00:24good evening I'd like to call the March
00:274th meeting of the Alexander Board of
00:31order at this time I will call on
00:33commissioner Kent Herman for our
00:35invocation and then I will lead the
00:42Allegiance would by with me dear
00:45heavenly father just thank you for
00:46letting us come here this afternoon
00:48thank you for this board thank you for
00:50all the citizens that showed up here
00:52this afternoon for this meeting just
00:54lead and guide and direct us and
00:56everything we do here be pleasing in
00:58sight be with our First
01:01Responders and our firemen our deputies
01:05all of our law enforcement be with them
01:07look after them they return to the
01:11homes just help us to make all the aware
01:14of all the politicians that would that
01:17would do things pleasing in your sight
01:18there's so much unrest in this world
01:21today and get them back closer to you
01:24and doing the things that are important
01:27to the citizens in these different
01:30countryes dear Lord and now be with all
01:33of us as we return back to our respected
01:36homes Keep Us Safe till we return in
01:39your name I pray amen amen can we Face
01:45please attention salute pledge I pled to
01:50the flag of the United States of America
01:54and to the Republic for which it stands
01:57one nation under God indivisible with
02:01liberty and justice for all thank you
02:09seated first um next item on the agenda
02:13is a special recognition of the
02:16Alexander Central High School cheer
02:20team and I will call on commissioner
02:22Larry Yoder for that
02:25presentation well first of all let me
02:27tell you it's an honor for you all to be
02:29here and uh it's it just tickles me to
02:32death what you all have done and I've
02:35got something here and I'm going to read
02:36but before I read that I really want to
02:38say that I've thought about you all for
02:40several weeks now and the one thing
02:42that's impressed me the most is the fact
02:45that the way you all have worked
02:46together as a team how you have
02:48struggled together how you have gained
02:51trust in one another because you have to
02:55trust your teammate in order to do some
02:57of the things that you have have done
02:59and to to compete you have to trust that
03:01they've educated themselves and worked
03:03in a way that they'll be able to perform
03:06on stage and I hope and pray and well my
03:09prayer for you is this is that as long
03:12as you go throughout life that you will
03:14remember these times that you had at
03:16Alexander Central High School and that
03:18you will remember those relationships
03:21that you developed with those teammates
03:24beside you because those teammates
03:27trusted you you trusted them
03:30they had confidence in you and look what
03:33you ladies and gentlemen
03:35achieved and you can only do that by
03:39having faith and trust in your fellow
03:41teammates and that means a lot to you it
03:44means a lot to this community and I know
03:48that your parents are extremely proud of
03:50what you all have accomplished I'm proud
03:52of you this community is proud of you
03:54and I've watched cheerleaders for a long
03:56time and the thing you have to remember
03:58it is a sport because there's no way
04:01that you can just walk out there and do
04:03those things and I I I think it's the
04:06thing that I'm just thrilled to death
04:08about though is the fact of the teamwork
04:10and the confidence building and how you
04:12learn to work together to make things
04:14happen that going to be vitally
04:16important to you down the road and in
04:18life it'll be vitally important to you
04:21because the people that you work beside
04:23of the people that you deal with each
04:25day in life you're going to have to
04:27learn how to trust people and to respect
04:29one another another and to work together
04:31that's a valuable lesson for you and I
04:34am so proud of you all for accomplishing
04:36that and now I'm going to read a little
04:37bit about what went on and and what
04:39you've done for the last year okay last
04:42month the ACs cheer team traveled to
04:44Orlando Florida to compete in the
04:46National High School cheerleading
04:48championship this competition is held by
04:50the universal cheer Association better
04:53known as UCA the team competed in the
04:57superlarge D2 nonble varsity game day
05:00division before before traveling to
05:03Nationals the team competed in multiple
05:08competitions they placed first at
05:11Davidson College Spirit
05:12Invitational first at UCA pedot Regional
05:16where the team earned a bid to the
05:18Nationals that was the big one first
05:21place in their division Grand game day
05:24Champions an overall high score at all
05:26day cheerleading pedmont Regional four
05:29at the North Carolina High School
05:31athletic cheerleading Invitational first
05:33at North Carolina Cheer coaches
05:35association state championship this team
05:38is backto back state champions as well
05:41the team put on an excellent performance
05:44in the semi-finals which earned them a
05:46spot in the finals they were able to
05:49bring home seventh in the nation in
05:51their division this is the cheer team's
05:53first time competing in the national
05:56competition at the history of the ACs
05:59year now the team members include Grant
06:03seore and if I mispronounce your name
06:05understand one thing I totally apologize
06:07before it may happen Okay so don't laugh
06:10at me D wait till I do it then laugh
06:12okay all right but uh Grant seore
06:19Andross did I say that right all right
06:23okay all right Alicia Barnes Riley
06:26Parsons Ella Boston Reese buff pton
06:31sites this is the good one right here no
06:35Hollingsworth Grace Gomez Ania
06:39Taylor Lauren eard Jordan Hughes Tina
06:44little Candace chers Celeste sty leather
06:49Lily cornette Cheyenne Honeycut Alicia
06:54Bumgarner Addison head Gracie Evans Emma
06:58coy Ella Preston mcka Harold AA hick
07:04Hickerson Bray pennel Reagan sharp Kendy
07:09Rollins and Maria Miller and the coaches
07:13are and folks you couldn't do this out
07:16without your coaches the coaches
07:17instilled in you that leadership ability
07:20that they had in order to bring out the
07:22best in you and there were probably days
07:24that you went home and said oh do I
07:26really have to go back but you you know
07:29when things would happen you would
07:31respond and you did what the coaches
07:33asked you the team coaches are Autumn
07:36Roberts Mindy severt and Kelly Huffman
07:41and guys I'm just I mean I I can't say
07:43enough good things about you thank
07:51y'all and so you'll remember this night
07:55we also have an Alexander Kenny pin for
07:57each of you and I'm going to give those
07:59to coach Mindy I known her mama for 400
08:02years and we've been friends I'll tell
08:05you a little story about her mother just
08:06so you'll know back when her mother was
08:09a young kid about the size of this young
08:12man and I was on the highway patrol and
08:14her mother worked at the her grandmother
08:17worked at the hospital well whenever her
08:19grandmother had to come to the hospital
08:21to take X-rays she had to bring her with
08:25her so I would push her around the
08:27hospital while she was working her mom
08:29has never forgot that it was a good time
08:32but thank you and God bless you and we
08:34appreciate everything you and the girls
08:36and the men at Alexander Cent have done
08:38and you too big guy okay all
08:48righty I think it be EAS to do it that
08:56picture then y'all have to wear your
08:58smiling face is and you know see I know
09:01how to do that that's the easy part
09:03right yeah this is Ouran and is the okay
09:07hold it up in front out put the banner
09:09out put it out stand right in front of
09:11us that way we BL us and we'll be doing
09:16yes this is about you ladies and
09:19gentlemen do we want to stand up behind
09:20them no let them have it this is there
09:23Shane asked yeah I'm good right yeah I'm
09:26good Bandy your dad's home okay all
09:32yeah well if y'all I guess we could
09:37up come on Stand Up Guys
09:42will over come over here SC y scoot in a
10:36now I know yall not B so if any of you
10:37would like to say something we'll let
10:39you stand over there at the mic and say
10:45something thank you all so
10:53much next item on our agenda is
10:57commissioner's report do do any
10:59Commissioners have anything they would
11:00like to report to the
11:02board uh Mr chairman I just have one
11:04thing since we're into the uh
11:07cheerleading recognition the lady
11:09Wildcats in Wittenberg 910 girls had a
11:13perfect season 16 games zero losses when
11:17the pre season tournament all the season
11:19games end of season tournament won that
11:23the uh girls names are Abby Huffman Ava
11:26Johnson Lexi carrian Walker CLA prestel
11:31and McKenna Austin Mark prel was the
11:34coach of that team and just like to
11:36recognize that for those girls that's a
11:38pretty big accon to win those games and
11:52else do thank to cheerleaders and the
11:54parents you for making it able so they
11:57could get down there get back
11:59and provide some funding so know how
12:02is one one thing I'll mention um
12:05obviously tomorrow's election day and I
12:08just wanted to say um how much we
12:11appreciate our Board of Board of
12:13Elections and the job they do
12:16um previous elections have always run
12:18very smoothly and from what I understand
12:21the current election is also running
12:23very smoothly to this point and
12:26uh just want to mention
12:31um the Board of Elections and
12:34staff um and so and say we appreciate
12:37what they do and and good
12:41else all right um moving right
12:46along gentlemen we need
12:50to with the adoption of our agenda
12:52agenda there are two things that needed
12:54to be added to the consent
12:56agenda um that information has
13:00been given to you one pertains to
13:04inspection uh building inspection permit
13:07changes and the other pertains to
13:13cdbg grant requiring some lead based
13:16paint be removed make a motion to adopt
13:19the agenda as given and include the
13:22addition second have a motion and a
13:24second is there any additional
13:27discussion if not all in favor please
13:32hand any opposed passes
13:36unanimously um next next item on the
13:38agenda is public comment um Madam clerk
13:41we had no one sign up is that correct no
13:44up that made that one
13:46easy um next on the agenda is old
13:50witberg school property right of first
13:51refusal I would recognize Karen brixie
13:55who is the Board of Education
13:59good evening thank you all for putting
14:00us on the agenda I think it was
14:03submitted to you in your board packet I
14:04had submitted it to Ben falkenberry your
14:07attorney um that by Statute we need to
14:10offer you the old Wittenberg property
14:12since you did reserve the right to uh
14:15the first right of refusal back in 2021
14:18we do have an offer purchase for
14:21$600,000 which would be both Parcels of
14:24property approximately 8.8
14:26Acres so we need to offer that to you
