[4:18] All the Yonzo County Board of Commissioners meeting for Monday, August 18, 2025, to order

[4:23] at this time. We'll first ask our county attorney, Mr. Brett DeSams, to provide the invocation.

[4:30] Mr. DeSams.

[4:31] Thank you, Chairman. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, be with the commissioners in their

[4:37] deliberations and bless them with wisdom and guidance as they address the items on

[4:42] tonight's agenda. We pray for our military and first responders who continue to serve

[4:47] our country with tremendous courage, commitment, and sacrifice. May all we do this day bring you honor

[4:54] and glory. Amen. Now with deep respect and reverence for the faiths, beliefs, and traditions of those

[5:01] gathered here tonight, join me in a moment of silence.

[5:12] Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

[5:26] with liberty and justice for all.

[5:33] Thank you this time.

[5:34] I'd like to recognize the elected officials that are with us tonight.

[5:38] We'll start first with the North Carolina representative,

[5:41] Mr. Wyatt Gable is here this evening,

[5:44] Sheriff Chris Thomas,

[5:46] Town Alderman, Mr. Rick Grant from North Dobson Beach,

[5:50] Town Council from Holly Ridge,

[5:52] Mr. Walter Zabicki,

[5:53] and the mayor of Holly Ridge, Mr. Pete Parnin.

[5:56] We appreciate you being here tonight.

[5:58] With that being said, we ask all in attendance please set your cell phones to silent or vibrate mode at this time.

[6:06] And we'll start with the first item on the agenda is the adoption of the agenda.

[6:12] But before that, we need a motion to amend the agenda to remove item 4A, P-R-E-Z, 20-25, 0-0-0-1-6.

[6:22] So moved.

[6:23] Second.

[6:24] So we have a motion and a second.

[6:26] Any discussion?

[6:28] Hearing none, that as motion passes, we'll need to also need a motion to amend the consent

[6:34] agenda to remove item 2B, Mr. Beast.

[6:37] So we have a motion and a second.

[6:39] Any discussion?

[6:41] Hearing none, we now need a motion to adopt the agenda as amended.

[6:46] We have a motion and a second.

[6:48] Any discussion?

[6:50] Hearing none, motion carries.

[6:52] Now with the approval of items on the consent agenda any board members has

[6:56] questions or concerns like one of those items removed now is the time to make

[7:01] that request if not we need a motion to approve agenda motion and a second any

[7:07] discussion none all in favor signify by saying aye those opposed hearing none

[7:13] motion carries so we are now mr. Smitherman I believe to the public

[7:21] comments and right now the let everyone know that the board offers the public

[7:25] one opportunity to speak during the meeting comments should be limited to

[7:29] no more than five minutes and maybe on any issue upon which the board of

[7:32] commissioners has control in accordance with the board's adopted rules of

[7:36] procedure commissioners shall reserve responses if any for the

[7:40] commissioner comment period on the agenda mr. Smitherman yes sir we

[7:45] have two people that have spoke signed up to speak this evening the first

[7:48] First one is Ari Rakowitz.

[8:02] Again, commissioners, I hope you will demonstrate

[8:04] more understanding and respect in your responses this time.

[8:08] Conducting this meeting is a political act

[8:10] as is speaking during it or attending it.

[8:12] The board is violating its own policies

[8:14] in addition to the law and our rights

[8:16] by ignoring the establishment clause.

[8:18] Again, when I reference people, places, things, or ideas,

[8:21] I provide examples from interconnected issues

[8:23] to broaden your perspective

[8:24] so that you can better support members of your community

[8:27] with whom you disagree or about whom you care least.

[8:29] As I mentioned last time, the purpose of studying history is to avoid repeating mistakes.

[8:34] We did not need a repeat of the Holocaust, but we are experiencing one.

[8:37] And since marginalizing can compound, people of color who are also members of more than

[8:43] one marginalized group are still disproportionately affected by silence and persecution, not

[8:48] directly tied to their skin color.

[8:50] Make choices with unity, sustainability, kindness, inclusion, equity, empathy, diversity,

[8:54] critical thinking, and compulsion in mind.

[8:56] Saturday night was the most recent general meeting for the local NAACP chapter.

