By Tim Gardner
Adoption of a grant resolution with approval of the County’s funding amount for the Transportation Authority and approval of the Council on Aging’s spending plan for the Home & Community Care Block Grant funds highlighted a September 3 heavy agenda meeting of the Avery Board of Commissioners.
All Commissioners– Tim Phillips (Chairman), Dennis Aldridge (Vice-Chairman), Martha Hicks, Wood Hall (Woodie) Young, Jr., and Robert Burleson were present at the meeting. County Manager Phillip Barrier, Jr., Assistant County Manager and Clerk to the Board Cindy Turbyfill, County Finance Officer Caleb Hogan, Tax Administrator Andrea Turbyfill,and County Attorney Michaelle Poore were also in attendance.
The commissioners unanimously (5-0) approved the Avery County Council on Aging’s spending plan for the Home & Community Care Block Grant funds. According to the County’s Senior Services Director Phillip Adams, the plan assists in funding Older American Act Services and includes Senior Center General Purpose Funding, Transportation (contracted with the Avery County Transportation Department), In-Home Aides Level 1 and Level 2, Congregate Nutrition, and Home Delivered Meals. The spending plan’s total funding is $229,977.00, counting grant funds, and $20,597.00 in County funds.
During the meeting, the commissioners held a public hearing to solicit public input about the 2025-2026 Fiscal Year UGA Community Transportation Program Grant Application for the Avery County Transportation Department that will be submitted to the North Carolina Department of Transportation no later than October 4, 2024.
The 2025-2026 Fiscal will run from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.
The Community Transportation program assists in coordinating existing transportation programs operating in Avery County and provides transportation options and services for the communities within this service area. These services are currently provided using four lift-equipped high-top transit vans, one minivan with a ramp, four minivan/crossovers, and 3 regular, high-top transit vans.
Citizens were allowed to provide oral and written comments regarding the Transportation Department grant. Following the public hearing, the commissioners approved a resolution supporting the grant application and then approved the County’s funding amount. Both passed unanimously (5-0).
The State of North Carolina will provide $338,220.00 in funding to the Avery County Transportation Department through the grant, with the County adding funding of $41,975.
Avery County Transportation had requested $313,761.00 in total funding requests. The State will provide the additional $24,259.00 if the grant is approved.
The financial breakdown includes $163,060.00 for Administration and $175,160.00 in Combined Capital through the grant funding, with $24,459.00 for Administration and $17,516.00 in Combined Capital in County funds.
The Administration amount of $163,060.00 includes $120,209.00 for Salaries; $9,196.00 for Social Security/Medicare; $9,557.00 for Retirement; and $24,098.00 for Hospital Insurance.
The Administration funding is the same overall amount, with the same amounts for Salaries, Social Security/Medicare, Retirement, and Hospital Insurance, as the 2024-2025 Fiscal Year Grant.
Dustin Burleson, Community Relations Regional Director with Vaya Health, provided the commissioners and others attending the meeting with updates about this organization’s recent activities.
Vaya Health is a public managed care organization (MCO) that prioritizes whole-person health. It manages Medicaid, federal, state, and local funding to connect the people it serves to health care services and support. Its specialty is helping individuals with needs related to mental health, substance use disorders, intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD), and traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Vaya Health also manages physical health and pharmacy services for Medicaid.
To manage prevention, treatment, and crisis services, VAYA Health partners with more than 4,000 healthcare agencies and practitioners. This network provides person-centered care to help people on their path to health and wellness.
Vaya Health currently operates in 32 North Carolina counties and is made up of four regions. Avery County is in Region 3, which also consists of Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes, Caldwell, Alexander, and McDowell counties.
Commissioner Phillips and County Manager Barrier, Jr. are members of Vaya Health’s Region 3 Board of Directors.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) launched the new Healthy Opportunities Pilot (HOP) program for NC Medicaid Direct beneficiaries who are eligible for Tailored Care Management (TCM) on May 15.
The Healthy Opportunities Pilots (HOP) is the nation’s first comprehensive program to test and evaluate the impact of providing select evidence-based, non-medical interventions related to housing, food, transportation, interpersonal safety, and toxic stress to high-needs Medicaid enrollees. The federal government has authorized up to $650 million in Medicaid funding for the Pilots over five years. NC Medicaid is authorized to implement HOP through October 31, 2024. The state has applied to renew the 1115 waiver, this application includes an additional five years and statewide expansion for HOP. Avery County is one of the 18 Western North Carolina counties that was chosen for the first phase of the pilot.
The Tailored Plans were launched on July 1, 2024. At a legislative committee on April 2, NC Medicaid shared that the Local Management Entities (LMEs) that will run Tailored Plans – Vaya Health, Alliance Health, Partners Health Management, and Trillium Health Resources—were all ready for the program to begin.
Tailored Plans include services for people with serious mental health issues, substance use issues, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and traumatic brain injury. People with NC Medicaid Direct who receive services for these needs may be moved to a Tailored Plan. The name will change, but the services will not.