14:30pursuant to statute and we do have a a
14:34firm offer we do have a written offer
14:37and I do am a am holding um yet to be
14:41cashed the earnest money so if we could
14:44if the school board could get a decision
14:46from you all relatively quickly um and I
14:49could get it at some point in writing
14:51the school board can move move forward
14:53with the the purchase if you don't want
14:59there we we have had some unofficial
15:07said um I would make a
15:11motion for the Board of Commissioners to
15:16decline the right of first refusal on on
15:20the property at Old wh the old W the old
15:24property which would allow the school
15:27system to move ahead
15:31and um do what they will with that
15:34property second the motion we have a
15:36motion and a second is there any
15:38discussion well I just like to say that
15:41you know something that's been going on
15:42for a long time and I see that building
15:45just about every day it sat there and
15:47you know got worse and worse so I think
15:49selling it is a good thing and also want
15:52to uh give a little cheer I guess to the
15:56school board and to especially the newly
15:58board U elected members for pushing
16:01things forward to get you know these
16:03things going to try to resolve you know
16:06some of the shortfalls and things that's
16:08been going on for a long time so just
16:10want to make sure that they know you
16:12know we're behind them and do what's
16:14right if you don't if I can't meet my
16:16budget at home we got to do something
16:19and I can't go to the bank and say hey
16:20give me more money so you got to make it
16:23work so that's all I have Mr chairman M
16:25brisy do this um if if uh commissioner
16:29declined that and you go under contract
16:32and escr with this uh entity is there
16:35still a 10-day upset period there
16:39is that would be for somebody else that
16:42wanted yes okay but by Statute is
16:45offered to the Commissioners first the
16:46county first and then if you decline
16:50then I will start the proceeding and
16:51make the the publication of of the uh
16:54offer to purchase so that the 10 days
17:00Mak sense so if there's no upset bids
17:02then it you know it'll conclude if
17:04there's upset bids we go through that
17:06process but it will be
17:11published an upset and an upset bid
17:14wouldn't be the worst
17:15thing wouldn't be more M yeah
17:21discussion if not I'd ask for a vote um
17:27declining the County's right of first
17:30refus right of first refusal to purchase
17:33the old whittenberg school property
17:34please raise your right
17:36hand passes unanimously thank you and if
17:41at some point in the next week I could
17:43get some sort of a written communication
17:45verifying that that would be great
17:48shouldn't be a problem at all great
17:49thank you very much Jamie does Jamie
17:51Jamie keeps a straight she'll get teeth
17:53pretty quick you'll get me going y y all
17:55right thank you all very much appreciate
18:00deal um next on the agenda uh number
18:03nine comprehensive Plan update I would
18:06recognize Brian Burgess the director of
18:14Development thank you chairman L
18:16Commissioners um I know it looks like a
18:18lot of slides in your packet I promise
18:20I'm going to go through this as quickly
18:21as I can um two of you are very familiar
18:24with this so feel free to chime in uh
18:25anything in the process that you thought
18:27stood out as well but
18:28uh we are done with a comprehensive plan
18:30draft has been released on the website
18:33uh under Planning and Development
18:34there's a think says 2045 draft plan uh
18:37and the planning board has sent forth a
18:38favorable recommendation to you guys by
18:41state law we have to go through a
18:42legislative process to adopt it but
18:44before I make you guys make such a hefty
18:46decision I figured I'd give you an
18:47introduction first and come back to you
18:48next month for the final decision um and
18:51Chad bear with me here let's go one more
18:54so first thing I'm going to talk about
18:55is the input that we got because that's
18:57really the most important part of
18:58developing any plan we had 644 folks
19:01respond to our survey which was honestly
19:03better than we expected um and we also
19:05had quite a few people show up to one of
19:07the five public input sessions we had in
19:09person uh and got a fair amount of uh
19:12detailed responses from the folks who
19:14came to that um Chad uh there's going to
19:17be some surprising things and some
19:18unsurprising things in this
19:19unsurprisingly folks in Alexander County
19:21think that preserving agricultural land
19:23is important uh it's the backbone of uh
19:27our County in a lot of ways and so
19:28obviously preserving that is going to be
19:30a high priority in this plan Chad in the
19:33next 20 years uh would they prefer to
19:35see this one honestly shocked me I
19:37expected to see more smalltown field but
19:38I think people are uh understanding of
19:40the fact that if you want to keep your
19:42taxes relatively low and if you want to
19:44track new businesses you got to have a
19:46little bit of growth there's got to be
19:47people to sustain those businesses and
19:49to help share that uh load so folks had
19:51a good understanding of that what kinds
19:53of growth would they be most comfortable
19:54with uh and you guys will start to
19:56notice a theme uh Midway through this
19:58tourism Parks and Recreation by far took
20:01the lead on that uh followed by single
20:03family residential and Retail with
20:04everything else kind of trailing behind
20:07three most important needs of Alexander
20:08County um Recreation restaurants and
20:11then sort of a tie between a and and
20:13commercial retail is what came out of
20:15that as well um how important this one
20:18was was shocking to me how important is
20:19increasing alternative modes of
20:20transportation so bike multiuse path
20:23sidewalks that kind of stuff more than
20:25half were in favor of it uh that
20:27somewhat very important um people didn't
20:30really put it up as the highest priority
20:32but they said you know what if we've got
20:33the option it seems like that's
20:35something we need so um this is
20:38interesting so do you feel that there
20:39are adequate home ownership
20:40opportunities in the county most people
20:42said yes uh they're quite a few who
20:44still said no but on the next slide when
20:47you ask whether or not there are enough
20:48rental opportunities most people agree
20:51no there aren't um and and typically in
20:54places I've worked before it's been the
20:56exact opposite when I get a response so
20:58I was curious to to see that but I'm not
21:00sure why um what has the greatest
21:03hindrance to housing in Alexander County
21:04I hope I'm glad you guys are all sitting
21:05down I'll shock you availability and
21:07cost the same thing it is all throughout
21:09the nation uh it's something that that
21:10we are not in unique in having to
21:12struggle with here um but when you ask
21:14where should that housing be developed
21:16most people said Bethlehem Taylorville
21:18uh outside of the Town limits and inside
21:20of the Town limits hiddenite got a an
21:22honorable mention as well as the
21:23Wittenberg Ellendale and Stony Point
21:25communities um unsurprisingly the more
21:27rural communities in the county said you
21:29know what we're we're fine as we are so
21:32um the kind of housing most people are
21:34comfortable with again un unsurprisingly
21:37single family is going to be the most
21:38easily palatable um but a really good uh
21:41interest in senior housing and condos
21:43which I think is is something that again
21:46nationally people are becoming more
21:47comfortable with and one in four said
21:49that mixed use for commercial and
21:50residential and multif family said that
21:52they they understand the need for that
21:54well um is public water availability
21:57important to the Future of Alexander
21:58County our respondents overwhelmingly
22:00said yes it is we're going to need
22:02public water when it comes to public
22:04sewer still overwhelmingly say that yes
22:06it is going to be important um but not
22:09quite as overwhelming as as uh public
22:12water uh are there adequate Parks public
22:15Waterfront accesses Recreation and
22:16entertainment opportunities for
22:17residents of all Ag and group
22:19overwhelmingly said no and again this is
22:21a theme that we'll talk about here in a
22:23minute uh do you see a need for more
22:25Parks absolutely the answer was yes and
22:27that was also true for the in-person
22:29conversations we had as well uh which
22:32natural resources need the most
22:33attention shocker Parks um next one's
22:37going to be rivers and streams and
22:39Woodlands uh would you like to see the
22:42um following cultural
22:43resources community events and festivals
22:46took the lead but not far behind it was
22:48parks and sports facilities um and then
22:50historic preservation was also a high
22:52priority as well tied with community
22:55centers um why do you choose to live in
22:57Alexander County number one response
22:59family and friends this is a community
23:00first and foremost uh the next uh
23:03followup was rural character and it's a
23:05good place to raise children everything
23:07else sort of fought for the middle of
23:08the ground but those three were the
23:10standouts what do you think is missing
23:12from uh Alexander County restaurants uh
23:16parks and entertainment top three on
23:19that so all of that plus a lot more
23:23information that's available in the back
23:24of the plan if you guys want to get into
23:26it um uh led to the development of the
23:29actual draft plan so my job is to take
23:31what folks tell me the Commissioners the
23:33steering committee that we had appointed
23:35the planning board department heads and
23:37the community try to make some sense out
23:39of what folks say here's what we want to
23:41see for the next 20 years and turn that
23:43into something that we can work on the
23:45topics that we went over were land use
23:47Transportation Economic Development
23:49housing Public Services environment and
23:51Recreation and historic and cultural
23:53resources I'm going to Breeze through
23:54those uh the highlights of those
23:56chapters real fast note on the format
23:58each chapter has a narrative portion uh
24:01explains the logic behind the the
24:03recommendations we're making as well as
24:04giving you guys maps and valuable
24:06information so there's some census data
24:08in there um sometimes there's uh mention
24:12of conversations we had in public input
24:14that help uh qualify the recommendations
24:17and then the recommendations come in the
24:18form of a tiered system they're
24:19organized into goals objectives and
24:21strategies uh and I thought of this
24:23today around lunchtime as I'm sure
24:26you'll understand in a minute probably
24:27the easiest way to to break that out is
24:29a goal would be I'd like some food
24:32objectives would be I'd like some
