001thank you yeah sure thing I called the October 2nd 2023 regular meeting of the Union County Board of Commissioners to order it is time for the invocation and I will turn that over um say that real quickly okay if you would be inclined to join if everyone would bow their heads dearly father thank you for this blessed sacred time for all of us to come together as constituents of Union County we ask you to be over all of the decisions that we make tonight and that we would honor your word and deed in everything that we say and do and we thank you for those that are here with us tonight and those that are joining online and we just ask for your continued blessings over this County in your name we pray amen and
002if everyone would plays Roz for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to America and to the Republic for which it stands for all the next item on the agenda is informal comments from the community Madam clerk has anyone signed up to speak in informal comments okay thank you each speaker must address the board from the lectern and begin their remarks by giving their name stating where they are residents of Union County indicating the municipality within which they reside if any each speaker will have three minutes to make remarks a tone will sound at the conclusion of your remarks a speaker may not yield any of his or her time to another speaker 's may not discuss matters which are the subject of a public hearing and they must be courteous in their language and
003presentation restatements or repetitive comments by the same speaker whether at the same respect separate meetings may be ruled out of order and terminated by the chair personal attacks will not be tolerated speakers may leave their written comments and or supporting documents with the clerk to the board okay the first Speaker we have tonight is Kimberly Morris Hansley Kimberly Morrison Hansley and I reside in unincorporated Union County successful leadership is about influence not Authority it is very apparent that some of you never intended to have a positive influence your intention was clearly to be in positions of authority and control and you even employ individuals to do your evil bidding no minimum housing standard but condemning properties when it fits the County's needs lack of adequate infrastructures to educate children and to run small businesses I.E
004internet sitting in the seat of Public Service while only self-serving and discriminating against anyone that does not align with the County's mission denying access to the taxpayers to the paid Library facilities to law abiding taxpaying citizens non-profits and the biggest baddest boldest and oldest civil rights organization in this County the NAACP be on notice that if your mission is to exclude people of color and your vision of Union County is where everyone looks and thinks the same as you it will not go unchecked your vision is broken it should be a county that includes everyone rooted in Liberation where all persons can exercise their civil and human rights without discrimination and discriminatory practices and policies the mission should be to achieve equity and hinge on equality I demand that this board be committed to a
005county without racism where black people and all people can enjoy Equitable opportunities in a thriving Community I end with this in the presence of evil I shall not stand by in the midst of battle I shall have no fear in darkness I shall be light and in vengeance I shall have no mercy the next speaker is Reagan Shaw easy my name is Reagan Shaw I'm a Union County resident from wax off it was wrong for this board to partner with moms for so-called Liberty for Constitution Day here are three reasons number one this board has not made it clear to other community organizations whom you've excluded but a specific criteria is for permitting use of our tax-funded libraries if the public was made aware in advance that reading picture books was the sole criteria for
006holding Constitution Day events I'm sure other community organizations could provide that programming in a far more entertaining and more impactful way number two moms for so-called Liberty are seem to be a politically partisan organization here in Union County the group has engaged in political endorsements in local elections across the U.S as far as I'm aware the group has only ever backed Republican candidates some of whom have blatantly violated the Constitution the 917 Society who produces the Constitutions that moms for so-called Liberty distributes holds its fundraisers at none other than Mar-A-Lago irony is truly dead for this is the home of the twice impeached ex-president who helped ferment a violent Insurrection against our government who disrupted the peaceful transfer of power and who now has collected 91 charges in four separate indictments including crimes against guess
007what our constitution number three moms for so-called Liberty members themselves are becoming known for their unconstitutional acts some of these acts actually Target our public libraries and violate the 14th Amendment of the very Constitution they pretend to love for instance here is a book that a local member had banned from one of our Public School libraries last year she said it was too confusing to explain to Children why two men have a baby this type of homophobic nonsense is allowed to flourish on the malls for so-called Liberty public forums here's a sample from Union quote any healthy Society must publicly promote heterosexuality and discourage all other forms crush them or they crush us end quote moms for so-called Liberty handing out the Constitution is kind of like Al Capone handing out copies of the tax
008code for anyone paying attention it's as counterfeit as a trump University degree or as fraudulent as the charitable activities of the Trump Foundation we see the con job for being a true American isn't measured in how many flags you brandish outside your home or how many bald eagles you fetishize in your social media feed it isn't measured and how loudly you sing the national anthem and it no it isn't measured and how many constitutions you distribute being a true American is measured and how well you practice the principles of equality the US Constitution nobly attempts to establish only when you learn to respect other people's Liberties are you honoring the glory of the U.S Constitution that and that alone is what makes you a true American worthy of celebrating its institutional documents it appears some
