[0:00] Not in conversation.
[0:01] >> Okay. We'll call to order our August
[0:03] 17th, Monday, August 17th meeting of the
[0:07] Carvin County Board of Commissioners.
[0:09] >> Madame Clerk, would you uh give it take
[0:12] care of the roll call, please?
[0:13] >> Yes, sir.
[0:15] >> Commissioner Smith
[0:16] >> here.
[0:16] >> Commissioner Howard
[0:17] >> here.
[0:18] >> Commissioner Hunt
[0:19] >> here.
[0:19] >> Commissioner Mason
[0:20] >> here.
[0:20] >> Commissioner Mitchell
[0:21] >> here.
[0:22] >> Vice Chairman Jones
[0:23] >> here.
[0:23] >> Chairman Booker
[0:24] >> here. Uh next we will do the uh pledge
[0:28] of allegiance but prior to that the
[0:30] attorney Mr. Grady will give us a
[0:32] prayer. So if you'd all stand.
[0:38] Loving God, you are author of life and
[0:40] origin of all created things. We ask
[0:42] that your grace and blessing be bestowed
[0:45] upon the women and men and women who
[0:47] have been called to serve our county.
[0:49] Help them to represent their
[0:51] constituents wisely with an eye toward
[0:53] safeguarding the deeper truths of human
[0:55] life that come only from you. Bless the
[0:58] county that they represent. Bless our
[1:00] country. Help our commissioners to take
[1:02] actions that will uphold the values of
[1:05] peace and justice in our land and
[1:06] throughout the world. We ask this in
[1:09] God's name. Amen.
[1:10] >> Amen.
[1:12] I pledge algiance to the flag of the
[1:15] United States of America and to the
[1:18] republic for which it stands. One nation
[1:21] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[1:24] justice for all.
[1:30] » Commissioners, you have in front of you
[1:32] the agenda today. Are there any changes
[1:34] or additions? And if not, uh, I
[1:37] entertain a motion to approve it.
[1:38] >> So move.
[1:39] >> Second.
[1:40] Have a motion and a second.
[1:42] Madam clerk, call the role, please.
[1:44] >> Commissioner Smith,
[1:44] >> yes.
[1:45] >> Commissioner Howard,
[1:46] >> yes.
[1:46] >> Commissioner Hunt,
[1:47] >> yes.
[1:47] >> Commissioner Mason,
[1:48] >> yes.
[1:49] >> Commissioner Mitchell,
[1:50] >> yes.
[1:50] >> Vice Chairman Jones,
[1:51] >> yes.
[1:51] >> Chairman Booker,
[1:52] >> yes. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have
[1:55] not already done so, please silent your
[1:57] phones to make sure we don't have
[1:59] interruption. And I would like to um
[2:03] mention that we have uh uh I'm going to
[2:07] take chairman's privilege right now. and
[2:09] I'm going to introduce Mr. Chip Shagnan
[2:11] who's going to come forward here and uh
[2:14] have a few words for us.
[2:16] >> Thank you very much, sir. Appreciate the
[2:18] opportunity to jump into the agenda. I
[2:20] know that's a hard thing to do, sir. As
[2:22] you know, we've recently had a a
[2:24] convention here, the Purple Heart, and
[2:26] Military Ar. And thanks to this great
[2:29] council and our citizens and and Jack
[2:32] and his fine staff, it was superior.
[2:35] It's not that I say that our surveys
[2:38] indicated that uh it was the best one
[2:41] since uh we've been doing this in 10
[2:43] years and Craraven County even beat out
[2:46] Reno, Nevada for so I just want to let
[2:49] you know that did a great job. I've been
[2:52] asked by the uh uh the department uh
[2:55] commander to make sure that we give you
[2:58] a little uh a little momento. This is
[3:00] our our convention coin. It's a
[3:04] challenge coin, but as you can see, this
[3:06] is a rather large one, and I can't very
[3:09] well shake your hand and put this thing
[3:10] in it, but we might like to ensure that
[3:13] each member, Madam,
[3:16] >> thank you.
[3:17] >> May I approach them? Sure. Thank you,
[3:18] sir.
[3:21] >> Commission.
[3:22] >> Thank you, Tim.
[3:23] >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you.
[3:25] >> Thank you.
[3:26] very much.
[3:26] >> Thank you, sir.
[3:29] appreciate every
[3:33] sir.
[3:33] >> Thank you.
[3:35] >> And of course, Miss uh Miss Mitchell
[3:37] participated many ways and we honor her
[3:40] that
[3:41] >> Thank you.
[3:45] » It depends.
[3:47] >> Thank you.
[3:47] gentlemen.
[3:51] » They pretty much do whatever you want
[3:54] within a range.
[3:56] >> I have 15
[4:10] But
[4:10] >> these are fancier.
[4:13] >> Thank you very much, sir.
[4:15] >> Thank you. Appreciate you coming.
[4:17] >> You did a great job, too.
[4:22] » I also mention that in our audience
[4:24] today, we have Josh Whitford. Josh is
[4:26] the uh next person who will sit uh in
[4:30] the seat right here on my left
[4:34] come December. So, welcome Josh. Um
[4:38] number one on our agenda is the Owls
[4:40] Wildlife Center and uh
[4:44] >> the Ambassador Enclosure Pro project
[4:47] presentation Christy Davis.
[4:50] >> Morning.
[4:51] >> If you would.
[4:52] >> Yes.
[4:53] >> That's so everybody at home can hear
[4:55] you. Okay, good morning. Um,
[4:57] >> good morning.
[4:58] >> My name is Christy Davis. I'm treasurer
[4:59] with Owls Wildlife Center. With me, I
[5:01] have Carla Aldridge, who's the vice
[5:03] president and the board of directors,
[5:05] and Pam Bader, who is also on the board
[5:08] of directors. So, our mission with Owls
[5:11] Wild or uh Owls Wildlife Center is we
[5:14] rescue, rehabilitate, and release native
[5:17] wildlife within North Carolina. Um, we
[5:20] receive over 2,000 animals each year
[5:23] that we try to rehabilitate and
[5:26] re-release back into the wild. Some of
[5:28] those animals cannot be released um, if
[5:31] they are young enough. We try to either
[5:34] find placement with another education
[5:36] center that can use them to help educate
[5:38] the public as to the importance of the
[5:41] animals. one, why it's important not to
[5:44] keep them um due to imprinting
[5:47] uh special diets, stuff like that. And
[5:51] then two, it teaches were able to use
[5:53] the animals to teach why they're
[5:55] important uh to the environment. For
[5:59] Owls Wildlife Center, we have four right
[6:01] now. um we cannot have more because we
[6:04] need to progress into the USDA uh permit
[6:08] and that is the goal with part of our uh
[6:11] ambassador education project. We have a
[6:13] bard owl, a great horned owl. Uh Pearl,
[6:16] our eastern screech owl who looks like
[6:18] she's going through menopause right now.
[6:20] Um
[6:22] all of our ambassadors are molting. So
[6:24] poor things are uh not up to par what
[6:26] they should be. She's normally cute, but
[6:28] she's grumpy.
[6:29] >> [clears throat]
[6:29] >> She's a grumpy woman today. We can all
[6:32] understand that. So, and we also have uh
[6:34] Isabelle, our red tail hawk, who is uh
[6:37] mid20s. She's one of She's uh in
[6:40] captivity, will live close to 30, but
[6:42] she is retired and on display because
[6:45] she is starting to show her age.
[6:49] So, as we
[6:52] uh requested a grant with the Newurn
[6:55] Board of Commissioners, you graciously
[6:56] gave us a $6,000 grant to go towards, if
[6:59] you can go to the next slide, our
[7:01] education uh ambassador enclosure. Why
[7:06] we're asking for help with that? Because
[7:08] that enclosure alone to house those four
[7:10] animals and to progress into federal
[7:12] regulations is going to take close to
[7:14] $30,000 to build it.
[7:16] >> [snorts]
[7:16] >> Um, we have an additional grant from the
[7:19] Hoover Foundation of another $6,000 so
[7:23] we can start progress on building that.
[7:26] While we need your help, uh, we rely on
[7:29] the community. We rely on grants and
[7:31] donations. So, that is how we fund our
[7:34] operation. Um, we receive no state or
[7:36] federal funding at this time due to
[7:38] those specific regulations. We are
[7:41] looking to branch into that but is very
[7:43] specific regulations and rules that we
[7:46] have to follow with that. So we rely
[7:48] local communities, businesses, uh grants
[7:51] from the local community. Um how we do
[7:53] that? We do education and outreach. This
[7:56] year uh we have already completed around
[8:00] 50 education visits to schools and also
[8:04] had educ schools come and visit us at
[8:06] the center. We show them our education
[8:08] ambassadors. We teach them why it's
[8:10] important not take them out of the wild
[8:13] and why it's important to let them stay
[8:15] native. Um, we're a community resource.
[8:17] We are one of the only local uh rescues
[8:20] within the area that takes in
[8:23] >> uh birds. Um, there's there's many
[8:27] mammal rehabers, but we one of only that
[8:30] take in birds in the area between us and
[8:31] Raleigh and us in the Outer Banks. The
[8:34] other closer one is Possumwood Acres in
[8:36] Hubert and we work together with the
[8:38] other uh rehabs and rescues to make sure
[8:41] that we
[8:43] work together and get the animals
[8:44] rehabilitated. And with that, we've
[8:47] started reaching um further and further.
[8:50] Last year alone, we helped over 21
[8:54] counties in North Carolina, 70 to 80
[8:56] cities, and we continue to reach further
[9:00] and further. We've started uh receiving
[9:03] animals from the Outer Banks um to help
[9:06] them out as well. So, we have a very
[9:08] robust volunteer uh program as well as a
[9:11] volunteer transport and they do that on
[9:12] their own dime. We give them no money or
[9:15] anything like that. They they donate
[9:17] their time and their energy or their
[9:19] gas. Um next slide.
[9:25] » So, while we need new education
[9:27] ambassadors, our come up closer.
[9:29] >> Yeah. Sorry. I'm sorry.
[9:30] >> That's right.
[9:32] >> Uh why we need new ones. Our current
[9:35] enclosures have been there since uh we [clears throat] looked at some of the
[9:39] historical information since 2007. And
[9:42] we've done what we can to ensure that
[9:44] they're patched and continue to meet the
[9:47] regulations uh that were set forth by
[9:50] federal and state regulations.
[9:52] So what we want to do is we want to
[9:54] progress into USDA which will also allow
[9:57] us to have mammal uh ambassadors. USDA
[10:00] took over uh in 2023. If you want to go
[10:03] to the next slide. So they took over in
[10:06] 2023 governing uh ambassador
[10:09] uh birds of prey wildlife stuff like
[10:12] that.
[10:14] So to be able to progress with USDA,
[10:16] there's very specific regulations above
[10:19] the state and federal regulations that
[10:21] we're already governed to. So we have to
[10:24] rebuild our education ambassadors
[10:25] because we have to separate uh
[10:28] rehabilitation and education. And if any
[10:30] of you visited the center, uh you know
[10:33] that our education is smack dab in the
[10:35] middle of all of our rehabilitation
[10:37] because that's where we were built. And
[10:39] as we grow, we continue to strategically
[10:42] plan where we need to put the next
[10:44] enclosures so that we can grow and meet
[10:48] uh and get our USDA permit. And this is
[10:52] the last one of the last big steps that
[10:54] we plan and hope to make this year to
[10:57] actually meet um the USDA regulations
[11:01] and get that permit going.
[11:07] Next slide.
[11:12] So part of this is we have a very
[11:14] specific design that we uh go to as
[11:17] well. We are governed uh by the federal
[11:19] regulations which require very specific
[11:22] enclosure sizes. We're going to build uh
[11:26] what is it? A 20 by 50 and then a 14
[11:31] feet tall. Um because we need to to help
[11:34] progress um building them bigger than
[11:38] technically what is required by the
[11:40] little 10-ft enclosure because our birds
[11:42] are fully flighted. Um, to keep the
[11:45] weather from damaging, we've started
[11:47] fully researching, working with
[11:48] engineers when we're building our
[11:50] enclosures to make sure that they
[11:52] actually do stand the test of time and
[11:55] the weather. Um, our enclosures are
[11:58] insured. Our bigger enclosures that we
[12:00] know will take a lot to replace are
[12:01] insured because, well, we're right there
[12:03] on the coastline and we know how
[12:05] hurricane seasons are with us. Um, so to
[12:08] help protect that, we take every step
[12:10] possible to make sure that those are
[12:13] built to the best that they can be built
[12:15] and they will withstand weather and
[12:17] time, which is what has not happened
[12:19] previously when enclosures have been
[12:21] built.
[12:23] Next slide.
[12:26] In the end, what this gives us is room
[12:28] to grow. Um, it gives the animals better
[12:31] welfare,
[12:33] more outreach for us, uh, and it gives
[12:36] us the durability and the lasting value.
[12:38] And we appreciate everything that you've
[12:40] done for us so far. And we wanted to
[12:43] take the opportunity to show you what we
[12:45] do, what we're about, and give you or
[12:48] tell you thank you for everything that
[12:49] you've done. Well,
[12:51] >> thank you guys. Okay, if you wait up
[12:53] there, you may have some questions here.
[12:55] Yes. Okay,
[12:56] >> that is our turn. questions from me
[12:58] commissioner
[12:59] >> for the benefit of the people who are
[13:00] listening could you tell our audience
[13:02] what these predator birds eat that is
[13:05] part of the uh nature cycle here in
[13:07] eastern North Carolina.
[13:08] >> Yes. So part of the bird uh and this for
[13:11] rehabilitation and for education animals
[13:14] we give them exactly what they would
[13:16] eat.
[13:16] >> No ma'am what do they eat in the wild?
[13:18] So they they
[13:20] >> in the wild they eat pretty much
[13:22] anything they can get a hold of
[13:23] depending on the species you've got like
[13:25] Pearl she would eat snakes, bugs, worms,
[13:28] um or eastern screech owl.
