uh
different counties dispatch to different
[3:21:08] agencies, but here in Jackson, we
dispatch for law, fire, rescue, and EMS
[3:21:13] all out of one center. All all of our
dispatchers are cross-trained uh to
[3:21:19] dispatch for fire, law, EMS, and rescue.
So, just some data for you. July 25 to
[3:21:27] July 26, our call center, 911 center had
50,5
[3:21:32] calls for service reported. Uh that
number, what I like to explain to people
[3:21:38] is that's not how many calls we took in
our center. um that calls that we took
[3:21:43] required a second action that we did a
report for basically. Um so that that
[3:21:49] number doesn't represent what they're
actually doing. That's uh but I broke it
[3:21:54] down by by fire district here. Um it's
just a accurate representation of how
[3:22:00] it's spread out. Um
>> when you receive those calls, is that
[3:22:06] non-emergency and everything?
>> That's correct. Yep. So that 50,000 like
[3:22:11] I said that's basically something that
required a second action out of out of
[3:22:15] the dispatcher.
>> We call for an escort. That's
[3:22:18] » that's right. They would they would make
a a call for service. A CFS is what we
[3:22:22] call it.
>> A lot.
[3:22:26] » It is and only getting busier.
Our upgrades in our 911 center. Super
[3:22:33] excited about all these. Um, some of
these are technologies that we've needed
[3:22:37] for a long time and and thankfully with
the help of the state and you all we've
[3:22:41] been able to make some of these projects
happen. Um we are now a Viper phone
[3:22:48] county and what that means is um any any
911 center in the state um within a
[3:22:56] click of a button we can transfer our
911 calls. Um and then we have uhus with
[3:23:02] other counties to also accept their
calls. So for example in during Helen
[3:23:08] all of the Jackson County's 91 calls
were transferred to Enslo County. Uh and
[3:23:12] then just the other day, Enso County had
a technology issue and we were taking
[3:23:16] Enslo County's 911 calls from our center
here in Silva.
[3:23:21] Uh part of the redundancy plan that kind
of goes along with that Viper phone
[3:23:25] system is a pushto talk device in all
the call centers. We have two of those
[3:23:29] here in Jackson. And uh that's that's
basically like an old school
[3:23:32] walkie-talkie, but it's a high-tech
version of it. Uh and that's so we can
[3:23:36] talk directly to each 911 center in the
state. So, uh, if internet goes down,
[3:23:41] those kinds of things, we can still get
on that push to talk and we can talk to
[3:23:44] Haywood, we can talk to Swain, whoever
we might need to reach out to. Uh, this
[3:23:49] year we also added the capability of
video call to 911. Um, so everybody has
[3:23:56] this different situations, but what that
is is basically a FaceTime or video call
[3:24:01] that you can do on your phone. You can
actually FaceTime 911 basically. Uh we
[3:24:07] added status indicator lights to all of
our consoles. Uh that's so each of the
[3:24:11] dispatchers uh can tell what the other
person's doing. So depending on what
[3:24:16] fail your light is, you're either
available for a call, you're on a 911
[3:24:20] call, uh you need help, we have a
flashing red light. So if uh your
[3:24:25] partner makes a 911 call and they're
given CPR instructions, they can turn
[3:24:28] that emergency light on and their
partner can dispatch out the call and
[3:24:31] never stop with the CPR instructions.
So, uh, those have been a big help to
[3:24:36] us. Everybody likes those. Uh, we added
a situational awareness board in the 911
[3:24:40] center that just keeps up with some of
our statistics, our call numbers, things
[3:24:44] like that. And then, uh, automatic text
translations. So, uh, previously um, we
[3:24:51] had added, uh, text to 911 and this year
uh, we've added the automatic text
[3:24:58] translation. So if somebody's the
Spanish text message, it comes to us in
[3:25:03] English. Uh we don't have to do any
translating. It's just automatic.
[3:25:08] So that's been a big help.
[3:25:12] This year, um we're in the process and
have accepted some of this, but uh with
[3:25:18] grant funding so far, um $440,000
uh completed projects with those funds.
[3:25:26] the child passenger safety seat course.
Uh that course we were able to get
[3:25:31] someone from every fire department in
Jackson County to be a part of that. So
[3:25:36] that was a partnership with Safe Kids.