009of our elected officials in Union County desperately need a refresher course in American Civics if you need someone to make the lessons entertaining and impactful I know some local community organizations that can arrange them Archie Hensley good evening Archie Hensley I live in unincorporated Union County before this board today to take up an issue that has been bought to my attention as it relates to the facility use agreement that has actually been placed for these citizens here in Union County and one phrase has actually been brought to my attention which is actually lending and government speech which from what I understand is actually the purpose behind this that was drafted by your staff attorney and in all of my research I've actually not found one thing that's positive about that everything has been controversial even
010to the point that in rothenberger versus rectors and visitors of the University of Virginia the Supreme Court declared when the government targets not subject matter but particular views taken by speakers on the subject the violation of the first amendment is all the more blatant Viewpoint discrimination is thus an egregious form of content discrimination the government must abstain from regulating speech when the specific motivation ideology or the opinion or perspective of the speaker is the rationale for the restriction so I would ask first and foremost with the policy the NAACP of course is the oldest civil rights organization there is and as Citizens local citizens of Union County we have had the ability to use the library for decades not only the NAACP but local everyday tax paying citizens individuals who are starting businesses individuals for
011whatever reason have used the library so my question to you is this evening what is the purpose of this policy I've been informed individuals that get to use the facilities they must align with the vision or the values of this board with that being said we've heard it already tonight which is very very concerning to me what commonality does moms for Liberty and this board sharing what do you actually stand for some of you may be intertangled with moms for Liberty I do not know but we are to set those personal ideologies aside we can't impose those ideologies on normal local tax paying citizens those are public facilities that we pay for that you are taking upon yourself your values and I say this because we all know we have a conservative board so if
012it's based on that you're wrong we're looking at viewpoint discrimination and what also is most concerning to me is we have a conservative board yes you've lost one of your colleagues but it just amazes me that if this board along with County management really wanted to make a difference all it takes is a super majority three to one or four to zero but you can't come to a conclusion so what are you telling us Dylan Archer Delwin Archer unincorporated Union County I'm a guest at the actions that were taken at the last commissioner's meeting I'm deeply disappointed that you would have the arrogance to deny the will clearly expressed of the people in Union County I am dismayed at your betrayal of the process I want to commend commissioner Brian Helms and vice chair Melissa
013Merrill for their restraint and they're tact and trust me while my voice is low inside is screaming your placement of your own personal power agenda above the office that you are elected to is reprehensible I won't stand for it I won't let it go unchecked I won't let it go unaddressed and I will make it my personal aim with apologies to our animal control people I will make it my aim that you won't be able to run for dog catcher in Union County Allison powers ah good evening Union County good evening border County Commissioners and staff my name is Allison powers and chairman of the Union County Republican party and I live in unincorporated Union County Precinct 28c I do want to talk again about the process that we went through um to make a
014recommendation for a replacement for the vacancy on the board we use the same process that has been used in the past the only difference is we did it in half the time so uh I'd like to speak a little bit to our person that we recommended uh is very um a nice guy he's a uni County resident he's a long time supporter of our party and he fills in a little bit of a space that we don't have the expertise on the board where his business is agriculture a lot of Union County is business is agriculture and I think that's very important to consider thank you Michelle Nichols hello I'm Michelle Nichols I live in Weddington I'm a 30 and one half year I just figured that out resident of Union County moved here um
015on a gravel road where the deal Road schools are now Weddington schools I have always paid my taxes because that's what you're supposed to do when you're a law-abiding citizen and care about other people that live in the community with you and Avail themselves of community services I have used the libraries forever I held a fundraiser with some fellow Weddington residents for a lapse for the library walkathon I've always been involved in the community and I took my kids to story time I've gone to workshops on Excel to learn how to improve my my business skills I have attended workshops on retirement planning in the libraries none of these except for story time were sponsored by the library I was shocked when I called the library excuse me first I emailed I went on the
016website and I sent a request to use the meeting space in April for a community meeting and I never got a response so I emailed again I never got a response finally I called my uh the Waxhaw excuse the Westin Western Branch to talk to the library in there and just said I'm trying to get a library room at the main library I can't get a response back from them can you tell me what's going on so there's nothing posted on the website about a change in policy I was given the name of the person to speak with the Monroe Branch she told me that the library would Now new policy had nothing to do with covid that in April 2023 it was only to be used for the government use or for a library
