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By Charlotte Smith

The Bladen County Board of County Commissioners opened this week’s meeting with a moment of silence, remembering former Bladen County Commissioner of 24 Years, James G. “Jimmie” Smith, who recently passed away. Reverend Jonathan Hayes, Pastor of Wesley’s Chapel Church, provided an invocation for the January 18, 2022 commissioners’ meeting.

Consent Items:

In the consent items, the budget amendments with increases were approved. View the full report here.

The commissioners scheduled a public hearing for 6:30 pm on Monday, February 7, 2022, to receive comments regarding a rezoning request by Clark Brothers to allow for future commercial uses on the property located at the intersection of NC 87 Bypass and NC 87.

The commission board approved adopting an amended 2022 Board of Commissioners’ Meeting Schedule. View the amended schedule in a PDF here: Amended 2022 Board of Commissioners’ Meeting Dates

The Commissioners approved the review of the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Submitted by Southeastern Community Action Partnership.

The Board approved the School Resource Officer Agreement between Bladen County Schools and Bladen County Sheriff’s Office for six (6) School Resource Officers for a maximum total cost of $369,323.00 for twelve (12) months made in six payments of $22,539.17 each month. The agreement states the Sheriff’s Office will not invoice the School System if any of the positions remain vacant or unfilled.

Recognitions:

Next, the Commissioners recognized County of Bladen employees for years of service and retirements.

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Those employees recognized for years of service are as follows:

Crystal Rogers, with the Department of Social Services (DSS) for five years of service.
Jill Sampson, with DSS for 15 years of service.
Tenecia Johnson, with DSS for 15 years of service.
Timothy Brown, with EMS for five years of service.
Andrea Singletary, with the health department for 15 years of service.
Becky Culbreth, with the health department for 25 years of service.
Dale Clewis, with Information Technologies for 20 years of service.
Wendy Martin, with the Register of Deeds for 10 years of service.
Penny Britt, with the Sheriff’s Office-Communications for 20 years of service.
Daniel Miller, with the Sheriff’s Office for five years of service.
Gary Turlington, with the Sheriff’s Office for five years of service.
James Monroe, with the Sheriff’s Office for 10 years of service.

Employees recognized for retirements are as follows:

Emily Bronson, with DSS, who served 31 years, retired on December 31, 2021.
Debra Jones, with DSS, who served 17 years, retried on December 31, 2021.
Linda Clark, with Economic Development, who served 17 years, retired on December 31, 2021.
Phil Corbett, with the Sheriff’s Office, served 30 years and retired on December 31, 2021.
James Hilburn, with Animal Control, served four years and retired on December 31, 2021.
Willie McLaughlin, with General Services, served for 31 years and retired on December 31, 2021.

Resolution:

A resolution to formally requesting the North Carolina Department of Commerce, NC Works Commission, to retain the boundaries of the Lumber River Local Workforce Development Area in its final recommendations for statewide realignment or consolidation of Local Workforce Development Areas (LWDAs) or Local Workforce Development Boards (LWDBs) was presented to the Board. The Lumber River Local Workforce Development Area (LRLWDA) includes Bladen, Hoke, Richmond, Robeson, and Scotland Counties.

In an email from Patricia T. Hammonds with Lumber River Local Workforce Development Area to the Bladen County Board of Commissioners about the consolidation, she states, “If a consolidation or realignment is approved, this may affect local area workforce development funding and eliminate any local control or local decision making on key workforce initiatives.”

No discussion was made on the resolution to consolidate. Commissioner Charles Ray Peterson made the motion to approve the resolution, the second came from Commissioner Rodney Hester, and the resolution was approved unanimously.

Matters of the Commissioners:

In matters of the commissioners, Commissioner Arthur Bullock announced he received an email from Rev. Joyce Lawrence regarding “restarting the community outreach project on the courthouse lawn.” Rev. Lawrence would like to start the outreach on April 16, 2022, around 12 noon.

Commissioner Peterson asked what the outreach event would be about on the courthouse lawn. Commissioner Danny Ellis interjected, saying, “I believe it is a prayer meeting.”

County of Bladen Manager Greg Martin agreed to send Rev. Lawrence the form to fill out for the event.

Then, Commissioner Peterson said, “I got one request. I would like to request again for the Bladen County Board of Education to come give us an update on the building in Tar Heel.”

Chair of the Board, Ray Britt, replied, “I talked to Mr. Atkinson right after their last meeting, and he said they still have a couple of things to resolve. It may take two meetings, and then they should be prepared to make a presentation.”

Commissioner Ophieila Munn-Goins said, “I think they are running out of time. Their timeline is getting short. They need to give a date for this month because if not, they will not be able to meet any of the requirements that they have presented to us in the past.”

The requirements Dr. Munn-Goins alluded to were the septic issues, an RFP not being published, and the students being in the building by August of 2023.

“I’m just trying to keep peaceful communication with them. I think they are doing what they can do, and they said they would be coming,” Britt countered, “There are some underlining issues that we don’t know about here, but I’m only one commissioner, so you all do what you want.”

Commissioner Cameron McGill offered a “line in the sand” by giving the Board of Education a deadline in February to make a presentation to the Board of Commissioners.

Commissioner Peterson made a motion to give the Board of Education a February 21 deadline to present an update on the Tar Heel construction to the Board of Commissioners. Peterson stated, “All I want is an update because it’s county tax dollars. They don’t have the authority to borrow money, and two percent on 40 million dollars is 800 thousand dollars a month, and it’s the biggest building project that has happened in Bladen County.”