[13:32] No it's not breakfast. Um
[13:35] when you get to the bigger birds of
[13:37] prey, owls, uh
[13:40] what is it? The hawks, stuff like that,
[13:42] they'll eat squirrels, rabbits,
[13:44] >> chickens.
[13:45] Yes.
[13:46] >> Yeah. Some people like to think they eat
[13:49] uh some of their or their pets as well.
[13:53] So, yes. But
[13:54] >> small animals like that,
[13:56] >> rodents.
[13:56] >> Yes.
[13:57] >> Um they also eat other birds. Um
[14:00] >> especially during mating season, they
[14:02] get in fights and they will eat whatever
[14:04] is at their disposal. When you start
[14:06] talking about osprey, uh, eagles, they
[14:09] eat fish and deer, um, which is where
[14:13] they get the lead poisoning from because
[14:14] of the fishing hooks and or the lures
[14:17] and the ammunition that still has lead
[14:20] in it. And we have seen a lot of that
[14:22] this year.
[14:24] >> Other questions?
[14:26] >> Um, during the snowstorm that we had
[14:28] this last year, I I heard a couple
[14:30] stories of rescues. Were there any kind
[14:32] of like interesting rescues? Was it
[14:34] flamingos I heard about? Is that what it
[14:36] was?
[14:36] >> Pelicans.
[14:37] That was it. That was
[14:38] >> Yes. So, the pelicans uh really
[14:40] struggled in the cold this year. We
[14:42] received what probably 20 or 30 at that
[14:44] time.
[14:45] >> And a lot of them were frostbitten. Um
[14:48] if you go to our Facebook page, there is
[14:50] a story about that earlier this year.
[14:52] They really did have a hard time because
[14:54] they're not used to a lot of them don't
[14:56] migrate from here. um because it stays
[14:59] kind of warm and so when it got cold and
[15:02] they couldn't either get in the water or
[15:06] the water was too cold or the ground was
[15:08] too cold, they did suffer a lot of
[15:10] frostbite on their feet and on their
[15:12] actual their bills.
[15:14] >> So like 30 or 40 at that at that one
[15:16] time you guys had to do intake for. Yes,
[15:18] it's amazing. and the amount of so they
[15:20] would eat um when we take them in one
[15:23] pelican will eat about 20 or 30 finger
[15:27] mullet uh per feeding. So and we
[15:30] normally give them about three or four
[15:32] feedings a day.
[15:33] >> Wow.
[15:35] >> Yeah.
[15:36] >> One of the smaller owls
[15:37] >> it is. Yes, ma'am. That is eastern
[15:40] screech owl. She is the smallest owl.
[15:42] She's actually full grown. She's an
[15:44] adult.
[15:46] Yeah.
[15:47] >> So, [clears throat]
[15:48] I've gotten a lot of calls about wild
[15:51] animals when people find them for
[15:53] various reasons, what to do, where to go
[15:55] with them, and a lot of the calls are
[15:57] about squirrels.
[15:58] >> Yes.
[15:59] >> And as far as I know, you've never
[16:00] turned any of them away. Correct.
[16:02] >> No, ma'am, we haven't. We will. We've
[16:04] never turned an animal away. Even if
[16:06] it's an animal that we can't take in,
[16:08] uh, which we just recently got our
[16:10] rabies, uh, vector species permit, um,
[16:13] we will we have there's a policy you can
[16:16] hold the animal for 24 hours and find
[16:18] another, uh, an find another rehab that
[16:21] can take those in.
[16:23] >> We've never turned one away and we are very inundated with squirrels
[16:27] right now. They have uh for some reason
[16:30] they started a little early this year or
[16:32] did for the second season
[16:33] >> and uh [laughter]
[16:34] >> squirrel squirrel cat
[16:35] >> and they are we we have a lot of them
[16:37] right now. We probably have about what
[16:38] 40 in the mammal nursery
[16:40] >> of all sizes still requiring uh feedings
[16:43] every 3 hours from the little tiny
[16:45] pinkies to the other ones. And I live
[16:48] here in Newurn so I can leave my card if you need or owls we answer. We don't
[16:54] answer 24/7 because we do we
[16:56] [clears throat] do sleep, but um if you
[16:58] can't call, if you know you call us,
[17:00] text us, we don't answer, we do have
[17:02] email and Facebook Messenger that we
[17:04] reply.
[17:04] >> Well, everybody's been able to get a
[17:06] hold of you in a timely manner. So,
[17:08] thank you for everything you do. You're
[17:09] welcome.
[17:09] >> What's your success rate as far as a
[17:11] animal coming in and going back to the
[17:13] wild? Is there a pretty good turnaround
[17:15] on that?
[17:16] >> It is. It is a good turnaround. Um it's
[17:18] gotten better over the years as we've
[17:19] started working with more and more
[17:20] veterinarians. We're at a 55% uh success
[17:24] rate right now,
[17:25] >> up from about the low 40s about 3 or 4
[17:28] years ago.
[17:30] >> So if they fail at that, they become
[17:31] ambassadors. Huh.
[17:33] >> Not always. We can't keep every animal,
[17:35] unfortunately. We have to. We're
[17:37] governed by federal regulations. Um and
[17:39] that is one thing we do uh take pride in
[17:43] is we don't keep an animal just because
[17:45] it can't be released because that can be
[17:47] inhumane. It's like if it if it's young,
[17:50] if it's a baby, we do have, for example,
[17:52] we do have a B owl that we got in that
[17:54] was a week old.
[17:55] >> Um, we have been working with it to try
[17:57] to make it an education ambassador.
[18:00] We will post it on the national uh
[18:02] rehabilitators website for everyone
[18:05] within the United States and Canada to
[18:07] be able to see to offer that animal in
[18:09] the home. uh which we did have success
[18:11] earlier this year where we sent a possum
[18:14] who couldn't be uh rehabilitated up to
[18:17] New Hampshire to be an ambassador
[18:19] >> for an area up there. But we
[18:22] >> we can't keep an animal just because it
[18:24] can't be released. It's like taking you
[18:26] as an adult um and putting you in a cage
[18:29] >> after you've already known what it's
[18:32] like to be free and then not being free.
[18:36] So it it can be cruel to them. Any other
[18:40] questions? I have one.
[18:41] >> Yes, sir.
[18:42] >> Where are you located?
[18:43] >> We are located off of Highway 24 in
[18:46] Newport.
[18:46] >> Okay.
[18:48] >> All right. If there are no other
[18:50] questions, we appreciate you coming and
[18:52] sharing with us and we appreciate you
[18:54] brought Pearl
[18:56] >> that you brought Pearl and
[19:03] » we appreciate what you do.
[19:05] >> Thank you. Thank you very much.
[19:07] >> Thank you. [clears throat]
[19:09] Item number two on the agenda, Eastern
[19:12] Carolina Workforce Development Board
[19:14] Update. Mr. Bill Green.
[19:18] >> Morning, Bill.
[19:19] >> Good morning.
[19:24] Uh, commissioners, thank you very much
[19:26] for letting us come today. Let me first
[19:28] recognize Rashima Walker. He's our
[19:31] center manager at our uh news um news
[19:35] boulevard career center covering craven
[19:38] also covers Jones and Pamoo County. So
[19:41] we're here to just give bring you an
[19:43] update about our uh workforce. Um we I'm
[19:48] going to give you just an overview of
[19:50] several points and see if there's any
[19:52] questions. So again I'm Bill Green. I'm
[19:54] the executive director of the Eastern
[19:56] Carolina Workforce Development Board. Um
[19:59] we uh were established [clears throat]
[20:01] many years ago along with 19 other
[20:04] workforce boards across the state and we
[20:06] are the primarily uh the funding source
[20:09] and the managers for the NC works career
[20:12] centers and the WA uh job training
[20:15] dollars and so that those funds come
[20:17] from the uh Department of Labor. So um
[20:21] for 36 years I'm a native of Newurn and
[20:24] Craven County. for 36 years. I was a
[20:27] commercial banker here in town. Um, this
[20:32] uh board appointed me in 2012 to be a
[20:35] private sector board member of the
[20:37] Eastern Carolina Workforce Development
[20:38] Board. And around the time that I was
[20:40] given the opportunity for a uh early
[20:43] retirement, uh, our longtime director,
[20:45] Tammy Childers, uh, took a decided her
[20:49] time was up for retirement.
[20:52] So, I stepped into this role. Um, and
[20:54] it's an interesting thing. A little
[20:56] different from banking, but it covers
[20:58] the same counties, same work that we've
[21:01] done, uh, that I've done over the years
[21:03] with commercial businesses, uh, in our
[21:05] area. So, let me walk through several
[21:09] things. So, as you see, uh, we we're a
[21:12] 501c3 nonprofit. Most of the other
[21:15] workforce boards across the state are
[21:17] part of a, uh, council of governments or some other entity. Next slide.
[21:23] So our mission is to engage leaders to
[21:28] assist job seekers and to support
[21:30] employers. So our leadership contacts
[21:33] that we do uh are with the
[21:35] commissioners, with the municipalities,
[21:38] with the economic developers, with the
[21:40] chambers of commerce, with our community
[21:42] colleges, with our school systems, um
[21:45] and with the state department of
[21:48] commerce and the federal department of
[21:50] labor. So we connect to a lot of
[21:53] entities and a lot of players that are
[21:56] involved with economic development as it
[21:59] relates to workforce development and
[22:01] ultimately our community development. So
[22:04] uh from a leader standpoint that's what
[22:05] that looks like. Our assisting of job
[22:08] seekers
[22:10] uh what the the one word I want to leave
[22:13] everybody here in the audience is NC
[22:16] Works. NC Works is our statewide brand.
[22:20] It's our statewide uh system of uh
[22:23] career centers across all 100 counties.
[22:27] Um it is our completely free service
[22:30] that uh we provide through uh to for job
[22:34] seekers no matter who or what they are.
[22:38] We focus on adults, youth, um those
[22:44] re-entering society, those with
[22:46] substance use issues, those with uh uh
[22:50] mental health issues. So, we cover as
[22:53] many people what what our goal is is to
[22:55] get as many people working as best they
[22:57] can at the uh level that is highest for
[23:00] them. So job seekers uh are through are
[23:05] helped through our NCworks centers. Uh
[23:07] also ncworks.gov. So I want everybody to
[23:10] remember ncworks.gov
[23:12] that is our website that you can get to
[23:15] any position [clears throat]
[23:17] any uh career center across the state
[23:20] including the the our one which is a
[23:23] premier center here in uh here in
[23:25] Newber. So job seekers ncworks.gov of in that and then supporting our
[23:31] employers. So we work directly with
[23:33] employers. Uh Rashima and her staff work
[23:35] with employers to place job orders uh to
[23:39] provide uh labor information uh wherever
[23:42] we can uh from our the sources that
[23:44] we've got from the Department of Labor.
[23:47] So those are our three stakeholders.
[23:49] There's our mission up there. But our
[23:51] mission basically is to improve the
[23:53] economy uh by making sure our workforce
[23:57] is uh where it needs to be. So let's
[24:00] look at the next slide. So uh Craraven
[24:03] County, of course, I was born and raised
[24:05] here, so if I'm in another county, uh I
[24:08] won't say this, but of course Craraven
[24:09] is is our center hub of our office, as
[24:13] you can see at the very top in the
[24:14] center. But we also cover we take a
[24:17] regional approach because all of the
[24:19] counties work together in some form or
[24:22] fashion. So Carter, Craraven, Dupin,
[24:24] Green, Jones, Genor, Enzo, Pamlico, and
[24:26] Wayne are our core group. Uh we call it
[24:29] the heart of eastern North Carolina in
[24:32] Craraven County is the center of that.
[24:34] So we have comprehensive career centers
[24:36] in Craraven, Carter, uh Lenor, Enso, and
[24:41] Wayne. And then we have resource centers
[24:43] in the other counties. So those that's
[24:45] [clears throat] how we serve this and
[24:47] those nine counties were separated out
[24:49] again years ago. Um and there's
[24:53] different groupings of uh counties
[24:56] across that are covered by other
[24:57] workforce boards. Next slide.
[25:01] So these are some of the things and I um
[25:04] I'm going to be the chatter but um Reima
[25:07] could probably be a do a better job with
[25:09] this and may answer some questions but
[25:11] job matching uh we can sit down with um
[25:15] a job seeker and just say what are your
[25:18] interests what there's a number of tools
[25:20] we can use to help people to try to find
[25:23] a pathway [snorts] training and
[25:25] education through title one of WA we
[25:28] could pay for training for adults
[25:30] dislocated workers and um and youth. Uh
[25:34] we can help with career assessments.
[25:36] Where are you with everything that
[25:38] you're doing in career advising? Uh if
[25:41] you don't have a resume, we can help you
[25:42] get a resume. We can help you build
[25:44] that. We if you're not if you're
[25:47] concerned about interview skills, we can
[25:50] provide those interview skills. So when
[25:52] you go into the career center, you can
[25:55] uh get all of these services uh as a job
[25:58] seeker. And then as I've mentioned,
[26:00] employers, we uh do job fairs, hiring
[26:04] events, and place job orders just like
[26:07] any other forpay uh service, but ours is again a free service. So those are
[26:14] some of the things that we do. Next
[26:16] slide.
[26:17] For business services, we can do
[26:20] recruitment and screening, labor market
[26:21] data, on the job training, uh, depending
[26:24] on funding, uh, tax credits and
[26:26] incentives when they're available and
[26:28] when they've been renewed, and then
[26:30] rapid response. Rapid response is if
[26:33] there was a plant closing or a reduction
[26:35] in force, uh we can go to that plant
[26:38] within two or three days and set up
[26:41] oftent times with our mobile unit that
[26:43] is resides in Raleigh. the NC Works uh mobile unit uh has a bank two banks
[26:49] of computers and uh job seekers can go
[26:52] on board and uh very rapidly deal with
[26:56] those concerns that they've got where if
[26:58] they've just lost the job uh through no
[27:00] fault of their own. So those are some of
[27:02] the things that we can do. Next slide.