017program that's not true now that policy now I think I did see it on the library website recently but I feel like this was very underhanded I feel like there are taxpayers who pay no matter what their affiliation is politically no matter whether they have children in our schools or in private schools we all pay taxes if not then we're violating the law and yet now we're picking and choosing who can use those services that our money is going in to pay for all of us to use I'm concerned about where this will go next when there are choices like that made to remove public use I'd like to see everybody have public use not an individual's decision or a commissioner decision thank you Edwin Elam [Music] to the vice chair to commissioners miss Lynn
018West Brian Matthews County Manager to the consultant who was formerly employed here Mr Michelle Lancaster and to the staff and to above all the citizens of Union County on Monday September the 18th in this very chamber there that belongs to all the people of Union County and every citizen it seemed to be very caustic and some of those words cannot go unchecked the language topic and the dissertation concerning sunscreen was offensive to melanated skinned people at home and those who work for businesses and throughout Union County at all levels and the guilty party needs to keep their unscientific cultural opinions lectures out of their mouth many of us don't need sunscreen and I am standing here requesting that the guilty party stop throwing shade on the matters you know nothing about all of God's people
019don't look like you nor is the population challenged to coexist with you and others the guilty party who used this terrorist words given the backdrop of your words they are historically offensive stop pretending you don't know what you're saying I am well read in many subjects and not to go Raw on you I've looked this way all my life so I'm an authority on this subject stop trying to continually divide this country and this community both your racial and Miss cultural steps or is that what your so-called mandate was about seems no message was left with you how can ignorance on several matters be locked into the craziness that's being that's been going on here in Union County at the government level in front of the people's seal of this County do your employers know
020of the evil and Reckless language being used here or is this how they think or is this how they run their businesses and their operations and as I take my seat we are all taxpayers here and people you say you speak for can't pay the bills that we all help to subsidize if we were not here and not part of this simple wall that no one knows how to seemingly manage you have sent our tax bills scoring many of us get no benefit in your bias protocols you don't speak for everyone and that is clear and I know people who look different than you and many who look like you they don't like all the stuff that's going on right here at this stairs Blended families people that are mixed races mixed cultures and they
021even know better with your Reckless and blathering all the time what was that your time is up I'm asking you for a little consideration here for all the men and women that you let go who didn't look like me just have the have the room have the room just one more minute please there's leadership and a leadership crisis at this seat of power and not enough people are participating and trying to help clean this mess up this is a call to action to the people in the middle I'm asking you not to curse yourselves I'm praying for you ignorance of the laws you are violating is no excuse learn to be prayerful and to use better language for our children and when I say our children I mean all of our children it's not a
022code word for me who also understood what you said as I close your blathering was so egregious that I shared with law enforcement and leaving the room on the 18th that it felt like somebody ought to be arrested it turns out that there is no law for stupidity even in this lofty chamber that is calling the people to action all of us together can do better that is what I'm hoping for God bless you all Jen Sanders contact with us hi my name is Jen Sanders and I'm a Union County resident who lives in Melissa Chapel I'm here for accountability I'm here because everyone makes mistakes but there comes a time when you have to stand up in the moment and apologize and take the hit that's what makes us human that we all make
023mistakes we learn from them and we ask for forgiveness we all know that the disaster on September 16th was when moms for Liberty and anti-government extremist group was able to have access to a room that surely didn't qualify under the policy as stated this is where the mistakes happen and instead of doing the right thing and admit your mistake you double down which put you in a bit of a pickle because when you actually come to out publicly to support an anti-government extremist group with our tax dollars it matters see accountability matters you put in a policy that was meant to be discriminative but why to alienate a particular group of tax paying citizens maybe transparency is important we all come from different backgrounds and we have different views but as public officials isn't it
024your job to build Bridges and not walls if Shining Light on on this changes the policy which desperately needs to be done then we've done our job by the way Librarians are stuck in the middle and they're Running Scared supporting information Clancy Balcom thanks good evening my name is Clancy Balcom I live in unincorporated Union County in Canada Phil C On The Board of Commissioners which became vacant due to the passing of our good friend a servant to the county Stony Russian through obvious dearly I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me in this homegoing effort I appreciate the support given to me by the executive committee of the Republican Party well I receive the majority of the votes in the first round of voting I
025would like I would like to say that Union County is home for me and my family from multiple Generations and I will represent my Union County friends and neighbors to the best of my ability and do my part to make Union County continue to be a great place to live and raise a family so thank you all very much that concludes include formal comments the next item on our agenda is item 23 636 a public hearing for text amendment number 2023-001 Transportation plan a minute I will open the public hearing and recognize Bjorn Hansen senior planner for comments from the county Sherman members of the board manager Matthews this is a staff initiated proposed amendment to the unified development ordinance and it is a fairly simple change for background purposes when sidewalks are required by