[9:01] The next meeting is September 20th at 6 p.m. For details or to donate, visit onslaughtNAACP.org.

[9:07] Next time I will read to you from the PFLAG material I introduced at the Board of Education meeting

[9:11] once I finish reading the Freedom from Religion Foundation letter.

[9:20] You can find the resources I am reading from PFLAG at PFLAG.com

[9:25] And you do have local allies who lead with love instead of fear religious hypocrisy and bullying a chant

[9:31] I learned here in Jacksonville straight gay black white one struggle one fight

[9:35] Find some like-minded allies at the second annual like-minded alliance community block party also September 20th

[9:42] Join us for family fun at the downtown Riverwalk from 2 to 6 p.m

[9:46] For more details or to donate email like-minded alliance comm at G

[9:51] like-mindedallianceatgmail.com.

[9:55] I have four questions left instead of my original six

[9:57] and residents of Anzala County deserve answers to all eight.

[10:01] Of the four questions I asked last time,

[10:03] only one was answered appropriately

[10:04] by a commissioner during the meeting.

[10:06] Thank you.

[10:07] And the results of the BOE budget meeting

[10:09] demonstrate that the Board of Commissioners

[10:11] is still contributing to voter suppression

[10:13] through underfunding and understaffing

[10:15] a dedicated Board of Elections staff

[10:16] in addition to violating our First Amendment rights.

[10:19] I was disappointed to arrive at the established location

[10:21] for the Board of Elections Workshop

[10:23] to learn that the meeting had been canceled

[10:24] or at least relocated.

[10:26] I'm still confused because they were in closed session

[10:29] by the time I got there.

[10:30] By the time I biked up to the follow-up meeting

[10:33] at the BOE office, they were in closed session

[10:35] and I had to wait until the meeting concluded,

[10:38] which I didn't because I was trying

[10:40] to get here in time tonight.

[10:43] I understand the BOE's choice to begin

[10:46] again, once the board member from whom I learned that the BOE meeting was rescheduled, was

[10:53] waiting here with me, I learned it from her. Why was the workshop canceled? How has the

[10:58] Board of Commissioners improved support since the initial budget passed? I was also disappointed

[11:06] to learn none of the municipalities are willing to fund early voting sites within

[11:11] their precincts, so the only early voting site at the Board of Election is at the

[11:15] Board of Elections in Georgetown,

[11:17] sharing that tiny parking lot with animal control,

[11:19] and that once again, only representative options

[11:22] and not issues have been entrusted to the people for a vote.

[11:25] I have provided additional contests regarding the concerns

[11:29] about voting and this historic area before

[11:31] and we'll return to that.

[11:33] Thankfully all municipalities approved absentee

[11:35] by mail voting and all voters are eligible

[11:38] request your ballot as early as now

[11:41] to be mailed October 3rd and returned by mail

[11:43] or hand deliver it to the BOE any time during early voting.

[11:47] The deadline to request an absentee ballot

[11:49] is the second Tuesday before the election day,

[11:52] and it must be received by the BOE by 7.30 on election day,

[11:56] but you cannot hand deliver it then.

[11:59] If only we had 24-hour ballot drop boxes

[12:02] strategically placed throughout the county

[12:03] or enough staff and resources

[12:05] to perform the existing duties of the BOE.

[12:08] Voters can hope for information on your voting options.

[12:11] visit ncsbe.gov slash voting to what extent have long-term or short-term

[12:16] projects proposed by the Georgetown Renaissance Association been funded

[12:21] have the county or city provided support to address poor lighting access to

[12:26] electric outlets and maintenance of the cemetery at Georgetown Park these are

[12:30] the short-term things I can't remember all of the long-term and it's not

[12:35] in my script remember y'all should be working together on this I may

[12:39] I will skip for time.

[12:44] The infrastructure issues will require more resources to address than ending the unconstitutional

[12:49] religious invocation, but it is your responsibility as the county commission to protect and serve

[12:53] all of the people of Anso County.

[12:55] Please do better.

[12:58] Thank you.

[12:59] Mr. Midland.

[13:00] Yes, sir.

[13:01] Mr. Elliott Jarman is next.

[13:11] Good evening, commissioners.

[13:13] Public speaking is not really my strong point.

[13:15] I don't really enjoy it.