[27:06] NextGen Youth. Um [clears throat]
[27:09] we focus uh of ages 16 to 24. Our one of
[27:14] our goals is to u get youth involved in
[27:19] more knowledge than they currently see.
[27:22] Uh I I believe youth sometimes see only
[27:25] to see the things that they see. Um they
[27:28] um whether it be you know the you know
[27:32] Starbucks stores that they see. But what
[27:34] our goal is to get them more um involved
[27:38] in career exploration. And um our focus
[27:42] really is also on out of school youth,
[27:45] those that have fallen out that are not
[27:48] involved with school, not involved with
[27:50] work. And we think there's a lot of a
[27:52] lot of resources there if we can get to
[27:54] them. And we've got dedicated youth
[27:56] specialists at the career center that
[27:58] can work with that. So that's a big big
[28:01] issue for us is is those youth that are
[28:04] not involved.
[28:06] >> Next slide.
[28:08] So again, we've talked about NC Works
[28:09] Career Centers and of course we have the
[28:11] one main one on News Boulevard and if
[28:14] you don't know it's 2836 News Boulevard
[28:17] is one of the three buildings up front,
[28:19] the furniture fair, Burger King um
[28:23] >> uh shopping center there. So employment
[28:25] sec services, training programs and
[28:28] career planning. Um those are all the
[28:31] things that we do at the career centers
[28:33] and again we co-manage those with the
[28:35] department of commerce uh among the all
[28:38] the of the nine counties. Next slide.
[28:43] Our future NC or our future ENC if
[28:47] you're not familiar with that group you
[28:48] probably are. Um the goal statewide is
[28:52] to have an additional 2 million uh
[28:54] credentialed or deployment individuals
[28:57] in the ages of 25 to 44 so that North
[29:00] Carolina remains uh one of the top
[29:03] business uh oriented uh workforce uh uh
[29:08] communities so that uh as industries
[29:10] come in [cough] they they know that
[29:12] we've got the workforce that they're
[29:14] trained there's training available um
[29:17] from a Craven County standpoint point.
[29:20] Uh we learned back in the spring uh that
[29:22] my future NC, which is again a 501c3
[29:26] nonprofit as well, uh has targeted eight
[29:29] counties across the state to receive
[29:31] funding to add a position uh to help
[29:35] drive uh credentials and diplomas. And
[29:38] uh Mr. Jack and his staff in cooperation
[29:42] with the workforce board, we we're the
[29:44] convenor with the school system, the
[29:46] college, the chamber. um
[29:50] and [clears throat] the the school
[29:51] system, the college chamber chambers and
[29:54] uh our workforce board. So, we the
[29:57] workforce board is the fiscal agent and
[30:00] we will should announce this week an
[30:02] individual that will work for the next
[30:04] year and probably a second year uh to
[30:06] really make uh Craven County one of
[30:09] those eight across the state that will
[30:11] uh really drive this so that we are our people our young people are getting
[30:17] the credentials that they need and know
[30:19] that they can get. So, next slide.
[30:23] So, just some information. So the
[30:26] workforce board has been around for 30
[30:27] plus years. We have a lot of success in
[30:30] on the job training uh where we can
[30:32] depending on funding actually go in and
[30:35] provide the first several months of uh
[30:38] salaries for individuals that are are
[30:41] working in new jobs that may be um not
[30:44] traditional uh that they did couldn't
[30:47] get the job otherwise. So we can support
[30:49] that effort and uh we have a very strong
[30:52] veteran support. Uh, in fact, if you
[30:54] come into the career center, there's
[30:55] special seating areas for our veterans
[30:57] that are looking for support, and we've
[31:00] got specialists that can uh sit down
[31:02] with the veterans and help them. One of
[31:05] our goals as we look at um our nine
[31:08] counties, our top [snorts] employer is
[31:10] the US government. If you look at our
[31:12] military bases, Seymour Johnson and all
[31:14] the Marine Corps bases, our goal is to
[31:17] keep those folks here. Once they get
[31:19] out, we don't necessarily want them to
[31:22] go back to Nebraska or wherever they've
[31:24] come from. We want them to stick around
[31:25] because they've got skills that we need
[31:28] uh to promote ourselves as a employer
[31:31] friendly community. All right, next
[31:33] slide.
[31:35] So, that's just some summaries. There's
[31:37] our phone address. Uh anybody needs to
[31:40] ask me any questions afterwards, we'll
[31:42] be glad to do that. Um, thank you for
[31:44] the commissioners for uh appointing us.
[31:48] Uh, one of our uh consortium of our nine
[31:53] counties is a commissioner from each
[31:54] county. Miss Smith, you are a faithful
[31:58] member of our board member meetings and
[32:01] uh so you represent Craven County for us
[32:03] and then there's eight other county
[32:04] commissioners and then uh the
[32:07] commissioners establish the workforce
[32:10] board, hire the staff and then there's a
[32:11] board of 28 people, three of them from
[32:13] Craraven County um that and we have
[32:17] representatives from Chadzsworth
[32:18] Products, the International Machinist
[32:20] and Aerys Space Workers Union and then
[32:23] Craven community. Oh, I'm sorry.
[32:25] Caroline East Medical Center. So, those
[32:27] are our three from our capital. So, I
[32:31] think I've shared all that I can. Let me
[32:33] stop and just see if there's any
[32:35] questions of our workforce efforts in
[32:38] our area.
[32:38] >> Okay. Questions for Mr. Green.
[32:40] [clears throat]
[32:40] >> What What is cons I'm sorry. Did I
[32:42] interrupt? Just check me. Go.
[32:45] >> Go. You got it.
[32:47] >> The what is considered a high quality
[32:49] credential?
[32:50] >> A high quality credential? Well, it is
[32:53] just depends on the individual, but it's
[32:56] uh I would say it's the credential that
[32:58] is the that gives them their best chance
[33:02] uh for success. Um you know, a
[33:04] credential could be a PhD, but that's
[33:08] not going to be needed for everybody.
[33:10] They're going to need a uh short-term
[33:13] degree from the Volt Center. Um that is
[33:16] going to give them what they need. So,
[33:18] I'd say it's the one that maximizes the
[33:20] highest and best opportunity for that
[33:23] individual,
[33:23] >> but it would include like welding
[33:25] certifications or licensing like that.
[33:27] Okay.
[33:27] >> Yeah. Yeah. That that goal is any a
[33:30] four-year degree or beyond or it's a
[33:33] short-term credential and anything in
[33:35] between.
[33:36] >> Thank you. Anybody else?
[33:38] >> Yeah, I want to expand on that one. I
[33:40] understand that the best credential is
[33:42] the one that gets you hired.
[33:43] >> Okay. But what are the credentials
[33:45] around here
[33:46] >> that are needed to get people hired
[33:48] specifically? The industries that are or
[33:52] the growth opportunities are in the
[33:55] trades in advanced manufacturing.
[33:59] Welding is a big issue um that we're
[34:03] always you can get a welding degree both
[34:05] at the college and at the bolt center.
[34:07] Um manufacturing covers a lot of
[34:11] different areas. Our third main one is
[34:14] health care and we have a health care
[34:16] collaborative between uh Carolina East
[34:18] Medical Center and the workforce board
[34:21] and uh it's actually broader and we have
[34:24] providers that come in uh with multiple
[34:27] counties so that we can address the need
[34:29] all the various needs at the hospital
[34:31] and of course the hospitals need nursing
[34:34] photamists all those things but they
[34:36] also have HVAC specialists electricians
[34:39] uh food service all those things
[34:41] Okay. As a trustee with a community
[34:44] college, how closely do you work with
[34:46] Dr. Stats?
[34:47] >> Uh Dr. Stats and I meet periodically. He
[34:50] and I are both on a Craraven pipeline
[34:53] consortium that includes the college and
[34:57] multiple of his staff. Also, the Craven
[34:59] uh Holly with CT director at Craven
[35:03] County Schools. So, we connect all those
[35:06] pieces together. But yeah, Dr. stats and
[35:08] I are [clears throat]
[35:09] involved with each other frequently.
[35:12] >> Thank you.
[35:12] >> Yeah.
[35:14] >> Anybody else?
[35:16] I would only ask um I don't think a lot of people know
[35:22] of your organization. Would that be a
[35:25] fair statement?
[35:25] >> That is a very fair statement. When I
[35:27] talk to people that have known me from
[35:29] the past, it was easy to say what I did
[35:30] before. I'm a banker.
[35:32] >> Uh but now most people don't know about
[35:34] the workforce board,
[35:35] >> right? which is fine. If you all know
[35:37] about the workforce board, the school
[35:39] systems, the county, all those things
[35:41] know about what we do, that's fine. For
[35:43] the job seeker and for the employers in
[35:46] our area, NC works is what we want them
[35:48] to know about.
[35:50] >> Okay. Anybody else?
[35:52] >> We thank you very much for coming.
[35:54] >> Thank you so much.
[35:55] >> Appreciate Appreciate what you do.
[35:56] >> Thank you.
[36:01] Item number three, Southeastern
[36:03] Integrated Care Program overview. Stacy
[36:06] Williamson and Anelise
[36:09] Ducing.
[36:11] >> How did I do on that? How do you Okay,
[36:14] good. And you got a third member with
[36:16] you or fourth member with you.
[36:21] >> She is our marketing specialist.
[36:24] >> Good morning, Commissioner. Caitlyn
[36:26] Godley with the Craven County Opioid
[36:28] Epidemic Response. I just wanted to
[36:30] introduce our guests today. Um we have
[36:32] Stacy Williamson and Anelise Duceling as
[36:35] well as Ma Maggie Moody. Sorry, I almost
[36:37] called her Megan. Um they are with
[36:39] Southeastern Integrated Care and they're
[36:41] here to tell you about the mental health
[36:43] and substance use treatment services
[36:45] that they're now providing to Craven
[36:47] County residents. Thank you.
[36:51] >> I will start off. Thank you guys for
[36:53] allowing us to be here today. I
[36:55] appreciate your time. Um, we are
[36:58] Southeastern Integrated. Again, I'm
[37:00] Stacy Williamson. Um, I a little history
[37:03] about me is that my husband and I
[37:05] started a behavioral health company uh
[37:08] 2007. We sold our company in 2002
[37:13] and tried to retire. that didn't happen
[37:17] very well because we came back into it
[37:19] with consulting and assisting other
[37:21] agencies to grow their businesses across
[37:24] North Carolina successfully. Um so we
[37:27] started with Southeastern Integrated
[37:29] just consulting and then we quickly
[37:32] partnered with them because we did see
[37:34] how well they did things and how
[37:36] exclusive they were in their service
[37:39] lines. So across their across the state.
[37:43] So we started um with Southeastern
[37:45] Consulting and then the MCO which is
[37:48] Trillium MCO um asked us to open a
[37:52] office in Carter County um to service
[37:56] those clients in Carter County because
[37:58] there was a gap in services and in that
[38:01] gap of services um was ACT services
[38:04] which is assertive community treatment
[38:06] team which is a high severe population
[38:10] with uh the severity of schizophrenia.
[38:13] and those living in the community that
[38:16] needed that help. Um, so it is a huge
[38:19] wraparound service which is a great big
[38:21] deal. So we get hospitalizations coming
[38:25] straight from the hospital that we treat
[38:27] at home and keep them in their home. Um,
[38:31] and then we do community support team
[38:33] which is a continuum of that and then
[38:35] peer support services. So that's how we
[38:38] started out and also intensive inhome
[38:40] for children. So that's how we started
[38:42] out our program and then we quickly
[38:44] transitioned to our substance use
[38:46] programs which was seot and sep and
[38:49] those services are also through trillium
[38:51] and are provided through trillium
[38:53] services. So we have to get a state lure
[38:59] for those services and for our buildings
[39:01] to provide that service. So, we quickly
[39:04] transitioned into those services as
[39:06] well. And then we started um residential
[39:10] um and that is something that kind of
[39:12] fell in our lap. Um but we embraced it.
[39:16] Um and we started we bought some homes
[39:18] out in Carterette County and we started
[39:21] housing in individuals. So we started a
[39:24] program that's 180day program. So in
[39:28] this 180day program with our SECOT and
[39:30] SYOP services is you enter into the
[39:34] program, you come in, you get an
[39:36] assessment completed. If you qualify for
[39:39] this program, you will um enter into the
[39:43] housing. Okay? And in that housing in
[39:45] the first 90 days is you have zero
[39:50] communication with family, you have zero
[39:52] cell phones, you are monitored 24/7. We
[39:55] have house managers who live in each of
[39:57] these homes. We have um transportation.
[40:02] So you go into the home, you get
[40:05] transported to our agency um from 9 to 2
[40:10] and you do SECOT services which is the
[40:12] therapy services and group group therapy
[40:15] for SECOT. So then after 2 o'clock from
[40:19] 2 to 5 we have someone coming in like a
[40:22] banker um to talk about things like when
[40:26] you're leaving this facility and this
[40:28] program eventually in 180 days. How do
[40:31] we get our lives back on track? Okay. Um
[40:34] we bring in workforce people. We bring
[40:36] in those types of folks to help
[40:38] transition them back into the community.
[40:41] So at 5:00 they leave, we provide meals,
[40:44] they leave, they go back to the housing.
[40:46] So this is seven days a week for the
[40:49] first 90 days. The second 90 days is our
[40:51] SEO program. So they transition if they
[40:54] have successfully proven that they are
[40:57] on the right track of recovery. We put
[41:00] them in the next 90 days which is our
[41:02] program which is a three-day program.
[41:05] And in this three-day program then they
[41:07] have some flexibility because they have
[41:09] proven recovery with us. Um on the other
[41:12] two days they can come in and get med
[41:15] management or therapy and they can also
[41:19] enter back into the workforce. They are
[41:22] completely still monitored
[41:24] um in the housing. They do not leave the
[41:27] housing after hours. They do unless they
[41:30] with one of our house managers. They're
[41:32] still transported to and from work.