026Union County along the frontage of Roads as a part of new development we reference a 2014 multimodal Transportation plan that had been completed and covered all of the county that plan is now nearly a decade old and some of the policies that the ncdot uses to reference local plans for incorporating sidewalks or other types of improvements as a part of their projects is best identified through the comprehensive Transportation plan which is something the state actually requires so you're familiar with this comprehensive Transportation plan because the Waxhaw Parkway from last month so these plans are fairly important and the other good thing that we identified with using the comprehensive Transportation plan is our reference document for sidewalks is that the municipalities in Union County also are a part of that plan process and so when we
027make recommendations on their borders we can be assured that this is something that is also consistent with their plans so the tax change is as follows we would strike the multimodal transportation plan from the Udo and instead replace it with the green language saying comprehensive Transportation plan instead of multimodal Transportation plan this would affect rights of way for sidewalks or multi-use paths and again rationale makes it consistent with our municipalities makes it easier for us when we make recommendations to the ncdot that they're consistent with what they would also look for and it gives us flexibility for updating the plans in the future because we have a we already have a forum that meets monthly which is the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning organization we presented this to the land use board this past month they
028recommended approval and we have not received any public comments to date so otherwise I'm happy to answer your questions it may have but tonight would be a public hearing with action requested at the second meeting in October Madam Clark has anyone signed up to speak at the public hearing for this matter so there are no speakers signed up for this public hearing I will now close the public hearing the next item on our agenda is item 26 23 695 Union County Board of Commissioners recognition we would like to ask um commissioner Stoney rushing's wife Anne-Marie and Haley if they would like to come forward you know Haley's welcome to join you up front and um while she's making her way to the front we wanted to recognize that Stoney's birthday is Thursday October 5th and
029we wanted to invite you to be here tonight to receive items and tokens of our appreciation for Stoney's years of service to Union County as a commissioner and many other things um teaching classes about government and um using your shooting range to teach youth about safety and um we just want to thank you and your family for the sacrifices you and the children made so that he could be a servant to Union County that I cannot take credit for this because our incredible staff helped put all of this together including the last gavel that was used by Sony in his last meeting and meeting meetings before on behalf of our staff Union County government the Commissioners we hope that that this will serve as a memory for you and the children for the amazing work
030that he did for Union County over many many years thank you okay and I would also like to ask Stoney's on dad if he would come up Rocky and Russian would you please come up and so um staff and the Commissioners wanted to present you with this plaque tonight um for your son's amazing service to Union County as a commissioner and as a dad and a business owner husband father and your son County Commissioner from 2002 to 2006 and from 2014 to 2023. thank you for your support over your son and everyone that's ever had the pleasure of working with you and Commissioner of stone we wish I would like to present you the scaffold we love you [Applause] thank you next we have item 23 641 recognition of Lifesaver Award recipients I want to
031recognize Liz Cooper from our public Communications team as our director for this item I will turn it over to Liz thank you good evening Vice chair Commissioners manager Matthews and County staff I'm honored to share with you about four of our social services employees who recently received a well-deserved Lifesaver Award from the management team in June of 2023 Karen Tucker noticed one of her colleagues in Social Services didn't look well and instinctively sought help Tucker and another colleague devonya Mobley entered the employee's office to check on her they realized it was a medical emergency and called for help Shea Ivy and Shea Gordon rushed in to help stabilize the employees head as Mobley got the attention of a deputy to assist until paramedics arrived thanks to their Swift response and coordinated efforts the employee in
032distress received necessary medical attention and went to the hospital and it's thanks to these four ladies right here who are here to receive some well-deserved recognition for receiving the Lifesaver Award so please join me in congratulating them and thanking them for their heroic efforts [Applause] thank you one two three one two thank you the next item is for consideration the consent agenda are there any revisions requested to the consent hearing none I'll accept a motion to approve the consent agenda I'm buster I'll make the motion to approve the consent agenda as published okay thank you any comments questions all those in favor say aye we are now at the business portion of the agenda the first item of business is item 23-691 consideration of appointment of Clancy Balcom to fill the vacancy in the membership
033of the Union County Board of Commissioners combuster yes I'll be making a motion on this item I wanted to State again that you know I was there on August 28th at the special meeting of the Republican party and I witnessed the effort that went into it on behalf of our executive committee and our party members and as we near the end of the time frame that we have to make this appointment I feel like it's important that we reconsider this item and provide this board with another opportunity to consider Mr Balcom for the vacancy left by commissioner rushing you know at that meeting on the 28th August 28th there were 40 voting members three rounds were available for the party to determine their nomination but only one was needed Mr Balcom won that simple majority