[13:16] But here I am.

[13:18] My name is Elliott Jarman, and I come before you tonight, not just as a resident of Enzo

[13:22] County, but as a voice for the many concerned citizens who feel overlooked, frustrated, and

[13:27] frankly disappointed.

[13:29] Over the past few months, we've seen the county allocate substantial funding, millions

[13:34] of dollars for the development of a new county fire department.

[13:37] And while public safety is a priority, we all share.

[13:40] I'm here to say that the people of Enzo County are deeply upset about what was

[13:44] left out of that funding plan.

[13:45] our volunteer fire departments. The very departments that have served our

[13:50] communities for decades, long before this initiative ever existed. Volunteer

[13:54] departments have been here through hurricanes, wildfires, wrecks, and

[13:59] structure fires without fanfare and without the full support they deserve.

[14:03] Yet they receive no capital improvement funding in this plan, not for trucks,

[14:07] not for stations, not even for equipment updates. That's not just an

[14:11] oversight, it's a statement. A statement that the boots on the ground

[14:15] heroes who've shown up time and time again are now being sidelined. This is not just about

[14:20] dollars, it's about fairness and it's about respect.

[14:24] The community is watching. I've spoken to residents, fire chiefs, volunteers and taxpayers

[14:29] and the message is clear. We want to see our long-standing departments treated as partners

[14:34] not as afterthoughts. The men and women who volunteer their time to protect our families

[14:39] deserve the same level of investment as a new department being built from the

[14:43] ground up. We are not against progress. We are not against

[14:47] improving fire protection, but we are against imbalance. We are

[14:51] against funneling resources into one department while ignoring

[14:54] the vital needs of others who already serve with pride, skill,

[14:57] and honor. So tonight I ask

[15:00] I ask you, on behalf of the people of this county, to take a hard look at your budget priorities.

[15:04] Can you find room to fund capital improvements for the volunteer departments? Can you make

[15:08] this right before we push forward with a new model that risks eroding community trust?

[15:14] Let's not forget, volunteer fire departments are not just filling the gap. They are the

[15:18] foundation of fire protection in many parts of this county. They need your support, not

[15:23] just in words, but in your budget. Thank you for your time, and I sincerely hope

[15:27] you will listen to the public voices growing louder every day and God bless

[15:31] each and every one of you. Mr. Jarman,

[15:37] we have no further speakers signed up, sir.

[15:39] All right, we'll go ahead and start with item four public hearings and Mr. Carter

[15:46] Metcalfe, are you the first one here for this? That's been put off. Never mind, we

[15:50] took that one off. Yeah, so, well, there you go. We are moving on to the

[15:56] Mr. Kevin Patterson with the quarterly financial report. That's

[16:03] the truth.

[16:05] All right. With this, I will try to be brief on this. I do plan on presenting at

[16:12] the October meeting. We will have a draft financial statement for the audit

[16:16] report for you by that presentation, as well as we will have, of course,

[16:21] have final numbers for the year-end. We are still going through the close-out now.

[16:26] With this, of course, breaking down the revenues for year, we have collected $143 million in

[16:36] property taxes. That is an excess of the sales tax. That has been a continual increase year

[16:44] over year. Sales taxes at June 30th are actually through July 31st. We have collected 67 million.

[16:51] That does include our Medicaid hold harmless.

[16:55] We do expect to receive approximately another $13 million, which will put us right on target.

[17:03] Our Intergovernmental Revenues are under budget right now, but then again those are always

[17:08] on estimates.

[17:08] A number of our Intergovernmental Revenues depend entirely on our reimbursements and

[17:13] our spend rates and they are traditionally under, our actual revenues are traditionally

[17:19] under where we spend because they are based on estimates primarily through DHHS.

[17:27] But so far we are on, again, looking on our revenue budgets, our own target for it.

[17:36] Property tax collections are staying on approximate trend.

[17:41] Our actual collections for the last three years are on top of each other.

[17:44] we have seen an increase over year-over-year of about $4 million for the last two years.

[17:50] That is just the natural growth in the property tax base.

[17:57] Sales taxes also received. Fortunately, we have gone off and I was worried that we would

[18:04] have a softening in our sales tax. We have not seen that right now. Like I said,

[18:08] for the month of May, we did receive $6.1 million, which is $200,000 over last year.

