Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Votes Roundup topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Pender County commissioners approve several items, table one vehicle request; votes and key details
Summary
The board approved multiple routine and specific items including an adoption-promotion grant, sheriff vehicle purchases, increased spending for wastewater chemicals, interlocal changes with Wallace and authorization to seek water-plant funding; the board tabled a social services vehicle purchase request for additional information.
At their Sept. 15 meeting, the Pender County Board of Commissioners approved several funding and contract actions and tabled one departmental vehicle purchase request pending additional documentation and usage details.
Outcome highlights
- Consent agenda: The board approved the consent agenda after pulling items 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5 for separate consideration. (No roll-call tallies were recorded on the transcript; votes were taken by voice and raised hands.)
- Item 8.3 (Department of Social Services vehicle replacements): The board tabled the request for two vehicle replacements for DSS, totaling $69,564.81, after commissioners asked staff to return with vehicle utilization, mileage logs and the county vehicle-replacement policy. The request included two vehicles that had been totaled in collisions; staff said an insurance reimbursement of about $35,000 had been received for those totaled vehicles and that replacement-program reimbursements can be up to 50 percent in some cases. Commissioners asked for a detailed utilization/mileage report before approval.
- Item 8.4 (DSS adoption-promotion grant): The board approved amending the DSS budget to add $82,406 in state funding for an adoption-promotion program. Staff said the grant funds training, legal expenses and other supports intended to increase local foster-family participation and reduce higher-cost placements.
- Item 8.5 (Sheriff vehicle purchases): The board approved two additional sheriff's vehicles (part of a 20-vehicle budgeted package for the fiscal year). Sheriff Cutler told the board the vehicles are for a specialized unit; the sheriff also said upfitting costs vary and that some retired equipment can be reused where feasible.
- Item 9.1 (Pender County Utilities): The board approved an increase to purchase order #200 for the wastewater plant's annual alum budget (a coagulant used in treatment). Staff said bidding produced two responsive vendors; AmeriChem was the lowest responsive bidder.
- Item 13.1 (Wallace interlocal agreement and utility terms): The Board approved a negotiated agreement with the town of Wallace that terminates/renegotiates a prior interlocal understanding related to sewer capacity and allows Wallace to proceed with a satellite annexation; staff and Pender Water & Sewer reported the prior interlocal carried a roughly $9,000,000 liability over remaining years and the new agreement reduces that exposure.
- Item 13.2 (Hampstead membrane water-treatment plant funding): The board authorized Pender Water & Sewer to allow the project engineer (CDM Smith) to pursue additional funding (grants, state revolving funds, USDA) to support a capped $150,000,000 project. Staff reported current program allocations of roughly $75 million and a project estimate near $113 million; the authorization allows applications by the Sept. 30 deadline.
- Item 15.1 (Atkinson regionalization study): The board endorsed discussions and gave Pender Water & Sewer support to pursue regionalization options for the town of Atkinson, which faces failing septic systems. Staff described three options from an engineering feasibility study and said regionalization to connect Atkinson to a Pender-side wastewater solution would be the preferred approach to secure larger state funding.
- Item 21.1 (Special use permit): The board approved a special use permit for a 20,000-square-foot warehouse for an insulation contractor on Blueberry Road; staff noted buffers, wells and a proposed septic area on the 3.3-acre site within a larger tract. The applicant said the building will be used for fiberglass insulation; spray-foam operations were said to be possible in the future but not planned to be staged or stored in Wilmington currently.
- UDO text amendment: The board approved a text amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance transferring initial decisions on vested-rights determinations and zoning-line interpretation from the Board of Adjustment to the UDO administrator (staff), with appeal rights to the Board of Adjustment preserved.
Why it matters: The approved items include grant revenue, routine procurement for utilities and public-safety equipment, and infrastructure authorizations that shape capital planning and county utility actions. Commissioners asked for more documentation before vehicle purchases and sought clarity on payback/reimbursement details.
What comes next: For the tabled DSS vehicle request (8.3) staff must return with vehicle utilization logs, procurement documentation and the county vehicle-replacement policy. Staff will proceed with purchase orders and funding applications for items where authorization was granted.
