By Tim Gardner
The Avery County Commissioners elected Tim Phillips as the Board’s Chairman during their December 4 regular monthly meeting.
Phillips and three of his fellow-commissioners–Dennis Aldridge, Wood Hall (Woodie) Young, Jr., and Robert Burleson–were present for the meeting. Commissioner Martha Hicks was absent due to illness. County Manager Phillip Barrier, Jr., Assistant County Manager and Clerk to the Board Cindy Turbyfill, County Finance Officer Caleb Hogan, and County Attorney Michaelle Poore were also in attendance.
Aldridge nominated Phillips to serve as Board Chairman. Young, Jr., Aldridge, and Burleson voted for Phillips to fill the post. Phillips also voted for himself, making it a unanimous approval (4-0 of members present). There were no other nominations for the position.
Phillips will serve in the role until the December 2024 monthly meeting. He replaces Hicksas chairperson. Hicks asked her fellow-commissioners not to consider her to remain chairwoman or to serve as vice-chairwoman because she will not be running for re-election to the Board in 2024. She said she thinks another commissioner needs to start filling the chairperson’s role.
Hicks served eight consecutive years as the Board’s Chairwoman and is entering her year number 16 as a county commissioner.
Aldridge was nominated by Phillips to be the Board’s Vice-Chairman. Phillips, Young, Jr., and Burleson voted for Aldridge’s appointment to the position. Aldridge also voted for himself, making it a unanimous approval (4-0 of members present). There were no other nominations for the post.
The commissioners also unanimously approved (4-0 of members present) reappointing Barrier, Jr., Turbyfill, Hogan, and Poore to their respective posts for the next year.
Phillips said the County received an exemplary rating on its most recent financial audit period, ending on June 30, 2023, from Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Tera Fenner of the Blackburn, Childers and Steagall Certified Public Accountants Company, which maintains offices in Boone, as well as in Johnson City, Kingsport, and Greenville, Tennessee. Copies of the complete audit may be obtained in person at the County Manager’s office in the County Administration Building or by calling (828) 733-8201.
In other financial business, the commissioners unanimously approved the November 2023 Tax Report from Tax Administrator Andrea Turbyfill that a colossally-high amount of $4,560,404.25 was collected in taxes due the county by her and her tax collections staff during that month.
Turbyfill also noted that a total of $17,801,127.58 has been collected by the county’s tax department during 2023 (January 2 through November 30).
The commissioners also unanimously (4-0 of members present) adopted a resolution to direct the expenditure of opioid settlement funds the County received. Avery County is set to receive $1,713,552 over an 18-year period as part of the national opioid settlement against drug distributors Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen and opioid manufacturers Johnson & Johnson and Purdue Pharma. The County will receive an additional $1,381,965 over a 15-year period as part of the national opioid settlement against drug distributors CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Allergan, and Teva.
The commissioners also unanimously approved (4-0 of members present) the following budget amendments as requested by Hogan that includes their respective details and monetary amounts:
*Accepted a grant in the amount of $6,000.00 the Sheriff’s Office received from the High Country Charitable Foundation for expenses related to the DARE/Drug Prevention program.
*Accepted a grant in the amount of $75,000.00 the Department of Emergency Medical Services received from Dogwood Health Trust to fund the County’s Community Paramedic Program. The total appropriated amount includes payments to Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) for the employee.
*Approved an insurance reimbursement in the amount of $1,226.60 for a 2019 Dodge Durango for the Sheriff’s Office.
*Approved an insurance reimbursement in the amount of $14,629.93 for a 2017 Dodge Ram for the Sheriff’s Office.
*Creating two new Medicaid worker positions that are needed to cover the implementation of Medicaid expansion, which went into effect on December 1. These positions will be reimbursed by the State of North Carolina up to 75 percent. However, the State sent the County $65,638.59 to help cover the County match for these positions and current Medicaid positions for Fiscal Year 2024. This amendment will pull that total monetary amount forward from the 2022-2023 fiscal year out of fund balance.
Additionally, the commissioners addressed several other topics.