034in the first round I want to go on record and say that I believe in the process that the Republican party used to nominate Mr balcombe I feel like it was conducted fairly and I appreciate your efforts as Commissioners I feel as though we're representatives of the people of Union County as representatives of the people I asked that my fellow Commissioners consider what the people of Union County would want in this appointment I ask that you consider the detailed process as well as the effort that was made by our party Representatives and put forth to bring us his nomination I ask that you consider all the emails all the phone calls that we've all received as well as the speakers that have come to show support from Mr Balkan and so with that I would
035like to make a motion to appoint Clancy Balcom to fill the vacancy and the membership of the Union County Board of Commissioners all those in favor of the motion say aye aye all those opposed no okay motion fails Madam Vice chair I'd like to entertain from my colleagues to see if there are any other nominations that you may be interested in making during this process commissioner Richard Helms and I both nominated other candidates I'd like to say I'm not wedded to any particular candidate I think it would be preferable if this board could make a decision and make an appointment rather than having this go to the clerk of court so I would you know ask my fellow colleagues to the left of me if they're prepared to make any other nominations or is it
036um only one nomination that they're interested in well what I will say to that is there was a North Carolina General statute that was followed by the party there was your own board policy that was followed accordingly and I support the parties vote 53 precincts and executive committee and I will not be offering another name except what the pro party recommended many of us here yes yeah I'll Echo the same sentiments as I mentioned I was there that meeting commissioner Merrill and I were the only two Commissioners on this board that attended that meeting from the county that is and I witnessed firsthand their process I believe that they got it right when you win in the first round with a simple majority overwhelmingly then I believe that that is a that is a good
037showing and it certainly supports that the party was representing what the will of the people was and so therefore Clancy Balcom would be the only nomination that I was supported this time I would also add that recommending two names who did not follow the procedure and general statute of application to the party I think it is a mistake to offer up a name who did not even apply and one who posted on social media that they were not interested in the vacancy so six people did apply who followed the general statute six people who followed the procedures and policies of our state and this board and a vote was held by the party and Clancy Balcom won in the first round overwhelmingly so um I will not be making another motion um that does not
038recognize and support the efforts by the party and the time that was spent and invested um to vet those six applications and bring us the name Clancy Balcom the net yes uh Madam Vice chair I just um I think it's regretful that this board appears unable to make a decision on this appointment um you know we're not wedded to only consider one choice I mean the indeed if you look back at uh history you know there are times where other choices were considered if you look back at April of 2018 the first time this board addressed the question of filling the vacancy the board split two to two on filling uh former commissioner Lance Simpson's seat I I went back and watched that video because I wanted to be well informed of recent history and
039the meeting was very cordial obviously it was there was disagreement 2-2 but it was more cordial it was you know a lot less caustic than what these deliberations have have brought and there's nothing there's nothing magical there's nothing there's no there's not betrayal it's not treason for this board not to follow the recommendation of the Union County Republican party you know we're to consult with the Republican County of Union County the executive committee of uh Union County Republican party we're not obliged to follow its recommendation you know I take its recommendation seriously I do I had a wonderful conversation with you Clancy I think we can both agree for over an hour very pleasant I have no problems with you at all as a person you seem a delightful family man and a job Creator
040in Union County who runs a business and uh you know you know no no problems there but I'm not obliged to vote for the executive committees recommendation for this vacancy and you know let's not mistake ourselves it's you know the executive committee of the Union County Republican party is not the will of the people it's it's Precinct chairs and officers of the county party and while I take that consultative role seriously you know while I uh listen and seek to understand I'm not obliged to follow that recommendation I'm just not and um I'd like us to consider other candidates I truly would I mean this shouldn't go to the clerk of courts instead of loviating can you just make a motion and offer a name why don't you make a motion in office I have
041I've offered a name uh commissioner Richard Helms has offered a name that's two additional names right we're talking about tonight we offer a name I I would love to hear a name from either of you and I would in all earnestness consider that I make a motion that we feel the vacancy with Mr Clancy Balcom all those in favor say aye I all those opposed no no there you go okay the next item up for business is item 23-666 2023 critical intersection design I want to recognize Bjorn Hansen senior planner for comments from County staff gaming again Madame Vice chair members of the board this is a follow-up from last month where we presented on our our list of intersections to be approved the next step is to design a set of them this is
