[5:55] Mr.

[6:01] Groes, myself, and Dr. Tate are here. So we just hope to have a very informative night,

[6:08] taking questions, having some good productive dialogue.

[6:25] So hopefully we'll have some good

[6:26] productive dialogue tonight. And if there's not anything that throughout the year we've

[6:31] We'll take your questions, and we've got some county staff here, hopefully some subject matter experts that can help us along the way.

[6:39] So we'll hit this kick-off.

[6:41] If anybody's got any questions or concerns, we'll start, and just hand the microphone around.

[6:46] We'll take questions as best we can.

[6:59] Yes, ma'am, we won't have to sign up tonight.

[7:01] You can feel free to stand up.

[7:03] We'll get you a mic, and you can talk.

[7:05] Absolutely.

[7:07] Welcome.

[7:11] Let's roll.

[7:22] Well, the folks at whom I think the folks who might need to hear what you're

[7:25] going to ask because they may have the same question. Okay. Well, they probably

[7:28] they probably don't but just the same. Well, fire away. Good evening everyone. My

[7:33] name is Regina Fennell. I live at 815 Ridgewood Avenue, Burgall, North Carolina.

[7:39] And I missed the June whatever date it was. County Commissioners meet me

[7:45] because I had a speech that I need to give but I'll end up giving it at the

[7:48] next one, even though it's past information, it's all about the property taxes for me.

[7:55] I stopped in the other day and they gave me some kind of thing called, some called change

[8:00] value delta.

[8:02] He explained to me what that was.

[8:05] I am now waiting to hear when do I go before the Board of Adjustments?

[8:08] I mean, the review board, I'm waiting, I received an email from them and this

[8:15] is my question.

[8:16] This is just one of many.

[8:17] And I'm going to sit down and give somebody else a chance.

[8:20] Why is it that I'm getting emails from the county,

[8:24] but I can't get a written response like this?

[8:27] I don't sometimes don't have access to a printer.

[8:30] So now I got to run around, take my email,

[8:33] and run it over here and print it off to have a hard copy.

[8:36] So that's why is it that they're doing that instead

[8:39] of just giving me a hard copy of, hey,

[8:42] we received your appeal and dah, dah, dah, dah.

[8:45] It had all these numbers on it,

[8:46] something about Delta change and all this foolishness.

[8:49] So I went up the other day to try to figure it out

[8:52] because I said, I've been out of state

[8:53] and I'm just now back in.

[8:55] So that's one of my questions.

[8:57] If someone can just answer that question for me,

[8:59] why is it, how come they're not giving it to us

[9:02] in a hard snail meal, as they call it, instead of email?

[9:07] Yes, ma'am.

[9:09] First off, were they able to help you

[9:11] and assist you any today when you went up there?

[9:13] He gave me the definition of the delta change, wait, what, I'm so sorry.

[9:20] I'm sorry, take your time.

[9:21] I got to roll down here.

[9:24] He gave me the definition of a value change delta in that email.

[9:28] He said it was the difference between the appraised value and the requested value.

[9:34] And so then I asked him, okay, I said, example, because I can't use mine because I don't know what mine is.

[9:42] I mean other than what he told me and I said well let me use my sister as an

[9:47] example you said that her home was valued at $98,000 I said it is a 28 and a half

[9:54] year old double-wide mobile home on its last leg and you're telling me it's

[10:01] valued at $98,000 it's in a floodplain it's in the AE floodplain it needs

[10:06] in major repairs and you're still comparing it

[10:11] to one of these houses down the street

[10:14] or are you comparing it to the mobile home

[10:16] over yonder on Antoinette Drive?

[10:19] So which one?

[10:20] Because that's the only comparable thing

[10:21] that's 28 years of all age and falling down.

[10:25] And he just told me she has to wait for an answer.

[10:28] They got some kind of miniature.

[10:30] You send an appeal in, it goes to them.

[10:33] They'll look it over and they will decide if it's going to the review board.

[10:39] That's not the information that we were given right here.

[10:42] We were told to appeal and if we didn't like what was happening, then we're going to the review board.

[10:49] How come they've now put something in the middle of them and the review board?

[10:54] Okay. I don't know if Mr. Manager can speak to that.

[10:57] Do we have anybody from the tax office here?

[11:00] No, they went home.

[11:02] Got idea five o'clock as I was there about two minutes to five. I got you. That's all right. They're there to help you

[11:08] I will say one thing about the floodplain that does significantly impact

[11:12] Evaluation of the property if it's in a floodplain and they will correct that if if they haven't noted it, but mr. Manager, please

[11:23] Yes, ma'am. So the the middle step where we do the the staff review of the appeal

[11:30] That is to yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. I thought you were asking me to hold on

[11:34] So you submit your appeal and our staff look it over and we work it.

[11:40] And what that does is we sit here and say we agree with your appeal or staff don't agree with your appeal.

[11:47] And if we do a bunch of work and we come to a consensus and we agree yes, this is a fair value,

[11:55] then it doesn't have to go to the Board of ENR.

[11:58] Whereas if we do the work and we still disagree at the end of us looking at your appeal,

[12:03] then it goes to the Board of ENR.

[12:05] It's meant to reduce their caseload

[12:06] when we can't handle it administratively,

[12:09] but if you don't agree with the staff's decision,

[12:11] it will always go to the Board of ENR.

[12:14] Okay.