[41:35] They're transported to and from our
[41:37] office for the SEO. And then 30 days
[41:41] prior to them leaving our SEO program,
[41:43] we transition them into a part-time
[41:46] community support team, which is what we
[41:49] also provide for mental health and
[41:51] substance abuse clients. So we know that
[41:54] they're going to need ongoing recovery,
[41:56] right? And so it's important to us to
[41:59] continue to provide that for them. so in
[42:02] their community. So we start finding
[42:04] housing, appropriate housing, trying to
[42:06] reconnect them back to families that
[42:08] they've lost because of their addiction.
[42:10] Um and so we work with them to do all of
[42:14] those things and make sure they have
[42:16] secured a worked a a job, housing, and
[42:20] then we continue to work with them
[42:22] through the week in community support
[42:24] team in their own space. Um, so that's
[42:28] important to continue that service
[42:30] outside of the housing service. Um, I'm
[42:34] gonna let Annaise talk a little bit
[42:35] about um because I'm sure you guys have
[42:38] heard about all the services that we
[42:40] provide as far as mental health. Um, not
[42:43] specifically us, but in the community,
[42:46] you've heard about ACT services or um
[42:49] community support team or intensive inh
[42:52] home for our children. Um, and with
[42:54] intensive inhome, we also help the
[42:57] families. It's just not about children.
[42:59] It's also about the family unit because
[43:01] we can kind of help the kid get back on
[43:04] track, but if we're not helping with the
[43:05] family and we put them back in that
[43:07] environment, it's not going to work. So,
[43:10] we have a clinical regional director
[43:12] that comes in and she monitors all of
[43:15] our um service lines. She ensures that
[43:18] the training is complete. She is
[43:20] constantly giving our team leads who are
[43:24] clinicians that go out into the
[43:26] community to work with these individuals
[43:28] training and monitoring and feedback of
[43:31] how we can get clients better um and and
[43:35] they can do better in school and in
[43:37] their work and hold a job and so forth.
[43:41] So it's very important to us to have
[43:43] good outcomes. It's not just about
[43:45] treating the client but the outcomes are
[43:47] important. Um, so we have really good
[43:50] outcomes because of her and Annaise um,
[43:54] providing, you know, that extra ongoing
[43:57] trainings for our staff. So, I'm gonna
[43:59] let Anna Lee talk a little.
[44:01] >> Okay. Um, hi, I'm Annaise. I'm a nurse
[44:04] practitioner. Um, I've been working with
[44:07] Eastern um, since it started down in
[44:09] Morehead. Um, and we're really happy to
[44:11] be expanding. So, as Stacy was saying,
[44:14] she kind of went over intensive inh home
[44:16] encompassing treating the entire family
[44:18] unit and not just the child themselves.
[44:21] What I do is I do a lot of medication um
[44:25] assisted treatment. So, working with the
[44:28] clinicians as they're providing therapy
[44:31] um and making sure the medications are
[44:33] on track with the client and it's very
[44:35] specific to each client. Um, we also
[44:37] work with like the school systems and
[44:39] the counselors at school, teachers and
[44:42] things along those lines. And if DSS is
[44:44] involved, we work with them as well. Um,
[44:47] the community support team. So, I do
[44:49] medication management for these clients.
[44:51] When anyone comes into our doors, they
[44:53] get a clinical assessment done by a
[44:55] therapist and then um they see myself
[44:58] for a psyche val. work together for the
[45:00] placement as far as what service would
[45:02] this client best be fit for and what
[45:06] success they would have. Um that being
[45:09] said in the community support team they
[45:11] get a peer so someone that is very
[45:14] relatable to them um helps them set up
[45:16] things like doctor appointments um if
[45:19] they're looking to go back to school for
[45:20] GED or getting into the construction
[45:23] academy. We do utilize NC works a lot.
[45:26] So very helpful and thankful for them.
[45:29] And then um we also do with all of our
[45:33] clients substance use. Not only is it
[45:36] part of mental health, but a lot of that
[45:39] stems it just meshes right together. So
[45:42] we do do um urine drug screens and
[45:45] especially with the residential and um
[45:49] like Stacy was talking about earlier.
[45:50] So, that's just another way that we go
[45:52] ahead and we monitor them, make sure
[45:53] that they're on track. Um,
[45:57] moving up to the ACT. So, on the ACT
[46:01] team, the assertive community treatment
[46:02] team, there is a physician that they
[46:05] see, there's a therapist, there's a
[46:07] vocational therapist, um, someone to
[46:09] help with housing, a qualified
[46:11] professional, which is kind of like a
[46:13] case manager, all-encompassing,
[46:16] and other stuff. um a substance abuse
[46:18] counselor,
[46:19] >> nursing staff. Yes. Huge part of it. So,
[46:22] a nurse actually comes out to their
[46:24] home, helps them with medication
[46:25] management. We work closely with a
[46:28] specialty pharmacy that sets up their
[46:30] medications in blister packs. So, all
[46:32] they have to do is go ahead and punch
[46:34] each so for the morning, the afternoon,
[46:37] for nighttime. And they work with them
[46:39] closely with that. setting up primary
[46:41] care, um working and facilitating just
[46:44] streamlining care across the board for
[46:46] them and a lot of education as well. Um
[46:50] so that's something that we do with
[46:52] that. And then we also have the mobile
[46:55] outreach clinic that we've just started.
[46:58] Um so that has been amazing. it is out
[47:01] in the community and people are actually
[47:04] able to just walk on, get an assessment
[47:06] and from that assessment um determine
[47:09] placement for them in what program would
[47:11] best suit them. So that's been really
[47:14] fruitful and a really big blessing to
[47:16] our community lately. Um we can go to
[47:19] them so if they've called the office and
[47:21] they're looking for some type of
[47:23] referral or assessment, we're actually
[47:24] able to go out and cater to the client
[47:26] specifically. So whether that's meet
[47:27] them in the Walmart parking lot like
[47:29] we've done or different churches,
[47:32] wherever they need us to go, we can
[47:34] actually go to them. So that's huge.
[47:37] >> Yeah. Um the mobile clinic is a very big
[47:40] passion of mine because um we're meeting
[47:44] the clients where they are, right? So
[47:45] the transportation is always a barrier
[47:47] for our mental health population here.
[47:50] Um so we have been coming into Havlock,
[47:53] we've been coming into Newurn a little.
[47:55] Um but we started this out with
[47:57] Trillium. Trillium wanted to partner
[47:58] with us and launch this mobile clinic
[48:01] and as I had a a little reservation of
[48:04] like how this was going to work and you
[48:07] know finding locations for this but from
[48:09] down east you know those clients are
[48:12] unable to you know get into Morehead to
[48:14] get treatment. Um, and then we've been
[48:17] so successful at a church in Havlock.
[48:20] Um, and um, the Walmart parking lot,
[48:22] like she said, um, and the homeless
[48:25] population, where are they located so
[48:27] that that we can get this homeless
[48:30] population treated, get them into
[48:32] housing, get them off the streets, get
[48:34] them in the workforce, um, and help
[48:36] them, um, be a successful um, you know,
[48:40] individual, you know, in the community.
[48:42] Um, so this is that's been one of my um
[48:46] passions. We also do transportation. So
[48:48] if a client does have problems getting
[48:50] to the office, we do have a
[48:52] transportation system that we're able to
[48:54] pick the client up, bring them to the
[48:57] office, and do an assessment. So we do
[48:59] have an office here now, 2807 News
[49:04] Boulevard. Um, we're in suite 4 here in
[49:06] Newburn. Um, we are actually
[49:09] interviewing for therapists. We're
[49:11] having our office manager starts on
[49:13] August 31st. We've had the office for a
[49:16] little bit. It's just trillium throws
[49:18] things at us sometimes and it's like go go. So we are prioritizing things to
[49:23] make things work um quickly like the
[49:26] mobile clinic. Um so we launched that in
[49:28] May and the success rate for that has
[49:30] been amazing. Uh so that is kind of who
[49:34] we are in a nutshell. We do have the
[49:36] Southeastern Life Center. So the
[49:39] residential part of what we do is
[49:42] separate than what we do for seot and
[49:46] all of our services through the state.
[49:48] So we do have a nonprofit side to our
[49:51] agency. So that residential part is the
[49:53] nonprofit side to our agency as well as
[49:57] we have in other counties. Just to let
[49:59] you know the the flexibility of what we
[50:02] can do. We have group homes for
[50:03] children, not in these counties, but we
[50:06] are able to have first look and we had a
[50:09] client that had was a kid who we were
[50:12] able to get into one of our group homes
[50:15] that stayed in the hospital for six
[50:17] months. We were able to get him into one
[50:20] of our group homes. He was being put in
[50:22] a dog cage. He was being chained to the
[50:25] backyard. He was suffering from wounds.
[50:28] He had been, you know, there's a lot of
[50:30] things sexually molested. This kid was
[50:33] torn and he is thriving. He's still in
[50:36] our group home um eight months later,
[50:39] but he is thriving and doing well, doing
[50:42] well in school. So, that's just one one
[50:45] of the, you know, commitments that we
[50:47] do. And we have adult group homes. We
[50:49] have um equestrian like center where we
[50:52] can do ecoin therapy for our clients for
[50:54] children. Um, we have a farm that in
[50:58] another county in Bladen County that we
[51:00] can send clients to. We have a detox
[51:03] center in another county. Um, so we're
[51:05] able to move our clients back and forth.
[51:08] So when they finish with those services
[51:10] in that county, we get them back and
[51:12] then we're able to provide ongoing
[51:14] service as a continuum for that client.
[51:17] So
[51:19] >> Okay. Well, you got a lot going on.
[51:20] >> We got a lot going on.
[51:22] I've got several questions here.
[51:24] >> Don't annoy me.
[51:26] >> Sure.
[51:26] >> First, I want to say I'm encouraged and
[51:28] I think our whole board is to hear your
[51:31] presentation today. One of the greatest
[51:32] needs we got in this county is what
[51:34] you're addressing right now.
[51:36] >> Something that we've um debated and
[51:39] talked about and tried to have
[51:40] collaborations with others for many
[51:42] years and have not been as successful as
[51:45] we would would like. You may have said
[51:47] it and I I may have missed it in your um your group homes. Um if Craven
[51:54] County wanted to join on with you,
[51:57] utilize your services and let's just say
[51:59] for our inmates to begin with. Several
[52:02] questions with that would be number one
[52:04] is uh how many beds do you have
[52:07] available? Uh, number two is, you know,
[52:09] if we have an inmate that would come
[52:11] from, uh, Craven County to your facility
[52:13] that would be eligible, who would pay
[52:15] for that?
[52:16] >> Okay.
[52:17] >> You want to address those two if you
[52:18] could?
[52:18] >> Yes. Um, so we have 48 beds right now.
[52:22] Um, we are hoping, honestly, if we do
[52:25] eventually get a contract with Craven
[52:27] County for jail diversion and inmates,
[52:29] we would love to I mean, we've already
[52:31] started looking at housing here. Um
[52:34] because we do have a contract with
[52:36] Carter and we have a contract with
[52:37] Enslow. We have 12 open beds currently.
[52:41] Um the current process I can tell you is
[52:45] we get a call from jail diversion. They
[52:47] call us and say, "Hey, we have this
[52:48] inmate." Um they can be picked up at
[52:51] 3:00. We're like, "Okay, we we got a
[52:53] bed. Let's go get him." Or they bring
[52:55] them to us. and they also go through a
[52:58] whole process because the last thing
[53:00] that we want is to take a client that
[53:02] may need a higher level of care such as
[53:04] inpatient stay because we are not an
[53:06] inatient facility
[53:07] >> even though we do have the residential
[53:10] it's not inpatient so there is no
[53:12] medical monitoring um that being said an
[53:15] example so before we had this process in
[53:18] place we received a inmate who um was in
[53:22] diabetic keto acidosis which is very
[53:25] It's scary. It requires an ICU stay, an
[53:28] insulin drip, and
[53:31] we're just negating things along those
[53:33] lines because we want to get people the
[53:35] correct treatment right off the bat. So,
[53:37] if they do need a higher level of care,
[53:39] the paperwork is sent. I can review it
[53:41] myself and either say yay or nay to the
[53:44] client. Um,
[53:46] >> so that's also kind of a safeguarding
[53:48] process that we have in place as well.
[53:50] But if one's coming from jail,
[53:53] >> and usually that doesn't happen.
[53:55] Normally they're accepted and
[53:56] everything, but just to make sure for
[53:57] the client safety,
[53:59] >> but if once they get to our agency and
[54:01] then we do the assessment, we place them
[54:04] correctly and then Anelise will see them
[54:06] for the medication management. What we
[54:08] don't do is Suboxone or methadone. Um
[54:12] she is no, she's not going to do that.
[54:14] So we if they're coming coming off of
[54:17] that or um we're assisting them with
[54:20] that and at least we'll assist that with
[54:21] other medications that coincide and is
[54:24] not a contraindication of anything else.
[54:27] So what we do is um get them into the
[54:30] housing immediately and they start our
[54:32] program. So once they start our program
[54:36] um SEKOT is paid for by the state. Okay.
[54:40] So we build safe hot services 2 trillion
[54:44] MCO. The housing is paid for by um the
[54:49] county if the county has a contract. So
[54:51] right now Carter County has the
[54:53] contracts. Um and Jacksonville Enzo
[54:56] County has a contract. So they pay for
[54:58] the bed and I think that bed is $50 a
[55:02] night.
[55:04] >> 5055
[55:05] >> $55 per night.
[55:11] Go ahead. Go ahead.
[55:14] >> Okay. Um,
[55:14] >> can I answer your question? I'm sorry.
[55:16] Was that okay?
[55:17] >> And we also provide female beds, too,
[55:19] which is
[55:20] >> That was my next question. How many?
[55:22] >> Very difficult.
[55:23] >> Yeah, we have 15 female beds.
[55:25] >> Mhm.
[55:26] >> And are they full?
[55:28] >> Uh, we have two availabilities right
[55:30] now.