042something we have done in the past it's actually the fourth time we would submit an application through carpo to help design intersections of concern to us these applications are due at the end of the month so if you do have questions we can come back and and answer them for your second meeting in October and still be able to meet the deadline we have a total budget of two hundred forty thousand dollars that's calculated by multiplying the six intersections we're proposing at a per intersection cost of forty thousand dollars these are grants requires 20 local match so it's eight thousand dollars per location all of these intersections are inside a municipality so each of the affected municipalities are helping share in the cost this cost uh would come due in fy25 with the work starting
043July 1st when the funds are available the benefits are that we enter we evaluate these intersections it allows us to respond quickly to funding opportunities from either carpo or the ncdot it allows us to take designs forward that have engineering judgment as well as significant public feedback so that when we take something forward we have confidence that this is this is locally supported and also that we have a professional cost estimate developed so it reduces the incidence of significant overruns in the future these are the six intersections we're proposing not all of them were approved by you last month four of them were Rogers Road and Wesley Chapel Road was actually designed seven years ago but Indian Trail would like to advance this project and they recognize that the design and the cost estimate is
044probably obsolete at this point so they would like to evaluate it and Joe Carr and Marvin in the village of Marvin was actually identified in the previous round in 2019 but it wasn't on our federal aid system which is a subset of the the road Network that allows federal dollars to be spent on them we successfully added that road to the network that allows it to be submitted I'll note that Marvin has two intersections we only had enough money to partner on five municipalities Marvin wanted to participate in this process so they're providing all of the local match for the Joe Carr and Marvin intersection so the municipalities are coming up with twenty eight thousand dollars we are contributing twenty thousand um again timeline is we submit by the end of October um commissioner Brian
045Helms is the carpo representative so he would be voting on this in February if funding were awarded we would immediately issue an RFQ and try and get all that work completed so we can issue a notice to proceed as soon as the funds are available in July of next year the work would take until mid-2025 to be complete so this is an example of the type of work that was done in the past with intersections that have been funded with designs that we helped lead so this has been a a fruitful process so the requested action is again to authorize staff to submit this application otherwise I'm happy to answer any questions you may have like you make a motion to authorize staff to submit planning Grant applications to the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning organization
046all those in favor say aye aye thank you the next matter on business is item 23692 re-adoption of the resolution to direct the expenditure of opioid settlement funds I want to recognize Michelle Lancaster with the county manager's office for comments on this item welcome back thank you very much happy to be here I have a couple of items for you tonight and first I'm going to do the uh opioid settlement uh re-adoption and an additional action that they're actually item 23 692 and 23 694 and I ask you to take those um together if you would and then I'll do a legislative update which doesn't require any action tonight so specifically I'm asking you to re-adopt the resolution to direct the expenditures of the opioid settlement funds this is actually a simple action that only
047does one thing the previous revolution had resolution had more than one strategy selected from some for some of the funded programs you'll remember that that appendix B that we adopted as an organization had numerous strategies that we could select for how those programs were funded we have gotten feedback recently from the Attorney General's office that they only want one strategy for for each funded program so what I've done is selected a prime primary strategy for each of the endorsed programs and that's what this re-adopted resolution does tonight and that's that that specific action the second set of actions is more specific to the treatment Court program that this board has endorsed and authorized you'll recall that specifically what we had anticipated doing is working with judge hux in employing those treatment programs and working through
048the AOC the state side of the operations to fund positions for them you approve 700 000 to fund that that program as we've spent more time I've spent more time with judge hux really working through how this would operate what we're asking the board to do is actually add some positions on the county side of the classification and pay plan for a variety of reasons currently the county funds one DWI treatment Court coordinator that's been in place since 2014 and what this does is really align these additional positions with that current classification and structure and it will also allow judge hux to have some staff that who currently work on the county side take these positions and run that program the way that I think would be appropriate so the specific action is adding a
049director of treatment court at a pay grade 224 to the County's paying classification plan renaming the DWI treatment Court coordinator classification to treatment Court coordinator at a pay grade 217 and then that General classification will have specific treatment coordinator positions DWI family treatment court and Veterans treatment court and then removing the driving while intoxicated treatment Court coordinator because we wouldn't be utilizing that anymore and approving three new position ftes under the County's pay plan and additionally before you take that action since I'm here I just wanted to give you an update also on the work that we're doing on the opioid settlement funds so you'll recall that we were going to have a staff team as well as our work with Wingate University to take place that has started we are meeting on a weekly