So each fire department in Jackson
[3:25:39] County has car seat technicians and can
install car seats. Uh we got a special
[3:25:45] event camera trailer and also roadside
electronic message boards.
[3:25:51] An upcoming project we have which is a
lump sum of this this money here is a
[3:25:56] next generation warning system. And so
what that is, most people call it a
[3:26:01] tornado siren, but it's really an
allhazard siren. It's whatever we deem
[3:26:05] appropriate to set it off for. Um so for
us, this is a project that we're just
[3:26:10] now getting started on, but we have
secured the funding for. Um we are
[3:26:15] prioritizing communities within a flood
zone that have no cell service. Um, so
[3:26:20] our first phase of that is going to be
the Tuscidi area. Um, it's important to
[3:26:25] us because it's downstream from the
dams, both the east fork and the west
[3:26:29] fork. Um, and there is pretty much no
cell service whatsoever. So, our primary
[3:26:34] means of communicating out to the
citizens is our code red system. You all
[3:26:39] know about that. Um, but of course
that's phone service. And so a lot of
[3:26:44] times the ones that need it are those
people in Taci right below the dams and
[3:26:49] uh and they they're not getting those
phone calls. So we're hoping that that
[3:26:53] first phase will really help out with
that. Um
[3:26:57] we're experiencing some difficulties
compared to how the traditional system
[3:27:01] works because again the cell service and
us being in a rural community. Um, so
[3:27:06] all the sirens that we're looking at are
capable of using radio frequency uh
[3:27:11] technology to to alert. Um, we're in the
process of doing coverage assessments
[3:27:19] just to determine what locations exactly
we need to put those. Um, and we are
[3:27:24] coordinating with Duke's hydroelect
electric team. Uh so the plan is
[3:27:28] hopefully uh we can also tie into the
sirens that are on the dam like at
[3:27:32] Glenville Wolf Lake and and stuff like
that and uh be able to help each other
[3:27:37] out.
[3:27:40] » That's awesome.
And that's a that's a quick highlight of
[3:27:45] what we've been doing in emergency
services. Uh if you guys have any
[3:27:49] questions, I'd be glad to answer them.
>> Questions from the board.
[3:27:55] Thank you for all you do.
>> Thank you.
[3:28:01] » Moving on now, we've got Mr. Hopkins
from Parks and Wreck.
[3:28:10] » We thought you'd keep posting here just
for
[3:28:12] » I I tried. I tried. He said he didn't
want to take this call. That's what he
[3:28:15] told me. So,
>> you you you'll wish that I was here
[3:28:20] instead of posting to talk tonight. So,
>> yeah. [laughter]
[3:28:23] » Well, uh good evening. Thanks for having
me to come just share a little bit about
[3:28:27] uh the parks and recreation department
tonight. Um I don't have a lot of the
[3:28:31] pretty pictures that other folks have
had and I know you've seen enough
[3:28:34] numbers and money stuff to to drive you
crazy, but I'm going to throw a few more
[3:28:38] numbers at you. So I'm sorry. Um I want
to highlight not only what we've
[3:28:43] accomplished, but the people we serve,
staff who make these services uh
[3:28:47] possible and the investments we're
making for the future. So over the past
[3:28:50] year, the department has continued to
operate and improve the recreation
[3:28:53] center, parks, campgrounds, greenway,
aquatic programs, fitness programs,
[3:28:58] youth sports, and community events. And
um this also highlight our staff capital
[3:29:02] investments, grant opportunities, and
some of the priorities we're we're
[3:29:06] carrying into the next year.
Um,
[3:29:10] so
this is just the well keeping the doors
[3:29:14] open. But before we get to that, I want
to just share some participation stuff
[3:29:18] at a snapshot. Uh, we currently have
over 4,000 active memberships and have
[3:29:24] had over 102,51 facility check-ins in
the current 2026 year. That's just
[3:29:30] January through uh July. So, uh, we've
also had fitness programming generate
[3:29:36] over 17,000 participants across over
2,000 classes. So, this these numbers to
[3:29:41] show that our recreation centers a
heavily used community assets. Um, Colt
[3:29:46] will account for 2,399 active
memberships and more than 65,000
[3:29:51] check-ins, while the Castle Center has
over 1,700 active memberships and more
[3:29:56] than 37,000 check-ins um, up to date.