[55:31] Commissioner Howard,
[55:33] >> just on the um working with a lot of
[55:35] times the first line of defense is law
[55:37] enforcement.
[55:38] >> Do you guys have some good relationships
[55:40] with like the sheriff's office, local
[55:42] PD? Because a lot of times they're the
[55:44] ones getting the call and they need to
[55:46] be in touch with you guys pretty
[55:47] quickly,
[55:48] >> right? Yeah. So, we do we have good
[55:50] relationships right now with local PD.
[55:54] Um they'll even come and and monitor our
[55:57] parking lot sometime or stop into our
[55:59] office a lot of times just to say hey or
[56:02] see if we need anything. There's a lot
[56:04] of times that law enforcement contacts
[56:06] us not for say hot cot and say and
[56:09] residential but there's
[56:11] >> to the mic
[56:12] >> so people can hear you. So sorry I'm
[56:14] always talking and loud and okay. So um
[56:17] but um so a lot of times they'll call
[56:20] and say we have this client that may be
[56:23] talking to themsel hallucinating
[56:24] [clears throat]
[56:25] and we get them in the door. We do the
[56:27] assessment and they need a different
[56:28] type of service.
[56:30] >> So it's important again to identify the
[56:33] right service so we're getting the right
[56:35] treatment for the client to be
[56:37] successful.
[56:38] >> Yeah. Thank you.
[56:39] >> Other questions? are also usually in
[56:41] contact with parole officers. Yes. As
[56:43] well, that's a huge a huge thing. Um so
[56:47] as long as HIPPA compliant obviously,
[56:50] but um
[56:52] >> that's a always an open door with
[56:54] communication.
[56:55] >> Thank you.
[56:56] >> Pleasure.
[56:57] >> One last thing you you made mention
[56:59] about potentially having a a home here
[57:01] in Cravy County.
[57:02] >> Yes, sir.
[57:03] >> How far do you see that's out? I mean,
[57:05] do you think that's going to be a
[57:06] reality soon? Do you
[57:08] >> We do. Um, so we had a small office in
[57:11] Little Washington. Um, but Pimplico
[57:14] County has reached out to us sever
[57:16] several times. We've been to several
[57:17] meetings there, but we are definitely um
[57:20] Kelly um is definitely looking he has
[57:23] already been looking for housing here to
[57:25] see there's a couple places that were
[57:27] group homes here a while back. I think
[57:30] RHA or Monarch, one of those two had had
[57:32] some homes here and they're for sale.
[57:35] So, we have been really looking to
[57:37] honing into that because we are getting
[57:39] more traction here because we do serve
[57:41] clients here already with our community
[57:44] based services for ACT and CST and
[57:47] intensive inhome. So, we're all over the
[57:49] three counties with those services
[57:51] already and our mobile clinic. So, it
[57:53] would be exciting to be here for for
[57:58] that as well as having [clears throat] a
[57:59] home and a house manager and setting the
[58:02] whole system up just like we do Carter
[58:03] at County.
[58:05] Um, yes, Miss Smith.
[58:07] >> Now, do you get your clients from
[58:10] references or can a person walk in off
[58:13] the street and say they need help?
[58:16] >> Yes, ma'am. Anybody can walk in off the
[58:18] street and need help? We can um we can
[58:21] do the intake right then. We may have to
[58:24] schedule them the next day for a CCA,
[58:27] but if we have a clinician that's
[58:29] available right then, we can do that as
[58:31] well. our regional director, clinical
[58:34] director is usually on call for those
[58:36] type of walk-ins as well and Elise is
[58:38] usually available as you know the psych
[58:42] um provider to be able to provide the
[58:44] psychiatric evaluation right then as
[58:46] well. But we do get a lot of referrals.
[58:49] Maggie does a great job educating the
[58:51] community and making sure that the that
[58:54] they know that we are a resource to
[58:55] their
[58:56] >> clients are not in patients are they?
[59:00] >> No ma'am. Okay.
[59:02] >> If they do need inpatient stay, so um
[59:06] around here when I service clients in
[59:08] the Newburn area, we have had to IVC a
[59:10] few clients. Um so involuntarily commit
[59:13] them or voluntarily. So I personally
[59:15] have brought people to the hospital
[59:17] before where I'm visiting with them and
[59:18] they're saying they're expressing that
[59:20] they have thoughts and a plan to harm
[59:21] themselves. So I'll go ahead and I'll
[59:23] transport them to the hospital and then
[59:25] we work with the hospital um getting
[59:27] like discharge paperwork. But while
[59:29] they're in an inpatient facility, um
[59:32] we're not currently providing services
[59:33] to them. It kind of goes on a pause and
[59:36] then once they're discharged, we work
[59:37] closely with the facilities to make sure
[59:40] for my for me personally, if there were
[59:42] any medication changes, if we need to go
[59:45] administer a long acting injectable,
[59:46] which is something that we do frequently
[59:48] due to non-compliance issues, especially
[59:50] in the community,
[59:51] >> um that's something that we
[59:53] [clears throat] do as well. So, as long
[59:54] as they have trillium in Medicaid, um
[59:57] they're
[59:58] >> highs state funds.
[59:59] >> Yes. High PRS state funds. Um we're able
[1:00:02] to serve serve them.
[1:00:03] >> I have one other question.
[1:00:06] What when you are working with clients,
[1:00:09] do you work totally with getting them
[1:00:12] well or do you do um work in giving them
[1:00:16] refers and getting them back in the
[1:00:18] workforce or in the in active in
[1:00:21] communities?
[1:00:23] >> Yes. So that is something that we do. Um
[1:00:26] our goal is to make the client or help
[1:00:30] the client achieve the um sorry
[1:00:33] [clears throat]
[1:00:33] achieve the best possible version of
[1:00:36] themselves. So that is a working
[1:00:38] functioning member of society happy um
[1:00:41] stable as far as their mood um
[1:00:44] contributing and also receiving from
[1:00:46] their family and employers and just a
[1:00:48] allaround encompassing service. So,
[1:00:50] while they're in our services, one thing
[1:00:52] that we establish with them right off
[1:00:53] the bat is a um person- centered plan,
[1:00:57] which we achieve their goals. So, we
[1:01:00] look at their goals, we set them with
[1:01:02] the client, and then we continually
[1:01:04] reassess those goals and say, um, thank
[1:01:08] you. And make sure we're helping them
[1:01:11] meet those goals. And if not, if they're
[1:01:13] not meeting those goals, then we'll go
[1:01:15] ahead and adjust and tailor their plan
[1:01:16] to more realistic expectations. and go
[1:01:20] from there.
[1:01:20] >> But we do not want to put them in the
[1:01:22] workforce until they
[1:01:24] >> they're the best at themselves so that
[1:01:26] they're successful in that as well.
[1:01:28] >> I said one one other question, but I
[1:01:30] guess I'm like Coloss. [laughter]
[1:01:32] >> I have one other one one more thing. Do
[1:01:35] you try to connect them with programs
[1:01:38] such as
[1:01:41] NC works?
[1:01:42] >> Yes.
[1:01:43] >> Work with other
[1:01:44] >> Yes.
[1:01:45] >> agencies to encourage. We love
[1:01:48] connecting. So the the thing about our
[1:01:50] agency and I always say this is there's
[1:01:52] enough sand in the sandbox for all of
[1:01:54] us. So we're not competing with anybody.
[1:01:56] We want to collaborate with all other
[1:01:59] individuals and resources and we want to
[1:02:01] make sure that we're collaborating. If
[1:02:03] we have a client and someone else does
[1:02:04] the same exact service we do, but we are
[1:02:07] not connecting with that client, I'm
[1:02:09] going to refer that client to another
[1:02:11] agency so they get what they want. It's
[1:02:13] about the client and their needs and
[1:02:15] getting them what they need, not about
[1:02:17] us. So,
[1:02:19] >> thank you.
[1:02:19] >> I have a couple of things. First of all,
[1:02:21] thank you for your presentations. Um, it
[1:02:23] answered a lot of my questions as did
[1:02:25] the other ones there, but I have a
[1:02:27] couple more. Um, SEIC's been around for
[1:02:29] a very long time. What is their recovery
[1:02:32] rate? [snorts]
[1:02:33] >> So, for us here in Carter County, so far
[1:02:36] it's been about a 85 to 89%
[1:02:40] recovery rate. we have seen um a lot of
[1:02:44] our clients graduate and get jobs and um
[1:02:49] and it's just been amazing. The other
[1:02:52] thing is is that we've had clients that
[1:02:54] transition from SECOT to SEO and realize
[1:02:58] I'm not ready. I'm not ready for stay
[1:03:01] and they they say can I can I continue
[1:03:04] into stayop for a little bit longer
[1:03:06] because the first couple of weeks what
[1:03:08] we've seen is clients come into our door
[1:03:10] especially from jail diversion and they
[1:03:12] don't want to be there and they're angry
[1:03:14] and why do I have to do this and then
[1:03:17] they start the program and they start to
[1:03:19] lean in and I mean I've [clears throat]
[1:03:22] had six foot five guys massive to cry in Anise's office.
[1:03:29] >> So you're not talking recovery rate.
[1:03:31] You're actually talking about
[1:03:32] graduation. There's a difference. You
[1:03:34] haven't been in Carter County for 5
[1:03:36] years.
[1:03:37] >> No, I'm talking about [clears throat]
[1:03:40] recovery rate.
[1:03:41] >> So for for us, I mean, for the time
[1:03:43] we've been here. Um,
[1:03:45] >> so you're talking about graduation rate.
[1:03:48] >> Right. So recovery when it comes to
[1:03:50] mental health is
[1:03:51] >> I don't know that a person's fully
[1:03:53] recovered from substance abuse in six
[1:03:55] months.
[1:03:56] >> No, no, no, no. That's the reason we do
[1:03:57] the ongoing, like I said earlier, the
[1:03:59] ongoing services like CST
[1:04:02] >> and we engage them in the community
[1:04:04] because CST has that substance abuse
[1:04:07] component who's a licensed substance
[1:04:08] abuse specialist that continues to work
[1:04:10] with that client and follow that client
[1:04:13] into the community to make sure they are
[1:04:16] still getting your analysis because we
[1:04:18] do labs on site. So, they're still doing
[1:04:20] your analysis. are still getting
[1:04:22] medication management ongoing from from
[1:04:25] Annaise
[1:04:26] >> and quantifying recovery rate. That's
[1:04:28] something that I have um in a roundabout
[1:04:31] way a conversation with my clients a lot
[1:04:34] because one of the questions is for me
[1:04:36] specifically do I have to take this
[1:04:38] medication for forever and that's a
[1:04:40] whole discussion with them saying
[1:04:42] studies have shown and then I go into my
[1:04:45] spiel about you know if they have a
[1:04:48] crisis or psychotic break studies have
[1:04:50] actually shown that gray matter in your
[1:04:52] brain decreases every single time. So
[1:04:54] then we weigh the pros and the cons of
[1:04:56] medication. So recovery
[1:05:00] exactly looks
[1:05:02] >> different for everybody.
[1:05:04] >> So that's kind of the conversation that
[1:05:06] I have on a daily basis with clients. Um
[1:05:08] just getting them to the best version of
[1:05:10] themselves that they can be.
[1:05:12] >> And can you explain your detox process?
[1:05:15] You said you don't have detox facilities
[1:05:17] here.
[1:05:18] >> No. So we are not a detox facility.
[1:05:20] We've been partnering closely with
[1:05:22] Wilmington Treatment Center, with Easter
[1:05:25] Seals, um and again when they are done
[1:05:28] their detox or even prior to getting
[1:05:31] done detox that way there's no gap in
[1:05:34] treatment um they we send a referral
[1:05:36] packet or they send it to us with all
[1:05:38] the information and I go ahead and I
[1:05:40] look over um if they're a good fit for
[1:05:43] us and if they are then we'll go ahead
[1:05:45] and we'll set up transportation and um
[1:05:49] coordinate with the South Eastern Life
[1:05:51] Center um make sure that they have a bed
[1:05:53] available that way if we don't we can
[1:05:56] tell them and they can look at other
[1:05:57] avenues and we can
[1:05:59] >> provide that information to them. Um but
[1:06:02] that we do not do detox on site. Um
[1:06:06] that's not something that we're offering
[1:06:08] right now.
[1:06:10] >> And then about the mobile unit, I've
[1:06:11] been seeing it around. What is the
[1:06:13] utilization rate?
[1:06:15] >> It's it's a lot higher. Trillium is very
[1:06:17] pleased because um I think prior to
[1:06:20] another agency had this and there was no
[1:06:22] um usage of it. And so we've been very
[1:06:26] successful. Like I said, there's
[1:06:27] probably 16 to 22 clients a month doing
[1:06:32] outreach with this mobile clinic, which
[1:06:34] is great. It has been extremely
[1:06:37] successful. But we've done a lot of
[1:06:40] outreach, you know, prior to launching
[1:06:42] this mobile unit, like getting a
[1:06:44] calendar, getting it out into the
[1:06:46] community, locations, making sure people
[1:06:49] understood where we were at, our
[1:06:51] referral sources, stakeholders know
[1:06:53] where we're at and what we're doing, so
[1:06:55] if they have a client, they can refer,
[1:06:57] hey, the mobile unit's going to be in
[1:06:59] this location today or tomorrow. Um, and
[1:07:02] this is near where you live. So, that
[1:07:04] kind of thing. But um it has um it's
[1:07:07] been very successful so far. So yeah.
[1:07:11] >> Okay. I look forward to seeing it county
[1:07:13] more. Um even if we don't contract with
[1:07:15] SEIC or anything like that, I would
[1:07:17] still like that information to share
[1:07:20] with people.
[1:07:22] >> Stop by too and check it out.
[1:07:24] >> I wanted to, but I knew you guys were
[1:07:25] coming, so I decided to
[1:07:28] >> Yeah. And what we have on the mobile
[1:07:29] clinic, just to let you know, is a
[1:07:31] clinician and a peer support who does
[1:07:33] all the outreach. And our clinician um
[1:07:36] it's amazing. She's from a different
[1:07:38] country. So our clinician um says like
[1:07:41] she never had like care like medical
[1:07:44] care, mental health care in her country.