[12:15] Based on what Mr. Burton just said,

[12:17] the Commissioner Burton just said is that,

[12:20] and I already noticed, I've done,

[12:21] I've y'all seen me many times before here

[12:23] since this stuff set off.

[12:26] I've been doing all kind of research.

[12:27] I probably can do better than what they're doing,

[12:30] but I'm not going to,

[12:31] But I have done all kind of research.

[12:33] I've been all in the law books.

[12:35] I've been doing this, that none.

[12:36] Because the flood zone impacts that value.

[12:40] But for whatever reason, they reduced her taxes by $2,000.

[12:45] It went from $98 to $96 in a flood plain.

[12:50] And I didn't understand that there.

[12:52] And so she took that letter that they gave her,

[12:54] which I didn't get the letter.

[12:55] I got an email and said, if you agree with this,

[12:59] please submit this to us within 30 days.

[13:02] When I got back from Colorado Springs,

[13:04] I immediately turned it into them,

[13:06] and I said, I want a copy of it

[13:08] because she's disagreeing with this issue.

[13:11] She's in a flood plain,

[13:12] so why are you only reducing it by $2,000?

[13:16] I can't believe that there, you know.

[13:19] So they would have to look at the specific property,

[13:21] and I don't know the details of the property,

[13:23] so I don't know.

[13:24] The Zoom AE, it encompasses all of the western part of the city limits up until you get to

[13:33] that

[13:38] street.

[13:38] I can't remember the street, but anyway, half of the park, what we call it the park, half

[13:43] of the park is under a flood plain.

[13:45] Even those new houses that they just built over on Hay Street, they're on a flood plain,

[13:51] but they're raised up on these cement things.

[13:55] It's two or three, double-wide, excuse me,

[13:59] two or three stick-built homes that are for sale over there.

[14:03] They're under the flood plain.

[14:05] They're under that same flood zone that's over there

[14:08] in the city, and we all know anytime heavy rain comes,

[14:14] satchel, Fremont, all of those streets over in there,

[14:17] Antenek, Durham Village, all that stuff floods out,

[14:20] And that's how close it is that she is to Burgall Creek.

[14:23] She's just that close to it.

[14:25] And I said, I'm fighting for her, but I'm fighting for me also.

[14:29] But with me, mine is simple.

[14:31] Mine is I'm a septic tank lot inside of the town of Burgall.

[14:35] That immediately knocks off some stuff.

[14:38] I have a .21 acreage.

[14:41] And it's own a septic tank system.

[14:43] There's not much you can do with that other than now

[14:45] you want to put me on the sewage.

[14:48] And someone wants it.

[14:49] Then I got to go in my backyard and dig up the whole backyard in the sewer system and

[14:53] the accepted tank system to get whatever they need to get out of it.

[14:57] But it's not worth $35,000.

[15:00] It went from 10,031 up to 35,000 in some odd dollars.

[15:05] I thank you all very much for reducing my mobile home.

[15:10] I try to get a lot of people here to understand

[15:13] that if I did not own the land, but I own that mobile home

[15:17] and I've been doing that there since 2017

[15:20] and I was lied to by the tax office because they told me

[15:23] because my name was on that deed along with my siblings

[15:26] things that I had to have my mobile home dedicated as real estate.

[15:33] The law came into effect and said, no, in 2017, that's 15 years after this 2002 memorandum

[15:42] went out to the tax assessors, managers office telling them, we understand that this, and

[15:49] I quote, that there are going to be many mobile homes, whether single-wide or double-wide,

[15:55] that's going to be impacted where you have them designated as real estate they

[16:00] should be turned into personal that was back in 2002 my home went in place in

[16:05] 2000 two years after that they still kept me as real estate until all this

[16:10] foolishness here now transpired when this stuff transpired I did a little

[16:15] digging and I wouldn't a dug if they hadn't said my my home or 25 year old

[16:20] mobile home was worth $121,000 comparing it to the new mobile homes.

[16:26] I have the old type mobile home, and I didn't understand it.

[16:30] So I blame the county.

[16:33] I don't blame the commissioners, but I do.

[16:36] Because you all approved, whoever it was back then,

[16:40] you approved the schedule of values.

[16:43] And the schedule of values went against the statues.

[16:48] because it stated, and I can stand up, North Carolina General Statue, I think is, oh Lord,

[16:57] 273.13 that you had to meet four criteria for it to be considered real estate, and your

[17:08] schedule of values as of this time, and I didn't bring it, and I'm sorry because I can tell you

[17:12] what pages on and everything under manufactured homes stated that all mobile homes will

[17:18] be considered real estate. That is a that is against the law. That's against state

[17:23] status and you all, whoever it was, you signed off on that saying that that was

[17:29] true, but that's not true because the statute say something totally different.

[17:33] I said I did a lot of research and I just been upset about that. I've been

[17:38] very upset and I'm sorry that it is coming out wrong, but I know that you

[17:42] all know what I'm talking about. And for a lot of the residents who

[17:46] didn't get a chance to appeal yet, I plead them to appeal, especially if they own the

[17:52] land and not the mobile home or vice versa, so we can get these classifications corrected.

[17:59] And then they can ask for what the statute says, we can ask for refunds.

[18:04] And that's another question.

[18:05] How do I get my refund for all of this miscalculation?

[18:09] Because the statute said if there's a clerical error, which it is, I want my refund.

[18:14] I can't get 28 and 25 years worth, but I would like to get my three years worth of refund because I have been overtaxed.

[18:23] And that is General Statue 381, I think, dash 15.