So, it's important to remember that
[3:30:00] these numbers represent only one part of
what the parks and recreation provides.
[3:30:04] Our parks, campground, gameways, aquatic
programs, youth support, special events,
[3:30:08] and outdoor recreation opportunities add
significantly to our overall um
[3:30:13] community impact.
Uh so,
[3:30:17] what is my thing done here? So, here you
can just see the some of the staffing
[3:30:21] that we that we have across the
department. So, be behind every
[3:30:24] facility, program, park, and event staff
member making it happen. Um, captured in
[3:30:29] the recreation center, we've got six
full-time staff, 14 part-time staff, 21
[3:30:34] fitness instructors, four personal
trainers. Color rec center, we've got 10
[3:30:38] full-time staff, one permanent part-time
employee, 12 part-time staff, 17
[3:30:43] instructors, four personal trainers. On
the quad side of things, we've got eight
[3:30:48] full-time positions, including five
full-time lifeguard positions. Uh, of
[3:30:52] those five full-time lifeguard
positions, they are all currently
[3:30:55] vacant. Um, and that's been over the
since since the period of of opening.
[3:31:00] Um, at any time we've only had two
full-time lifeguards hired. So, uh, just
[3:31:05] being able to recruit those is is is
hard. Um, and we currently also have 28
[3:31:09] part-time lifeguards. Uh, at our Ralph
Andrews Park campground, we've got two
[3:31:14] full-time folks and three part-time
employees that keep that open 24 hours a
[3:31:19] day from spring to fall. Uh, and then
five folks that keep all of our parks
[3:31:24] getting planned for us. We've got four
full-time park attendants, one part-time
[3:31:27] employee. So, this represents a
substantial workforce required to keep
[3:31:31] all our facilities operating, programs
running, and our parks maintained. Uh, I
[3:31:35] also want to emphasize the importance of
our aquatic staffing. The the vacant
[3:31:38] full-time guarding positions continue to
be an area where recruitment retention
[3:31:42] are especially important uh just for
long-term operational stability.
[3:31:49] So, keeping the doors open at our
facility. Uh, our recreation centers are
[3:31:53] open 355 days out of the year. Um,
there's not many county departments that
[3:31:57] are open as as much as we are. Not
saying that they're not as important,
[3:32:00] but that takes a lot of uh require
access, requires significant staffing
[3:32:06] commitments and daily operational
efforts. So, Kley Recreation Center is
[3:32:10] open approximately 4,378 hours a year.
Casters Recreation Center is open
[3:32:16] approximately 3,978 hours a year. So
together that's almost 8,500 hours of
[3:32:21] recreation center operating time. So
when we talk about participation and
[3:32:25] check-ins and it's important to remember
the infrastructure and the staffing
[3:32:29] behind those numbers. Uh the department
is providing thousands of hours of
[3:32:33] access for fitness, recreation programs,
community use, and other activities
[3:32:36] throughout the year. And this is a
significant service commitment to the
[3:32:40] citizens of Jackson County
and I'm very grateful for for all the
[3:32:45] ones that we do have. So, um, looking at
some parks and recreation by the numbers
[3:32:52] here. So, membership growth is another
strong indicator of demand. Active
[3:32:56] memberships increased from 3,535
in the 2025 facility snapshot to 45123
[3:33:04] in the 2026 update. So it's a net
increase of 588 active memberships or
[3:33:10] approximately a 16.6% in growth. Um
color will increase by 5.9% while Cers
[3:33:17] will increase by 35.9%.
Um so the growth of both facilities and
[3:33:21] especially Casters Glimble area
demonstrates residents continuously
[3:33:25] value in the services provided through
parks and recreation
[3:33:31] membership activity. So, uh, you want
that's just some more active membership
[3:33:36] stuff versus this year versus last year.
And you can see the percent change
[3:33:39] there. Uh, some membership activity.