24:33Italian food and strategies is I'm going
24:35to go to giovan's so you really kind of
24:37Whittle it down from there the goals are
24:39big picture and we can always be taking
24:41actions that follow those goals that
24:44don't necessarily fall into objectives
24:45and strategies but these are some things
24:47that we've identified as potential uh
24:49action items that we could be taking as
24:52county so for land use we've got an
24:54emphasis on updating and replacing our
24:56current Land Development ordinances as
24:58I've mentioned several times the zoning
24:59ordinance is older than I am and I think
25:01uh my first meeting with you guys you
25:02all unanimously told me hey we got to
25:04get a new zoning ordinance and so that's
25:06one of the things we've been working on
25:08um the landu plan encourages a growth
25:10management strategy to help keep that
25:11balance between growth but maintaining
25:13the smalltown feel um and I'm doing my
25:16best to make more efficient Common Sense
25:18land use policies um so some of the
25:21recommendations that are in there and
25:22you'll see I just go to strategies on
25:24this the goals are big picture I figured
25:25you'd want to see a little more rubber
25:27be the road so draft and adopt an
25:29updated zoning ordinance you guys will
25:30be seeing that in the next few months
25:31we're already uh moving forward on that
25:33one uh ensure all rules and procedures
25:35regarding Land Development or explained
25:37in an accessible manner in a publicly
25:39available document um do my best really
25:41what this means is do my best to keep
25:43jargon out of our documents and make it
25:45so that anyone who picks it up has a
25:46good idea what I'm talking about uh use
25:49zoning as a means to encourage and
25:50incentivize intentional development
25:52patterns um that's a fancy way of saying
25:55if we've got water and sewer somewhere
25:56that's probably a good place to to
25:57develop if we don't it's probably
25:59not this is the future land use map uh
26:03as I just said Water and Sewer drove a
26:04lot of this so the red areas are where
26:06we're going to probably want to
26:07concentrate most of our our dense and
26:09Commercial development uh because that's
26:11where water and sewer is and there's
26:13infrastructure that can support it so
26:15red down in the quarter is going to be
26:16Bethlehem the center is going to be
26:17Taylorville the little one in between uh
26:20the edge and the center is hiddenite and
26:22then Stony Point is an area that we
26:24think could use uh a lot of investment
26:26to help sort of bring that up to par um
26:29it's hard to tell on this there's sort
26:31of an orange Hue in between that that's
26:34going to be medium density there's some
26:36water there's some sewer but it's
26:38definitely not set up to support the
26:39same thing say the town of Taylorville
26:41or Bethlehem can the uh yellow is rural
26:44that's where a lot of our Farmland is
26:46focused it's where we have topography
26:48that doesn't necessarily make it easy to
26:49develop the green are environmentally
26:52sensitive areas or Farmland preservation
26:54areas so things like flood plane um
26:57steep ridges uh and again anything
26:59that's in the Farmland preservation
27:00ordinance and then the purple is
27:02industrial and most of those are just
27:03focused on sites that we already have uh
27:06that we're working on and finally blue
27:08are community service areas those are
27:09going to be the little nodes that you
27:12see say on 16 where Osa Dam comes off
27:14there's a convenience store like
27:16commercial makes sense there but you
27:18definitely don't want a Walmart that
27:21so next chapter transportation we
27:23focused on uh vital corridors
27:25emphasizing multimodal transportation
27:28and identify problem areas for
27:30correction this is a relatively short
27:32chapter because our Our Fate is largely
27:34decided by the Metropolitan planning
27:36organization which uh commissioner Yoda
27:38sits on the TAC for and um can tell you
27:41that it's a it's a complicated process
27:43and it's a regional effort um and so we
27:45focused on really the areas that we want
27:47to take to them and say this is where we
27:48want to see investment in Alexander
27:50County so for example developing
27:52Community identifiers such as signage
27:54Landscaping core community centers in
27:56order to promote what what's called a
27:57sense of place reach Community
27:59bethlehem's already working on that bud
28:01kwood here has been uh working very hard
28:03on getting signage placed in Bethlehem
28:05to sort of let people know you're in
28:07Bethlehem and here's what's available
28:08here here um developing a countywide
28:11bike ped plan to identify and prioritize
28:13infrastructure improvements such as
28:15sidewalks bike lanes and pedestrian
28:17Crossings that's another thing that
28:18we're moving forward on already um in
28:20your consent agenda tonight is a
28:22resolution to support me going after
28:23some money from the state to uh have
28:26them do a bike pad plan for for us and
28:28do all of the work for uh very very
28:30small fraction of the cost um strategy
28:334.2.1 this is one of those ones that's
28:35directed on actual problem areas this is
28:37going to shock everyone uh 16 in
28:39Millersville Road intersection it's a
28:42high crash area it's a high congestion
28:43area so we put that in there somewhere
28:45we'd like to see some some Focus put uh
28:48no Economic Development uh diversity of
28:51economic base as a priority uh not
28:54depending on just one uh industry to to
28:56keep the county afloat uh focusing on
28:58strategies to make Alexander County
29:00competitive and an eye towards tourism
29:02and Recreation as an economic
29:03development tool we've got or Orchards
29:06on the North side we've got beautiful
29:07land that folks want to come and and
29:09spend their free time in and I think
29:11that that's something that we as a
29:12County uh can capitalize on so uh some
29:15of the strategies we have are to review
29:17our incentive policies to allow greater
29:19participation by creating new or
29:21expanding existing small and
29:22medium-sized firms and that's something
29:24that you guys know Connie k Kade works
29:26very hard on working with small
29:27businesses and getting them set up in
29:29Alexander County so figuring out ways
29:31that we can continue to to support that
29:34and enhance it uh determining existing
29:36and future Economic Development needs
29:38for public facilities in order to Target
29:40investment strategically so instead of
29:42just building Water and Sewer out really
29:44with you know just wherever it's
29:45available figuring out where we really
29:47want to focus that kind of development
29:48and make those those investments in
29:50places that we identify as making the
29:52most sense and then uh Premier and
29:54promotes shovel and Pad ready sites
29:55within the uh County as that's kind of a
29:58standard everyone in the state says that
30:00that's one of their goals so um for
30:02housing housing is complicated uh I
30:05think you guys know that what we try to
30:07do is focus on identifying existing and
30:09potential resources for residents and
30:11look to allow organic development to
30:12take place in appropriate areas and
30:14that's important they have to be
30:15appropriate areas while discouraging in
30:17undesirable development areas so the
30:19government um is is very limited on what
30:21it can do in terms of helping affordable
30:24housing we're not in the business of
30:25building the housing ourselves but what
30:27we are in the business of is how we
30:28regulate land use and how we um put our
30:32land use regulations into practice that
30:34may hinder or help uh affordable housing
30:37development so what we're going to try
30:39to do is encourage um those kind of
30:42things as much as we can and hope that
30:44the the market is willing to meet us in
30:46the middle on that so some of the
30:47strategies are investing in public
30:49utilities such as water and sewer uh
30:52service and urban service areas those
30:53are those red parts of the map they're
30:55called Urban Services area that you guys
30:56saw if you minutes ago uh to encourage
30:59higher density development however
31:01restrict housing densities in rural
31:02areas of the county so we're kind of
31:03trading off the parts that don't have
31:06that infrastructure we're going to pull
31:07back on density but the places that do
31:09we're going to say okay this is where it
31:10needs to go um and then one of my
31:12recommendations is for us to develop an
31:14Alexander County Housing committee to
31:16evaluate current and housing needs and
31:17recommend future future housing
31:19strategies like I said it's complicated
31:21and having experts come together
31:23Realtors folks who are working in
31:24affordable housing that kind of thing to
31:26tell the hey we've got a great
31:28opportunity here maybe we should um I
31:30think is much better than expecting me
31:32to to have a grasp of all of that stuff
31:34because I I'm limited to land use
31:36regulation so that kind of help would be
31:38great Public Services uh this is by far
31:41the largest topic that is the bulk of
31:43this document uh it en it encompasses a
31:46lot it goes from utilities to law
31:48enforcement fire schools internet and
31:50everything between most of the
31:52recommendations focus on enhancing the
31:53services that the county already
31:55provides so for example uh one of the
31:57strategies is to work with local
31:59organizations and County staff to
32:00identify the specific needs and
32:02preferences of the community and
32:04incorporate them into the development
32:05and Improvement of public facilities
32:07which is basically us saying where does
32:09it make sense to be spending our money
32:12infrastructure um work with the County
32:14Planning public information officer and
32:16other departments to help increase
32:17public input on incoming plans um one of
32:20the things that I would like to have
32:21more of is is opportunities for folks to
32:23come tell us what they want to see um I
32:25noticed during the public input sessions
32:27there were a lot of folks who said just
32:30thank you for coming to speak to us and
32:31I'm like well this is kind of routin or
32:33like we didn't you know we're not used
32:35to this kind of thing um I'm more than
32:37happy to keep going out to the community
32:39and having those conversations uh and
32:41and Reporting back on what folks are
32:42telling us because that's the way to
32:44make sure we're doing what they they ask
32:45us to do uh and then worker working to
32:48lower response times when responding to
32:49emergency calls it's that kind of nuts
32:52and bolts stuff you're going to find in
32:54chapter environment Recreation so one of
32:57the biggest topics we heard about was
32:59soccer um we also seek to link the
33:02importance of Environmental Conservation
33:03to recreational opportunities um it's
33:06really hard to uh take your kid to an
33:08industrial waste site and have them play
33:11safely so we have to keep our
33:12environment clean and pristine if we
33:14want to have these places to take our
33:16families um we also are aiming to find
33:19lowcost but high impact Recreation and
33:21conservation Solutions what do we have
33:23already and what can we be doing with it
33:24without spending a ton of money uh and
33:26then soccer I can't stress this enough
33:29the folks who came out in favor of
33:31soccer are the most organized people
33:32I've ever met in any community and I
33:34applaud them because they were they were
33:36they showed up um but they showed up and
33:40so some of the recommendations we have
33:42develop a countywide Parks and
33:43Recreation master plan to identify and
33:45prioritize the needs of different
33:47populations including seniors people
33:49with disabilities and low-income
33:50families encouraging the development of
33:52a sports complex in a central location
33:54that includes soccer but also baseball
33:57football basketball facilities to allow
33:59for travel Sports I promise there is an
34:00aquatic center thing mentioned in here
34:02as well it's just not on the slide um
34:04and then continue to limit light
34:05pollution especially in Rural and
34:06conservation areas so historic and
34:10cultural resources I promise I'm almost
34:11done should complement the work already
34:13being done by the Alexander historic
34:15preservation commission again this is
34:16something that commissioner uh Yoder
34:18sits on and I've been working with
34:19Connie to uh help get implemented um the
34:22new Land Development code would also
34:24have like an overlay District so we're
34:26we're doing a lot of work already um and
34:28it also emphasizes the economic value of
34:30cultural resources like events libraries
34:32museums uh so some of those strategies
34:34include continue to maintain the
34:35Alexander County historic preservation
34:37commission's certified local government
34:39status and pursue funding opportunities
34:41through their uh CLG program to support
34:43historic preservation activities that's
34:44a grant program the state gives a fair
34:46amount of money to to communities to to
34:48help keep those communities uh or to
34:49keep those structures uh compliant in
34:52the historic preservation standards
34:53develop meeting spaces at library
34:55branches for community and
34:56organizational I was shocked to hear
34:57this our our libraries don't have much
34:59in uh the way of meeting spaces where
35:01most of the public meetings I would
35:03typically have are are going to be in
35:04libraries and so that's something that
35:05we we saw as a high value thing uh and
35:08then pursuing funding opportunities such
35:10as endowment funds Library foundations
35:12and grant funding to enhance County
35:14resources without impacting uh taxes as
35:17much as we possibly can those that money
35:19is out there all right so the last
35:21chapter implementation it's basically a
35:23big old checklist all the stuff that's
35:26in the earlier chapters is Consolidated
35:28down in this chapter for an easy
35:30reference um it does identify some of
35:32the expected challenges and ways to
35:34overcome them so for example funding is
35:36always the hardest part to getting these
35:37things off the ground uh and it speaks
35:39to the importance of finding like I said
35:41funds endowments uh grant funding that
35:43kind of thing so what to expect uh
35:46annually you should see me come up here
35:48and talk about the comprehensive plan uh
35:49every five years there should be a
35:51general update to the plan because it's
35:53a 20-year plan but things change you may
35:56want to take a look at it and go you
35:57know what this doesn't apply anymore we
35:59need to to rework this um and you guys
36:01will hear me say the words comprehensive
36:03plans at every single meeting from now
36:05on uh you will get sick of those words
36:08so so next month planning board's
36:11already sent forth a favorable
36:13recommendation uh like I said according
36:15to state law we have to do it in a
36:16legislative decision procedure so I will
36:19advertise a public hearing and come to
36:21you guys next month for an official uh
36:23vote on this you don't have to take any
36:25action tonight however will say if you
36:27go to the website or if you want me to
36:28print off if you let card copy I can do
36:30that too but it's on the website
36:31Planning and Development draft 2045 plan
36:34uh review it see if there's something
36:36there where you're like hey we really
36:37need to reward this or cool looks good
36:40let me know in the meantime I'm more
36:42than happy to to make those edits and
36:43then next month we can hopefully uh have
36:46this thing formally adopted so any
36:52questions no a lot of time and effort
36:54has went into this so thank you
37:03Brian next on the agenda is the Bowman
37:06Court sewer project bid discussion I
37:08would recognize County Manager Shane
37:11Fox thank you Board of Commissioners um
37:13I'll start by just um making a few
37:15comments if I can about the
37:16comprehensive plan so my past history of
37:19comprehensive plans number one is that
37:21it's outsourced so the fact that Brian
37:24and his staff has put the time and
37:25effort into this plan is tremendous um
37:28typical plans of this size are excess of
37:31$100,000 some can be as much as
37:33$200,000 he and his staff have put in
37:35the time and effort um at no cost
37:37outside of his typical County cost that
37:40he has to us and some printing and some
37:42materials and Etc but very very little
37:44cost the overall comprehensive plan is a
37:46tremendous document that can be used all
37:48the way through the next comprehensive
37:50plan for all things development all
37:52things of consideration that come before
37:54you we can look back on and obviously
37:57reference the work that's been put into
37:58that so I just want to say thank you
37:59from my position to Brian and his staff
38:01for putting in the work and the effort
38:03and saving the taxpayers more than six
38:05figures worth of money that typically
38:07will be paid out to a third party so
38:09very appreciative of the work that's
38:10gone forth um you tonight and and within
38:14plan first I've got a couple things um
38:16in front of me but I'll start with the
38:17Bowman Court sewer project so this is
38:19something that's been talked about now
38:21for the last couple years uh we started
38:23on January the 30th um by opening bids
38:25or hoping to bids we did not receive the
38:27three required bids so then we read
38:29vertis for 14 days on February the 13th
38:31we received two bids however both of
38:33those bids are higher than our current
38:35budget so staff recommendation tonight
38:38is fairly simple we're asking you all to
38:39consider refusing these two bids
38:41rejecting these two bids and allowing us
38:43to go back out we're currently working
38:45with our engineer Mcgill and Associates
38:47to re-evaluate the scope of this project
38:49and hopeful uh that we will rebid and
38:52have lower cost bring before you next
38:54month so staff recommendation is that we
38:57reject the two bids that we received on
38:59February the 13th be happy to answer any
39:09not do we have a motion to reject the
39:14two current bids on the Bulman Court
39:18sewer project at this time Mr chair go
39:22ahead make a motion to reject the two
39:24bids on Bowman Court sewer project
39:28second we have a motion a second any
39:32discussion um all in favor please raise
39:35hand passes unanimously we will thank
39:38you have that rebid please
39:41absolutely um next item budget ordinance
39:43amendments numbers 17 through 20 Shane
39:47Fox County Manager absolutely we'll
39:48start with number 17 17 is comprised of
39:51four different sections all four are new
39:53monies coming into the county the first
39:55is to DSS through the Via child welfare
39:57funds the second is the senior center
39:59through senior Medicare Patrol project
40:01Grant the third is the Detention Center
40:03through the 2023 brine Jag Federal grant
40:06that's passed through and the fourth is
40:08a private donation for a purchase of a
40:10k9 vest again all four of these are new
40:12monies coming into the county uh to
40:14purchase or to expand uh towards each
40:17one of those respective departments
40:20number 18 is a budget true up to the
40:22fire departments anytime we have a
40:24revive year like we had this past year
40:26we make estimates um with the best
40:28information that we have we're now
40:29asking you all to consider budget
40:31amendment number 18 which is TR that up
40:33which is additional monies that were uh
40:35paid in each one of the respective fire
40:37districts to be paid out to those fire
40:39districts so again you have before you
40:41the amounts for all eight fire districts
40:43again those are not additional
40:44expenditures these are additional monies
40:46received through the tax process and the
40:51receiving of those tax monies the third
40:53tonight is number 19 um this is to close
40:572018 waterline extension project so that
41:00is six years old U but this is the final
41:03draw down and final payment of the uh
41:06project and asking you all to consider
41:08number 81 19 which is a closing out of
41:10that Capital project and allows that
41:12Capital project to go to zero we are
41:14returning some monies back to the
41:15general fund which again is positive and
41:17then number 20 finally is um allowing
41:20for the um collection and use of
41:24Interest monies off of the American
41:26Rescue plan special Revenue fund monies
41:29that have been sitting within our bank
41:30account as you know interest rates
41:32considerably higher than what we've had
41:33in the past so we're asking to utilize
41:36those towards additional projects that
41:37we have within our Capital project fund
41:40again that's new money coming in not
41:41asking for any old money coming out
41:44that's 17 18 19 and 20 for your
41:50tonight any questions i' be glad to
41:53questions just one question Mr chairman
41:56and keny maner I guess in number 18 East
42:01Alexander fire district that would
42:02include Stony Point that is correct
42:05correct that is correct thank
42:10you Mr chairman I'll make a motion we
42:1417320 uh budget ordinance amendments do
42:19second we have a motion in a second is
42:22there any any additional
42:24discussion if not all in favor please
42:27raise your right hand passes
42:36um next item on the agenda is the
42:40agenda uh gentlemen you have have had
42:43this information presented to you a
42:47reminder it does include the two
42:49additions um the inspections building
42:52inspection permit fee
42:54changes and just to give you um I did
42:56have a conversation with Bill Rogers the
42:59department head and some of that some of
43:04changes are to simplify simplify some
43:08some things with the new software
43:11program that they are rolling out 1 of
43:16um along those lines I'm the test I am