[18:29] It says that there, and that's the law.

[18:31] And I didn't write that.

[18:32] That is the law.

[18:34] So how do I go about requesting my refund?

[18:37] So everybody else would know, too.

[18:39] Yes ma'am. What I would recommend before you leave tonight is give your name and contact information to the manager and staff

[18:46] so they can help you navigate that process to make sure that you get anything that's entitled to you.

[18:52] If you've been overtaxed, you need a refund.

[18:54] We just asked for, and I think it's a systematic problem here.

[18:58] I agree.

[18:59] Systematic means I'm asking you all to investigate it.

[19:01] You need to investigate how many mobile homes are actually personal property

[19:07] and they've been overtaxed all these years.

[19:10] There are some stipulations.

[19:10] They're calling and asking me to help them,

[19:13] and I have.

[19:13] I've given them the statues.

[19:15] I don't know what they've done with that information,

[19:18] but I'm hoping that they go forward to let you all know,

[19:20] hey, you've been doing us wrong

[19:23] and all we are looking for is transparency

[19:25] and fairness, truth and honesty.

[19:28] That's all we're looking for.

[19:29] Well, thank you for your diligence.

[19:31] Yes, ma'am.

[19:31] Thank you for bringing that down our attention again.

[19:33] Yes.

[19:43] Okay, we

[19:50] can do that before not staying right. Yes ma'am, do you feel free? Okay, I'm with

[19:55] her on the taxes. No, we have appeal diaries. We appeal diaries, I think, just since we

[19:59] got it. And we went out and talked to them. They came out to our house and looked around.

[20:07] They come up with another figure. We appealed that. And we have not heard back from them.

[20:13] have talked to them several times on the phone and they have not gotten back to us with something

[20:19] definite. They said they're still working on it because they're working on the neighborhood

[20:26] in a general, you know, the whole neighborhood area. So that's why they claim they are not

[20:35] putting a figure in concrete more or less yet because they're working on the whole

[20:40] neighborhood in the whole capacity. I don't know if that's fair or not, we'll

[20:49] weigh it out when they get through with it. But I am with you on what you're

[20:53] saying. A lot of people don't understand. And like I've talked to you guys before,

[20:59] there are people out there. She does have email, but there are people out

[21:05] there that she can probably vouch for that does not do email let alone being

[21:11] able to pull it up or print it and they need as she says the whole snail mail now

[21:19] I'm not taking snail mail because that's what I did for living either but I'm just

[21:22] saying what I know what I saw out there because I know at first hand they

[21:28] need to get it in their hand and as the old saying goes it didn't happen

[21:33] unless you got it in black and white on paper.

[21:42] Thank you.

[21:47] Anyone else?

[21:50] Yeah, use the microphone

[21:52] so folks at home can hear you.

[21:56] I'm sorry. I'm just on the road tonight and I apologize.

[22:01] That's all right. We're a whole church. Go right ahead. We knew we were having a town

[22:04] meeting. Staff knew what some of the questions were going to be. Why did we not mandate

[22:10] that they show up your mandate. They show up to the Christmas party. So why are they not here? This

[22:15] is more than a Christmas party. This is people livelihoods. I understand that we did the 2026

[22:22] tax values are going to be seen values as last year. But what happens when next year come around?

[22:32] I pray for you. You don't have to pray for me. You have to pray for yourself.

[22:37] And I pray for you all because this is the reason why he's not

[22:45] he's not avenged for God

[22:47] But when the hurricane start coming through here, and they start blowing paper people houses off of the beach and everything else

[22:54] Your tax your tax value ain't gonna mean a thing to them. No, ma'am

[22:58] You're not gonna have a tax base. I agree with you and he's no respecter of persons either

[23:03] And that's fine, but my thing again is why it's not the

[23:07] someone represented here from the tax office, not Mr. Saul who represents the

[23:12] tax office and everything else under him, but how come there isn't anyone here?

[23:17] Yeah, I understand. I think he gave you an adequate answer that helped navigate

[23:22] through your problem tomorrow. I don't think even the tax assessor would be

[23:25] able to give you a definitive answer on what you asked tonight. But the

[23:31] fellow that gave me the the delta the value change delta he was very

[23:36] knowledgeable so he would have been able to explain some things when I started

[23:42] talking about this here value change delta nobody here unless you all been

[23:46] over there and talking with them you probably don't have a clue that that's

[23:49] on that their email that they're sending out and I tried to ask them what

[23:53] what in the world is that that's why I said he explained it to me if

[23:57] everybody were to get in line behind me the line would have been wrapped

[24:00] They'll be still be in line right now, trying to get them to explain stuff.

[24:04] So if they do it in this setting right here, it's all done at one time.

[24:08] So the good thing is this is the first of two town halls and it's going Thursday night.

[24:12] So I think the manager's got your message clear.

[24:14] And we'll have some folks to address your questions Thursday night.

[24:18] I'm not going to Hamsteed.

[24:19] For the folks at home and the folks who are going to watch us on YouTube in perpetuity.

[24:25] Okay.

[24:26] Well, I have to look at it after the fact because I'm not going to Hamsteed.

[24:30] that's that's too far to be driving fit to some yes ma'am round trip and gas is

[24:34] going up so yes ma'am understand that's a burden on again on taxpayers who have

[24:40] to go over there and I know there isn't anyone here tonight that's that talking

[24:44] about something else I know I'm on the tax and they're not here and I would

[24:50] pray that they would have been here and the people that's listening to me on

[24:54] television. We need to give them people their water. They need their water. You

[25:02] give them their water. I can give you a story. I grew up here in Bergau and I'm

[25:07] not ashamed of how I grew up. We grew up pumping and fetching water out the

[25:12] ground from a pump in my neighbor's yard because we didn't have a pump.

