May 6 2012

Substation Moving to Westport Fire Department

The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office North end sub-station at Brunswick Forest is now in the process of moving to 1379 River Rd (Hwy 133),  It will  be located at the Leland Fire/Rescue Station 5.   Anyone from the Leland, Winnabow area seeking a gun permit, police report or information should contact the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office at 910-253-2777.  The new sub-station will be fully operational on Monday, May 14th, 2012.  The hours of operation are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.  The phone numbers will remain the same 910-383-3352.  Anyone needing further information about the substation should contact Major Keith Smith at 910-547-7129

May4 2012

Former BC Hospital Building
Destined for Wrecking Ball if Sale
Negotiations Fail

According to Brunswick County Manger Marty Lawing, Crown Management Group LLC of Hope Mills, North Carolina, has withdrawn its $1.5 million offer to purchase the former Brunswick County hospital in Supply. Lawing said it is costing the county $25,000 to $35,000 per month just to maintain the hospital, even though no one is using it. Estimated cost of maintaining it for one year, including temperature control, boiler diesel fuel cost, and other necessary items is projected to exceed $600,000. Lawing said the boilers and the air conditioning system by themselves are the major expense to the county, since these systems must be maintained. The excessive maintenance expense is another good reason to demolish the facility, Lawing added.
There have been no other offers to purchase the facility. If the county does not receive any more offers, or the negotiations fall through with Crown, the county will demolish the building and sell the property. Lawing noted this prospect was a disappointment, in that proposed plans by the group bidding on the hospital could have created 200 or more new jobs for the county.
As for the offer from Crown being withdrawn, Lawing speculated that final engineering cost estimates to upgrade the facility to a psychiatric facility may have been too high. Lawing said Crown may come back to the table with a lease-purchase agreement, but could not verify this proposal.
Lawing also noted he has received a “budget price” estimated of over $300,000 for the razing of the building, but he will request other bids for the demolition if current sales negotiations cease.
The package offered for sale includes the old hospital building, 32-acre site, three ancillary buildings, and five medical office suites. The main building was given back over to the County last summer when previous occupant, Brunswick Community Hospital, moved three miles north to the new Brunswick Novant Medical Center.
County Commissioners had hoped to get at least $2.5 million, but only one bid came in at $500,000. Only after some negotiations did the county receive the $1.5 million offerr.
Lawing said that the county would probably decide the fate of the building within 30 days.

by John Crowder  john@theLNR.com

April 6 2012

Cmmissioners Approve Funding EMS Non-Emergency Transport through End of Fiscal Year

By Mike Leggett Mike@theLNR.com

Brunswick County commissioners at their April 2 meeting approved Phase 1 of the non-emergency transport plan and its associated budget amendment. This will allow Brunswick County EMS to continue supplying non-emergency transportation through the County. A decrease in private sector transport has put a strain on Brunswick County EMS service. Currently, 58 of North Carolina’s 100 counties provide this service through the County EMS.
Brian Watts, EMS Deputy Director, presented recommendations to fund two additional transport units, and four Intermediate EMTs to handle non-emergency transports. The amount requested in the budget amendment was $344,720. Commissioner Scott Phillips said he was reluctant to fund the full amount based on 30 days of data. Phillips moved to fund $106,901 through the end of the fiscal year, which would give Brunswick County EMS half of its request. According to County Finance Director Ann Hardy, some funds would be shifted within EMS budget to facilitate the balance required.
Phillips noted this action would give commissioners additional time to examine non-emergency transport data in an ongoing process, and take the matter up during budget discussions. The motion passed unanimously.