Looking specifically at membership
[3:33:43] activity in 2026 through August, uh, the
25th, we reported 3,127
[3:33:50] all new memberships and 672 renewals. uh
the monthly actual membership count
[3:33:55] peaked at 4,78 in July and it's stood at
4568 members uh as of August 25th. So
[3:34:03] that just the numbers show that
membership activity is dynamic
[3:34:06] throughout the year and uh the important
point for for us is that residents
[3:34:10] continue to choose our facilities and
programs as part of their recreational
[3:34:14] and fitness routines.
fits programming remains consistent uh
[3:34:20] very high volume seems to be one of our
most consistent sources of participation
[3:34:25] uh so just from January through July
2026 we recorded over 17,000 fitness
[3:34:30] participants uh across over 2,000
classes uh over 9,000 participants in
[3:34:35] color over almost 8,000 in cash uh June
was our highest combined month with over
[3:34:41] 3,000 participants so these numbers
reflect the work of our fitness
[3:34:45] instructors and personal trainers as
well is just the demand for accessible
[3:34:49] fitness opportunities throughout the
county.
[3:34:54] So, strong recreation core. So, looking
at these numbers is uh this slide
[3:34:59] provides just some historical context,
but I want to be careful about how we
[3:35:02] interpret these numbers. Uh the 2025
facility report represents a full year
[3:35:07] total uh with 158,352
combined facility check-ins and 27,540
[3:35:15] fitness participants across 3,170
classes. So to date in 2026, uh over
[3:35:23] 102,000 check-ins with over 17,000
fitness participants during the
[3:35:27] reporting period shown. Um and that just
you know they demonstrate a continued
[3:35:32] scale of use and participation occurring
in a recreation system. And if these
[3:35:36] follow suit then these numbers will beat
the 2025 year
[3:35:43] programs, events, uh community
connections. So we're uh we're much more
[3:35:48] than just facility access. Our youth
sports programs include baseball,
[3:35:51] softball, soccer, basketball,
volleyball, tennis, archery, and a
[3:35:55] variety of clinics and camps. quality
programming includes swim lessons, aqua
[3:36:00] fitness, swim team, lifeguard training,
scuba diving, swim meets, dive team,
[3:36:05] birthday parties, and most recently we
have taken on pretty much all uh aquatic
[3:36:11] related activities for Western Carolina
University because they've had some
[3:36:14] structural damage at at Reed Pool. So,
we currently have their club swim team
[3:36:17] and uh trying to help out with
fraternities and sororities for some of
[3:36:21] their aquatic programming. So, um it's
it's been a big help for them. Um we
[3:36:28] also provide some community events,
partnerships such as concerts on the
[3:36:31] creek. Uh USA Today ranked that the
number four outdoor concert venue in the
[3:36:36] United States. It just continues to
grow. Um Special Olympics, senior games.
[3:36:41] We've done member appreciation days,
summer day camps, adventure camps, back
[3:36:46] to school bash with the school system,
and just, you know, many other community
[3:36:50] activities. Um outdoor recreation
opportunities include the greenway,
[3:36:54] trails, parks, playgrounds, pavilions,
river access, hiking, paddling, and
[3:36:58] biking. And uh just key message from
this parkation serves people in many
[3:37:03] different ways and facility membership
numbers only just tell part of that
[3:37:07] story.
So some current uh capital investment a
[3:37:12] good one to use an example is the Paul
Woodier Park represents a significant
[3:37:18] investment in recreation opportunities
in northern part of Jackson County. Uh
[3:37:22] the county contributed over uh $1.4
million to that project. Uh there was an
[3:37:28] additional 500,000 that was a part of
grant that went into that project as
[3:37:32] well. And uh the completed project
included site grading preparation,
[3:37:36] paving and circulation, natural surface
trails, playground with play surfacing,
[3:37:41] pavilion, restroom facilities,
utilities, storm water and drainage
[3:37:45] improvements, landscaping and amenities
such as benches, swing slides, and
[3:37:48] picnic table. And that park is now open
and serving the community. So, this is a
[3:37:53] good example of how county investment
can be converted into a tangible public
[3:37:57] asset that provides opportunities for
active recreation, play, gathering
[3:38:01] space, and just outdoor access in in
general.