[25:16] They had to pump. That was the neighborhood pump and that water was

[25:20] good, fresh and good, clean. But now you're talking about people out here in the western

[25:24] part of the county. They can't even get good water. Something is wrong with that. If you

[25:30] walk and buy two or three hundred thousand dollar fleets of trucks and cars for the

[25:38] police department, everybody seems to have their own vehicle. I can't even afford to

[25:45] get my car fixed because I'm on a fixed income, but yet I'm looking at them in

[25:49] $80,000 trucks. Why do they need an $80,000 truck? What was wrong with them getting going

[25:54] up there and getting a $35,000 truck? What's wrong? $80,000? You all don't know how to

[26:00] spend money. Let me handle it for a month. I would cut everybody off. They'd be mad

[26:05] at me. They'd be so glad when I left Friday on day 31 because they wouldn't be able

[26:10] to have anything but what was needed. We have to live when we're on a budget.

[26:16] Why can't you all live within your budget?

[26:18] I'm not just talking about you all, county manager.

[26:23] I don't know how you all are doing your budget.

[26:25] I saw the 300 or whatever it's going to be, and I understand that.

[26:32] But I'm upset about something else, so I'm trying not to let that come in,

[26:36] and I apologize that I sound like I'm bouncing off the wall because I am.

[26:40] I'm trying to get all these questions out

[26:44] in the budget, and I wasn't.

[26:46] I think I might have been here, and I may not have been here,

[26:49] but I was so excited to go to Colorado Springs.

[26:52] You all talked about nonprofits,

[26:55] and they were gonna get a certain amount.

[26:58] Are you all able to tell me what that amount was?

[27:00] Was it $50,000?

[27:05] I remember giving them.

[27:06] I'm not sure if it's 50 or 70.

[27:07] It's one of those amounts.

[27:16] But let me finish though,

[27:17] then you can answer the question.

[27:21] I voted the Ford Pantry.

[27:24] Ford Pantries are donations from me.

[27:28] I mean, I go there,

[27:29] But still, I give donations anyway.

[27:32] You give donations, you give donations, you give donations.

[27:35] Now we got this line around the box, around the block,

[27:38] where I needed food today, and they ran out.

[27:43] And if they'd have had that money

[27:44] that you all were supposed to be giving to them,

[27:47] they could stretch it a little further

[27:49] to get stuff from the food bank

[27:51] to try to fill in the gap for the Penn and County

[27:53] citizens.

[27:53] For instance, $50,000 and however many nonprofits that we have, you've probably given them $1,000, maybe $2,500 apiece.

[28:04] That's not enough. I am a recipient of food stamps, and I'm going to stand before you and tell you, I'm a recipient of food stamps.

[28:13] Thank God for them. What I do get, it helps me get my food in the household.

[28:21] but there are so many people around here that receive food stamps and they still

[28:28] have to get in the food line and when they get in that line and

[28:32] grab their food I'm sorry it's gone and you still got this long line back here

[28:37] wanting food what can we as Pender County do to help those families if you're

[28:44] only giving fifty thousand dollars to there's probably four or five food

[28:47] banks in town that's not enough for them what can we do to modify that's the word

[28:55] I won't modify the budget to include giving them two or three hundred thousand

[29:01] dollars you can buy eighty thousand dollar truck you can buy a hundred

[29:06] thousand dollar dump truck or whatever it is so why can't you give something

[29:10] that's gonna keep people alive that trucking I can kill this for the

[29:14] department and their trucks, their trucks don't mean a thing. They ain't but

[29:18] them sitting in their trucks speeding and doing all the other kind of stuff.

[29:21] Sometimes I just want to just call it in but I don't and maybe I should but I'm

[29:27] looking out for the people now. That's who I am. What can we do to help those

[29:32] nonprofits who have not just only food pantries, clothing, all those other

[29:38] necessities that these poor folks need around here? Why can't we modify the

[29:43] budget. Can it be modified to to increase that? Find out what each one really

[29:48] needs and give them at least 75% of what they're asking for. You can't give

[29:53] 100% but at least 75%. So what we did with

[30:00] The budget was we did set $50,000 aside for the nonprofits. However, since then, through

[30:06] working with Representative Smith and Senator Jackson's office in Raleigh, we were able

[30:12] to get some additional state funding into the county, and so all of the nonprofits who

[30:16] requested money this year received their full ask, or will be receiving their full

[30:20] We repeat that one more time, because I'm most certainly going to let Sandy Harris, Appender

[30:25] County Christian Services, know that I told her something about that, but I couldn't confirm

[30:31] it for her.

[30:32] You're seeing it now.

[30:34] You're seeing it now.

[30:34] Yes, ma'am.

[30:35] We've received.

[30:36] What was the percent we quit?

[30:38] She does.

[30:38] Yes, she does.

[30:39] But yes, they have any, all of our nonprofits received the request that they made to the

[30:44] commissioners.

[30:48] That's a life-saving tool for them, that food.

[30:51] They need those. Otherwise we're going to have people out here homeless people on the streets and I'm being honest because that's the next thing. What happened with housing? How come we can't have more?

[31:04] Section eight vouchers going out there.

