The six active members of our Board of Commissioners held a special called meeting Tuesday night to discuss a personnel matter in closed session and to finalize the 2014 – 2015 fiscal year budget. There was no formal announcement following the closed door session. There may have been an informal announcement at the conclusion of the almost four hour meeting when the interim county manager said he would no longer be attending commissioners meeting after Friday. Budget Work Session Chairman …
Category: Opinion
Michael Bobbitt: Notes from the Peanut Gallery (VC Board of Commissioners May 4th, 2015)
Monday’s commissioners meeting was filled with great comedy material. In attendance were the paid voices supporting the conversion of agricultural lands from food production into a desert of ground based solar collectors. Henderson’s mayor and interim city manager attended as backup to the NCDENDER spokesperson attending to reaffirm the logic for selling Kerr Lake water to Franklin County. Also a large contingent attended to support the school system’s administration and its board’s request for lottery money to install a multipurpose …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes from the Peanut Gallery (Vance Count Board of Commissioners April 6th, 2015)
First, my apology for a month delay of my summary of the county commissioners’ April 6, 2015, meeting. The April meeting was another lengthy meeting principally due to a public hearing regarding a zoning amendment to govern the location and number of ‘solar farms’. Also on the agenda was a Vance County Board of Education’s request to spent $883,469 in Education Lottery Funds to build a multi-purpose room at Carver Elementary School. Six people spoke during the public comment period …
Elissa Yount: Clouding The Waters
The Daily Dispatch did a commendable job of trying to show that the speakers at Monday’s City Council meeting just did not get it. They just did not understand what the IBT permit that will transfer water was all about. Believe me, we get it. I would bet the speakers at the meeting could answer any question both technical and historical about the IBT permitting process. What I don’t believe is that we are getting the entire picture from our …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes from the Peanut Gallery (City Council April 26, 2015)
Public Hearings through Consent Agenda Two public hearings were held both regarding annexation of land by the city. No one from the public spoke for or against either annexation; both were approved within the first ten minutes of the meeting. Four items were on the agenda for new business only two required approval. The first item was to approve hanging a banner for this year’s relay for life program from the railroad bridge over Charles Street. Councilmember Daeke requested the …
John Hyson: You’ll Wonder Where The Water Went!
You haven’t seen much in print about the proposed increase in the daily drawdown of Kerr Lake. Sometimes leadership thinks we don’t seem to need to know about the things affect us the most. The headline article of the Dispatch on April 5th gives off that odor. You may or may not have been told about this drastic increase in the depletion of our immediate area’s most valuable economic resource. Although the “official” public notice did appear in the newspaper …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes from the Peanut Gallery (Water Committee Meeting March 30th, 2015)
The Water Committee meets on the Monday before the monthly Water Board (Board of Commissioners) Meeting. The results of the committee’s meetings are reported to the both boards during their regular monthly meetings. The agenda for this meeting included three topics: Review of Monthly Construction and Operations Report – Phase 1A, 2A & 2B Resolution of Support for Kerr Lake Regional Water System’s Interbasin Transfer Request Water Pricing Discussion (Envirolink to lead discussion) This topic was the meat of the …
Rusty McMahon: EDC Truth
The Daily Dispatch reported recently that the Economic Development Commission (EDC) Board is considering not renewing its membership to the Research Triangle Regional Partnership. Director Stuart Litvin and others argued that Vance county has gotten absolutely nothing for our investment of tens of thousands of dollars. Said Litvin, “It’s been the same story over the past 20-some years.” While they are seeking truth, there is another fact they should acknowledge – their own economic development record. It is dismal. Their …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes from the Peanut Gallery (VC BoC March 2nd, 2015)
The public part of Monday night’s meeting was long by county standards. After almost three and half hours of sometimes intense and robust discussion the commissioner entered into closed session. The chair announced there would be no announcement after the closed door attorney-client privileged matter and the personnel matter. (Note: A commissioner called me on Tuesday to say there was announcement, the Board approved a salary adjustment for the finance director.) Person travel plans prevented by attendance to Thursday’s special …
Phil Hart: Our Participation Makes Us
Wednesday January 28th, 2015 I went to the Vance County Board of Commissioners Annual Retreat. Home in Henderson was invited to attend as a media outlet to give our views of the past, present and future of Vance County from our organizations point of view. If I were given the invitation personally, the presentation may have been different, however it was fitting that the invitation first went to frequent contributor Michael Bobbitt. Michael is such a frequent contributor here and goes …
Michael Bobbitt: Home in Henderson Presentation to the Vance County Board of Commissioners