[1:07:46] She's from a very small country. A bus
[1:07:48] would come once a month and they would
[1:07:51] line up around the and the bus to try
[1:07:53] to, you know, get to it before the end
[1:07:55] of the day. and sometimes they would
[1:07:57] have to wait till the next month. And
[1:07:59] this is such a passion for her. So she
[1:08:01] stands on the streets and she's like,
[1:08:03] "Hey, come see us. We want to invite you
[1:08:06] into the mobile clinic." And then the
[1:08:09] hospital also has asked us to partner
[1:08:11] with them a few times um with the mobile
[1:08:13] with their mobile clinic and so but we
[1:08:16] will be more engaged in Craraven County
[1:08:18] very soon with that. So
[1:08:20] >> any other questions?
[1:08:21] >> No. I would only make one comment and
[1:08:24] that is that we have um very close to
[1:08:26] here a homeless shelter.
[1:08:28] >> Okay.
[1:08:29] >> Uh it's called RCS and the people that
[1:08:33] spend the night there, the men that
[1:08:34] spend the night there have a family
[1:08:36] unit. Also, they have to leave in the
[1:08:39] morning. They can't stay in their room
[1:08:41] or their in their bed.
[1:08:43] >> What happens is a lot of them and I go
[1:08:46] by there regularly. They just go across
[1:08:48] the street and set up and sit there all
[1:08:52] day
[1:08:52] >> underneath the trees.
[1:08:53] Yeah.
[1:08:55] >> So, when we talk about a mobile unit, u
[1:08:57] my first thought was, "Wow, we ought to
[1:08:59] set one up near RCS because those people
[1:09:02] need and their the goal is they can only
[1:09:05] stay there for a certain number of
[1:09:06] nights. The goal is go out during the
[1:09:09] day and look for a job,
[1:09:10] >> but most of them just go across the
[1:09:12] street and sit and and that's a that's a sad situation." And so when you
[1:09:18] talk about what you do, that immediately
[1:09:21] came to my mind. Okay. We we need to uh
[1:09:23] we need to engage those folks and help
[1:09:25] them get back
[1:09:27] >> into society. That's right.
[1:09:29] >> I agree and thank you for that because
[1:09:30] if we don't know we don't know, you
[1:09:32] know, how to help. So this is important
[1:09:34] for us. um we um putting the clinic over
[1:09:39] there would be a great idea, but we do
[1:09:41] have a client over there um who was
[1:09:45] nearing the end of the time that she
[1:09:47] could stay there. And we've been working
[1:09:49] with her probably for about 6 months and
[1:09:52] now she has housing. We got her set up
[1:09:54] with her social security card. Um she's
[1:09:56] doing her disability interviews. Um
[1:09:59] we're facilitating all that, getting um
[1:10:02] some past legal things taken care of.
[1:10:04] She's on medications.
[1:10:07] Um she's compliant with them. Our nurses
[1:10:09] go out there regularly to see her. Um
[1:10:12] she's she's doing awesome.
[1:10:15] >> Okay. Good. Well, thank you so much for
[1:10:17] your presentation. Very informative and
[1:10:20] uh we hope look forward to uh u you
[1:10:23] becoming more involved in our community
[1:10:25] here in Newburn specifically. So
[1:10:27] >> yes, us too. Thank you so much for your
[1:10:29] time.
[1:10:29] >> Okay.
[1:10:30] >> Mr. Chairman, can I can I closing
[1:10:32] remark?
[1:10:33] >> You guys are fine. No, sorry. I just so
[1:10:35] over the last 3 or four months, Caitlyn
[1:10:37] and I have been meeting with SEIC. They
[1:10:40] attended your annual meeting for your
[1:10:42] opioid settlement. They were part of the
[1:10:44] REI group. Um, you know, just looking
[1:10:46] for direction moving forward. We wanted
[1:10:48] them to come and meet you as we talked
[1:10:50] about during budget. Anybody we're going
[1:10:51] to partner with, want them to come and
[1:10:52] have this presentation. Are you
[1:10:54] interested in us, Caitlyn, the sheriff,
[1:10:56] and I and Scott continuing to further
[1:10:57] these conversations about a partnership?
[1:10:59] >> Okay.
[1:11:01] >> Very good.
[1:11:01] >> Okay.
[1:11:02] Okay. Anything else? Okay. Thank
[1:11:05] you. Thank you again for coming. Uh item
[1:11:07] number four on our agenda is the consent
[1:11:09] agenda. the minutes from the August 3rd
[1:11:11] regular session,
[1:11:13] >> the tax releases and refunds, recreation
[1:11:16] and parks, amateur sports, youth grant,
[1:11:20] uh, budget amendment, UNCC school of
[1:11:23] government invoice budget amendment,
[1:11:25] human resources holiday schedule, and
[1:11:28] the proclamation of support for the 17
[1:11:31] 75th anniversary
[1:11:33] of John W. I'm sorry. John Thomas
[1:11:37] Barber's Education Legacy. All those
[1:11:41] things are on the consent agenda. Do I
[1:11:43] have a motion to approve?
[1:11:44] >> Motion to approve.
[1:11:45] >> Second.
[1:11:46] >> Have a motion and a second. Roll call,
[1:11:48] please.
[1:11:50] [clears throat]
[1:11:50] >> Commissioner Smith,
[1:11:51] >> yes.
[1:11:52] >> Commissioner Howard,
[1:11:53] >> yes.
[1:11:53] >> Commissioner Hunt,
[1:11:54] >> yes.
[1:11:54] >> Commissioner Mason,
[1:11:55] >> yes.
[1:11:56] >> Commissioner Mitchell,
[1:11:57] >> yes.
[1:11:57] >> Vice Chairman Jones,
[1:11:58] >> yes.
[1:11:59] >> Chairman Booker,
[1:12:00] >> yes.
[1:12:01] Next item on the agenda, Donnie uh Lavel
[1:12:05] is going to talk to us about a cell
[1:12:07] tower, a tall item.
[1:12:09] >> Good morning, commissioners. How are you
[1:12:11] today?
[1:12:12] >> Um I'm uh in front of you today to talk
[1:12:14] about the creeping swamp cell tower. Um
[1:12:17] this is going to be uh this property is
[1:12:19] owned by Alvin Coward. Um it is the
[1:12:23] applicant is Harmony Towers. Um it was
[1:12:25] engineered and consult consulting was
[1:12:28] done by Saber Industries and Trilate. Um
[1:12:32] this is located on the very northwestern
[1:12:34] part of our county. Um approximately
[1:12:36] 3700 NC highway 43 norththeast uh excuse
[1:12:40] me northwest of Vansboro. Um the tower
[1:12:44] height is 285 ft above sea level. Um the
[1:12:47] physical structure is actually 255 ft
[1:12:50] tall. Um it is a self-supporting
[1:12:53] communication tower. Um the county has
[1:12:55] received uh communication from Seymour
[1:12:58] Johnson Air Force Base as well as Cherry
[1:13:00] Point uh that it will not impact their
[1:13:02] operations. Um the county has also
[1:13:05] received um approval from the FAA um for
[1:13:09] these towers. They have to give their uh
[1:13:11] no navigation hazard letters. Um the
[1:13:15] proposal uh does meet the standards and
[1:13:18] the requirements of our tall structure
[1:13:19] ordinance. Um, this was approved at our
[1:13:22] May 28th, 2026
[1:13:25] uh planning board um where they made the
[1:13:28] recommendation for you all to approve uh
[1:13:30] this cell tower. Um if there's any
[1:13:33] questions, I would be more than happy to
[1:13:34] answer those.
[1:13:35] >> Questions for Donna?
[1:13:37] >> Mr. Chairman, if I could. Yes, sir.
[1:13:38] >> This is in Commissioner Mason's uh
[1:13:41] district, but um I I do know that this
[1:13:44] is an area that's not served with sales
[1:13:47] service. Mhm.
[1:13:48] >> Um, do we reach out and and know it's
[1:13:51] probably not required, do you reach out
[1:13:52] to any of the adjacent land owners to uh
[1:13:56] just let them know about the proposed
[1:13:58] site or
[1:13:59] >> No, sir, we do not.
[1:14:00] >> Okay. Um, far as I'm looking at the map
[1:14:04] here.
[1:14:04] >> Yes, sir. um looks like it's in the
[1:14:06] middle of a field that where you going
[1:14:08] to put it, but there's no chance if it
[1:14:11] was to fall that it would en encounter
[1:14:14] the highway or uh the adjacent um home
[1:14:19] that's there.
[1:14:20] >> That's why we have the the setbacks that
[1:14:22] are in the ordinance. And also those
[1:14:23] towers um I'm not an engineer, but those
[1:14:25] towers are designed to kind of collapse
[1:14:27] on themsel.
[1:14:28] >> Okay.
[1:14:29] >> Um
[1:14:30] I don't know of many of times that that
[1:14:32] actually happening. I know it's not
[1:14:34] happening here, but I mean, of course,
[1:14:35] it's possible. But
[1:14:36] >> I think the main thing is if if
[1:14:38] Commissioner Mason or um Mr. Whitford,
[1:14:42] either one was to get calls about it,
[1:14:44] you know, that may from residents when
[1:14:45] they start seeing it go up, you know, um
[1:14:48] of the concern just I think that's to
[1:14:50] take note of it.
[1:14:53] I served on a planning board in another
[1:14:55] state years ago and uh that's this very
[1:14:59] kind of question came up and the
[1:15:01] engineer was in the in the room to get
[1:15:04] the approval. This was in a town where
[1:15:07] there were other houses really close by
[1:15:10] and he said these towers don't fall like
[1:15:13] a tree. They don't go like that. What
[1:15:15] they do is they collapse in the middle.
[1:15:18] They're designed to do that. So they
[1:15:20] kind of fall on on themselves and he
[1:15:23] said uh there's really no risk of of
[1:15:27] this thing falling off of the property
[1:15:30] where it's designed. So that was
[1:15:32] reassuring and we approved it that in
[1:15:34] that case that many years ago. Um any
[1:15:37] other questions for Donnie? I just have
[1:15:39] a comment. Even if the diagram even if
[1:15:41] it did fall like a tree, the diagram
[1:15:43] shows it's well away from anything else
[1:15:45] and would probably ruin some crops but
[1:15:48] nothing else.
[1:15:49] >> Okay. Okay. Do I have a motion to
[1:15:50] approve?
[1:15:51] >> So move.
[1:15:52] >> Have a second.
[1:15:54] >> Second.
[1:15:54] >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Um,
[1:15:58] we do not need a roll call on this one.
[1:16:02] I don't believe uh all in favor.
[1:16:05] >> Opposed. Motion passes. Thanks, Donnie.
[1:16:08] >> Have a great day.
[1:16:10] >> Diana. Diana, she's a regular at our
[1:16:13] meetings lately. Now she comes to every
[1:16:15] meeting and
[1:16:16] >> it's a pleasure.
[1:16:17] >> Good stuff, right? Yes.
[1:16:19] >> All right, Diana.
[1:16:20] >> Um, the State Maintenance Assistant
[1:16:21] Program or SNAP is a state-f funed
[1:16:24] public transportation grant program
[1:16:26] administered by the North Carolina
[1:16:27] Department of Transportation Integrated
[1:16:30] Mobility Division. The intention of this
[1:16:32] program is to provide operating
[1:16:34] assistance to urban, small urban, and
[1:16:36] urban regional fixed route and commuter
[1:16:38] bus systems. Eligible uses of the funds
[1:16:41] are limited to a systems operating
[1:16:43] costs. On August 3rd of this year, CARTS
[1:16:47] was notified that we have been allocated
[1:16:49] $131,691
[1:16:51] for fiscal year 27. This is an increase
[1:16:55] of $771
[1:16:57] from last year's allocation. SNAP
[1:16:59] funding cannot exceed the amount of
[1:17:01] local match for CAR's operating expenses
[1:17:04] and funds must be spent by June 30th of
[1:17:07] 2027. A public hearing is not required.
[1:17:10] Carts is requesting approval to apply
[1:17:12] for the $131,691
[1:17:16] in SNAP funds. A copy of the
[1:17:18] application, budget, cover letter, and
[1:17:20] certified statement are attached in the
[1:17:22] agenda packet.
[1:17:23] >> Okay. Questions for Diane?
[1:17:26] Hearing none. Do I have a motion to
[1:17:28] approve?
[1:17:29] >> So, so moved.
[1:17:30] >> Second.
[1:17:31] >> Motion and second. All in favor?
[1:17:34] >> I
[1:17:35] >> opposed. Motion passes. Thank you,
[1:17:37] Diana.
[1:17:40] Departmental matters item number seven,
[1:17:43] social services, Mr. Jeffrey Merritt.
[1:17:45] Hey Jeff.
[1:17:46] >> Hey chairman, commissioners, county
[1:17:48] manager. Thank you for having me. Um,
[1:17:49] today we bring before you a budget
[1:17:51] amendment related to our special
[1:17:52] adoption promotion funds. Um, we are
[1:17:54] asking to roll over unspent funds from
[1:17:57] last year and also the addition of funds
[1:17:59] that were allocated us by the state
[1:18:01] related to the number and types of
[1:18:02] adoptions that were completed um, during
[1:18:05] the last fiscal year when we report that
[1:18:06] information to the state. um the
[1:18:08] rollover funds in the amount of $7,665
[1:18:12] and the additional funds in the amount
[1:18:13] of $144,339
[1:18:17] that would bring that line up to
[1:18:18] $215,04.
[1:18:21] >> Questions for Mr. Merritt?
[1:18:24] >> What sorts of things does the money go
[1:18:25] for? I know they're to promote
[1:18:26] adoptions, but what kind of items do
[1:18:29] they actually pay?
[1:18:30] >> So, they actually just changed those
[1:18:31] requirements in April, Commissioner
[1:18:33] Mason, and some of the things they go
[1:18:35] for, they help us with recruitment of
[1:18:36] adoptive families.