[31:07] To those families that on a five or six year waiting list, they're waiting for decent housing and they can't get decent housing. And I know that the city don't want people to put up a tent city.

[31:21] Because they told me, and nobody here representing the town of Bergall either, and I apologized to them.

[31:27] But you told me that there was an ordinance that said, when I put my tent up in my yard,

[31:33] I'm not fitting to live in my tent, but it's about homelessness.

[31:37] My tent doesn't have nothing to do with homelessness, but I fall under that ordinance.

[31:40] It can only stay up there so many days and you got to take it down.

[31:43] That's wrong.

[31:45] So you have homeless people because I know where they live in that.

[31:49] Some of them are right down there on Ridgid Avenue they and I'm I'm hoping that they're not staying inside of that

[31:55] They're the storage units to the last few weeks because it's been hard as five

[31:59] They're in there. They're probably dead as dope nails and nobody don't even realize it, but they're renting

[32:05] Rental units and that is their house that rental unit is where they're at

[32:10] They go to the

[32:12] Scotsman to get water go get water to take baths and all that other stuff

[32:16] We need to help all of these poor folks around here.

[32:19] You can't just take the money and give it to folks that don't need it.

[32:24] Let me put it that way.

[32:28] I'm just...

[32:31] We understand.

[32:32] Yes ma'am.

[32:42] Sure.

[32:43] Please do.

[32:44] And let's talk a little bit about the section 8 housing.

[32:47] I think that's a bigger systemic problem than just a localized county issue.

[33:12] I think Ms. Blair is going to lay it out for you.

[33:15] Yes.

[33:15] So I don't want to speak too out of turn, but we do have,

[33:19] we have both section eight housing vouchers

[33:21] as well as project based housing vouchers.

[33:25] And the section eight housing vouchers,

[33:27] we actually have more than we can give out

[33:29] because we don't have places to home folks.

[33:34] Our housing department has done several public events

[33:38] trying to get additional landlords

[33:42] to become part of the program.

[33:44] But even if we were to give out the vouchers, we don't have anywhere to place people at the moment.

[33:51] So the need really is not for more vouchers because we have them.

[33:55] It's for more landlords to become a part of the program.

[33:59] My understanding is actually pretty easy to become a part of the program.

[34:03] You know, you get your rent checked every month from our office.

[34:08] And so the issue is really just having more places to put the folks that would maintain those vouchers.

[34:18] We

[34:28] haven't built any housing for the folks that can fall under Section 8.

[34:33] I am a tax credit expert because I was in for 25 years and I had to step away from it.

[34:39] So I know what you're talking about, because Section 8 vouchers can go into tax credit

[34:46] properties.

[34:47] So if you all get together with your people up there in Raleigh, and let's put some housing

[34:53] down here, tax credit property, or allow them to come in, whoever might be stopping

[34:59] or whatever, all this 1,000 and 1,040 houses going into Rocky Point, and 135 going over

[35:07] here and be facing all those ones down there on Henry Brown out that way to jail

[35:15] houses a new detention center there's some kind of houses going out there

[35:19] those are not affordable housing the poorest folks can't get into these

[35:23] brand new houses those houses are designed for mirror

[35:30] and upper class

[35:31] families our lower class families still need housing too it's not just

[35:38] systemic I understand that but I'm talking about what can we in Pender County do about

[35:43] our housing crisis because I'm gonna call it that because you said there's landlords

[35:50] are not accepting and I know why they're not accepting I was a landlord but I was tax

[35:54] credit I couldn't turn them away otherwise I can turn them away if I got a bad a bad

[36:00] bad bad with um background check on them other than that they were in like fleeing

[36:05] if that's if that's the terminology but outside of that we couldn't turn them

[36:10] away because if we did North Carolina house and finance would be on our butts

[36:14] so we had to allow them in so if we build you get the right property manager in

[36:21] place they're gonna have to be a one like ours I did not play and anybody

[36:27] that knows me I started off at Ashley Ridge I don't know how it is over

[36:32] there now, but it was never the way I ran it with her.

[36:38] That was me. That's how I ran it.

[36:40] We didn't put up with drugs. I didn't put up with this. I didn't put it. I put them out.

[36:44] I didn't care about the children on one hand, because you didn't care about your child

[36:49] and you did this and you knew it was against the rules. And this rules say you got to

[36:53] get out.

[36:54] I had to turn a blind eye to it. I just couldn't. I had to. I'm so sorry, baby.

[36:59] but your your mama and you got to move you know that's just it so please try

[37:05] to get more house additional housing if there's funds available please please

[37:10] please please for the low-income families I know that if you get the right

[37:15] manager in place they're not going to tear it up I can guarantee you because

[37:19] I used to manage Kerry Chapel Village in Henderson 54 houses low-income families

[37:27] three and four bedrooms they would tell you they probably was Regina was back

[37:33] because I ran it like a again with iron fist we you couldn't tell the difference

[37:38] between the property owner who was paying you know they own their home and the

[37:45] next door neighbor which was under tax credit you couldn't tell the difference

[37:49] because that neighborhood it blended in it blended in maybe we need to get

[37:53] up with some property managers, management companies, and then see what kind of grants

[37:59] can be offered to them so they can put more house in here.

[38:02] We got Cooper's Point here,

[38:06] West Side has been here so long, I mean, I don't even know

[38:08] how old it is.

[38:10] Ashley Ridge?

