The Board of Commissioners of the County of Stokes, State of North Carolina, met for a Regular Meeting in the Stokes County Administration Building in the Commissioners Chambers located in Danbury, North Carolina on Monday March 14, 2021 at 6:00 pm with the following members present:

Board of Commissioners Present: Chair Sonya Cox, Vice-Chair Wayne Barneycastle, Commissioner Ronnie Mendenhall, Commissioner Rick Morris, and Commissioner Andy Nickelston.

County Administration Present: County Manager Shannon Shaver, Assistant County Manager/Clerk to the Board Amber Brown, Assistant Finance Director Lisa Lankford, and County Attorney Ty Browder. 

Absent: Finance Director Julia Edwards

Chair Cox called the Regular Meeting of the Board of Commissioners to order.

Commissioner Mendenhall delivered the Invocation.

Chair Cox led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance and invited those in attendance to join.

Chair Cox opened the floor for Public Comments at 6:06 pm. 

The following spoke during public comments:

Dwan Glidewell 

1078 Dillard Road 

Walnut Cove, NC 27052

RE: Proposed Tethering Ordinance 

Opposed the proposed tethering revisions to the Animal Control Ordinance.

Mike Bertrand 

1045 Robin Road 

Walnut Cove, NC 27052

RE: Proposed Tethering Ordinance 

Opposed the proposed tethering revisions to the Animal Control Ordinance.

Jennifer Wall

1330 Brims Grove Road 

Pinnacle, NC 27043

RE: Proposed Tethering Ordinance 

Speaking on behalf of Kathleen Edwards, she asks that the commissioners hold off passing this so that they have more time to look over it to correct errors. Spoke about what she sees on a daily basis working for FedEx on her routes and all the dogs that are mistreated. Something needs to be done about it. 

Anthony Smith

Germanton, NC 27019

RE: Proposed Tethering Ordinance 

Opposed the proposed tethering revisions to the Animal Control Ordinance.

Commissioner Morris commented: 

• Welcome everybody, it's good to see a big crowd out here tonight. 
• I'd just like to ask everybody to keep the folks in Ukraine in your prayers and all of the bad things that are going on in that part of the world. 
• It really makes us take things for granted over here about how well we've got it. 
• Most people are really suffering and they need our prayers. 

Commissioner Nickelston commented: 

• It's good to see everybody here, and I hope your time here is well spent. 
• I hope you have safe travels back home. 

Commissioner Mendenhall commented: 

• Good to see everybody here tonight. 
• It is always a pleasure to see people from all over the county come out to meetings. 
• That just shows me you care about what is going on in the county and that is very important to me. 
• I think each one of our commissioners ran to represent their constituents. 
• It's an honor to work for you, I appreciate you coming out, and I hope you have safe travels home. 

Vice-Chair Barneycastle commented:

• It's great to see everybody. 
• It's good to see the good Lord has blessed us with a beautiful day and the wind isn't blowing 90 miles per hour. 
• As Commissioner Mendenhall said, it's great to see people get involved.
• I value people's opinions and what they have to say about what goes on in these meetings. 
• It's great to have your input in it and I take that into consideration anytime I think about something and make a decision to vote on something. 
• Thank you all for being here. 

Chair Cox commented: 

• I want to thank everyone for being here and watching online.
• Speaking of those high winds, I would like to really thank all of the fire departments that showed up at my daughter's when the field behind her house caught on fire because of the winds blowing down the power pole. 
• We had some Sauratown, some South Stokes, and King and Rural Hall.
• They were all out there. It was kind of a scary time. 
• With gas prices what they are, these people are volunteers and are using their own gas to come out to all of these calls. I really appreciate that.
• Again, thank you all for coming and participating today. 

County Manager Shaver commented: 

• Welcome to everybody here. It's nice to see a large crowd here. 
• Thanks to all the public comments that we received.
• Amber and I are always here in this office if there is anything we can help you with you can reach out to us. 
• I want to make a note that we have a South Stokes civics group here this evening. 
• Four young ladies are here from Ms. Booe's civics class. One of those is my daughter Addy. 
• They are all here and they are going to take a picture with you guys after the meeting is over for proof that they came tonight. 
• Thank you and welcome. 

Chair Cox asked if any Board member had a conflict of interest with any of the items presented on the agenda for the meeting or one that could be perceived as a conflict of interest.