[3:38:05] Um, here's a pretty surprising number
for greenway usage. Um, we keep trailers
[3:38:12] on the greenway. We we keep a strong
count on those very regularly. Uh the
[3:38:18] greenway continues to stream to just
demonstrate strong community demand. In
[3:38:22] 2025, the greenway tracker recorded over
131,000 uses. Uh just from January
[3:38:28] through July of this year, we're over
135,000. Um so that means the first
[3:38:32] seven months of 2026 already exceeded 20
the entirety of 2025 by over 3,000 uses
[3:38:39] and that's approximately 3.2% increase.
Um so this is important indicator of
[3:38:45] demand for continued greenway
connectivity and investment and it also
[3:38:49] enforc reinforces the importance of
maintaining existing greenway while
[3:38:53] preparing for future expansion.
Uh next slide is related to some
[3:38:58] hurricane Ken uh affected portions of
not only Pel east port but also the
[3:39:06] greenway. um lowlying areas near the
kids bike trail, the outdoor classroom
[3:39:11] and outdoor exercise areas were impacted
by this. We were able to clean up a lot
[3:39:15] of that stuff in house with the help of
our public works department or
[3:39:18] recreation staff. Um we're very
fortunate to have a good good willing
[3:39:22] staff to help out with that um across
departments. And then there were, you
[3:39:26] know, some ser several curved portions
of the river bank that took some
[3:39:29] significant water flow um that resulted
in some erosion um and also some silt
[3:39:34] tree and debris clean up along those
areas. Um with that said, the the
[3:39:39] proposed approximate 1.6 mile greenway
addition is being designed with storm
[3:39:43] water practices and mitigation in mind.
So drainage, slope stabilization are
[3:39:48] part of the long form approaches
including approximately 290 linear feet
[3:39:52] of retaining wall needs. Um the goal is
not simply to recover from the previous
[3:39:56] storm. The goal is to build a more
resilient system that can better
[3:39:59] withstand and recover from future storm
events.
[3:40:04] So leveraging county investment through
outside funding. Um one of our
[3:40:09] priorities is to leverage county
resources by pursuing outside funding
[3:40:12] whenever possible. The Jackson County
TDA uh committed $755,000
[3:40:17] towards the purchase of some Greenway
properties. Um we're pursuing half a
[3:40:22] million dollars part of grant right now
for the greenway. The CDBGDR request is
[3:40:27] approximately $1.2 million. So um we've
had some preliminary engineering
[3:40:32] estimates come in for roughly around $2
million for that greenway expansion. So
[3:40:37] CDBG DR request is structured as no
match opportunity and Southwest
[3:40:43] Commission is assisting with that grant
writing with us. Um, but the larger
[3:40:46] point is that we are actively looking
for ways to stretch local dollars and
[3:40:50] bring outside resources into Jackson
County to support that uh recreation
[3:40:54] infrastructure without coming and asking
you guys all the time for more and more
[3:40:58] money. Um, some other facility and park
improvements that have been done over
[3:41:03] the last year. Uh, not every uh
important project is a major capital
[3:41:08] project, but throughout the year staff
continue making improvements across
[3:41:12] facilities and parks. uh Casters
Community Park received an irrigation
[3:41:16] system. Uh Tiff Bermuda on the larger
the field and then we just continued to
[3:41:21] move through the development phase of
looking at expansion at the Casters Rick
[3:41:25] Center along with the pool. Um as well
as the development of that park that
[3:41:30] we've been trying to do for a few years
and that's currently back out in the the
[3:41:33] bid phase again to to do that Casters
Community Park. Um Boston Community
[3:41:39] Center. Uh we have um well getting ready
to do some tar top coating and new lines
[3:41:46] for basketball and hookball courts up
there. Those are heavily used by the the
[3:41:50] Boston community.
Uh we continue to improve existing
[3:41:54] parks, courts, fields, recreation
facilities. Um
[3:41:59] we also will continue expanding
aquatics, fitness, youth sports,
[3:42:04] community program where demand supports
it. So, um, you can obviously see we've
[3:42:09] done a few other things, more Watson
Park, Fair View, and the wreck park in
[3:42:12] Powy. We've upgraded LED lighting in all
those. Um, we hit on the quality park
[3:42:18] earlier about uh how big of a
of a
[3:42:24] need that was needed for the northern
part of Jackson County to have a park
[3:42:26] and provide those services for that end.