McGill made the second to the motion.

Commissioner Michael Cogdell asked Commissioner Peterson what he wants the Board of Education to present.

“All I want is an update. I want to know where they are on the project and where they are on the bids. If they can’t give us an update, we better be worried,” Commissioner Peterson responded.

Commissioner Mark Gillespie asked why the Board of Education did not appear before the commissioners as requested. He explained they could have requested more time to present updates. He said, “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Commissioner Ellis agreed, “I believe in transparency. It is such a big project, and I don’t think we are overstepping any boundaries.”

The Board passed the motion in a unanimous vote.

County Finance:

Mrs. Lisa Coleman reviewed the Financial Dashboard, as well the Federal Inmate Program summary with the Board members. View the reports Ms. Coleman presented here: Financial Dashboard PE and Federal Inmate Spreadsheet Dec-2021.

Kip McClary presented paving projects for the county. Mr. McClary’s report stated, “The 2021/2022 Budgeted Paving Improvements was initially put out for bid November 4, 2021. Since only one bid was received, the project was re-advertised, and bids were received again on January 10, 2022. Again only one bid was received. Barnhill Contracting of Fayetteville bid a total of $1,210,499.90. The project included four new paving locations and five repair-and-resurfacing of existing parking lots. Since the bid was above budget estimates, it is recommended that we focus only on resurfacing the existing parking lots at this time for a total project amount of $371,086.50. Budget amendments will still be necessary to fund this project. New Paving projects can be moved forward into next year’s budget.”

“The bid was way more than we had originally budgeted,” McClary stated.

“The requests were put out for bids twice, and only one bid was submitted.”

“The resurfacing is pressing,” Martin stated.

“Building materials have gone up like 800 percent,” McClary reported. No action was taken on the paving projects.

Health & Human Services:

Dr. Teresa Duncan, Bladen County Health and Human Services Director, and Registered Nurse Jordan Hunsinger presented the 2021 Communicable Disease Report. View the report here:

Communicable Disease Report 2021

After the report, Ms. Hunsinger presented an overview of a needle exchange program that an HRSA grant may fund.

Pros to offering this program to our county include:

Allows safe disposal of used needles to reduce threats to our community.
Reduces the risk of contaminated needles being used, thus decreasing the spread of infectious diseases.
Decreases the risk of law enforcement officers becoming infected by accidental needle sticks.

Dr. Duncan also presented a Memorandum of Understanding between Bladen County Health Department and Trillium Health Resources, outlining the agencies’ referral process.

An update regarding the Health Department’s strategic plan and process and the presentation for the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee (HHSAC) operating procedures for how the committee operates was given by Dr. Duncan.

An update for COVID-19 and the Vaccination process was also given by Dr. Duncan and David Howell, Director with Bladen County Emergency Management Services. In the update, the two professionals announced there is a shortage in transportation and equipment. COVID-19 is spreading more rapidly, which is causing shortages.

There are people that have had to wait six and seven days for transport, both Duncan and Howell reported.

Omicron is more easily transmitted than the other variants, Dr. Duncan explained. She reminded those in attendance handwashing, social distancing, and wearing masks are key to decreasing the spread of COVID-19.

Advisory Appointments:

Next, the commissioners tackled the advisory committee appointments.

Ethel Davis and Sandra Guions were reappointed to the Adult Care Home Community Advisory Board.

Airport Appeals Board members Jeff Huff, Reynold Hester, and John Dove were all reappointed.

Wendell Brown, Jerry Graham, Amber Sholar, Lisa Nance, and Joan Allen were all reappointed for the BARTS Advisory Board.

Although the East Arcadia Fire Department Firefighter’s Relief Fund Board will dissolve, and the funds will be distributed to the Riegelwood Fire Department, the current members were reappointed.

The Board replaced John Packer with Jamie Priest and John Carter, Jr. with Kathleen Munroe on the Lisbon Fire District Committee and reappointed George Barber to the committee.

Chuck Heustess was reappointed to the Southeastern Economic Development Commission.

Dr. Danny Ellis and Dr. Mollie Glenn were appointed to the Trillium Southern Regional Advisory Board. Commissioners Bullock, Gillespie, and Munn-Goins voted against the appointments for the Trillium advisory board.

County Manager Report:

Mr. Martin, the county manager, presented the following are dates for the FY 2022-2023 Budget meetings, Public Hearings, and special meetings:

February 7, 2022: Submit completed survey questions.
February 21, 2022: Pre-Budget Hearing.
May 9, 2022 (tentative): Special Meeting to present FY 2022-2023 recommended Budget.
June 6, 2022 (tentative): Public Hearing to receive comments regarding FY 2022-2023 Proposed Budget.
Adopt FY 2022-2023 Budget by July 1, 2022.

The Board approved the dates.

Closing out the board meeting, Mr. Martin also gave an update regarding the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). On January 6, 2022, the US Department of the Treasury issued the Final Rule governing eligible uses of State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) under ARPA. Along with the Final Rule, the Treasury also published an overview that outlines the major provisions of the Final Rule. The Final Rule provides several key changes from the interim final rule published on May 17, 2021. The Final Rule broadens the eligible uses and provides recipients with more flexibility in administering funds.

Watch the full meeting on the County of Bladen’s YouTube Channel linked below: