Scotland County Board of Commissioners. reconvened. meeting April 10, 2024, Edwin Morgan  Center 517 Peden Street, Laurinburg, NC  Scotland County Board of Commissioners: reconvened meeting, April 10, 2024, Edwin Commissioners in attendance: Chair Tim Ivey, Vice Chair Darrel "BJ" Gibson, Commissioners John Alford, Bo Frizzell, and' Whit Gibson. Commissioners not in attendance: Commissioners Clarence McPhatter II, and Darwin Williams. Staffi in attendance: County Manager April Snead, County Attorney Ed. Johnston, Public Buildings and Grounds Director Mike McGirt, Emergency Services Director Robert Sampson, 911 Communications Director Samantha Dutch, Clerk to the  Morgan Center 517 Peden Street, Laurinburg, NC  Board Jason Robinson, and members of the media and general public.  Call to Order and Approval oft the Agenda  Chairman Ivey called the reconvened meeting to order and asked for a motion to approve the agenda. Motion was made by Commissioner Whit Gibson to approve the agenda. Motion was duly seconded by Vice Chair Gibson. Vote to approve the agenda: Unanimous.  Consent Agenda  There were two items on the consent agenda. The approval ofs surplus of2005 Ford Crown Victoria VIN 2FAFP7IW95X14383 Motion was made by Commissioner Alford to approve the consent agenda and it was duly seconded by Vice Chair Gibson. The vote to  approve was unanimous. 2022-23A Audit Presentation  The Board next heard from Alan Thompson with the accounting firm ofThompson, Price, Scott, and Adams. Mr. Thompson reviewed the audit ending June 30, 2023. In the course ofhis review of the audit Mr. Thompson brought attention to the findings, the key numbers, and the fund balance percentages. Mr. Thompson stated that this was one area that the Local Government Commission (LGC) looks at carefully and these are something that need to be monitored very closely. Mr. Thompson also compared the audit reports for thel last 5 years and looked at the tax collection rate, and the tax rate over that period oft time. Mr. Thompson also mentioned the two findings and compared them to the findings over the last five years as well. The two violations this year were for a late audit and al budget violation. Chairman Ivey stated that he saw that he saw something where the County was depreciating the water assets too fast. Mr. Thompson stated that ifai fixed asset is more than 50% depreciated then you have tol have a plan to replace it. Discussion followed about the depreciation on the water systems. The Board then heard from Finance Director Beth Hobbs concerning the amendment of the contract for auditing services. Ms. Hobbs stated that since the audit was. late, the contract with the auditor has tol be amended. Upon hearing from Ms. Hobbs, motion was made by Commissioner Whit Gibson to approve the amended contract. Motion was dulys seconded  by Commissioner Alford and the vote to approve was unanimous. Richmond Community College (RCOPresentation  The Board next heard from Dr. Dale McInnis and Brent Barbee with Richmond Community College (RCC). Dr. McInnis stated that RCC was here today to present their budget request for the 2024-25 fiscal year. Dr. McInnis stated that the budget request for this year is focusing on facility repairs because the college is having problems with older buildings. Dr.  1    Scotland County. Board of Commissioners reconvened meeting April 10, 2024, Edwin Morgan McInnis informed the Board that the funds for repairs have gone down ini recent years and that needs to start going back up. Mr. Barbee spoke about the truck driving school that is being held in Scotland County. According to Mr. Barbee, the FAA is still reviewing the plans so that the property can be transferred and the building can bel built. Mr. Barbee stated that the program isa a success. Commissioner Whit Gibson stated that the percentage ofRCC students from Scotland County has increased to 31% and RCC has made a tremendous investment in Scotland County.  Center 517 Peden Street, Laurinburg, NC  Scotland County Schools  The Board next heard from Scotland County Schools Superintendent, Dr. Adell Baldwin. Dr. Baldwin thanked the Board for working with the school system. He stated that with the Liaison Committee he felt like the best interest oft the students were. kept at the forefront ofthe discussions. Dr. Baldwin then presented the Board with what the $10 million of current expense was being used for at the schools. This was. how the $10: million was broken down: $287,000 for the pre-K program, $200,000 for supplement and training for the superintendent, $52,000 for principals and bookkeepers, $180,000 for CTE, $45,000 One Local Teacher Assistant with Benefits, $270,000 for exceptional children's program, $85,000 to charter schools discussion followed about the reasons students want to go to charter schools and how this figure is determined, $300,000 for supplies and materials,5120,000 for public relations, $500,000 for technology, $200,000 for finance, $93,000 for Human Resources (recruitment and retention), $325,000 for transportation, $185,000 for curriculum, $500,000 for insurance, memberships, Board supplement, $260,000 for athletics, $148,000 for testing and accountability, $1,800,000 for local teacher supplement, $4.41 million in maintenance ($1.5 million of that is South Johnson payment). Discussion followed concerning South Johnson and the cost of the school versus how much was saved. Commissioner Frizzell asked ift there was a decline in students. Dr. Baldwin stated that there were, including about a 100 last year. Discussion followed about the amount per student now as compared to 10 years ago. Dr. Micheal Chapman, Operations Director for the schools stated that over those 10 years, things have gotten more expensive and the support from the State has gotten less. Dr. Baldwin also stated that in order to fix the problems that hel has identified and to put out an exceptional product, it is going to take funding.  