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061305June 13, 2005 The Randolph County Board of Commissioners met in special budget session at 5:30 p.m. in the Commissioners Meeting Room, County Office Building, 725 McDowell Road, Asheboro, NC. Commissioners Holmes, Frye, Davis, Kemp, and Lanier were present. Oath of Office Administered At this time Chairman Holmes administered the oath of office to Craig Frazier, who was recently reappointed to the Randolph County Soil & Water Conservation District Board. Budget Presentations Chairman Holmes announced that any department head satisfied with his/her budget could leave. Others were welcome to stay to discuss their budgets as proposed by the County Manager. Planning & Zoning Hal Johnson, Planning Director, told the Board that the only significant increase in his budget was $14,406 for a Storm Water Management Phase II Education Program and an increase in dues for the High Point Metropolitan Planning Organization. Elections Patsy Foscue, Elections Supervisor, told the Board that the early one-stop voting has become so popular that the Elections office on Worth Street saw more than 1,000 voters a day during the last election. This is a problem because that office cannot accommodate that many voters. And, over 5,000 voters went to the satellite location at the Archdale Public Library for early voting, which caused concerns about the high traffic during election time. Commissioner Frye offered to help Ms. Foscue find a more suitable location in the Archdale area. Ms. Foscue said that she is looking into the possibility of doing some renovations at the Worth Street office to provide more space. If renovations are not feasible she will investigate other nearby locations. Ms. Foscue also warned the Board that her 2006 budget will have to include funding for special equipment that will be required by the Federal government to enable handicapped citizens to vote by secret ballot. Forty-five machines, estimated at $4,400 apiece, would have to be purchased. She said that some Federal grant money may be available. Soil & Water Conservation District Craig Frazier, Soil & Water Conservation District Board Chairman, said that he is happy with his budget. He thanked the Commissioners for their new engineer position, which is really helping their department. Sheriff and Jail Sheriff Litchard Hurley said that the significant increase in his budget is for 2 new detectives, one clerical person and 2 new vehicles for the new detective personnel. Sheriff Hurley said his office has had to pull from other line items to cover shortfalls in their gasoline budget due to increased gas prices this year. But fortunately, they have not had to cut back on patrol services yet. He thanked the Board and the County Manager for their support. Emergency Services Neil Allen, Emergency Services Director, said that he is satisfied with his budget. He mentioned that the only fire department requesting an increase in their tax rate this year was Westside. They are requesting to go from $0.090 to $0.095. Public Works (Proposed Re -opening of LCID Landfill) David Townsend, III, gave an update on his investigation into the obstacles to re -opening a County land clearing inert debris (LCID) landfill. He said that Al Morton, owner of Gold Hill Landscape Supply and Mulch, is not interested in a partnership with the County at this time. Mr. Townsend said that it would cost the County about $200,000 to operate an LCID, and he estimates only $37,000-$59,000 in revenue from the sale of mulch to help offset the operation cost. Mr. Townsend is concerned that the County would see only about 250 loads of debris per year. Board members expressed concerns that opening our LCID and setting our rates too low would entice more contractors to bring their loads to the County facility, which would lead to our running out of space in only 2 or 3 years. However, they are also worried about the possibility of resorting to permitting multiple private landfills around the county if we don't open our LCID. Still another concern is that this debris is being dumped illegally around the county now. Commissioner Kemp suggested that the building permit process could be used to track where contractors are dumping their debris. This would give the County a better picture of the volume of debris out there and would help in estimating more accurately the number of loads a County LCID would receive in a given period of time. The Board instructed Mr. Townsend to do further study with the County Planning and Building Inspections departments and to report back to the Board at a later time. Adiournment On motion of Frye, seconded by Davis, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn at 6:25 p. m. J. Harold Holmes, Chairman Phil Kemp Arnold Lanier Darrell L. Frye Robert B. Davis Cheryl Ivey, Deputy Clerk to the Board