[38:11] So would you favor the county government like partnering with developers to bring

[38:17] low cost, lower income homes and developments into the county?

[38:22] I would would be for that's credit

[38:26] Even section eight along those steps as long as they are accepting of the section eight voucher

[38:31] Because we got to reduce a five six years seven year waiting list. We have to it's just too much

[38:37] I mean, I know somebody right now. They have moved into a trailer

[38:41] I'm not a little camper because they have no way else to go

[38:45] It's be it's this best there than being on the streets

[38:48] It's been talked about. I've supported it, but I got hammered for supporting it because

[38:53] they said...

[38:54] Who hammered you?

[38:55] So I've got a few other stuff for them now.

[38:57] Well, they say I'm the developer's commissioner. So, you know, I'm all for the developer.

[39:01] And I'm all for people who need a house. That's what I'm for.

[39:04] But we have...

[39:04] Including my youngest daughter that can't afford to live in the county.

[39:08] Yeah.

[39:08] But we have so much vacant land out there that the county owns... just develop it.

[39:17] You already own it. We already own it. My tax dollars is paying for land out there, and it's just sitting there

[39:23] So why can't it be developed to put houses? I mean you as again you finna put unless it was the information was wrong

[39:30] You finna put over 1,000

[39:33] Homes down there in Rocky Point

[39:36] That has to do with Pender County

[39:38] I don't know if it's off of 210 or 133, but there's two developments going down there

[39:43] One of them is over a thousand. The other one I think might be three or four hundred. I don't know

[39:48] So we're branching out. We're gonna be

[39:52] In coaching Wilmington after a while, you're not gonna know the difference between

[39:56] Pendant County and New Hanover County other than the Capefield River Bridge

[39:59] That's the only thing that's gonna that you're gonna know the difference

[40:02] That's gonna be the line because it's gonna be houses galore

[40:07] That's just not it's just not fair to us

[40:10] And I'm gonna clue me because I am not considered low income and again

[40:15] I'm not shame of it, but I still would like to make sure that people are treated fair

[40:22] We have housing for them. We need they've got to have housing, you know, it's too hard outside

[40:28] There's nowhere for them to go right now

[40:30] But inside a Walmart and hanging out in there until the heat goes on in at 10 o'clock

[40:34] They get kicked out and down on the streets and it's still hot at night

[40:38] It's hot at night

[40:39] It's so humid 10 o'clock at night and they have nowhere to go

[40:43] But to that tent that the town of Burgall don't want them to to put up. I understand ma'am. Yes ma'am

[40:49] I agree with most everything you say

[40:55] All right

[40:56] Anybody else any questions?

[41:08] Yeah, I was shocked to hear about the rental fee hit rental buildings that she said people were living in

[41:13] That believe my mind really hurt

[41:18] there needs to be a study also done on how

[41:21] these people got there like that because that needs also be fixed because God

[41:30] knows we don't want a place looking like tense like she said tense all over the

[41:35] place like California we do not want it looking like that we don't know

[41:39] people out on the street it hurts breaks your heart but we also need to

[41:44] study is how people got to that point and helped rectify that too. Not only do they

[41:53] need homes, they need something to pull them out of that slump wherever they got

[42:00] there and I don't know if that's the right word that might be not good word

[42:04] for it but because they may have gotten there with of no fault of their

[42:09] own is is the way the system who knows it could have been medically pulled them

[42:15] down but it does break your heart to know you got people in your county out

[42:21] there when she said living in rental buildings I asked the first time I

[42:27] ever heard that yeah it happens more than you know and that just broke my

[42:33] heart to hear that so that needs to be some studying done on how they got to

[42:38] that point and try to rectify that, too?

[42:41] Well, so we're seeing locally, nationally,

[42:43] there's what's been going on.

[42:45] So there's a lot of the communities

[42:48] that are dealing with a large amount of folks

[42:51] that have had substance abuse problems,

[42:53] folks that have had psychological problems,

[42:56] medical problems, where they've not been allowed to work,

[42:59] hadn't been able to work.

[43:03] Behavioral hospitals are at max capacity

[43:06] and those folks unfortunately end up on our streets and it's sad

[43:13] it's gotten to

[43:15] be a way to figure that out I mean those that are drug abuse people know if

[43:20] you have to take whatever money they do get and just not let them get it and

[43:24] just pals them and make sure they eat now and and make sure you don't get the

[43:29] whole their money to get the drugs whatever it takes to take care of them

[43:33] look out at them and get them fed unfortunately a lot of folks used to

[43:37] see this stuff on the news, but now they're seeing it in their own communities and it's

[43:43] that big of a widespread problem in the country. I see it every day in things that I do. I

[43:49] see it a lot and it's eye-opening.

[43:55] It just seems like there's a way these people

[43:57] could cook and everything else for themselves and clean or if somebody could take their

[44:03] money and oversee it and make sure that they've got a roof over their head and

[44:07] housing fair to know and not let them have the money to abuse with drugs and

[44:12] all.

[44:14] Yes sir.

[44:20] I'm she brought up a water issue. Water issue is a it's not just a

[44:24] West issue it's an issue in the East. I'm fortunate myself that I was able to

[44:29] afford a water softening system in my home. You know I'm a native North

[44:33] Carolinian. You know Wake County lived in Wake County and moved to

[44:39] Pender County in 2020. You do talk about, you know, developers and the requirements of developers.

[44:45] I mean, I'm certain developers have to pay fees in order to build. I have been in the construction

[44:50] industry for about 40 years and not necessarily develop. I mean, I've been involved with development,

[44:56] not developing myself, but is there not something that could be

[45:00] When you have a developer come in that wants to build 1,000 homes, then you allow that, but

[45:05] you take 100 of those homes and make those affordable housing and make that a requirement

[45:10] for Pender County. I'm not certain that may be against state law. Most developers are

[45:15] there to make money. I hate to say it, but if you saw your home being built, you probably

[45:22] wouldn't want to live in it, because you just would not be surprised at the corners

[45:27] that are taken sometimes, you know, I see a lot of DR Horton homes going up in

[45:31] Fender County and they call themselves America's Builder, you know, let's be

[45:37] real about what they're building, you know, and so much like you, Mr. Burton,

[45:42] I have a daughter and her and her husband had to move outside of Fender

[45:45] County in order to find a home that they could afford and they still had

[45:49] to stretch a budget in order, you know, to afford a home, but I do think

[45:53] there's something to be done with the developers that are in this

[45:56] county building to make it a requirement. You know, I do know when working in Wake County

[46:01] that in lieu of a lot of towns in the county and lieu of fees would require road improvements

[46:07] to be done, not necessarily in front of that development, but in certain sites. They would

[46:12] say, you know, in lieu of paying a fee, we need you to go five miles down this road

[46:17] and we need something done on this road. And they were doing that. I saw it and

[46:22] and I've seen it for years and years and so.

[46:25] You're spot on.

[46:27] There are developers that come to some of us,

[46:32] come to planning board members

[46:34] and folks that wanna give incentives

[46:36] to be able to partner and get along with their communities

[46:40] where they're gonna build.

[46:41] There are builders out there that do that,

[46:43] developers that do that.

[46:44] And for your water question,

[46:46] coming into a new community,

[46:48] those builders do pay for all of that infrastructure

[46:51] to be put in. They do curb and gutter, pavement, do all that stuff and then at

[46:57] the end of it a lot of times it's turned over, but they do. I think one of the

[47:02] shock to me when I moved from Wake County to Pender County is that when I paid

[47:06] my county taxes I was paying for water, I was paying for sewer, I was paying for

[47:11] trash pickup and I move here and all that's privatized. You know I do pay

[47:17] Pender County water and then I have a sprinkler system that I have to pay

[47:20] as well, if I don't want that sprinkler system on,

[47:24] I have to pay an enormous fee to get it cut off.

[47:26] And that used to not be the case,

[47:28] but they increased that.

[47:29] So I don't have to use it,

[47:30] but I still have to pay an administration fee

[47:34] each month, you know, $32.50,

[47:37] if I even don't turn my sprinkler system on.

[47:39] But I will say that a lot of things

[47:42] that are privatized in Pender County,

[47:44] and most counties are not,

[47:46] and they're included in your taxes.

[47:48] And so I was really shocked as I was paying my taxes and realized, you know, a trash pickup

[47:52] was something that was not included in other things.

[47:57] That's good.

[47:58] I hope Wake County is very populated and, you know, we're dealing with spreading taxes

[48:03] to a little over 70,000 folks versus, let's say, New Hanover County.

[48:07] They're spreading taxes out around 280,000 folks.

[48:11] So that's why when you see our rates a little higher than some counties, that's

[48:15] why.

[48:16] But I agree with everything you say.

[48:19] I mean, I would love, and I know Commissioner Springer and Commissioner Groves,

[48:23] we would love to have a county-wide water and sewer system.

[48:28] Development growth could be controlled a little better then,

[48:32] but a lot of folks don't understand, and we have conversations all the time about it,

[48:37] there's folks that partake of Pima County Utilities water, they pay for the water.

[48:44] folks that have a private home, well, they don't.

[48:48] It's a separate fund.

[48:51] Those funds have to be used strictly for the water or the utilities.

[48:57] Hopefully, one of these days, and I think there's some conversations going on with county staff

[49:02] and with some commissioners to generate a plan to look into the future

[49:07] where we can modernize and move forward with our utilities,

[49:10] water sewer and everything hopefully to have a better outcome for everyone in

[49:14] the future I

[49:18] hope that helped a little bit remember

[49:25] those picture pump days I'm

[49:28] not quite that old but I remember them at grandma's house I'm that old and I'm

[49:35] glad that the Lord allowed me to be 62 men I look at but I'm 62 and I'm so glad

[49:41] of it but I'm catching you that's okay I don't never want you to catch me you

[49:47] know what that means don't you?

[49:51] But this is a safety issue and I don't know if

[49:56] you're the ones who I need to address this with or whether it's Mr. Sawyer,

[50:00] probably Mr. Sawyer. I attended the town of Burgall monthly commissioners

[50:06] meeting and there was something that was said about Bluebird Festival, other

[50:13] festivals on the courthouse square. You see it threw me and it probably threw a

[50:20] lot of people. I had no idea that the town of Burgall is not responsible for the

[50:26] upkeep of the courthouse lawn. There's potholes out there. People are falling

[50:34] and getting hurt. My understanding is that they brought it to somebody's

[50:38] attention and they just sweep it under the rug and there's one particular

[50:43] gentleman that has fallen twice. He was a vet, I'm not going to say no names, and he has no legs,

[50:49] and he's in a wheelchair, and he has fallen twice. He stumbles around a lot anyway about like me,

[50:56] but today I'm having a good day, but he has fallen twice. There's been people that have