[1:18:38] um some pre-adoption training um
[1:18:40] post-placement supports the services
[1:18:42] provided and other supports that could
[1:18:44] help promote placement stability. You
[1:18:45] know, we're given some of the challenges
[1:18:47] that some of the children have um and in
[1:18:49] those adopted placements. So, we try to
[1:18:51] make sure that they remain stable
[1:18:53] through um that child's entire life and
[1:18:56] also the facilitation of legal
[1:18:57] procedures. There may be some complex
[1:18:59] things that our attorneys may not be
[1:19:01] able may not be, you know, trained in
[1:19:03] where we can hire outside legal counsel
[1:19:05] to assist with that. Um, so there's, you
[1:19:08] know, we used to be able to do more,
[1:19:09] they've restricted that. Um, you know,
[1:19:11] it could be that we've got, um, you
[1:19:13] know, we need some extra help
[1:19:15] temporarily due to the number of
[1:19:16] adoptions we're having to process. We
[1:19:18] can contract with someone to do that.
[1:19:20] Um, so there's there's things that we're
[1:19:21] going to be looking at given this um,
[1:19:23] these new procedures and how we can try
[1:19:24] to utilize some of these monies. And we
[1:19:26] also try to also try to look at it with
[1:19:28] um, you know, children that are in the
[1:19:30] process of adopting. Are there things
[1:19:32] that they need that we can utilize this
[1:19:33] money for to help, you know, get that
[1:19:35] adoption off across the finish line? You
[1:19:37] know, I will say that our staff, um, I
[1:19:39] was looking at our data and there were
[1:19:41] three children ages 14 or over that, um,
[1:19:43] we completed adoptions for and two of
[1:19:45] them were 17. And we think that's very
[1:19:47] significant, um, given that, you know,
[1:19:49] these these um, three children are going
[1:19:50] to be in an adulthood very soon. And we
[1:19:53] always find and see that when you know
[1:19:56] you have that, you know, that family
[1:19:59] that you can rely on which you're going
[1:20:01] into adulthood, it creates higher
[1:20:02] chances for success.
[1:20:04] >> Um, and you know, we do see children age
[1:20:06] out. That's not what we want to see
[1:20:07] happen. Um, you know, some of those
[1:20:09] adoption things we could help with
[1:20:11] mental health services or something like
[1:20:13] that. Um, so it's something that we're
[1:20:15] really looking to see where we can kind
[1:20:16] of utilize this money and get children
[1:20:18] adopted. And I will say the board was um
[1:20:20] I don't know how many years ago we got
[1:20:22] an additional staff member that helped
[1:20:25] you know just solely focus on adoptions
[1:20:27] in our foster care program because many
[1:20:29] times we have children that are going
[1:20:31] through traumatic situations, crisises
[1:20:33] and our adoption are more stable and
[1:20:35] their administration time had to focus
[1:20:37] on those children. So now when those
[1:20:38] children are eligible for adoption,
[1:20:40] that's what that worker does. She works
[1:20:42] just on that just on those children that
[1:20:44] adopt. I think we'll start to see some
[1:20:45] of the fruits of um those investments.
[1:20:48] um with children in our county. And
[1:20:50] again, um you know, we really still need
[1:20:53] foster homes. Um if someone's interested
[1:20:56] in becoming a foster parent, 252-636
[1:20:59] 6472 to Hope Family Resource Center. You
[1:21:01] know, 92 children were in care in Craven
[1:21:04] County at the end of last month. Over
[1:21:06] 10,000 in North Carolina. Um so even if
[1:21:09] it's a child that may not be available
[1:21:10] for adoption here that someone will want
[1:21:12] to consider, um we could also assist and
[1:21:14] try to um help them find another child
[1:21:16] if that's the case. and you know within
[1:21:18] our state. So that is something that
[1:21:20] we're very in very desperate need for.
[1:21:22] We we don't like to have it where, you
[1:21:24] know, unfortunate situations that happen
[1:21:26] where children have to come into
[1:21:27] custody. And instead of being able to
[1:21:29] find a home in Craven County, we're
[1:21:30] having to drive two hours one way or 3
[1:21:33] hours one way um to place children, um
[1:21:36] we really want to try to get people to
[1:21:38] come and, you know, be licensed foster
[1:21:40] homes in our county so that those
[1:21:42] children can stay in their community and
[1:21:44] where they can hopefully still attend
[1:21:45] the same school, see the same
[1:21:46] surroundings, same surroundings. It's
[1:21:48] going to be a very traumatic event, but
[1:21:50] anything you can try to do to lessen
[1:21:51] that um traumatic event. Um even some
[1:21:54] things that would seem incremental to
[1:21:56] us, it may mean a lot for a child to
[1:21:57] have some sense of normaly. But when you
[1:22:00] >> move a seven-year-old like we had to do
[1:22:01] the other day, 3 hours away because
[1:22:03] there's no homes available here to take
[1:22:05] that child. You know, they're in a
[1:22:06] totally new place even with new people
[1:22:08] and that just magnifies that experience.
[1:22:11] >> Thank you.
[1:22:12] >> Okay, any other questions?
[1:22:13] >> Yeah. Um you dropped the [clears throat]
[1:22:14] number 92 children in foster care.
[1:22:17] That's just one month's notice. When I
[1:22:19] talk to foster care about to other
[1:22:21] people, we maintain approximately 100
[1:22:24] children in foster care. We go up a
[1:22:26] little bit, we go down a little bit, but
[1:22:28] overall
[1:22:29] >> we have sometimes I think in you know
[1:22:30] report you see we say we tell the number
[1:22:33] of children that enter custody and the
[1:22:35] number of children that exit custody and
[1:22:36] all those children are involved in the
[1:22:38] legal system. Um so it will go through
[1:22:40] that legal process and there's different
[1:22:42] ways in which children could exit
[1:22:44] custody. One of them is an adoption that
[1:22:46] does take longer but it is the most
[1:22:48] secure permanent placement which the
[1:22:50] federal government wants us to try to
[1:22:51] pursue. You know those legal hurdles
[1:22:53] sometimes can be high to get a
[1:22:54] termination parental rights. There's
[1:22:56] also guardianship with guardianship with
[1:22:58] another individual which is the second
[1:22:59] most secure placement. You have to prove
[1:23:01] that person unfit in order for the child
[1:23:03] to be placed out of their so-called
[1:23:05] guardianship or custody and then just
[1:23:07] primary custody. Um and also children
[1:23:10] age out. Um but we do have our 18 to 21
[1:23:13] program which was something I really
[1:23:14] believe the state did a good job in
[1:23:16] because um previously in child welfare
[1:23:19] service when they aged out there was
[1:23:20] nothing. A lot of times they would still
[1:23:22] call their social worker and say hey
[1:23:23] look I'm trying to do this but now we
[1:23:25] have a very good staff member and
[1:23:26] supervisor that work with those children
[1:23:28] and um help them to you know in that
[1:23:32] transition to adulthood. Um it helps
[1:23:34] them with there's funds that the state
[1:23:36] pays for with and um with room and
[1:23:39] board. Um, we help them, you know, we
[1:23:42] have kids go to college, we've got kids
[1:23:43] graduating, we've got kids going into
[1:23:45] the workforce. Um, so I really think
[1:23:46] that it that's a good program, too.
[1:23:48] >> And have you told me before that about
[1:23:50] 50% of our Craraven County foster
[1:23:53] children are out of county?
[1:23:56] >> That's approximately it. I'd have to get that number, but it was
[1:23:59] I would
[1:24:01] dare to say that that may be even a
[1:24:02] conservative number now.
[1:24:04] >> That's a huge need. Foster homes. Yes.
[1:24:07] >> Any other questions?
[1:24:09] >> Okay. Do I have a motion?
[1:24:11] >> Motion to approve.
[1:24:12] >> Second.
[1:24:13] >> Motion in a second.
[1:24:15] >> We need a roll call on that one. Madam
[1:24:17] clerk.
[1:24:18] >> Commissioner Smith.
[1:24:19] >> Yes.
[1:24:20] >> Commissioner Howard? Yes.
[1:24:21] >> Commissioner Hunt? Yes.
[1:24:22] >> Commissioner Mason?
[1:24:22] >> Yes.
[1:24:23] >> Commissioner Mitchell?
[1:24:24] >> Yes.
[1:24:24] >> Vice Chairman Jones?
[1:24:25] >> Yes.
[1:24:26] >> Chairman Booker?
[1:24:27] >> Yes.
[1:24:28] >> Thank you very much. Have a good great
[1:24:29] day.
[1:24:31] >> Sheriff Hughes.
[1:24:36] » Several items for us today.
[1:24:37] >> Yes, sir. I've got three items for your
[1:24:39] consideration. Uh first is going to be
[1:24:42] donations that we received in the fiscal
[1:24:46] year 26. Want to move them to FY27.
[1:24:49] Those be used for various items that we
[1:24:53] need. Sometimes equipment, training,
[1:24:54] uniforms, etc. Uh it's in the amount of
[1:24:58] $41,894.
[1:25:02] » Okay. Have approval. A motion to
[1:25:04] approve.
[1:25:05] >> Some moved.
[1:25:06] >> Second.
[1:25:07] >> Motion. Second. Roll call, please.
[1:25:10] >> Commissioner Smith,
[1:25:11] >> yes.
[1:25:11] >> Commissioner Howard,
[1:25:12] >> yes.
[1:25:13] >> Commissioner Hunt,
[1:25:13] >> yes.
[1:25:14] >> Commissioner Mason,
[1:25:15] >> yes.
[1:25:15] >> Commissioner Mitchell,
[1:25:16] >> yes.
[1:25:16] >> Vice Chairman Jones,
[1:25:17] >> yes.
[1:25:17] >> Chairman Ber,
[1:25:19] >> yes. Next one is insurance funds.
[1:25:22] >> Yes, sir. Uh, this is and the amount of
[1:25:25] 30,854
[1:25:28] uh was uh from fiscal year 26. want to
[1:25:31] move that over to this year for
[1:25:35] >> uh use of repairing vehicles.
[1:25:39] >> Okay. Do I have a motion to approve?
[1:25:40] >> Motion to approve.
[1:25:41] >> Second.
[1:25:42] >> Motion and a second. Roll call, please.
[1:25:45] >> Commissioner Smith,
[1:25:46] >> yes.
[1:25:47] >> Commissioner Howard,
[1:25:48] >> yes.
[1:25:48] >> Commissioner Hunt,
[1:25:49] >> yes.
[1:25:49] >> Commissioner Mason,
[1:25:50] >> yes.
[1:25:50] >> Commissioner Mitchell,
[1:25:51] >> yes.
[1:25:52] >> Vice Chairman Jones,
[1:25:53] >> yes.
[1:25:53] >> Chairman Booker,
[1:25:54] >> yes. And the third one,
[1:25:56] >> yes, sir. Uh, this is going to be in the
[1:25:57] amount of 86,138.
[1:25:59] This is for the first uh payroll of this
[1:26:03] fiscal year. We've had uh members that
[1:26:07] have retired. So, this would be the
[1:26:08] payout for holiday pay, vacation, and
[1:26:12] any comp time that they had occurred
[1:26:13] throughout their career.
[1:26:15] >> Okay.
[1:26:16] >> Motion to approve the budget amendment.
[1:26:18] >> Second.
[1:26:18] Motion and a second. Roll call,
[1:26:21] please.
[1:26:22] >> Commissioner Smith,
[1:26:23] >> yes.
[1:26:23] >> Commissioner Howard,
[1:26:24] >> yes.
[1:26:24] >> Commissioner Hunt,
[1:26:25] >> yes.
[1:26:26] >> Commissioner Mason,
[1:26:27] >> yes.
[1:26:27] >> Commissioner Mitchell,
[1:26:28] >> yes. Yes.
[1:26:28] >> Vice Chairman Jones. Yes.
[1:26:30] >> Chairman Booker.
[1:26:31] >> Yes. You have anything to share with us
[1:26:32] this morning?
[1:26:33] >> Uh first day of school is going to be
[1:26:35] August 24th. Uh our SRO's are already in
[1:26:38] the schools working closely with the
[1:26:39] staff to prepare the schools doing uh
[1:26:43] security assessments, uh making
[1:26:45] recommendations to any uh security needs
[1:26:47] that might need to take place in that
[1:26:49] school and just working closely with the
[1:26:51] staff to make sure it's going to be a
[1:26:53] very smooth transition. But uh uh we are
[1:26:56] ready to go. Very good.
[1:26:59] Anything else? Anybody have questions
[1:27:01] for the sheriff?
[1:27:02] >> Thank you for coming.
[1:27:03] >> Thank you chairman.
[1:27:04] >> Appreciate it.
[1:27:05] >> Item number nine, appointments pending.
[1:27:07] Community child protection team, grave
[1:27:10] and aging planning board, ABC board,
[1:27:13] clean sweep, crime prevention council,
[1:27:16] and advisory council. Those will be
[1:27:18] coming up. Under current, we got the
[1:27:20] emergency medical services advisory
[1:27:23] council. Deborah Rogers seeks reappoint.
[1:27:27] >> I would make that recommendation that we
[1:27:29] reappoint Deborah Deb Rogers.
[1:27:31] >> Do we have any other nominations?
[1:27:34] Hearing none, she will be appointed by
[1:27:36] acclamation. Craraven Aging Planning
[1:27:39] Board. Pam Woods seeks appointment.
[1:27:42] >> Uh nominate Miss Woods.
[1:27:44] >> Do we have any other nominations?
[1:27:46] Hearing none, Miss Woods will be
[1:27:48] reappointed. Craraven County Clean Sweep
[1:27:51] Committee Debbie Titus seeks
[1:27:53] reappointment. Do I hear a nomination?
[1:27:57] >> I would nominate Miss Titus.
[1:27:59] >> Are there any other nominations? Hearing
[1:28:02] none, she will be reappointed by
[1:28:03] acclamation. Craraven County Planning
[1:28:06] Board. Sharon Marian seeks reappoint.