They agreed by a 4-0 vote (of members present) to hire CPL Architecture Engineering Planning of Charlotte, North Carolina for the planning of a new Avery County Recreation Center, including the initial steps of visioning session goals, defining objectives, community engagement, and programming as recommended by a local recreation center advisory committee.
In 2024, the commissioners are expected to vote to approve or reject the building of a new recreation center.
They also discussed the county’s new contract with Radio Communications Company of Cary, North Carolina, which provides its fire, rescue, and law enforcement radio communications services. Both Barrier, Jr. and Director of Emergency Management Paul Buchanan have declared that Avery County now has a state-of-the-art radio system with its new system. The commissioners also expressed satisfaction with the new contract and Phillips said that the system has been completely changed out and updated to meet necessary protocols for it to be a completely new system.
Radio Communications Company agents Matthew Dean and Randy Griffin complimented county staff involved with the project for their help and cooperation that was essential to the successful transition to a whole new radio system.
The commissioners also unanimously (4-0) of members present approved the following appointments to county Service Boards-
*Economic Development Committee-Logan Burleson
*Fire Commission-Scott Heath
*Morrison Public Library Board-Aneda Johnson
*Child Fatality Board-Rachel Towler
*Blue Ridge Partnership for Children-Robert Burleson
*Jury Commission-Linda Ollis Taylor
During the County Manager’s Report segment, Barrier Jr. provided an update abut Broadband Internet access throughout the county, stating that its approximately 25 percent complete with full completion still scheduled for 2026.
Avery County is now considered by North Carolina Department of Commerce as a Tier 2 county. It had a Tier 3 rating last year, which meant it was then rated as a “prosperous area.” The new rating means it’s considered as a “more distressed area.” The county’s economic distress is ranked number 77 out of the State’s 100 counties after being ranked number 91 last year. The new worse rating is largely driven by a change in the county’s population growth rate, which moved from number 81 to number 54 out of the state’s 100 counties this year.
However, the lower rating means the County could more easily secure future financial grants for the county. That’s because some grants are only available to lower-tier counties, and other grants may use the tier system as a means of determining need.
However, the tier system does not impact Broadband Internet grants, Barrier, Jr. noted. He added that there is another financial grant available to secure Broadband connection poles that the County will pursue.
The County Manager also said that the Department of Social Services remains on schedule to move into its new headquarters on Beech Street in Newland later this month or early in January 2024. He said the new construction and renovations at the facility are nearing completion, that new office furniture is in the process of being put in the facility, and that DSS staff members are in the process of moving office files to the new complex.
Barrier, Jr. also said that no current client services have been delayed or changed due to the DSS moving into a new complex.
Concerning a Preservation Self-Assessment Program (PSAP) of the Avery County Communications Center by the North Carolina 911-Emergency Board, Barrier, Jr. said that the center received a perfect, 100 percent rating.
A PSAP focuses mainly on the physical condition of a facility or facilities being assessed, but also acknowledges the significance of other components of it and its program’s operations.
Also, the Avery County Detention Center (Jail) passed its yearly inspection by the North Carolina Division of Health Service Regulations, receiving an exemplary rating.
Lan Holtsclaw distributed copies of various Avery County School System materials to the commissioners, county manager, and assistant county manager, with details about its nepotism policy, administrative salaries, and related items. Barrier, Jr. said that while the County provides funds each year to the school system, its direct operational policies are established by the Board of Education and the State of North Carolina and its employees’ salaries are determined by both the Board of Education and the State of North Carolina, not directly by the County.
Barrier, Jr. also stated that the County Soid Waste Centers and Landfill will be closed on Saturday, December 23, Sunday, December 24, and Monday, December 25 for the Christmas holidays, but will re-open on regular schedule on Tuesday, December 26.
The commissioners will hold their next meeting and their first of 2024 on Tuesday, January 16, beginning at 3:30 p.m. in their Board Room, located on the second floor of the County Administration Building, at 175 Linville Street, in Newland. The Board normally holds its regular monthly meetings on the first Monday of each month, but will hold this one on a different day because the first Monday is January 1 and is New Year’s Day—a federal holiday and one in which all county offices are closed and its employees have off work.
You must be logged in to post a comment.