[18:15] If you compare this number to the previous revenue, this $63 million includes the sales taxes that 6.1 is the amount that we actually received in July, which was not in the report.

[18:31] We received it after the report was generated, but the Medicaid hold harmless was in the previous number.

[18:38] it is not listed in here. So that's the discrepancy between the $63 million on this side and

[18:44] the $67 million on the previous side. When you count that in plus the additional collection

[18:50] that we expect to receive next month, that will be approximately, that should be at

[18:57] the $81 million mark within one and a half percent of that number.

[19:06] And again, sales

[19:07] Sales tax is not quite as clean but our sales tax collections are continuing and fortunately

[19:13] we have gotten back where we are slightly above previous years but of course that is

[19:17] subject to the overall economy.

[19:22] General fund expenditures by function we can go over any detail you want but our total

[19:28] expenditures are traveling are well under budget and with this we do have some other items

[19:37] that we are going to be putting in. We are going to be now that we have all of our payables

[19:41] in for the end of the year, we are going to be looking to transfer any lapse health insurance

[19:47] premiums into our health reserve. So those calculations have not been met, but we are

[19:54] significantly under budget this year in the 10 fund. And again, also just breaking

[20:01] out the expenditures. There's no significant change in the general function of the expenditures

[20:08] that we have and the pattern of expenses.

[20:13] And again, also just breaking out the numbers

[20:16] that we have with the expenditure by type going up, of course, by salaries, operations

[20:23] and capital.

[20:29] Now, in solid waste revenues, I did go off and notice just before I got

[20:33] here that the total numbers are wrong. The total revenue for June 30th, 25 is

[20:39] 9,544,000, and the total revenue for 24 is $9.3 million. So, but we are on

[20:47] obviously above target for those revenue numbers. The expenditures we do show a

[20:55] significant increase in operations, operational cost on this report over

[21:00] expenditures but that is because in this report the landfill closure post closure

[21:07] and depreciation were keyed into those numbers those are non-budgetary items

[21:12] it's a different level of accounting so we are still actually under budget in

[21:17] the expenditures in the landfill as of last Thursday it's Thursday of

[21:21] approximately six hundred thirty eight thousand dollars so we are there but

[21:26] But the increase in operating from just under $4.8 million to $7.9 million with the restatement

[21:34] in our landfill post-closure costs, we went from $1 million of closure, post-closure cost

[21:41] accruals to $3.3 million of accruals in the current year, or in 2025.

[21:53] And, of course, airport revenues are running consistent year-over-year.

[22:00] And the restricted intergovernmental, those are some of the federal fees that we're receiving.

[22:05] That will be just a timing difference on when those reimbursements are made.

[22:10] And expenditures are, of course, running as expected.

[22:17] For the grants as the updates, we do have the resiliency grant, which we have applied

[22:24] for in coordination with Camp Lejeune as well as the city of Jacksonville.

[22:31] We should have the final determination in September, but I have done the follow-up internal

[22:38] control meeting with the agency, and we should have a – we're expecting a favorable

[22:45] determination to come with this report, and that could be a grant in excess of

[22:52] million dollars when that comes in and that we will be using consultants for the majority

[22:59] of those services.

[23:02] Also just as an additional note, we have made an offer for grant manager position and it

[23:10] has been accepted so the tentative start date for our next grant manager is September

[23:15] 2nd.

[23:18] Are there any questions?

[23:28] I don't know if it was two minutes, but I'll try it.

[23:31] Thank you, Mr. Patterson.

[23:33] So now we move to item six, the quarterly commissioners committee reports.

[23:39] Does anyone want to volunteer to share?

[23:42] If you've had any.

[23:42] Well, I'm sure I'd go first.

[23:45] So I just got on the hospital board.

[23:47] So I've only been to one meeting,

[23:48] but I don't know if it was two minutes.

[23:48] I think there are some exciting things coming down the pipe.

[23:52] So I can't say anything, unfortunately,

[23:55] but I think we've got some good things to hospitals

[23:58] making some good decisions.

[24:00] I'm excited to be a part of it.

[24:02] Anyone else?

[24:04] Yes, sir.

[24:05] Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[24:06] I'd like to speak on Ombosa real quick.