43:19the test dummy for that new
43:23system and it's going to be a major
43:26Improvement for our building
43:29inspections um and permitting
43:31process everything will be you know um
43:36you'll be able to do everything
43:38electronically um notifications
43:42from you know notifications from um
43:46inspections you know P fails any
43:48information like that you know will be
43:50transmitted electronically
43:52to to the permit holder um
43:57it's going to be a it's it's point it's
43:59a it's definitely a step in the right
44:01direction and then we also have the
44:13grant that requires some lead based you
44:16know that the lead based paint
44:22approval there any other questions on
44:24the consent agenda if not do I have a
44:27motion for appr make a motion to approve
44:29consent agenda with the additions second
44:32motion a second um any other
44:35discussion if not all in favor please
44:38raise your right hand
44:41unanimous uh next on agenda number 13
44:44County Manager report back to Shane Fox
44:46County Manager thank you Mr chairman um
44:49got an update tonight on a few things
44:50I'll start U didn't mention this earlier
44:52during the budget ordinances but I think
44:53it's important um we'll talk in a few
44:55moments about about the budget meetings
44:56that we held last week and just want to
44:59share my appreciation with the county
45:00Finance staff and the work that they've
45:02put in this past year um on all things
45:05budget related so we did have 17 18 19
45:07and 20 tonight for your consideration
45:09and approval for the budget ordinances
45:11we're at 52 this time last year and 75
45:13two years ago so a lot of great work
45:15going on within the finance staff and
45:17I'm very appreciative of their work and
45:19their effort they put forth U week of
45:21the 19th so week before last um the
45:24finance staff and myself had an
45:25opportunity to spend that week meeting
45:27with the department heads so we took um
45:2932 meetings I think total that week met
45:31with all the department heads to discuss
45:33this past year and past years worth of
45:35budget information also discussed
45:37upcoming needs and wants as we go into
45:412425 process and had um great results
45:44throughout that week with conversations
45:46of all things related to Al iner County
45:48so I want to again thank the department
45:49heads all 32 for meeting the week of the
45:5219th also the finance staff for being
45:54willing to meet for that many meetings
45:57within a 5ay span was some somewhat
45:59exhausting I think to a lot of folks
46:01involved but very appreciative and very
46:04very good work at the end of the week
46:05that we were able to accomplish um
46:07update as always U on projects we've got
46:09a lot of exciting things going on
46:10Bethlehem park project is underway if
46:12you've driven down there there's a chain
46:14now blocking off the drive um electrical
46:17work started this week um and um today
46:20um and lighting should go in um soon and
46:23the building demolish um demolition I
46:25think scheduled for later this week or
46:26first next week so you'll see a lot of
46:28progress going on the Bethlehem park
46:29project again we presented that last
46:34overwhelming um review of of that par
46:37and all things um will be you know left
46:39new or be put new betham tank project U
46:43that work is is going forth you did
46:45approve tonight purchase of land for
46:47that tank so we're appreciative of that
46:48and moving forward again that's to
46:50provide another water tank to the
46:52Bethlehem Area because of growth and
46:54pressure issues um in that area area and
46:56that again is paid for just like the
46:57betham park um this this project is paid
46:59for through State Appropriations fire
47:02training facility welding is complete
47:04all that's left is painting the outside
47:05of the containers and putting some
47:08gravel down for a driveway so that is
47:09really really close just in time for our
47:12up covering certifications that are
47:14going to happen within some of our fire
47:15departments Sterling Road was mentioned
47:17earlier with the lead based paint um
47:19approval for the budget amendment we did
47:21advertise for bids for Engineering
47:23Services we did not receive three so
47:25that's back back out um we did receive
47:27one so we're optimistic that that one
47:29will continue to rebid um the second
47:31time if so then we're able to accept
47:32that one and move forward that's
47:34Sterling Road Project cdbg Grant to pay
47:36for that project once we do pick an
47:38engineer they'll develop the scope and
47:40of course move forward with the project
47:42um and rebidding or bidding for a
47:44contractor at that time EMS building and
47:47health canopy are both underway EMS
47:49building uh extension on station one is
47:52moving from the architect soon to the
47:54bid process so we're optimistic that
47:56that'll happen fairly quickly and the
47:57health canopy work started I believe
48:00today or this week so um the concrete
48:02has been removed and the canopy work is
48:04begun and that should take about six
48:06weeks I believe is what I was told for
48:08that project to be completed so a lot of
48:10good things going on within the county a
48:11lot of projects um also it's budget
48:14season if I didn't mention that earlier
48:15so any questions I can answer for you
48:21to I'll just say good work thank
48:29um we will now transition into
48:34our um Consolidated Human Services board
48:42um did anyone sign up a public comment
48:50volunteers next item will be the Public
48:53Health Report I would recognize
48:56Billy Walker Health direct um Health
49:05director good evening I'm gonna give you
49:08a quick update I'm going to do an
49:10organizational update a financial update
49:12and an accreditation update and then I'm
49:15going to let my health educator do um a
49:19situation report so next Slide the uh
49:26updates that I have for you are the
49:28vacancies our um Advisory Board
49:30vacancies we still have uh the
49:33opthalmologist and the engineer
49:35vacancies and then our staff vacancies
49:38we uh did hire a Administrative
49:42Assistant um Chelsea Ellis she
49:45transferred from the front desk into um
49:48this position in December so we are um
49:52still trying to hire her position um as
49:55front desk and that's the processing
49:57assistant that that is uh open until
50:00field um dental assistant is open until
50:03field and then the environmental health
50:05specialist we were doing the interview
50:07process but it is now open until
50:10field um the organizational updates um I
50:15have to discuss the Workforce
50:18Development plan since you're my um
50:20governing body um we have had some um
50:26issues you know with environmental
50:27health and so we're trying to um make it
50:31more competitive and so uh we looked at
50:36so um I talked to some of the schools
50:40that offer environmental health programs
50:43and so I ask if we if they would be
50:46willing for us to come and um
50:49participate in their job fairs and um
50:52they said yes and maybe even send
50:54interns to to Alexander County to work
50:56with our um our environmental health uh
50:59team and so um I'm incorporating that
51:03into our plan so um I just have to make
51:06youall aware that I'm doing
51:08that and I think that'll be beneficial
51:11for our our County because I think too
51:14you know I think um Alexander countyy is
51:17small but I think some interns coming to
51:21a small County may see that that's an
51:23enjoyable instead of going to a bigger
51:26County you know I think we do things a
51:27little different here um Financial
51:30updates I'm just going to hit on what
51:33the county manager said we've been
51:35working this uh month on the uh budget
51:38pretty hard inh house and then with the
51:45finance um we're also going to push back
51:48um the fee approval process we normally
51:50do that in February but we're going to
51:53push it back until uh May and bring it
52:01approve accreditation we are it says
52:04almost at the two-year Mark but I did
52:07this for our Advisory Board last month
52:09so we are actually at the one year I
52:11mean two-ear Mark now because uh it's
52:14Mar March 1st 2026 we're going to get
52:16that 90-day letter um so then the
52:19program letter will be um April the 15th
52:22of 2026 and then it'll be um our HDs
52:27will be due to the state June 1 2026 and
52:31then they'll be here um either in
52:34September or October in
52:352026 and so you will every time we're
52:38here you'll probably hear something
52:42accreditation and then um it is time for
52:45your uh annual uh board training and we
52:48have no new board members so this is
52:50just annual training and this is um due
52:54to accreditation and I put the
52:56benchmarks it's the 36.1 36.2 and
53:0136.3 and this training provides uh the
53:04board with important information
53:06regarding uh your Ro Your Role um as
53:10your rule rule making duties your
53:12advocacy role and keeping you up to date
53:16uh with emergency governance and public
53:2334.1 in accredit ation is um that I sent
53:27you information uh prior to this meeting
53:30and that was via email TW uh uh
53:3422624 for you to uh review prior to the
53:37meeting and that was the board operating
53:40policy and procedures um and I think
53:453.02 and then the board policy and
53:48procedures and that's admin
53:503.05 and so I need your signatures on
53:53the following which is the service board
53:56annual review acknowledgement statements
53:59and then your annual review guide which
54:042024 any questions on
54:08that the situational reports I'm going
54:10to let um Katie do she's my health
54:14educator I'm gonna let her do her
54:16reports uh that she has for
54:19you thank You' all for letting me come
54:21to uh present these reports they're
54:23really important for our accreditation
54:25um I give a little review of all of
54:28their reports because they all seem
54:29really similar even for me who's in the
54:31health field um they get pretty twisted
54:33up so all four of these reports do have
54:35to be reported to our Board of Health or
54:37or County Commissioners the cha is the
54:40community health assessment and we do
54:42that every four years we do data
54:44collection analyze that data and then we
54:46report it out we have to give this to
54:48y'all of course and then um the general
54:50public all of the other plans are then
54:53built off of the cha
54:55the S is the one I'll be mainly
54:57presenting on today and a little bit of
54:59the Strategic plan as well the S is done
55:01every year in between the years that we
55:03do the cha it's an essentially a
55:06abbreviated version of the assessment
55:09and it provides some updates from the
55:11cha um we did just submit this March 1st
55:15so that is complete um and now we just
55:17need your input it on as well and then
55:19the Strategic plan this is agency
55:22developed in coordination with our CJ
55:24and it gives really detailed specifics