Partners in Ministry Request  The Board: next heard from Ms. Snead who stated that Partners in Ministry (PIM) has asked to use the former East Laurinburg Town Hall free of charge. Ms. Snead stated that the building is for sale and that the HVAC system doesn'twork' because there were things stolen from the HVAC system. Discussion followed about the liability and moving the memorabilia. After discussion, consensus of the Board was to not allow. PIM to use the building.  Scotland County Building Use Policy  The Board next heard from County Manager April Snead concerning aj policy of using the community centers. According tol Ms. Snead the policy allows for the applicant to ask for special permission for alcohol and can ask for multiple security guards. Discussion followed about the hours and security requirements. Consensus ofthe Board was to keep the hours the same as Scotland. Place and to change security until after business hours. Upon conclusion of the discussion, motion was made to approve the building use policy with the noted changes of hours and security requirement by Commissioner Whit Gibson. The motion was duly seconded by Commissioner Alford and the vote to approve was unanimous.  2    Scotland County Board of Commissioners reconvened meeting April 10, 2024, Edwin Morgan  Center 517 Peden Street, Laurinburg, NC Social Media Public Records  The Board next heard from County Manager April Snead concerning archiving social media posts for the County. These posts are public records as defined by the public records law. County Attorney Ed Johnston stated that the public records law was very broad and all of these would probably fall within the definition ofaj public record. Ms. Snead stated that a company called Archive Social has presented a quote. Discussion followed about social media presence and the need for archiving. Consensus oft the Board was to do the archiving but to investigate  other companies. Sales Tax Referendum  Ms. Snead stated that this had been put on the agenda just for discussion to see ift there was interest in placing it on the ballot. Ms. Snead gave the board a timeline for when the issue could bej put on the ballot in November. Chairman Ivey stated that the last time it was done, it was not sold very well and it was done at the last minute. Discussion followed about restricting the usage and how much would go to municipalities. Finance Director Beth Hobbs stated that the last time she looked at this, the county would get a little over one million dollars ini revenue. Chairman Ivey stated that he would like tol have the travelers pay a little bit. Consensus ofthe Board was to talk toj find out about the amount that will go to the municipalities and. see ifthey  would be supportive. Funding Requests  Ms. Snead stated that there were always random funding requests that trickle in and need tol be discussed. The first of these was the Scotch Meadows Corporate Membership. Discussion followed about ifany employees are taking advantage oft this membership and how many know about it. Ms. Snead suggested that employees be made aware of the program and see how much participation is gained after this year to determine if we need to sustain that going forward. The consensus ofthe Board was to try this idea. The next request came from the Humane Society to increase their funding from $95,000 to $117,000, Ms. Snead informed the Board that the Humane Society wants to pay their employees more and they have facility needs. Discussion followed concerning animal control and the relationship between humane society. Consensus of the Board was to not increase funding. Ms. Snead then mentioned that Southeast Partnership is increasing to $25,000 from $20,000. Commissioner Whit Gibson explained what the Southeast Partnership is all about, that one of the goals is to recruit industry to Southeastern North Carolina and feels iti is a good investment. Economic Development Director Mark Ward stated that he felt itis a good group to be part of and they provide $2,000 per year in marketing. The final request Ms. Snead mentioned was for the arts council. According to Ms. Snead, somewhere along the way, $7500 was given % from the parks and recreation budget and % from the library budget to  do some collaborative work. Discussion followed about the arts council.  Preliminary 2025 Fiscal Year Budget process and where the budget is now.  The Board next heard from Finance Director Beth Hobbs. Ms. Hobbs updated the budget  Daisa at] EOC  3    Scotland County Board of Commissioners reconvened meeting April 10, 2024, Edwin Morgan  Center 517 Peden Street, Laurinburg, NC  The Board next discussed an estimate for doing a dais at thel EOC for the Board. The  estimate was about $35,000. Discussion followed but no decision was made.  Commissioner Comments  Vice Chair Gibson stated that he would like to go back to the City ofLaurinburg to see if they would contribute to the operations ofI.E. Johnson. Ms. Snead stated that she would discuss this with the City Manager. Commissioner Frizzell stated that he and Commissioner Alford had been discussing moving the commissioner meetings around to different locations within Scotland County. Discussion followed and it was decided that this would begin within the 2024 calendar  year. Adjournment  Having no further business, Motion was made by Commissioner Whit Gibson to  adjourn and it was duly seconded by Vice Chair Gibson. Vote: Unanimous  Clerk to the Board (County Seal)   Chair  Aer  4