Editors Note: This is a copy of the presentation presented to the Vance County Board of Commissioners during their Annual Retreat January 28th, 2015. I (Phil Hart) will write more about this hopefully this weekend. An excerpt from the presentation is below, and the full presentation download link is provided at the end. My name is Michael Bobbitt. Chairman Taylor invited me to make a data driven presentation to you, the Board of Commissioners, on what I perceive as the …
Rusty McMahon: Commissioners Need to Address Water Project
Editors Note – An abbreviated version of this opinion piece has also been published in The Daily Dispatch‘s paper on Saturday, 1/24/2015. Dear Commissioners, I respectfully request that you address the following issue at your upcoming Planning Retreat. You told citizens in public meetings that 5000 gallons of water would cost $35-45, with no mention whatsoever of a monthly fee if they signed up but wanted water later. Those who signed up based on your promises learned of the monthly …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes from the Peanut Gallery (January 5th, 2015)
Monday night’s meeting was the first I have attended since Mr. Taylor’s ascension to Chairmanship. What a difference he has made in Board procedures. Instead of relying on the county manager to report on topics the committees have discussed the Chairman asked the committee chairs’ for their respective reports. This procedural change makes each committee chair accountable for their committee’s decisions instead of hiding behind the county manager. A larger than normal number of people attended most of the meeting, …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes from the Peanut Gallery (Henderson City Council Meeting November 10, 2014)
Mondays night’s City Council meeting was well worth the cost of the admission. Some 30 – 35 people were in attendance for the meeting including a NC State Representative, a district court judge, and a county commissioner. Generally, something in the agenda will alert the peanut gallery to expect a large number of attendees to watch elected officials to do their work. Last night’s meeting agenda excluded awarding of any special recognition, retirement announcement, or water rate increase, all the …
Michael Bobbitt: Vance County 2014 Vote Analysis
Of the 30,000 registered voters 14,174 (47.23%) showed enough interest to make their opinion known, they voted. Mining the Unofficial Results I discovered some other interesting results. In Vance County’s two competitive races, Register of Deeds and Sheriff Office, both had high voter totals. For the Register of Deeds 13,238 votes were cast or 93% of all ballots cast. The race for Sheriff’s Office attracted the largest number of total voters, 14,018 or 98.9% of all ballots cast. More ballots …
Richard Brand: The Anatomy of Marriage
The long standing tradition in the United States was that people would be married in a church. The minister always demanded that there be a marriage license before doing the service. Because a marriage in a church was a two part event. The two people getting married were, with the license from the state entering into a legal partnership contract. They were also receiving a blessing upon a promise, a vow they took to each other before God and witnesses. …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes from the Peanut Gallery (BoC November 3rd, 2014)
Monday’s meeting occurred before Tuesday’s re-election of Commissioners Brummitt, Hester, and Wilder. Congratulations to you all. Chairwoman Brown opened the meeting congratulating Commissioner Brummitt on his appointment by Governor McCrory to the NC Code Officials Qualifications Board. I hope I found correct link to Code Officials Qualifications Board http://www.ncdoi.com/OSFM/Engineering_and_Codes/Default.aspx?field1=Code_Officials_Qualification_Board_USER&user=Code_Officials_Qualification_Board Public Hearings – Rezoning Request Glandon Forest Equity, LLC, applied through the landowner for a zoning change allowing for the construction of some unknown commercial structure on 1.36 acres of land …
Michael Bobbit: Notes From The Peanut Gallery (City Council October 27, 2014)
Mondays night’s City Council meeting was long, ending near 10:00 pm; long past bedtime for some of the older council members. The unusual length of the meeting was due in part to the recognition of Eddie Hicks’ and Ray Griffin’s retirement, a long drawn out discussion of NCDOT’s planned improvements on I-85, and a another necessary closed session. Retirement Services Mr. Griffin’s retirement over shadowed that of Eddie Hicks although both men in their own way contributed to improving Henderson. …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes from the Peanut Gallery Board of Commissioners October 6th, 2014
The following is my opinion and view of Monday October 6, 2014, Board of Commissioners meeting. Public Hearings Three public hearings were scheduled for the Board meeting one for a Rural Operating Assistance Program Grant and two were Rezoning Request. Only one person spoke during the time allotted for the three public hearings. He is a beneficiary of one zoning changes that converts 50 acres from Planned Manufactured Housing Community (mobile home park) to Agricultural Residential (solar farm). The other …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes from the Peanut Gallery (City’s Special Called meeting September 25th, 2014)
Mayor O’Geary requested a Special Called Meeting of the Henderson City Council to set forth a process for the appointment of a new city manager. Although the public was invited the public choose to ignore the invitation probably reserving their right to complain later The Mayor gaveled the meeting to order at the stroke of noon. Following roll call the council members enjoyed a twenty minute repast of sandwiches, beverages and conversation contrary to normal city council procedures. The mayor …