050basis have met with every program that the county has authorized funding for and are really doing I think some good work that you're going to be pleased with when you see that additionally there was another item that had actually been raised by commissioner Stoney rushing when he was with us about looking for some opportunities with ucps and how we could do some use some of those opioid funds so we actually have a team of Staff the Sheriff's Office some folks from Human Services particularly from the behavioral health collaborative and our community support and Outreach and staff from ucps who are working deliberately to to come up with a program that we think would fit the funding and also work to help ucps in a gap that they're going to have because some of someone who's
051retiring who does their disciplinary and Drug education program so we're trying to see how we can leverage these dollars as well as our own staff opportunities to create something that would really work for the community and for ucps and so we've had a couple of meetings we're going to have a couple more and then we'll come back to you with a recommendation on the potential to use those funds for that so again I'm asking you for these actions and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have does anyone have any comments or questions Madam Buster not really a question more of a statement first of all thank you Michelle really appreciate the update um I'm excited about the ucps partnership as well so this is something that Stoney and I discussed before his passing
052also and and you know one of the things we sort of envisioned was something similar to like a dare program like what we had when we were children and many of you know the the County residents had as well something that would provide some education there to younger folks to try to you know avoid problems in the future so I'm very much interested to see how that progresses thank you very much for your efforts absolutely you're welcome make a motion to approve the revision to the Union County paid classification plan to include the following job classifications and pay grades to add a director with the treatment court at the pay grade 224 to rename DWI treatment Court coordinator classification to treatment Court coordinator pay grade 217 and to remove driving while intoxicated treatment coordinator pay
053grade 217 and approve three ftes for treatment Court facilities and support with one treatment Court director and two treatment Court coordinators and to re-adopt the resolution to direct the expenditure of opioid settlement funds all those in favor say aye aye thank you for being here tonight thank you very much thanks for working on all of this for us absolutely I think I have your next item too so I can jump right in there the next item again is not for action since I was here tonight I thought it was a good opportunity to give you a legislative update this is one of the items I'm continuing to work on for the county um as I think everybody's aware the state budget was adopted by the general assembly the governor chose not to veto that but
054also not decided into to law which means the 10-day clock had to run so tomorrow we should have a state budget which we're all very excited about so I'm going to update you on the legislative agenda items that we have and also some budget items that were included for Union County so that you're aware of those and so some of these you've seen before but this just gives you the highlights the county line issue the Mecklenburg Union County Line issue is one of our items there has been a bill filed House Bill 457 from Representatives art Willis and Brody and we actually expect this to be handled later this session so last week and this week the general assembly is in skeleton session we expect them back next week to address redistricting and any bills
055that the governor has vetoed he has vetoed a handful and we do expect them to continue to do business for some time so we expect that that the county line issue is going to be taken up and we will keep you posted on what that looks like exactly um the towing and booting vehicles on County property that was actually enacted as session law the Union County Water seeking the flexibility regard regarding the utility nothing has changed in this from my last update there really was no solution that we were able to come up with to tackle this and our delegation was not interested at this time in moving that one forward uh well testing that was seeking clarifying language regarding potable water so there were a couple of bills that represented Brody filed that were
056enacted that have some some language around potable water so I'm still digging through those to see if we've got a direct correlation but there was some movement in that space you had a solid waste scrap tire disposal item this is where we were looking for some additional funding for counties to better manage the scrap tire disposal this is one that the county loses money on on an annual basis we had been hopeful there had been a bill that was filed and we were anticipating seeing Senator Proctor's Bill included in the budget conference report but it was not when the when the budget was was passed so we did not see any action there Medicaid expansion I think everybody is aware that that was really tied to enactment of the budget so we expect to see
057Medicaid um and enhancement really happened December 1st so this board had approved some additional positions for DSS which I had checked in with Ashley Lance today you approved 12 positions you got three of those filled you know this is something that the entire state is going to be really tackling to try to hire positions to handle an increase in Medicaid and so this is one that you should really expect to get some updates on in the coming months as this rolls out to make sure that we're really able to handle whatever that increase looks like when it actually is reality but that I know that staff is continuing to try to recruit the best they can but with a lot of positions that's incredibly difficult so this is one that um that staff will really
058keep their eye on Additionally you had some requests around child welfare and there were a lot of pieces about child welfare and the lme MCO system in the budget and so we're continuing to review those there are dozens of kind of little component parts so we're looking at those to see exactly exactly what they meant but there were there was some action in that space um item eight that you had was around the definition of adult entertainment and particularly establishing drag queen performances as adult entertainment at adult establishments so there is House Bill 673 that deals with this specifically um pretty head-on which is still pending in house Judiciary and as I mentioned the general assembly is still in session so this may get some movement there was a bill that it somewhat touches on
