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KENANSVILLE — During their meeting on Monday night, the Board of County Commissioners approved the purchase of a $430,000 parcel located on Limestone Road in Kenansville. The building will support Water Department operations.
“This will facilitate ease of use for residents. It will provide a better working location and conditions for employees. It will provide drive-through payment options and capabilities. And this option is far less expensive than erecting a new facility,” said County Manager Bryan Miller regarding the planned expenditure, noting that the building will house administrative operations. “The field operations will remain in their current location along with the SCADA equipment that we’ve recently updated.”
Also, at the meeting, the board approved a resolution for the expenditure of opioid settlement funds for the period from Jan. 6 to June 30.
Miller reported that the Early Intervention Program has reached approximately 3,700 school-aged children in Duplin County.
According to the resolution, the allocations are as follows: $38,037.20 for collaborative strategic planning, $127,889.91 for early intervention, $60,855.92 for Naloxone distribution, and $25,400 for addiction treatment for incarcerated individuals. The total planned expenditures for this six-month period amount to $252,183.03.
The resolution includes the addition of two new part-time positions, while one full-time position has been eliminated. Miller also noted an increase in Naloxone expenditures due to a reduction in grant-funded supplies from East Pointe and other agencies. “We currently pay about $16.50 per dose for Naloxone,” said Miller.
In other business:
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The board approved a request to extend the tax listing period until Feb. 14.
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Miller conducted a public hearing on behalf of the county planning director to propose an amendment to the Duplin County Unified Development Ordinance, which has a setback requirement of 20 feet for all property lines. The proposed amendment would change the setback requirements for accessory structures from 20 feet to 5 feet on all sides and rear property lines. However, the commissioners decided not to take any action on this proposal.
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The board approved a motion to name the two new lanes at Cypher Green RV Park: Queen Kate Lane and Cipher Lane.
During the County Manager updates portion of the meeting, Miller presented the idea of contracting a legislative liaison, similar to what other counties are doing, and sought the board’s opinion.
“With the long session essentially beginning this week for our legislature and considering the recent natural disaster in the western part of the state along with the leadership changes in the legislature, both the Deputy County Manager and I think it best that we, Duplin County, engage a legislative liaison on a contractual basis,” said Miller, adding that this would ensure that Duplin County does not get overlooked as the legislature’s major focus shifts westward.
“Over 50% of the counties in North Carolina currently contract with some kind of legislative liaison; and without constant representation in this cycle — and this is an incredibly important cycle — we may not receive the attention we as a county deserve and need,” said Miller. He added that they have negotiated a fee of $4,000 per month for a liaison for the remainder of the calendar year. He emphasized that having someone involved in every discussion related to Duplin County would be advantageous.
“And when something comes up that affects Duplin County, they can speak to the needs of Duplin County when those arise when that conversation begins. Many times, what happens in these conversations is the counties with somebody there get the appropriations from the beginning. Then there’s no money left for the smaller counties,” said Miller.
All the commissioners agreed that it was worth considering, but they wanted to ensure that their legislators were on board. They asked Miller to find out if the legislators would welcome having a liaison or if they felt it was unnecessary.
“What I’ve heard is the board doesn’t have a problem with it if our representatives would take it as something that can help them help us,” said Chairman Dexter Edwards. “If they feel like it’s not needed, then we don’t want the waste of money… Money spent is money gone.”
Miller also highlighted the necessity of rewriting the personnel policy, which would cost $7,000.
“Our current personnel policy seems to have been constructed by taking different policies from different counties and just putting them into one policy, which has caused us significant issues in the past. Our policies will say conflicting things in different areas,” said Miller explaining that the policy has not been revised in the last decade.
The board expressed no objections, adding that he did not require their approval but had their support for his decision. The revised policy will be presented to the board for approval once it is completed. Additionally, Duplin County offices will be closed on Jan. 20 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