55:26on the numbers of all the reports we run
55:28it shows progress on our priorities and
55:30this one is four years long so it goes
55:32right in coordination with the cha and
55:34then the chip and the Strategic plan are
55:36essentially the same plan but the chip
55:37is more of a living document version it
55:39exists on scorecard via the Internet um
55:43and it utilizes the results based
55:44accountability training and it goes with
55:46our uh cha our strategic plan and it's
55:50long so strategic plan and Chip as well
55:53as s so our strategic plan as we
55:57reported back on our cha from
56:002022 we chose mental health substance
56:03use disorder Healthy Living child care
56:04and parenting and elder care and those
56:07were from our healthy alexandrians
56:08Community input and then Advisory
56:11board so our priorities for mental
56:13health the things we've worked on are
56:15when we hired in LCSW which is our
56:17licensed clinical social worker uh in
56:20April of 2023 we started tracking the
56:22amount of clients that she serves so 54
56:24is the the singular number of clients
56:26that she served just from April to the
56:302023 risky behaviors is a program that
56:33the health educator myself runs in the
56:35schools for the freshmen and sophomores
56:37I teach them mental health and
56:39counseling a little bit some background
56:40information on that vaping substance use
56:42disorder kind of some things that tie in
56:44with mental health and in the fall of
56:50students substance use disorder the fun
56:52one um the first set of reports that we
56:55ran was from when we hired the or from
56:58when the port position was hired um
57:01we've been tracking in coordination with
57:02him the number of calls that he's run
57:04and then the number of kits that he's
57:05distributed um those kits have Narcan
57:07fentanyl test strips some package
57:09information and then some information
57:11about resources that people can find if
57:13they do have an overdose or need
57:16recovery um the other priorities that we
57:19tracked for sud um more specific to the
57:22health department were the S prevention
57:25uh Shannon shoulders M Chapman and
57:28myself we put together a series of three
57:30separate videos that were 30 minutes
57:32long they essentially taught on
57:34addiction genetic predisposition vaping
57:37resources how to recognize an overdose
57:40and what to do if you do witness an
57:41overdose um we presented those via the
57:44Internet the schools presented them and
57:46um we did get some feedback but because
57:48of the parent Bill of Rights we had to
57:50send out surveys first get consent back
57:53and then the students were allowed to
57:54give it input um if they had signed up
57:56for their parents um So based off of
57:59that we did track the total number
58:00students viewed but the number that we
58:02got on feedback was not as much but this
58:05year we'll be able to get some more
58:06information back on that because we'll
58:07be a bit more prepared and not have to
58:09worry about navigating that so with that
58:12we served about 412 students in the high
58:15school then the said prevention with our
58:18community leaders in September of 2023
58:22at one of the S meetings someone had
58:24mention mentioned that perhaps going out
58:26into the community and educating the
58:28parents would be a good idea as well as
58:29educating the students so Marie Chapman
58:32and I we developed a sub prevention
58:34material presentation for churches
58:36that's kind of similar and goes hand
58:38inand with what the students are
58:39learning but it targets parents so it
58:41teaches parents how to recognize if
58:42their children might be using any kind
58:44of drugs if they might be addicted
58:46behavioral changes and then also how to
58:47distribute Narcan and get help for their
58:50children or we do have a lot of
58:52grandparents in this area who are the
58:54primary Caregivers for adolescents so it
58:57also teaches grandparents how to
58:58navigate social media um see if their
59:00students are maybe sending money that
59:02they shouldn't be sending and those kind
59:04of things so we did um serve a total of
59:08three churches and then our St
59:09prevention with our community leaders
59:10was our catch by breath and then lock
59:13boxes distributed uh the medication lock
59:15boxes we give out materials at every
59:17Community event that we go to and we did
59:20this in coordination with RHA and viia
59:22health um they helped us give out
59:24medication la boxes and we also tracked
59:25our own we gave about 174 in
59:302023 other priorities Healthy Living
59:34this one we did nutrition classes in
59:36coordination with the Cooperative
59:38Extension the total number of
59:40participants um that dare sent to me was
59:44199 and these were nutrition education
59:47um healthy living at their at each stage
59:49of life um and then basic meal
59:52plans and then of course we have the
59:54wellness for our own employees and then
59:56we did um we just submitted a letter of
59:59support for the County multimodal
01:00:01Planning Grant and then we had the
01:00:04social media Campaign which just
01:00:05educates on nutrition tobacco cation
01:00:08those sorts of things where you can get
01:00:09free exercise out outside in the
01:00:12community um and we checked the number
01:00:14of Facebook posts we put out there and
01:00:1732 elder care we did the senior
01:00:20education so went into birthday lunches
01:00:23and presented on healthy living at
01:00:25certain stages of life um so nutrition
01:00:28education substance use prevention um
01:00:31physical activity at Ender stage of of
01:00:34life and we reached 79 um seniors and
01:00:38then child care and parenting uh the
01:00:40main thing that we're doing with this is
01:00:42utilizing the systems of care Grant
01:00:43under our child collaborative um since
01:00:46we've not put anything out yet we have
01:00:48been tracking the total number of
01:00:49meetings um on this collaborative and we
01:00:52met 14 times in 2023
01:00:55so this is our SWAT um this goes on the
01:00:59very end of our strategic plan and it's
01:01:02kind of a rough assessment of things we
01:01:03can improve on things we kind of
01:01:05suffered on things that might hinder us
01:01:07in the future and have hindered Us in
01:01:08the past um so for our main strengths um
01:01:12our Community Partners we've had so much
01:01:14great collaboration especially with our
01:01:16substance use disorder Coalition um
01:01:18without all of our partners we wouldn't
01:01:19be able to do any of the work that we do
01:01:22weakness was that we had a really high
01:01:23rate of not shows in our own Clinic um
01:01:25but we have a quality improvement plan
01:01:27in place now to kind of increase those
01:01:29numbers threats would be the parent Bill
01:01:32of Rights but that's no longer really a
01:01:33problem we've kind of learned a way in
01:01:35cooperation with the school system to
01:01:36navigate that which we're really
01:01:38appreciative of their help and then um
01:01:41the rural Health Grant I did forget to
01:01:43mention we did apply for that so if we
01:01:45do um receive those FS that will also
01:01:47help with healthy living as well because
01:01:49we'll be able to serve uninsured and
01:01:50underinsured people in our
01:01:55okay so the S is almost the exact same
01:01:58report as what I just gave you all the
01:01:59numbers for so you can go into the next
01:02:01slide um this is the one like I said
01:02:03it's in between all the years of the cha
01:02:05uh we just submitted it and we will
01:02:07hopefully get our approval letter around
01:02:10May now this is something we do have to
01:02:12report to y'all for our benchmarks for
01:02:14accreditation so like I said thank you
01:02:15so much for letting me come um so since
01:02:18the 2022 cha our demographics um and our
01:02:22Target populations have remained
01:02:23unchanged so they're the same our
01:02:26priorities are the same though uh based
01:02:29off of our adviser from the state she
01:02:30said to separate mental health and
01:02:32substance use disorder we took that to
01:02:34our Advisory Board and they approved the
01:02:35change um so the reason we kind of made
01:02:38that change was because some people may
01:02:40have mental health and usually if
01:02:42someone has substance use disorder it's
01:02:44tied to mental health but not always is
01:02:45mental health tied to substance use
01:02:47disorder so that's why we made the
01:02:49separation and have five
01:02:51priorities our Target populations like I
01:02:54I said um they've not changed at all
01:02:56since our 2022 cha so we still have
01:02:58adults and children with mental health
01:03:00services adults and children in need of
01:03:02substance use disorder treatment
01:03:04individuals with limited transportation
01:03:05and resources this was not one of our um
01:03:08main priorities but it is one of our
01:03:10Target populations so there's a little
01:03:11bit of a separation there um individuals
01:03:14who are non-english speaking um that
01:03:16flyer there on the right you can see we
01:03:18coordinated with the local inter agency
01:03:20coordinating coalition to host a fully
01:03:23Spanish presentation for parents um so
01:03:26that was a huge benefit to our community
01:03:29and then individuals with low income or
01:03:31those who are in insured um and I posted
01:03:34at the very very bottom a little I don't
01:03:36know if you can see it but it says
01:03:3712.9% um of persons without health
01:03:40insurance under the age of 65 um and
01:03:43that was as of 2023 before um Medicaid
01:03:45expansion so those numbers may be
01:03:47different for 20124 now and maybe a
01:03:51reduced progress on our priorities this
01:03:54is all of that information that I just
01:03:56discussed in the um strategic plan so if
01:03:58you have questions let me know but it is
01:04:02information get the next one um looking
01:04:05forward to 2024 Mental Health First Aid
01:04:08we are hosting two separate classes at
01:04:11the health department completely free
01:04:12for everyone um community members
01:04:15Community Partners County Employees um
01:04:19it is now full but we're planning to
01:04:20host another class later in the year um
01:04:22we're doing a youth and adult mental
01:04:24first aid class and then another On The
01:04:27Rise which we don't have locked down a
01:04:29date but once we do I'm really excited
01:04:31about it is the suicide prevention it's
01:04:33called assist and we're doing that in
01:04:35coordination with via
01:04:37health and then with s we do have the
01:04:40parent presentation coming up on March
01:04:4227th from 5:30 to 6:30 um again that's
01:04:45completely free mallerie Chapman Shannon
01:04:47Childers um Chad pennel and myself we're
01:04:50all going to present these materials to
01:04:52the school um for all the parents be
01:04:54able to know and recognize the signs of
01:04:55addiction genetic predis those kind of
01:04:58things so that they're more aware of