059this space Senate Bill 579 which actually passed on September 22nd right after the budget was adopted and actually the governor signed this into to law this afternoon after I had put this presentation together and so you can see there what that that does but we'll continue to follow house bill 673. and then lastly we had asked for a regional medical examiner's office this was a topic that was really important to a lot of folks in the community and so the budget and I'll talk more about specifically what was in the budget but that has been established a South Piedmont Regional autopsy Center and funding provided to provide service to Union County and eight other counties in the state so in terms of budget items again I'll jump right into that particular item and the budget
060there's 15 million dollars that should come to Union County in FY 24 for that autopsy Center and 5 million in fy25 so that's capital funding I've asked for specific clarification from DHHS on what we should expect and when we should expect those dollars and then there's additionally operational funds two million dollars for each of the next two years to contribute to the operations of that that facility of five million dollars for the barn project was included in the budget 700 000 for Walden Pond Lake dredging this is a companion piece to four hundred thousand dollars that we received a few years ago for this particular dredging project and then there's also 27 and a half million for Union County to use for 26 million for sewer expansion and 1.5 million for the Waxhaw Gray Water
061System project and so that's spelled out I picked that up exactly the way it's written in the budget and then while this last one is not exactly County funding but it will be important to the county because we are responsible for physical location and capital expense there is included the establishment of a public defender's office 18 staff with the funding that will go to the AOC to allow that Staffing to happen so this is a an office that has not been in place that now the county will be responsible for housing in the future so I think that's an important one for you to to take note of and with that I'm happy to answer any questions no questions thank you very much for that update thank you very much thank you Michelle that brings
062us to the county manager's comments thank you I have no comments tonight thank you commissioner Richard Helms commissioner David Williams thank you madam chair I'd just like to recognize all the members of the public who came up and spoke during informal comments we had a wide spectrum of opinion that was shared and I think robust opinion and exercise of the first amendment is something to be lauded and embraced regardless of how we might feel about the specific content so keep it coming you know let your voices be heard and and I just I welcome that sort of input so thank you commissioner Ron Hills thank you madam Vice chair I actually agree with David I appreciate the speakers that showed up tonight and spoke all the speakers certainly appreciate the the dialogue and um and
063appreciate you being here I also want to say to Ms Lancaster thank you very much for the update I've probably been asking I know at least four or five times now if we can get an update on the legislative agenda certainly appreciate you being here as well thank you to all of our staff who uh who is here present at the meeting thank you to Mr Balcom and your family thank you to Anne Marie and your family for being here certainly appreciate all of you um I would like to say this too on the subject of the appointment so we have until October 7th at 11 59 PM I believe is that correct Mr K um okay um so we have until that point in time to make the appointment as the as a board
064um what I would like to say is this is that at our last meeting you know we did have nominations and David I will say this I I somewhat agree with you and the fact that we are not necessarily obligated to take the party's recommendation but this is where I disagree where I disagree with commissioner Williams is is this is we can't just pull people off the street we can't pull people out of the crowd for a position like this when I said that I agree with the gop's process I said so because I seen it they require biography they require resumes they vet these candidates they vet them out they have a process so to just you know ask someone to be in the room and then to nominate them is incorrect we have
065to vet out the correct candidate for this position so that's why I stand in support of Mr Balcom that'll be all tonight thank you I agree with that commissioner Helms and I will also say that it would be unwise to make the nomination of two individuals or any individual with the six individuals who actually followed the process and and submitted their application showed up and introduced themselves did q a and express why they desired sitting in the vacancy and serving Union County um it is also done founding to nominate someone who specifically publicly posted they had no interest in the vacancy so um there were other comments tonight regarding the library I think it's very important for everyone to understand that um that we have spoken with staff that policy was written by the last
066board and we have all agreed that we are going to revisit the library policy with this new board and some of us here tonight work behind the scenes with the last County Manager to write that policy last April when it got changed some of us were not here when that new policy got changed but we all agree that the policy needs to be Revisited and we will do that um this board does not see applications when they come in the county library and the county manager sees when the applications come in that is not something that that we have seen um but we've heard you and we're going to revisit that policy and given the history of the last board I think this board will come up with something that everyone can agree on so
067we will commit to that with that being said those are all the comments I have tonight and I will make a motion to adjourn all those in favor say aye thank you