Um,
[3:42:31] here you can see some of our our
campground information. So Ralph J
[3:42:36] Andrews Park Campground provides another
important outdoor recreation
[3:42:39] opportunity. Uh the campground's got 36
total sites with uh there's over 6,000
[3:42:46] rental openings uh available during the
year. So uh there were 2,300 campsite
[3:42:51] rentals last year. Um primitive sites
accounted for 620 rentals. Lake sites
[3:42:57] 561 rentals. Water and electric hookup
sites 483.
[3:43:02] RV full hookup sites 607.
uh we keep some available on a first
[3:43:06] come first serve uh basis. We had 89 of
those rentals during the 2025 year and
[3:43:12] then we have the picnic center up there
as well and we rented that out 43 times.
[3:43:15] So um campground provides additional way
for residents and visitors to experience
[3:43:19] Jackson County's outdoor resources and
just adds another measure of recreation
[3:43:23] demand beyond just the just the centers.
>> Has anything been done about the
[3:43:27] internet up there?
>> There has. there's additional star link
[3:43:30] added for the staff um which has
provided constant use for them to be
[3:43:36] able to do their billing and uh
telephone and all that. So thank you for
[3:43:39] that.
Um so just looking ahead
[3:43:44] uh as we look ahead our focus is on
building from the foundation we've
[3:43:47] already established the proposed
greenway expansion remains an important
[3:43:50] priority particularly in improving
connectivity and resilience. Um we'll
[3:43:54] continue improving existing parks,
quartz fields.
[3:43:57] Um, we'll use our 10-year parks and
recreation master plan to help guide
[3:44:01] future investment, prioritize projects,
and then finally, we continue pursuing
[3:44:05] grants and partnerships that allow us to
stretch county dollars and bring
[3:44:08] additional resources into the community.
So, bottom line, parkration is a quality
[3:44:14] of life investment. Currently have more
than 4,100 active memberships, uh, more
[3:44:19] than 102,000 facility check-ins, fitness
programs generating more than 17,000
[3:44:24] participant visits. Our recreation
centers are open 355 days a year,
[3:44:29] providing more than 8,400 uh combined
operating hours. Our staff operate and
[3:44:34] maintain these facilities, programs,
parks, and outdoor assets every day. Uh
[3:44:38] the numbers represent people, not just
transactions, and they represent
[3:44:43] children learning to swim, families
using our parks, seniors participating
[3:44:47] in fitness programs, athletes playing
sports, residents walking the Greenway,
[3:44:51] and just visitors enjoying Jackson
County's resources. So, uh, just
[3:44:55] remember every dollar invested in parks
and recreation helps create
[3:44:57] opportunities, strengthens the
communities, and, uh, improves the
[3:45:01] quality of life for the people who
serve. So,
[3:45:04] » thank you. Any questions?
>> Hey, did you did y'all just have
[3:45:08] increases at the um, somebody asked me
about it and I was like, I don't know.
[3:45:12] » We did. It was approved to start July
one. Um, we had some meat recreation
[3:45:16] software that went into effect. Um, so
we delayed rolling those out until
[3:45:21] September one.
>> Yeah. Um, but that was something that
[3:45:24] was approved in this.
>> How much of an increase was it?
[3:45:26] » It wasn't much of an increase. It
actually equaled itself out. We we
[3:45:30] lowered some rates while we raised some
other rates. Um, so it actually ended up
[3:45:33] balancing itself out pretty much. Um,
we've also had added the ability to do
[3:45:38] monthly payments now, installments on
like six month membership or a year
[3:45:42] membership. So now you're not hit with
that.
[3:45:44] » I gota fee big fee all. So now you can
just pay monthly like $50 a month.
[3:45:49] That'll really help.
[3:45:54] So, thank thank you guys for your
support. I appreciate it. I know
[3:45:57] » you tell you tell Poston that tonight
his eyes just happen to be heavier than
[3:46:01] his lips.
>> I don't mind to give him a hard time.
[3:46:05] [laughter]
[3:46:08] » Thank you guys. It's bedtime, is it?
>> Yeah.
[3:46:11] Supper time with Yeah. No further
business. Is there a motion to adjourn?
[3:46:16] Absolutely.
I'm saying that in a hurry.