ELIZABETHTOWN — Bladen County commissioners have been given a warning about capital projects in the upcoming budget and are in consensus for two moves involving personnel.
They met Wednesday at Jones Lake State Park for a planning retreat. The nearly six-hour gathering included presentations, discussions and a glimpse into county activities for the coming year.
No actions were taken, but some could be as soon as Monday’s next regularly scheduled meeting.
Greg Martin, the county manager, said past years have included the luxury of not needing to finance significant capital outlays.
“We’ve done it on a pay as you go basis,” he said. “We haven’t had to finance. Going forward, with cash flow concerns, it’s something we may have to consider.”
The point was illustrated later in a discussion about Bladen County Emergency Medical Services. On March 1, Tar Heel Rescue will move from providing advanced life support to basic life support.
With the change, the county will decide how to provide staffing — a decision that also includes whether Tar Heel or Bladen County does the billing. Commissioners like the option that includes county billing, and that will lead to the purchase of a paramedic truck with a cost estimated at more than $150,000. Equipment will add to that price.
Also in the discussion was the likelihood of volunteers in EMS decreasing over the next five years. This is an indication more full-time personnel and more capital purchases could be coming.
Personnel policy matters discussed were primarily related to inclement weather, both for county employees and those of the school system.
The commissioners are expected to adopt a new policy that says:
• Non-essential personnel would use annual leave when offices are closed.
• Essential personnel would receive regular compensation for hours worked.
• Effort would be made for employees to make up hours lost — without going into an overtime status.
Commissioners are not only responding in part to concerns in the wake of hurricanes 23 months apart causing unusual circumstances, but more prominent in the thinking is a policy that covers things where FEMA will not be involved. An example given was an ice storm causing county offices to be closed for a couple of days.
More related to the hurricane of last fall was the county school system’s request for assistance paying salaried employees who responded but were without compensation for their efforts. School personnel are state employees, and the district has asked for the aid where some could not be compensated for extra time worked at shelters following Hurricane Florence.
Citing the fact it would mean paying school people while not paying county workers, the commissioners gave an indication they will not be providing financial assistance to Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor’s request.
Commissioner Ray Britt pointed out the Federal Emergency Management Agency could have picked up the tab, and might have this time had the school board’s policy been a match to their requirements.
“It’s the lack of a policy by the school board,” Britt said. “FEMA would have paid it.”
Chairman Charles Ray Peterson concurred.
“If they had their policy in place, there wouldn’t have been an issue. And they still don’t have it in place,” he said. “This opens a door of paying their employees but not ours, and I can’t be a part of that.”
Daniel Dowless was attending to a family health situation and was not present for the meeting. Britt, Russell Priest and Ashley Trivette departed before things wrapped up; Peterson, David Gooden, Dr. Ophelia Munn-Goins, Arthur Bullock and Michael Cogdell were present for the entirety.
Sarah Stroud, CEO of Eastpointe, gave an update from the county’s managed care organization.
The afternoon concluded with Bullock offering a 16-slide PowerPoint presentation related to county policies and suggested actions related to equal opportunity and affirmative action. He, Munn-Goins and Cogdell all expressed concerns about minority hiring actions, in particular for department heads.
Among the other items the commissioners touched were pay for on-call employees; flex policy for county employees coaching sports in the afternoons; protocol for selection of the chairman and vice chairman of the commission; central services and solid waste; roadside litter cleanup; a $6 million driving pad facility at the emergency services training center; federal inmate housing; flooding in Bladenboro; the breached dike in Kelly; and planning and environmental protection, in particular beaver management.
Commissioner Michael Cogdell makes a point during Wednesday’s planning retreat at Jones Lake State Park. To his left are Ashley Trivette and Charles Ray Peterson.