[1:28:09] That's an atlarge seat. Any Do I have a
[1:28:13] nomination for Miss Marian?
[1:28:14] >> I'll go ahead and nominate her, Sharon.
[1:28:16] >> Any other nominations hearing? None. She
[1:28:19] will be appointed by acclamation.
[1:28:21] Riverbend Planning Board. Bernard Bush
[1:28:24] seeks reappoint. ETJ.
[1:28:26] >> Uh I nominate Mr. Bush.
[1:28:28] >> Are there any other nominations?
[1:28:30] Hearing none. She will be appointed or
[1:28:32] he will be appointed by AC acclamation.
[1:28:35] And lastly, the voluntary agriculture
[1:28:39] district advisory board, Marjgerie Tiker
[1:28:42] Gonzalez.
[1:28:43] >> I'll nominate I'm sorry. I'll nominate
[1:28:45] Mrs. Gonzalez.
[1:28:47] >> Are there any others?
[1:28:49] No other nominations. She will be
[1:28:50] appointed by acclamation. We have no
[1:28:53] upcoming appointments to review at this
[1:28:55] time. Next person on the agenda will be
[1:28:58] our attorney, Mr. Grady. Welcome, sir.
[1:29:04] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman, commissioners.
[1:29:06] Good morning. I have two items for your
[1:29:08] consideration this morning. Both involve
[1:29:11] county owned uh real estate acquired
[1:29:13] through the tax foreclosure process. The
[1:29:16] first parcel is located at 315 Drymonia
[1:29:20] Road, parcel ID number 9045
[1:29:25] 169. This is a final approval after the
[1:29:28] expiration of the upset bid period. I
[1:29:30] will also note that uh Craraven County
[1:29:33] owns this property outright. There's no
[1:29:35] uh joint ownership with any local
[1:29:38] municipality. The um offer amount
[1:29:41] originally was $9,000. We received uh no
[1:29:45] upset bids. So that becomes your uh
[1:29:48] final purchase price. The original past
[1:29:51] due taxes and cost of foreclosure
[1:29:53] together were $9,761
[1:29:57] and the tax value on the property is
[1:29:59] $9,000. I would ask that the board uh
[1:30:02] consider giving final approval to this
[1:30:03] so we can settle the transaction and get
[1:30:06] it back on the tax roles.
[1:30:08] >> Okay.
[1:30:09] We need to adopt a resolution approving
[1:30:11] the
[1:30:13] conveyance after upset bid for parcel
[1:30:15] 90045169.
[1:30:17] Do I hear an
[1:30:19] >> motion? Second.
[1:30:21] >> Got a motion and a second.
[1:30:23] >> Madam clerk, would you call the role,
[1:30:24] please?
[1:30:25] >> Commissioner Smith,
[1:30:26] >> yes.
[1:30:27] >> Commissioner Howard,
[1:30:28] >> yes.
[1:30:28] >> Commissioner Hunt,
[1:30:29] >> yes.
[1:30:29] >> Commissioner Mason,
[1:30:30] >> yes.
[1:30:30] >> Commissioner Mitchell,
[1:30:31] >> yes.
[1:30:32] >> Vice Chairman Jones, yes.
[1:30:33] >> Chairman Booker,
[1:30:34] >> yes. Item B,
[1:30:37] >> the uh second and last item is another
[1:30:40] final approval for property located at
[1:30:43] 405 East Maple with a parcel ID number
[1:30:46] of 706
[1:30:48] 083. As with the first parcel, the
[1:30:50] county owns this one outright. So,
[1:30:53] there's no joint ownership with another
[1:30:56] mun municipality.
[1:30:59] The um offer amount originally was
[1:31:02] $3,500.
[1:31:04] Uh there were no upsets during the upset
[1:31:06] bid uh period. The original past due
[1:31:10] taxes and cost of foreclosure were
[1:31:12] $4,9287
[1:31:16] and the tax value of the property is
[1:31:18] $9,800.
[1:31:20] As with the other other parcel, I would
[1:31:23] ask the board uh to give it final
[1:31:25] approval so we can close the transaction
[1:31:28] and get the property back on the tax
[1:31:29] roles.
[1:31:30] >> Okay. We're being asked to adopt a
[1:31:32] resolution oveing approving conveyance
[1:31:34] after ex expiration of upset bid parcel
[1:31:37] 7006
[1:31:39] 083. Do I hear a motion? Some moved.
[1:31:42] >> Second.
[1:31:43] >> A motion and a second. Roll call,
[1:31:45] please.
[1:31:47] >> Yes.
[1:31:48] >> Commissioner Howard?
[1:31:48] >> Yes.
[1:31:49] >> Commissioner Hunt?
[1:31:50] >> Yes.
[1:31:50] >> Commissioner Mason? Yes.
[1:31:51] >> Commissioner Mitchell?
[1:31:52] >> Yes.
[1:31:52] >> Chairman Jones? Yes.
[1:31:54] >> Chairman Ber?
[1:31:55] >> Yes. Thank you, sir.
[1:31:56] >> My report.
[1:31:58] >> Okay.
[1:32:00] Mr. Vite, county manager report.
[1:32:08] » Mr. Chairman, commissioners, thank you
[1:32:09] for the opportunity this morning. Not a
[1:32:10] lot to report, but just keep you up to
[1:32:12] speed. Uh, last week I attended the
[1:32:15] Kerswama meeting, which is our local
[1:32:16] landfield. Uh, starting off in the new
[1:32:19] fiscal year. They did a study in
[1:32:21] partnership with the state to look at
[1:32:24] what is in the waist stream, right? What
[1:32:26] is in the trash that goes to the
[1:32:27] landfill. I found it very interesting.
[1:32:29] Commissioner Jones and Mr. Asher were
[1:32:31] there as well. Um, surprisingly, Craven
[1:32:33] County scored very high in a couple
[1:32:35] categories, which was recyclable items
[1:32:37] that could be recycled. We were much
[1:32:39] lower than the other counties that were
[1:32:41] studied at about 16%. The average there
[1:32:44] was around 23% uh finding recyclable
[1:32:47] materials in there. uh a lot of other
[1:32:49] things um that were found, but one that
[1:32:52] I I do want to point out for the record
[1:32:53] was there is an issue that's developed
[1:32:56] not only in this study, but in instances
[1:32:58] where we've had certain fires and things
[1:33:00] like that, which is people disposing of
[1:33:02] lithium batteries in their trash. And
[1:33:04] often times when those things get mashed
[1:33:07] down into either the truck or into the
[1:33:09] yard, they catch fire. And we've had two
[1:33:11] instances where that's happened here
[1:33:13] locally. That's something that a lot of
[1:33:15] folks don't recognize. If you have an
[1:33:16] item that's rechargeable and that
[1:33:18] recharge stops, that doesn't mean that
[1:33:21] item's ready for the landfill unless you
[1:33:23] remove that battery and recycle it at
[1:33:25] one of our seven uh convenience sites or
[1:33:28] at local retailers that have that
[1:33:29] service. So, little PSA there for you
[1:33:32] this morning for the landfill. Uh last
[1:33:34] week, I was also able to meet with Smart
[1:33:36] Start. I talked to Commissioner Smith
[1:33:38] about that last week. We were able to
[1:33:39] have a conversation with them that was a
[1:33:41] carryover from our budget process and we
[1:33:43] talked to them a lot about the Dolly
[1:33:45] Parton Imagination Library where we're
[1:33:48] helping them sustain that program after
[1:33:50] they had some funding cuts. I believe we
[1:33:52] got on the right track there. There were
[1:33:53] a lot of things they shared with us. Um
[1:33:55] I did invite them this fall or winter to
[1:33:57] come and present to the board and share
[1:33:59] with you guys what they're up to out
[1:34:00] there.
[1:34:03] Later this week, we'll attend, some of
[1:34:04] us will attend the NCAACCC uh group of
[1:34:07] county commissioners state conference in
[1:34:08] Durham. Looking forward to that. Uh one
[1:34:10] of the highlights I just made a note of
[1:34:12] is, as you know, the legislative session
[1:34:13] has now ended. There is a lot of
[1:34:15] legislation that was passed that we're
[1:34:17] still sorting through at the local
[1:34:18] level, whether there's fiscal impacts or
[1:34:20] operational impacts. So, I'm very
[1:34:23] interested in how other counties are
[1:34:24] viewing some of that legislation. Also,
[1:34:26] in talking about the legislature, there
[1:34:28] is an adjournment resolution that does
[1:34:30] bring them back in late November. So,
[1:34:32] we'll obviously keep our eye on that for
[1:34:33] opportunity for additional legislation
[1:34:35] or fiscal things that uh we may be
[1:34:37] interested in. And on Friday, I was able
[1:34:40] to meet with our DSS director, Jeff
[1:34:41] Merritt, who's here, and he shared a lot
[1:34:43] about adoption. Jeff and I meet every
[1:34:44] month to talk about how DSS is doing.
[1:34:47] He'll be here with you in the fall.
[1:34:48] Again, some of those legislative changes
[1:34:50] are going to impact how DSS operates.
[1:34:52] So, in October at your work session,
[1:34:54] Jeff will be here with his team to share
[1:34:57] some of those fiscal issues with you.
[1:34:58] So, other than that, Mr. Chairman,
[1:35:00] that's all I have unless you have things
[1:35:01] for me.
[1:35:02] >> Questions for the county management.
[1:35:03] >> All right. Thanks so much.
[1:35:05] >> Thank you. Okay. Next item on our agenda
[1:35:08] is commissioner's report. Start with you
[1:35:11] pass. You have nothing today.
[1:35:13] >> Uh yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd
[1:35:15] like to go back to the Southeastern
[1:35:17] Integrated Care Program. Um I believe
[1:35:20] the
[1:35:22] um county manager was asking for some
[1:35:24] direction from the board in terms of how
[1:35:27] did we want to proceed,
[1:35:28] >> right? So, you know, before and
[1:35:30] Caitlyn's already left, but before we
[1:35:32] spend a lot of time negotiating a
[1:35:34] contract, just wanted to get your
[1:35:35] thoughts. Is this what you heard today
[1:35:37] something you want us to begin that
[1:35:39] process? Obviously, we'll include
[1:35:40] Sheriff Hughes and Scott Harelson, Jeff
[1:35:42] Merritt, folks who are impacted by
[1:35:45] individuals that need these services. Uh
[1:35:47] that may take a month or two. If you
[1:35:49] guys give us kind of the the head nod,
[1:35:51] uh
[1:35:51] >> I was impressed with what I heard. Uh
[1:35:53] we're short on services. I would
[1:35:55] recommend that we go forward. And if you
[1:35:57] need a motion, consider that one.
[1:35:58] >> And I want to I'll support what ET said.
[1:36:01] I was we discussed it and I think that
[1:36:03] Yeah,
[1:36:04] >> you need a vote.
[1:36:05] >> I just need a head nod. I mean, if
[1:36:06] that's something because well, I said to
[1:36:07] bring the contract back.
[1:36:08] >> Everybody was favorably impressed. At
[1:36:10] least that was the impression I got.
[1:36:12] >> I wanted to say a little bit more, but
[1:36:13] they did such a good job. But one of the
[1:36:14] things when we've met with their team is
[1:36:17] their inclination to acquire property
[1:36:20] here in Craven County. whether it's an
[1:36:21] office, a house or two. They said
[1:36:24] something and it really resonated with
[1:36:26] me because we have such a struggle is
[1:36:28] they want to focus on female
[1:36:30] >> individuals here. We've tried for at
[1:36:32] least half a decade to get somebody to
[1:36:34] do that and they seemed interested. So,
[1:36:36] I mean, if we could crack that nut, that
[1:36:38] would definitely be a big win for us
[1:36:40] all. So,
[1:36:41] >> okay.
[1:36:42] >> All right. So, we'll we'll proceed with
[1:36:43] that and get back to the board probably
[1:36:44] in October. My guess is we'll be back at
[1:36:46] that work session.
[1:36:47] >> That was all I had, sir.
[1:36:47] >> Okay.
[1:36:49] Commissioner Smith.
[1:36:50] >> Um, I have I may be out of commission
[1:36:55] for our first meeting in September
[1:36:59] because I'm having surgery on the third.
[1:37:01] I hopefully I will be back by the second
[1:37:04] one, but I'm not sure. But I will be not
[1:37:08] available for our first meeting.
[1:37:12] >> Okay. Thank you. We we'll keep you in
[1:37:15] our prayers and I hope that goes well.
[1:37:17] >> Thank you. Okay, Commissioner Hunt.
[1:37:19] >> No report.
[1:37:19] >> Okay.
[1:37:20] >> Um, in our proclamation of our consent
[1:37:23] agenda, we did a proclamation of support
[1:37:25] for Mr. John Thomas Barber's 75th
[1:37:28] anniversary legacy. It is sad that the
[1:37:31] school that he's that's named after him
[1:37:33] is so old and and and really is in need
[1:37:36] of replacement. Be nice if we can come
[1:37:38] up with a better school to reuse his
[1:37:40] name on. Okay.
[1:37:43] >> Anything else?
[1:37:44] >> No, that's it.
[1:37:45] >> Question. Only thing I want to remind
[1:37:47] the board, if you will put in your
[1:37:48] calendars, Co City is having their
[1:37:50] fireman's day on September the 26th,
[1:37:53] uh 10:00 a.m. they'll have their parade
[1:37:55] and uh they have extended an invitation
[1:37:58] to this board to come and be a part. I
[1:38:02] think that's it. I have nothing to
[1:38:04] report. Uh commissioners, we're being
[1:38:07] asked to go into close session. Um
[1:38:12] pursuant to NCGS143-
[1:38:17] 318.11A4
[1:38:21] to discuss the location or expansion of
[1:38:24] industries or other businesses.
[1:38:26] >> I move that we have a motion.
[1:38:28] >> So moved second
[1:38:31] take a fivem minute recess and we will
[1:38:33] go into close.