Commissioners Approve $9.8 Million Bond Issue for Sewage Treatment Plant Upgrade

by John Crowder   John@theLNR.com
In a move to upgrade capacity of the Brunswick County sewage treatment plant for northern Brunswick County, commissioners approved issuing a $9.8 million bond to pay for the expansion of the facility off of Royster Road.
Preliminary bids came in at $1 million over projected costs estimated by the county’s engineering firm. Public utilities director Jerry Pierce said the county is still negotiating with the low bidder. The bond issue will pay for a treatment capacity increase from 1.6 to approximately 2.5 million gallons per day.
According to Brunswick Regional Water & Sewer H2GO Executive Director Bob Walker, if the county accepts the bid, all of northern Brunswick County’s sewer rates would increase an average of 20% to 25%. Walker said BRWS and the town of Leland will, in all likelihood, pay for 60-70% of the expansion cost of the Northwest sewer treatment plant, which is owned by the county.
Brunswick County Finance Director Ann Hardy indicated that monies not used in the $9.8 million bond could be used for expansion of the transmission lines, engineering. and construction cost of the sewer collection system upgrades.
Commissioners also approved contracts with W.K. Dickson and McKim and Creed consulting engineers for design of the upgrade of the wastewater transmission system connected to the County’s Northeast sewer plant for northern Brunswick County. Officials have said the lines currently in place in northern Brunswick County need to be upgraded. Better design is needed to accommodate future needs, and to improve of the sewer collection system. The engineering firms will design the upgrades oversee construction once the projects are put out for bids. The approved engineering contracts totaled $492,000.
The actions resulted from months of planning by northern Brunswick County municipalities, Brunswick Regional Water Sewer H2GO sanitary district, and the county, now commonly referred to as the “partners.” However, the towns of Northwest and Navassa have argued that the transmission upgrades do not affect them and they cannot afford to pay for their share of the cost, leaving some questions by the other partners as to who will cover those towns’ financial obligations.
In other business, Brunswick County’s MIS Director Steve Randone presented a request for upgrading the county’s “antiquated” tax software programs. Randone reported that a few years ago, the county decided to develop its own, in-house programs based on the COBOL software developed in-part by programmer Steve Harkey. Harkey was killed in an automobile accident several years ago, making it hard for county programmers to maintain system software.
County commissioners unanimously agreed to allow the county’s IT department to begin talks with the BI-Tek, a Charlotte-based company, to develop a cost estimate for new tax software. BI-Tek develops and delivers software to assist local government agencies in managing real estate and personal property appraisal, taxation, and tax collection. Randone explained the county is very interested in the appraisal software that BI-Tek can provide.
Before the vote, Commission Vice Chairman Phil Norris said the county “Needs to get this right.” That sentiment was echoed by Chairman Bill Sue, who added, “Let’s not waste any more money on this project.”

March 5 2012

BC Commissioners Talk Marriage,
Medical Transport, and Trash at March 5 Meeting

With little fanfare, Brunswick County Commissioners at their March 5 meeting passed a resolution to support Senate Bill 514. The bill would place the question of what constitutes a marriage on the May primary ballot. Several persons spoke for and against the resolution, but, without any discussion, the motion passed in the consent agenda by a vote of 4 to 1, with Commissioner Charles Warren voting against approving the consent agenda.
The commissioners’ resolution supports the issue “on behalf of the citizens of the county” and thanked Brunswick County legislators for pushing to put the issue on the May ballot.”
County commissioners also tabled a request from Brunswick County Emergency Medical Services to spend $350,000 to initiate a non-emergency, medical transport service. AmeriTech, which had been providing this service, has allegedly discontinued it. The county’s EMS program began providing this service after the AmeriTech action became known, and after the county began receiving calls for the service through its 9-1-1 system.
State law requires that emergency medical services be assured by each county, but there is no requirement for a county to provide non-emergency medical transport service. According to Leland Fire/Rescue chief John Grimes, Leland does not provide this service, nor, as far as he knew, do other county rescue squads.  AmeriTech had two ambulances in the county and had provided the service through the end of February. It was reported that AmeriTech is now down to 10 employees from a previous total of approximately 30.  County Manager Marty Lawing noted that in one week, the county had provided 42 non-emergency transports. “The private sector is the way to go,” said Warren.  Other commissioners felt the county should not compete with private companies where non-emergency medical transport is not mandated.
Following discussion and questions from the commissioners, Commissioner Phil Norris motioned to table the issue until the first meeting in April. Additionally, commissioners asked county staff to schedule a meeting with First Med, another medical transport company providing service in Brunswick County.
In other business, commissioners heard a request from Waste Industries to extend the company’s solid waste contract with the county. Waste Industries currently provides collection and disposal for all solid waste in the county. The current contract sets the rate at $11.66 per container, with a provision to compensate for rising fuel expenses. Stone said WI is proposing to provide service at the same base rate without the fuel surcharge in exchange for the county’s extending the company’s contract for five years. Under WI’s proposal, the county would save approximately $876,000 per year, or about $.94 per household. Stone added there have been few complaints about WI service. Commissioner Cook said he would be ready to sign the contract now. Norris and Chairman Bill Sue said staff should continue to discuss and negotiate the agreement.

by John Crowder john@theLNR.com

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January 6 2012

Warren and Fellow Commissioners Spar during December 19 Meeting

Discussion gets dicey over issue of Warren’s actions at recent DSS board meeting.

By John Crowder john@theLNR.com

Friction continues to build between Brunswick County Commissioner Charles Warren and his fellow members of the Board of Commissioners. The rift was obvious during the December 19 regular meeting in Bolivia, with things getting a bit out of hand by the end of the session.