01:04:59what's going on with their
01:05:01children emerging issues morbidity and
01:05:04mortality changes the most significant
01:05:06change from the 2022 cha to our 2023 s
01:05:10was that we no longer tracked covid
01:05:13deaths or covid um numbers we're
01:05:15tracking covid deaths only because we
01:05:17had that big switch Co is no longer one
01:05:19of the top um we switch back to the
01:05:21commun non-communicable diseases being
01:05:23in the top so heart dis disease um
01:05:25cancer those types of
01:05:27things uh in 2023 and now 2024 we've
01:05:31seen a huge rise in the case of measles
01:05:32across the United States um we've also
01:05:35seen a rise in pediatric deaths from the
01:05:37flu of course and unfortunately mental
01:05:40health inside are still on the rise
01:05:41we're still seeing rates of addiction
01:05:42rising and overdoses
01:05:44Rising ecigarette usage continues to
01:05:47rise and we see that with the school
01:05:48system as well um they're doing a great
01:05:50job trying to combat that so I applaud
01:05:52them on their efforts um but
01:05:54unfortunately we don't know the
01:05:55long-term health effects of vaping still
01:05:58there has been a rise in cases of
01:06:00syphilis and then like I said earlier
01:06:02the increase in poverty and
01:06:06unemployment so paused or discontinued
01:06:08efforts since our 2022 cha like I just
01:06:11stated we because of the state of
01:06:13emergency ending on May 11th in 2023 we
01:06:16stopped tracking the rates of Co but we
01:06:18are still tracking deaths um and then we
01:06:21put an end to the mids South lifestyle
01:06:24looking ahead we do have our 2026
01:06:27accreditation cycle we're halfway there
01:06:29um expanding said prevention materials
01:06:32in our community and the mental health
01:06:33and first aid um maybe opening more
01:06:42public and when she says when she said
01:06:45we're halfway there we actually had a
01:06:46meeting today and we are almost
01:06:50100% up to date up to date for
01:06:53everything that we need need for
01:06:54accreditation so far so um we feel
01:06:57pretty good about it there's 147 bench
01:06:59Parks so a lot of information to put
01:07:02together yeah so I think you can tell
01:07:04that the girls of the health department
01:07:06are very very um busy and they are so
01:07:09excited about being in the community
01:07:11educating so um they they wear me
01:07:17out um okay I'm going to tell you about
01:07:20the renovations and we're very excited
01:07:22about this um we've been waiting on this
01:07:25for about 2 years so um it is the new uh
01:07:28front entrance cover and I'm going to do
01:07:31a public notice which is another
01:07:33accreditation standard so um we have
01:07:36this posted in the um newspaper um so
01:07:40construction will begin today and it did
01:07:43um we want the public to Pro proceed
01:07:46with caution observe All Temporary
01:07:49directional signage provided at the site
01:07:51comply with instructions issued by the
01:07:54health department staff Andor
01:07:55construction staff and if you have any
01:07:57questions regarding this issue please
01:08:039704 and we thank you for your
01:08:05cooperation and regret any inconvenience
01:08:07that this may cause we did realize today
01:08:11um that even with the signage that
01:08:14patients um are standing at the doors
01:08:17and really not knocking so we got
01:08:19wireless doorbells for them to ring and
01:08:21we put signage to ring the doorbells and
01:08:23we have staff as Runners for that so um
01:08:27just bear with us U it'll be four to six
01:08:30weeks of inconvenience but it'll be so
01:08:32much better when this is
01:08:35done any questions very
01:08:38good okay I just wanted to say that the
01:08:41program that you guys came and presented
01:08:43at First Baptist Church I've not heard
01:08:45anything except great compliments about
01:08:47it but you know it's something that has
01:08:51worked real well to bring out the
01:08:53information to the public and I think
01:08:55the more information we can give to the
01:08:58public the better off we're going to be
01:09:00especially due to the fact that in the
01:09:03last couple weeks we still had some
01:09:04problems with some things happening and
01:09:07U uh I just think it's really really
01:09:10good that this program's out there and
01:09:14more parents and more students or
01:09:18teenagers they don't have to be students
01:09:21they they need to be pay attention to
01:09:23what you're doing and I do know this I
01:09:25know that one store that I frequent
01:09:28quite a bit because it's close to the
01:09:29house they stopped selling bait they
01:09:33don't even sell it anymore he got a sign
01:09:35up where they were selling it and I
01:09:37walked in I said how about a strawberry
01:09:39you know I didn't even know anything
01:09:41about him okay but the whole point was
01:09:43he said Larry I stopped that you know
01:09:45and I was just real proud of him because
01:09:47he does not I mean moved it all out said
01:09:50he didn't want to fool with it didn't
01:09:51want a part of it so I thought that was
01:09:54really good so the information is
01:09:55getting to some of the stores and the
01:09:58people that sell it and that's going to
01:09:59be a tremendous help fastic that's the
01:10:02kind of feedback we love to hear I I
01:10:04couldn't believe it I'm like really he
01:10:06said oh yes you know so that was very
01:10:09very good and uh I was glad to see that
01:10:11type response from the public that there
01:10:13there's some places that are going to
01:10:15say you know it's not worth the money
01:10:18we're making for these kids to spend 50
01:10:2060 $70 on a VAP and it it does no good
01:10:25it's heart attack medicine it's lung
01:10:27medicine it's brain medicine I mean and
01:10:31and they just it's it's
01:10:33a it's a terrible thing and I do
01:10:35appreciate what y'all did and uh coming
01:10:38and presenting everything to the church
01:10:40very good job they are working with um
01:10:43with Chad and um it in the county and
01:10:48prom promise and some of the students at
01:10:51the high school and they're going to put
01:10:52together a video utilizing the students
01:10:56I think it's G to be great yeah it'll be
01:10:57essentially an overdose video simulating
01:11:00a student having an overdose at prom and
01:11:02we've got members from the Beta Club
01:11:04that are volunteering to participate um
01:11:06and be part of the process so I think
01:11:07that will help engagement as well as
01:11:08students seeing faces they recognize um
01:11:11when they watch the
01:11:13video thank you thank you thank thank
01:11:16you good job thank
01:11:19you next on the agenda is the senior
01:11:22center report I would
01:11:25recognize Miss Christy hunt our senior
01:11:27senator director good evening thank you
01:11:30all for having us here
01:11:33um I kind of want to stray just a little
01:11:35bit from my PowerPoint um I received
01:11:38this um it's an article one of the
01:11:42seniors sent it to me right before I
01:11:44came and she asked me if I could read it
01:11:47and if it's okay with you all I will
01:11:49read it and it's it I won't say who's in
01:11:53it but I'm I'm very proud that they sent
01:11:54it um it just says finding a cure for
01:11:57loneliness could indeed save lives in
01:12:00May I'm assuming last year US Surgeon
01:12:02General and I'm probably going to
01:12:04pronounce this wrong viic Murthy
01:12:06declared loneliness an epidemic and he
01:12:08initiated a call for Action to mitigate
01:12:11its harmful impacts increased risk of
01:12:14heart disease stroke and dementia in
01:12:16older adults loneliness also increases
01:12:19the risk of early death by more than 60%
01:12:24I find that to be very interesting
01:12:26because one of the number one things
01:12:28that the seniors who are new to the
01:12:31senior center we'll come and say is
01:12:33we're lonely we want to find something
01:12:36to do somewhere to go people to be
01:12:38around and fun activities just to keep
01:12:41us busy keep our minds occupied and just
01:12:44keep going and that is one of the
01:12:46biggest things that I have noticed about
01:12:48the seniors they know the ones that come
01:12:51and see us they know they have to keep
01:12:53going going they have to keep moving
01:12:55because once you stop that's it you know
01:12:58so that said now we can present this um
01:13:03our Bingo on birthday lunches and I say
01:13:05this every time I come they're really
01:13:08they're really doing well we actually
01:13:10broke a record Friday we started signups
01:13:12for Bingo and birthday lunches at 8:00
01:13:15a.m. by 8:40 we already filled up we had
01:13:20signups it was a little crazy that
01:13:22morning you know it was great but it was
01:13:25it was a little crazy we were all the
01:13:26phones were ringing off the hook people
01:13:28were coming in left and right and we
01:13:30kind of just divided and conquered a
01:13:32little bit but um it was great I I love
01:13:35it I love to see the people come out
01:13:37it's it's just a lot of fun so you know
01:13:40we're just going to keep
01:13:41going um that said you know beer
01:13:45building would be lovely so we can have
01:13:48more people there we have like 10 people
01:13:50on the waiting list right now for the
01:13:51Bingo and it's amazing to see them they
01:13:54will come and sit in the lobby and hope
01:13:57somebody don't show
01:13:58up and it's kind of sad but you know I
01:14:01just want to squeeze them in there but
01:14:02there's only so much we can do um okay
01:14:06our musicians Jam you know I've talked
01:14:08about this group before it's a great
01:14:09group it's on Monday mornings at 10:
01:14:11a.m. and thanks to Chad helping us with
01:14:14this we are Live on YouTube and we are
01:14:17getting all kinds of people watching
01:14:19lots of good comments and our latest one
01:14:21that I just think is amazing is from New
01:14:24York um the guy said it sounds great in
01:14:27New York so we're just going to be
01:14:30everywhere um AARP is there doing the
01:14:33taxes every Saturday at the senior
01:14:34center those appointments filled up in
01:14:37January all the way through April up
01:14:40till tax time so they are they are busy
01:14:43and they are doing great and those are
01:14:45free services so it's it's great um we
01:14:49have a lot of good upcoming classes a
01:14:51lot of these are our evidence based
01:14:53classes the pre-diabetes seminar would
01:14:56be great that you know healthy living
01:14:58we're going to do a garden class which
01:15:00is going to be great because they can
01:15:03they're going to get to take home a
01:15:05plant um it's going to be either they
01:15:07have their choice of a tomato plant um
01:15:11or a cucumber plant so that will be
01:15:12really good and they'll get to plant it
01:15:14there and do all kinds of fun things
01:15:16with it last year we done the tie-dye
01:15:18t-shirts and they had a great time with
01:15:20it so they asked to do it again okay