[24:10] Ombosa has a project to build a force main from Swansborough

[24:15] to Piney Green. Down Highway 24, it'll serve the needs of the Swansborough

[24:22] community in the future. That project is approximately 30 to 40 percent completed.

[24:30] Unwasa is in the process of expanding the Pluris plant and the North Topso Beach

[24:37] plant from one and a half million gallons a day to three million gallons a

[24:43] That is a sewer plant that will serve the Holly Ridge and Sneed Fairy areas in the future.

[24:51] There's also, we're working on a connection between Holly Ridge and Summer House that

[24:56] will be able to direct sewer flow between those two locations so that we can use whatever

[25:04] treatment options are available.

[25:07] We're working on two new wells in the Wachovia track doubt in Camp Davis Industrial Park,

[25:14] and we're working to expand water treatment at our Dixon water treatment plant from four

[25:22] to six million gallons a day.

[25:24] We're also installing what's called AMI meters.

[25:28] Those are meters that are connected by cellular service to our main office so that

[25:36] We don't have to drive trucks around all over the county

[25:39] in order to read your meters.

[25:45] On Wasa has over 60,000 water customers now,

[25:50] so water meters out there,

[25:51] and we've replaced about 1,000 of those meters

[25:54] with AMI meters, so that is a multi-year project

[25:59] that we'll be working on for some time in the future.

[26:02] And finally, on Wasa Board of Directors

[26:05] has asked that in our towns and this counts this committee commissioners approve

[26:15] a resolution that would allow you to appoint non-elected officials to the

[26:21] UNWASA Board of Directors. I've said in several town meetings the UNWASA

[26:29] Board of Directors is made up of all elected officials at this time and six

[26:34] six of our elected officials out of eight are currently up for re-election or not running

[26:41] for re-election.

[26:43] So the unwassable board has the potential of losing 75% of our board members in one year.

[26:50] And that is not a good way to run a multi-million-dollar corporation, which unwassable currently

[26:56] is with over $63 million budget.

[26:59] it and so I'm asking this you commissioners and I'm asking the towns and

[27:07] Honza County Holly Ridge and Swanborough have already approved our

[27:11] resolution but we need to make this change and get our board of directors on

[27:17] three-year rotating schedules so that we don't have the potential in the

[27:22] future of losing 75% of our board all at one time so that's what's happening

[27:27] it on Worcester as chairman. Anyone else?

[27:36] This is a report. I had a juvenile

[27:39] crime prevention committee meeting that I was not able to attend so we'll have

[27:44] more information for you at the next committee updates. I have been working

[27:48] with the topsoil and shoreline protection that I've heard a lot about

[27:52] what's going on with legislation and our coastlines in particular oyster

[27:57] leases and the impact that that's having and in particular Anzol and

[28:00] County. The oyster leases are growing rapidly, where the surrounding counties

[28:06] have moratoriums on those oyster leases, so everyone's coming to Pender and

[28:10] Oslo County waters. I know our beach inlet and sound committee, we got by

[28:18] September, I think, it's coming up that time frame for that one. A lot of

[28:23] beach renursment going on there, North Topso Beach, so I'll keep you

[28:26] appraised of what's going on there as they're trying to continue to keep

[28:30] our coastline looking great and a great tourist destination for everyone in

[28:35] Oslo County. So with that being said we'll go to our manager for his comments.

[28:42] Thank you Mr. Chairman. Speaking of our beach and our beaches and our island, we

[28:50] have noticed that we'll be closing beach access number two and four effective

[28:55] immediately in anticipation of the storm, high surf warnings, we encourage people to be very

[29:02] careful and avoid those dangerous currents.

[29:08] We are, we, we see above you we had the in God,

[29:12] we trust signs installed both here and on the exterior of the courthouse. Those were

[29:20] installed last week, I believe.

[29:23] And we are also working to, and the board's aware of this,

[29:26] but for the public's consumption,

[29:28] we are working to build a couple of EMS stations.

[29:31] We are behind the curve in bringing our EMS facilities

[29:36] to where they need to be and are beginning

[29:39] with two new stations, most likely just

[29:41] on the outskirts of Jacksonville

[29:43] and also one in the Stump Sound area.