Some highlights from the 2024-2025 fiscal year budget provisions: 350 new Innovations Slots across the state with each county in Vaya’s catchment getting at least one of those slots. There was $30 million (from Fiscal Year 2023-2024) and $50 million (from Fiscal Year 2024-2025) put into the Crisis System, and Behavioral Health Rate Increases of $165 million (from Fiscal Year 2023-2024) and $220 million (from Fiscal Year 2024-2025).
Burleson also informed the commissioners that the Department of Health and Human Services has announced that Blue Cross Blue Shield NC was selected to operate the Children and Families Specialty Plan (CFSP). A first-of-its-kind initiative, the CFSP is a single, statewide NC Medicaid Managed Care plan that will wrap Medicaid-enrolled children, youth, and their families in the child welfare system with seamless, integrated, and coordinated health care.
In other news, the commissioners by other unanimous votes:
*Approved a proclamation recognizing the 50th Anniversary of the High Country Council of Governments.
The High Country Council of Governments (HCCOG) is designated by both the State of North Carolina and federal governments as the official agency for the administration of various funds and programs. The Council provides an array of services to local governments that enhance the well-being of their communities. It currently serves seven counties and 19 municipalities in the High Country region, including Avery County and its townships. From the care of older adults to water, sewer, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) services, transportation planning, and workforce development, the Council provides services and resources that might not otherwise be affordable or available to local governments.
*Appointed William Costner and Matthew McClellan to the Avery County Fire Commission.
North Carolina House (General Assembly) Bill 673 established the Avery County Fire Commission, which consists of a five-member board. Two of the board members shall be consumers appointed by the Avery Board of Commissioners. Two more of the board members shall be firemen approved by the Avery County Fire Association and the Board of Commissioners. The other four sitting members of the Fire Commission shall choose the remaining member.
*Approved two subdivisions– 1911 at Cranberry (Phase IIE Lots 90-105 and 108-151) and Highland River Estates (Lots 30-33, 34-47, and 48-50)
According to Avery Inspections and Planning Department Director Allison Kidd, both properties passed inspection, met all the County’s subdivision ordinance guidelines, and were unanimously approved by the Avery County Planning Board to pass on to the Board of Commissioners, which must approve any subdivision development.
*Approved the August 2024 Tax Report from Tax Administrator Turbyfill that $5,499,349.99 in taxes due the County were collected by her and her tax collections staff on all days of that month except those on the month’s four weekend days (Saturday and Sunday).
Tax Administrator Turbyfill said that $9,977,169.35 in taxes due were collected for the first eight months of 2024–January, February, March, April, May, June, July, and August.
Additionally, the commissioners approved the following budget amendments (5-0 vote) requested by Hogan which include their respective details and monetary amounts:
*Funding $2,309.50 to finish out a $173,000.00 Trail and Restoration grant the Department of Soil and Water received last year from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
*Using $18,315.33 from the fund balance to hire a full-time, temporary position for the Board of Elections because of the retirement of Director Shelia Ollis at the end of 2024. This will allow the new hire to be fully trained and move into the permanent full-time post on January 1, 2025.
*The Department of Social Services (DSS) budgeted $10,000.00 for special adoption incentives in the 2023-2024 fiscal year budget but received a total of $18,530.00. The monetary amount difference between these two totals, plus the unexpected balance of $930.73 created a total of $9,460.73 is to be moved into the current 2024-2025 fiscal year budget.
*Returning $350,000.00 in grant funds received from Dogwood Health Trust that were to be used for the reentry housing project in the 2023-2024 fiscal year budget. Because the County is no longer moving forward with the reentry housing project Dogwood Health Trust requested that the grant funds be returned.
*$4,714.00 in State of North Carolina automation grant funds for the Office of Register of Deeds for the preservation of historic records.
*$33,000.00 for kitchen roof architect fees as part of the entire kitchen renovation the commissioners previously approved for Avery County High School.
*$55,112.00 to replace the main boiler pipe at Avery Middle School.
*$22,150.00 for HVAC replacement at the Avery County Schools Central Office.
*$33,159.00 for water line replacement at Newland Elementary School.
During the county manager’s report to the commissioners, Barrier Jr. said that work toward obtaining Broadband Internet access for every residence and business in the county is still “moving forward toward its total completion date of December 21, 2026.” More than 200 homes and several businesses in the county already have Broadband Internet and the commissioners have prioritized that every residence and business in the county does during the next 28 months timeline.
He has continued to remind others that Avery is the first of the State of North Carolina’s 100 counties to implement the Complete Access to Broadband (CAB) Grant, which is being used for the installation of Broadband Internet throughout the county.
Barrier, Jr. has also said that Avery’s total CAB funding will be $3,410,000.00, which includes $3,000,000.00 in the American Rescue Act funds that the commissioners have designated for Broadband service. The CAB Program is a competitive bidding program that allows individual North Carolina County governments to partner with the North Carolina Department of Internet Technology (NCDIT) to fund broadband infrastructure projects in unserved and underserved areas of each county.
The commissioners will hold their next regular monthly meeting on Monday, October 7, beginning at 6:00 p.m. in their Board Room on the second floor of the County Administration Building, located at 175 Linville Street in Newland. The commissioners and the Avery Board of Education will jointly meet again on Monday, September 30, to visit every school in the county that day, beginning at approximately 8:00 a.m., to determine what needs to be improved at each.
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