01:15:23that's fun we'll do that and then the
01:15:25barn quilting paint painting class will
01:15:27be on May 1st um Carol Mitchell is
01:15:30teaching that one and that one should be
01:15:34too next is our we did get the grant
01:15:37again this year for our identity theft
01:15:38shredathon event that was a big hit last
01:15:42year so we are doing it again since they
01:15:44gave us the money to do it and our shred
01:15:46truck will be there on March 22nd um the
01:15:49Alexander County partnership for
01:15:51children will also be on site for
01:15:53medication drop so that should be fun
01:15:55and I think we're going to have some
01:15:57more special guests on that
01:16:00too our Valentine's dance went really
01:16:03well um y'all going to have to start
01:16:05joining us for some of this stuff pop in
01:16:08um it was we had it says 99 people but
01:16:11actually we ended up with
01:16:13101 so we're we're good there but you
01:16:16know it was a lot of fun they had they
01:16:18had fun we played games we done the
01:16:20minute to win at games and um give out
01:16:23and they just had a really good time so
01:16:26I'm I'm very proud of that that was that
01:16:27was really good it was it's just amazing
01:16:30to see them laugh and play and just you
01:16:32know it's great so day trips will resume
01:16:36now that we don't have to hopefully
01:16:37worry about the bad weather and you can
01:16:40see we have a good little list there we
01:16:42always go out to eat because that's
01:16:44always good too and then our big day
01:16:48which will be May the 10th our senior
01:16:50celebration this is always Huges I think
01:16:53we ended up with over 130 people last
01:16:55year some were outside so we're not
01:16:57counting that on our our fire code thing
01:17:00um we have this in conjunction with the
01:17:02unifor senior games and those are always
01:17:05huge and and it's great we do a fun walk
01:17:08with it but we're having a DJ um we have
01:17:11our HoneyBaked Ham box lunches um greens
01:17:14the greens Skilled Nursing Facility are
01:17:16providing that for us and then we have
01:17:18lots of other um sponsors that they give
01:17:20us door prizes so that we hand that out
01:17:23out and there will be games to play in
01:17:25order to win those prizes again this
01:17:28year Diamond tourist trips going great
01:17:32um we actually have enough now to go on
01:17:33the Mount Rushmore trip so that should
01:17:36be fun um it's a good long trip and and
01:17:40I've heard good things about it so far
01:17:41they're getting really excited we've had
01:17:43some interest in the um the arc and
01:17:45Creation Museum and they've also we've
01:17:48also already had people that's wan to do
01:17:50the Myrtle Beach trip so should be good
01:17:53there now here's the big one we're very
01:17:56very proud of this our Medicare Savings
01:17:59now of course every year this can
01:18:01fluctuate we never know what plans are
01:18:03going to charge we never know you know
01:18:05how things are going to go we don't as
01:18:07many times as we can advertise you know
01:18:10we only have so many people that'll come
01:18:12in so last year you see we have we saved
01:18:15$593,000 which is great that's a huge
01:18:18number to me if I save somebody $10 then
01:18:21we're saving them that much money and
01:18:23I'm glad of that but we managed to hit
01:18:26over a million again this past year 1,3
01:18:32652 very very pleased with that that's
01:18:34that much money our seniors here can
01:18:38stay you know can keep in their pocket
01:18:40and spending on other things that they
01:18:41need and we had over 1100 contacts so
01:18:45that's a lot of good work very proud of
01:18:48my ladies for helping out with that and
01:18:50my volunteers our participant
01:18:54growing um at and at the bottom you see
01:18:57there for January um our a average daily
01:19:00attendance was 73. 38 last year last
01:19:04January's was 53.86 which is still
01:19:08amazing those numbers are still really
01:19:10good um but that is a 30 over a 36%
01:19:14increase from last year to this year and
01:19:17I've actually run February's numbers and
01:19:19I didn't bring them with me but they're
01:19:20they're right up there at about a 30%
01:19:22increase too so we are growing
01:19:27wonderfully okay any questions one
01:19:30what's your building KN see 100
01:19:34okay yes 100 is our is our technical
01:19:40code may let us away with just I was
01:19:42just asking the question to see how you
01:19:44tracking from 50 some to 70 some yeah
01:19:48yeah we we have a um we have our my
01:19:50senior center we call it my senior
01:19:52center and it's it's our program where
01:19:54people supposed to check in and and
01:19:57typically they do and you know we have a
01:19:59little card that they can check in with
01:20:00and they choose what activity that
01:20:02they're there for so that kind of
01:20:04Records the data for us um but it's it's
01:20:07really good and and like I said these
01:20:09parties they're just beneficial for them
01:20:12and it's it's just a great program it
01:20:15really is if I could offer things seven
01:20:17days a week that would be wonderful too
01:20:20um I don't know it's it's just I really
01:20:23enjoy seeing them come out they need
01:20:25this so okay any other questions I just
01:20:30like to say that savings over a million
01:20:32dollars that's pretty huge it's it's
01:20:34wonderful it's it's we're very proud of
01:20:37that that is amazing the majority of the
01:20:39people that we see are in Alexander
01:20:41County we do have some that will come
01:20:44see us from the other counties I
01:20:45actually have a few that I handle out of
01:20:47um mecklinburg County and some out of
01:20:50Winston Salem but because it's Word of
01:20:52Mouth family members they want us to
01:20:54handle theirs so very proud of that too
01:20:58okay thank you all right y'all have a
01:21:00good even thank you ma'am great
01:21:09um next item I would
01:21:13recognize County Manager
01:21:15CH thank you I'm here tonight to give
01:21:18the update for the Department of Social
01:21:19Services uh Mr David Moose is at Chapel
01:21:22Hill this week for the UNCC School of
01:21:24government classes so I'm going to be
01:21:25here to present Terry Jerel is also here
01:21:28uh Social Work program manager with DSS
01:21:30so she's here to back me up with any of
01:21:32the technical questions you might have
01:21:34so we'll start by talking about our DSS
01:21:36director search update so we did post
01:21:38the position for a little more than a
01:21:40month it closed February the 14th we had
01:21:4211 applications that were considered
01:21:44qualified we have set up a number of
01:21:46interviews starting next week our plan
01:21:48right now is to go through the first
01:21:50phase of interviews and then we'll
01:21:51determine after that that point whether
01:21:53or not we want to continue on with those
01:21:54applications or those applicants a
01:21:57second interview or a third interview
01:21:58and we'll keep you a priz to how that
01:21:59process is going so we are starting to
01:22:01set up those um interviews for next week
01:22:05starting on Monday um again 11 total
01:22:08applications that were considered
01:22:09qualified vacancy rate is 12% um as of
01:22:13right now that's about where we've been
01:22:15um still hiring qualified applicants for
01:22:17child welfare and economic Services
01:22:19we're just simply having a hard time
01:22:20finding qualified individuals and that's
01:22:22the same as across the state I know
01:22:24that's been something you've heard for
01:22:25quite some time we are seeing a much
01:22:27much less turnover rate which is good so
01:22:30again we're staying at about a six or
01:22:31seven number vacancy there overall with
01:22:34the number one and two being child
01:22:36welfare and economic services so we're
01:22:37continuing to look for different ways
01:22:39that we can hopefully attract
01:22:40individuals to come and apply and be a
01:22:42part of the team here um Foster Care
01:22:45Child protect services and adult protect
01:22:47Services numbers we have 59 children in
01:22:49DSS custody four that are out State four
01:22:51that are in our link links 18 to 21
01:22:53program 18 foster homes currently in the
01:22:56county and we did not have any adoptions
01:22:58in November December or January
01:23:00unfortunately we have 60 currently
01:23:02current cases in CPS that are open and
01:23:0513 Wards in Adult Protective Services as
01:23:09now a couple new hires we present here
01:23:12with our CPS team this is Tiffany Howard
01:23:15Social Work assistant and Maryanne
01:23:17Pearson social work three foster
01:23:20care economic service highlight um this
01:23:23is adult Medicaid and family Adult
01:23:26Family and Children's Medicaid uh we did
01:23:28have our open enrollment that started um
01:23:30in December you'll see that chart to the
01:23:32right with the increase there of more
01:23:34than 350 applications uh we have seen
01:23:37that number go back down so we did see a
01:23:39very very steep Spike once open
01:23:41enrollment started um again we're not
01:23:43sure exactly how to project project this
01:23:45going forward we do expect that trend
01:23:47line as you see there to continue but
01:23:49right now we've seen that dip in January
01:23:51and February um prior to the 10 or lower
01:23:54than the trend line from what we've seen
01:23:55in the past so again open rollment
01:23:57started December 1st we did have a spike
01:23:59the first month and we have now seen in
01:24:02January and February decreasing numbers
01:24:05there do have four new hires the
01:24:08economic Services Jennifer Dyson
01:24:09Mitchell cook Lynn thou and Laney Hammer
01:24:12each one of those individuals have
01:24:14started with us in December and January
01:24:16and early February so again we are
01:24:18having some success but we're just not
01:24:19having the number of applicants that we
01:24:21would like to have for some of the
01:24:22positions we have open again we're
01:24:24working on keeping our retention as part
01:24:26of our recruitment so to speak and
01:24:27keeping those that we have currently
01:24:29employed hopefully happy and moving
01:24:32organization other news our food drive
01:24:34was recently held and there's 479 items
01:24:36that were collected unit by unit
01:24:38competition for those who collected the
01:24:39most with Family and Children's Medicaid
01:24:41who won with 180 items again all items
01:24:44donated to the Christian Crisis Center
01:24:46food bank so very thankful for all those
01:24:48that participated with the food
01:24:51drive any questions you might have be
01:24:54glad to try to answer those or car's
01:24:56here again to answer any technical
01:24:57questions you might have with anything
01:25:13agenda we will be moving into close
01:25:17session per North Carolina General
01:25:25six for economic development contractual
01:25:33reconvene for the purpose of adjournment
01:25:38only thanks for being here and hope you