[29:45] And finally, the Fire Service Master Plan Steering Committee had its second meeting today and is interviewing consulting firms that will begin to...

[30:00] Work on that project with extended public engagement effort, which will include going into all of

[30:08] our fire departments, volunteer, paid, federal DOD, city, towns, as well as public forums where

[30:16] the public can express their opinions on the future of how we manage fire service globally

[30:23] as a single service in Onsland County instead of different services based upon jurisdiction.

[30:28] And that's all I have, Mr. Chairman.

[30:31] All right.

[30:32] Mr. Comments, we'll go back around the circuit.

[30:35] Anyone have anything they'd like to share?

[30:38] You want me to start again?

[30:40] If you want to.

[30:41] We can go to Tony.

[30:42] I don't matter. Go ahead.

[30:43] All right.

[30:44] Wait, please.

[30:47] You know, I got to say, I've always been one that I like to hear differing opinions

[30:53] and sit down and talk to people who don't agree with exactly the way that I feel.

[30:59] and believe and I'm willing to sit down and talk to anybody who wants to

[31:06] discuss issues whether we agree or not but we've been lectured for months and

[31:13] months about issues here in this building and because I like to talk

[31:22] talk one-on-one with people who may agree or not with me. I actually had a one-on-one

[31:31] meeting with Ms. Ari who has now stormed out of the room again for the third time

[31:37] and when I listened to her rant and rave at me which was basically the same

[31:44] rant that she's done with us every month for the last several months and I

[31:51] I tried to express some of my opinions.

[31:54] She got up and stormed out of the room,

[31:57] just like she has done here today.

[32:00] Again, you can't see that on the camera, I don't suppose,

[32:03] because she's going out the back door.

[32:06] But I know that I personally have tried

[32:11] to have a conversation with her

[32:13] and tried to relay to her what my opinions are

[32:17] on some of the issues that she has.

[32:19] Today she brought in an issue to the board and said that we weren't funding the Board

[32:25] of Elections.

[32:28] I talked to her about that personally, one-on-one, and we have funded the Board of Elections

[32:37] every year that I know of at almost exactly the amount that they asked for.

[32:43] We don't give away money to people that don't need it, and if they don't ask for it,

[32:49] we don't give it to them. And in election years, when we've had shortages in the Board

[32:56] of Elections, we have increased their budget so they had enough money to do what they need

[33:03] to do. I certainly believe that we fund the Board of Elections adequately and we will

[33:09] continue to do that. As far as election rules, those are made by the General Assembly

[33:16] and we don't have any control over whether we have drop boxes or any other kind of scam

[33:23] for our elections. That is up to the legislature. And she also mentioned the Georgetown Park,

[33:30] which is not even a county park. It belongs to the city of Jacksonville and has nothing

[33:35] to do with these county commissioners. So I

[33:41] appreciate her passion for her issues.

[33:46] but she doesn't understand and she doesn't wait around long enough and she

[33:53] won't listen when somebody tries to explain to her that there are other

[33:58] opinions beside hers.

[34:01] And Mr. Jarman, I appreciate you coming tonight. I heard

[34:06] some misinformation there. There are only two volunteer fire departments that

[34:12] aren't getting funding for their capital needs and they're not getting funding for

[34:17] the capital needs because they don't want to agree to a contract with Anzlo

[34:22] County and the commissioners have worked for a year to get contracts with all

[34:31] of our volunteer fire departments to make sure that our taxpayers are

[34:36] protected when these volunteer fire departments take taxpayer money, which

[34:44] this year will be over ten million dollars that we'll fund our volunteer

[34:49] fire departments with. And all those two fire departments have to do is agree to

[34:55] a very simple contract and they can get money for their capital expenses just

[34:59] like the other 12, 11, 12 volunteer fire departments are getting funded for their capital expenses.

[35:09] So I appreciate your concern, but I'm happy to talk to you about the facts if you're interested.

[35:19] That's all I have to say, Mr. Chairman.

[35:21] Thank you.

[35:22] Thank you, Mr. Bennett.

[35:24] Mr. McCann.

[35:25] Good.

[35:26] Mr. Davis.