During the public comment period early in the meeting, several members of the public stated their concerns over the actions of Charles Warren regarding his actions as chairperson of the Brunswick County Department of Social Services board. During a recent DSS board meeting, Warren ordered a member of the board to leave the meeting due to her “disruptive” behavior. A reporter from a local newspaper was also asked to leave. Earlier this year, Warren was censured by the board of commissioners for refusing to resign his position on the DSS board in order to conform to the county commission’s new ethics policy.

Warren being escorted out of the Commissioner's meeting

Requesting an adjustment to the commissioners’ meeting agenda, Chairman Bill Sue asked that a discussion of the DSS board situation be placed in the “other business” segment of the agenda. Warren questioned Sue’s motive and then voted against the agenda revision. Warren asked to respond to the public’s allegations, but Sue kept correcting him, noting that he (Warren) would have the opportunity to do that at the appropriate time in the meeting.

Later in the meeting, the Board, acting on a motion by Chairman Bill Sue, voted to schedule a hearing for January 17 to determine if Warren should be removed from the DSS Board. “Things like this…lead me to believe that this board is nothing but a bunch of racists,” Warren said. Sue then ruled Warren out of order multiple times, finally asking him to leave the meeting. When Warren refused, Sue asked BCSO deputies to escort Warren from the building. As Warren was leaving he yelled “Merry Christmas,” and exited the building.

In other business, commissioners approved a motion to enter into negotiations with Crown Management Group regarding purchase of the old Brunswick County Hospital site. The group has offered the County $500,000 for the facility, which is considerably lower than the $2.5 million asking price set by the county. County Manager Marty Lawing will continue negotiations with Crown about offer. It has been reported that the company desires to develop the hospital into a psychiatric facility.

Additionally, commissioners heard from Brunswick County Health Director David Stanley regarding the Board of Health’s request to contract a full time animal control officer for the remainder of the current fiscal year. Stanley noted the Board of Health feels this position is vital to the animal control program, with current animal control officers logging as many as 700 to 800 hours of overtime per year. According to Stanley, the position became vacant in October, and as replacement individual is desperately needed to maintain services and help the morale of the current staff. He suggested that a contract officer be hired for several months to give the department an opportunity to adjust and prioritize services to the public and help compensate for the loss of manpower.

“There have been over 6,000 calls acted upon by the animal control officers ink the past year, and it apparent that these request are not decreasing,” Stanley added.  A suggestion was made that volunteers be used to fill the void,  but Stanley responded that some volunteers can be used in shelter care, but using volunteers for picking up animals and enforcing animal control laws would not appropriate. Commissioners asked Stanley funds available in the department’s budget for contracted services. He noted the department has only enough money to fill the need for one more month at the most.

Commissioners also approved a resolution requesting the local state legislative delegation to introduce a bill requiring voter identification prior to voting in local elections. The motion was approved by a vote of 4-1, with Warren casting the opposing vote.

October 21 2011

County Commissioners Hear Highlights from
Audited BC Financial Reports

n a presentation to Brunswick County commissioners at the October 17 meeting, Bryan Starnes, partner at Martin Starnes and Associates, reported his firm has no issues with the financial reports filed by the county. “Very comprehensive” was the auditing firm’s opinion, and Starnes stated that he enjoys coming to Brunswick County.
Commissioners voted to accept the unqualified audit opinion and the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report as presented for the Fiscal Year 2010-11, and authorize staff to submit the report to the Local Government Commission. The county will also make the report available to other interested parties.
It was noted that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has not provided counties the necessary information to complete the Schedule of State and Federal Assistance that is included in the compliance letters section of the audit report. Accordingly, Brunswick County will submit the compliance letters in a separate report to be issued at a future date.
The audit report noted:
Brunswick County population increased from 110,292 in 2010 to 111,127 in 2011;
Total revenues increased from $156.3 million in 2010 to $158.4 million in 2011;
Total expenditures in 2011 were $154.4, down from $175.2 million in 2010;

Ad valorem tax revenues were $100.5 million in 2010, with a
decrease to $100.4 million in 2011. ($102.6 million in ad valorem tax revenue is projected for 2012);
Property assessed value is projected to be $23.7 million, down from $33.6 million in 2011;
Government funds investment earnings FY 2012 are projected at $0.2 million down from $0.4 million in 2011, but significantly down from $5.2 million earned in 2008;
Expenditures are projected to be $149.8 million in 2012, up from $144.4 million in 2011;
In other business, commissioners awarded a contract to Canal Wood LLC to remove timber from land purchased by the county off of Highway 211 in Supply. The contract guarantees the county will receive $75,522 for the timber.

by John Crowder john@theLNR.com

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