[51:01] twisted their ankles. I need to know when are you going to please, I'm begging you just like

[51:08] at the meeting, that they're going to be contacting somebody. I hope they've already

[51:12] done it. But I'm glad this meeting is in now. I'm seeing it publicly. Please send

[51:17] someone to canvass the courthouse square and fill in those potholes because I'm

[51:24] only just going to be honest with you. If there's an event out there and even

[51:28] though I have issues with my balance and I fall, you all are looking for a

[51:34] lawsuit. I'm not talking about just for me. The person that twisted their

[51:37] anchor I'm surprised that they've not already done but

[51:44] I think that they want

[51:45] to just settle down and let it go and it's for to be addressed and they

[51:49] addressed it and I'm just addressing it now who is responsible for having the

[51:53] maintenance go out there not just hit it with the lawnmower and the weed either

[51:57] but actually now walking they go hold identified fill it put some grass seed on

[52:03] it and keep on going I don't know who that person would be because I don't

[52:09] I don't want me or my grandchild, children, to fall and get hurt because if I fall I won't be able to get up and I'm being honest with you.

[52:16] Yes ma'am. So that is a county responsibility. We maintain the courthouse and the courthouse square.

[52:22] The town of Burgall has let us know about that condition down there.

[52:30] They sent us a letter, a couple last week perhaps, our Parks and Recreation Director

[52:36] who's actually overseas, that space has already walked it with Town and Burgos staff

[52:42] and they've marked the areas and they're developing a plan not just to go fix it,

[52:45] but how to try to fix it a little more permanently as well, so maybe it doesn't happen again.

[52:49] Thank you for that because I was just shocked at what they said at that meeting, especially

[53:01] when they said they brought it to the county's attention a long time ago.

[53:06] So now we're reacting because somebody is falling, somebody doesn't hurt their legs.

[53:12] I believe that there may be some kind of legal action if somebody falls again.

[53:16] And that's just, just tell them about the safety.

[53:19] That's it.

[53:21] Thank you.

[53:24] Anybody else?

[53:33] We do have an attendance Chairman Hall

[53:35] with the Board of Education back in the back right back there.

[53:37] He's taking the meeting in and we appreciate him coming.

[53:40] Appreciate his input and his involvement in the community.

[53:44] We do.

[53:46] I would like to say we got a great relationship

[53:48] with the Board of Education

[53:49] and we look forward to the future

[53:51] of doing a lot of good things with them.

[53:53] So with that being said if there's nothing else, I don't think we had. Oh, sure

[54:00] Miss for now, thank you for coming tonight. I know you but you don't know me

[54:06] Yeah, I work for Burger Hall police department

[54:12] But anyway, I'm gonna come see you

[54:15] Are you listening? I'm gonna come see you

[54:21] Everybody in this room knows I've been fighting for water for three years three and a half years

[54:26] years, but you're exactly right. We can buy F-250s, diesels, and drive them to counties

[54:35] over to go home. That's a lot of money. Figure it up a year, we could probably put you down

[54:44] a well if you needed one or somebody else. But anyway, I did talk with David Rouser's

[54:51] office. And he told me the same thing. His office told me the same thing that

[54:58] Carson told me two months ago. If the county would put together a plan and

[55:04] submit it, we might can get some federal money, but we have to put together a

[55:10] plan. And I am asking the manager a second time to start a plan.

[55:21] And when

[55:22] When I talk with someone, Rouser or whoever, I send an email to every commissioner.

[55:28] I don't go out there in secret and try to have a meeting and try to pat myself on the back.

[55:34] That's not what I do.

[55:35] That's not what I'm about.

[55:38] I'm just like you, Ms. Fanel.

[55:40] I was raised up very poor, very poor.

[55:44] We had a pump also at one house.

[55:46] But anyway, we all made it. We always have food on the table.

[55:54] And I want to speak to the gentleman talking about house building.

[55:59] You're exactly right. My dad was a master carpenter.

[56:03] And I'm in the third house that I built with my own hands.

[56:06] The houses they're building now, they're terrible.

[56:10] And they're paying double the premium what they're worth.

[56:14] but I can't fix that the county can't fix it you know the person buying the

[56:20] house has got to fix that I

[56:29] just want to say one more thing about the water I'm

[56:33] challenging this management up in the county to put together a plan so that

[56:38] we can get all these people water all across the county we

[56:54] appreciate

[56:54] everybody's input and we have some good productive conversations miss

[56:59] now thank you for coming. A couple of things that you brought to our attention I didn't know about.

[57:05] I didn't know there was potholes or holes in the courthouse square so we need to get that tank

[57:10] here up. I do know there's always towns deal with uneven pavement and stuff like that that

[57:16] happens you know you got big oak trees with roots and that happens but thank you for bringing

[57:21] that to our attention and hopefully you'll get some of your tax questions and get that

[57:26] That situation rectified may be starting tomorrow, and I'm sure the manager has heard you clearly

[57:32] on a lot of your concerns, and you just don't speak for yourself.

[57:35] I know you're speaking for your neighbors too, but we appreciate it, and so with that

[57:41] being said, Thursday night, for those folks at home or anybody in the audience that wants

[57:46] to come over to Hampstead, we'll split this up east and west, so if you want to

[57:51] come over and we'll have some conversation over there.

[57:54] So with that being said, I'm sure the staff will hang around a few minutes if you've got anything you want to touch base with them.

[58:01] But thanks everybody for coming.

Board of County Commissioners Town Hall

Transcript