[35:27] too

[35:31] much to say tonight thank you Wyatt for being here today thank you for what

[35:36] you've done in Raleigh Forest I know you've worked hard I think your

[35:40] reputation up there has preceded your youth and good job man just thank you

[35:45] for what you're doing Carter always man workshop today thank you you're so I

[35:53] think what it's you have a job to do like any of us but you were so well

[35:58] prepared for the questions today. That's the impressive part, is you thought ahead, not

[36:02] just of the topic, but what might be asked of you. And I really appreciate that. It shows

[36:07] us that you value our time. So thank you for that.

[36:13] Mr. Jarman, I think it will be good

[36:16] for you and Mr. Bennett to discuss things, because I don't think Mr. Bennett knows

[36:21] everything either. So perhaps you can share with him some of the other issues that

[36:28] that I'm at least I'm aware of, that what you have maybe a little more factual than what

[36:34] he realizes. But I do appreciate you coming today. And again, it's my hope that we will

[36:40] work with Piney. I know at least Piney Green wants to work with us, that we will reach

[36:45] out and solve that one. I'm not aware of the situation yet with the other department

[36:49] Department, but just thankful for everyone here today. Thank you, Ms. Kerry, for giving

[36:57] me homework to do. So we'll get that done and being willing to work with the churches

[37:01] in the local area, I'm excited about that as well. So and for all the people watching,

[37:05] thank you for taking time out to watch. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[37:09] Sir, Mr. Pageant, I'll just thank you. Bye for coming tonight. Thank you.

[37:14] Mr. Chairman?

[37:16] I've got a lot to say, but I'm not going to say it.

[37:18] A lot of opinions.

[37:18] I'm not going to voice them.

[37:20] I'm not even going to touch on what the commissioners talked about, because I have a very different

[37:24] opinion, and I'm pretty boisterous about that, but I want to thank everybody for coming

[37:28] tonight.

[37:29] If you want to know my opinion, how I feel, ask me.

[37:32] I'll be more than happy to tell you.

[37:33] Have a great week.

[37:36] I'm speechless.

[37:39] Let's see if you keep it speechless.

[37:41] I can't.

[37:43] I'm pushing the time.

[37:44] I'm pushing the time.

[37:46] I'm pushing the time.

[37:47] I'm pushing the time.

[37:47] That way I just appreciate everybody coming in tonight.

[37:52] This is what it is for.

[37:54] That's what the five minutes of public comment is for, to come up and share your thoughts,

[37:57] your opinions, your concerns, and what you feel is necessary to share with us.

[38:01] And we'll continue to work and do what we believe is in the best interest of everyone.

[38:06] And we appreciate Mr. Jarman coming in and the work he does there, I believe in Richlands,

[38:12] the work that's going on there.

[38:14] and I know Mr. Smitherman that the strategic planning team will be coming

[38:19] to Richlands to get the input from, matter of fact, it's going to be all of our

[38:24] volunteer fire departments in that plan to really dig down what

[38:28] everybody needs and what's going to benefit everyone as we continue to move

[38:33] forward with that. So number one, we appreciate the professionalism of the

[38:37] volunteers. We appreciate what you do because if you didn't have you, we

[38:41] would have a very highly increased ISO rating, so we appreciate that effort and we look forward

[38:49] to as this continues to grow to getting that input and build the best fire departments

[38:55] across Donzalo County, all the volunteers, the municipalities, Camp Lejeune, and just

[39:00] really turn into what it is that you want, not just necessarily that but all the citizens

[39:06] as well.

[39:06] So collectively, we'll be able to turn this into everything that we need and really work

[39:11] together in building that from strategic fire to strategic with our EMS stations and working

[39:18] together to build those because at the end of the day, it's all about Oslo County.

[39:22] And that's the one thing that I want everyone to understand is this is about Oslo County.

[39:27] From Oslo County schools, to Oslo County government, to Oslo County volunteer fire,

[39:32] EMS.

[39:32] is just this is what makes us go and we are a great example of what what

[39:38] government is about representative and being able to come to the microphone and

[39:42] share those share those thoughts whether we agree or disagree this is

[39:47] your this is your forum as well so as we continue to work together we'll

[39:51] continue to make Honza County a great place to live work learn and raise a

[39:56] family. Motion to adjourn. So moved. We're adjourned.

Onslow County Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting

Agenda

Transcript