Commissioner Mendenhall stated that he wanted to make sure he did not have a conflict of interest with voting on Budget Amendment #78 dealing with the transfer of funds between the County and Forsyth Tech due to Commissioner Mendenhall serving on Forsyth Tech's Board of Trustees. County Attorney Browder stated that in his opinion, he did not foresee an issue with this and Commissioner Mendenhall did not need to excuse himself. 

With no other commissioners stating any conflicts of interest, the meeting continued. 

All attachments presented on the Agenda are available in the attachments of the Agenda on the County Website and are available upon request from the Clerk, with the exception of the minutes approved which are located on the County Website under the minutes tab.

All attachments presented on the Agenda are available in the attachments of the Agenda on the County Website and are available upon request from the Clerk, with the exception of the minutes approved which are located on the County Website under the minutes tab.

Chair Cox turned the floor over to County Manager Shannon Shaver. 

County Manager Shaver explained the two items that needed to be discussed regarding revising the Animal Control Ordinance. The first was to change the language in the ordinacne to include the Animal Welfare Division and the second was to update the tethering portion of the ordinance. She first addressed the simple language change. The wording in the Animal Control Ordinance needed to be changed to reflect and clarify the separation of the Animal Control Department and the Animal Welfare Division under the Sheriff’s Department. This language change would give both departments the ability to enforce the ordinance. The current language in the ordinance is as follows: 

Animal Control Officer: The person designated by the Stokes County Board of Commissioners to enforce this Ordinance and carry out such other duties with respect to Animal Control as may be designated by the Board

The below presented wording would replace the above and was approved by County Attorney Browder:

The Stokes County Animal Control Department: shall consist of (1) the Animal Shelter Division and (2) the Animal Welfare Division. The Animal Shelter Division shall be under the management of the Animal Shelter Director and shelter staff. The Animal Welfare Division shall be under the management of the Stokes County Sheriff Office. The Animal Shelter Director shall supervise and be responsible for the proper operation of the shelter in accordance with the policies of the Stokes County Board of Commissioners and the laws of the State of North Carolina. The Director shall report directly to the Stokes County Manager. The Animal Welfare Department shall be Sheriff Department Officers and shall be headquartered at the Stokes County Sheriff’s Office and report directly to the Sheriff or his designee. The two divisions will have the full ability to enforce the entirety of this ordinance. 

The Board was in agreement to separate the items being presented and place the simple language change portion on the Action Agenda for the next Board of Commissioners meeting on March 28, 2022. 

County Manager Shaver presented the second portion of the item dealing with updating the tethering portion of the ordinance. She stated that the updates being presented were recommendations from the Animal Control Advisory Board. The original, current tethering language was presented in addition to the recommended, updated tethering ordinance. 

Chair Cox opened the floor for any discussion/questions/comments. 

Several Board members commented on the ordinance and the increased tethering restrictions. Candis Loy, Chair of the Animal Control Advisory Board, was present and answered many of these questions. 

Commissioner Morris commented:  

• Did not want it to impact coon dogs or hunters.
• There were vague areas that needed to be cleared up (Ex. Why 10 feet measurement?) 
• Need to make sure things are enforceable. 
• Come up with a balanced approach to prevent cruelty but that doesn't go too far. 

Vice-Chair Barneycastle commented: 

• Coon and hunting dogs are expensive and will run away if you unchain them. 
• We need to back up and relook at this. 
• It's not a good time right now to do this and it needs a lot of work done to it. 
  

Chair Cox commented: 

• We want to avoid unintended consequences - we don't want to make it too strict or hard to enforce. 
  
• What we could do is have stronger penalties for those who are cruel to animals. Make them pay more in fines or don't give them as much time between warnings and penalties. 

Commissioner Morris also commented on wanting to look at getting animal cruelty investigators in the county. 

Commissioner Nickelston agreed with part of the ordinance but not with other parts like having to keep an eye on animals all of the time while tethered. 

After much discussion, the Board moved moved this item to the Discussion Agenda for a later Board of Commissioners meeting. 

Chair Cox turned the floor over to Assistant Fire Marshal Atherton Jessup. 

Assistant Fire Marshal Atherton Jessup presented that the main reporting system that the fire departments use in Stokes was being eliminated and needed to be replaced. The Stokes County Fire & Rescue Association (SCFRA) voted to replace this system with ESO. The Fire Commission approved the request from SCFRA for these funds for the initial setup and first year costs for ESO to come from the available Fund Balance. Two funding request letters were presented, one from Fire Marshal Scott Aaron and one from Steve Roberson, the Chair of the Fire Commission. Quotes from ESO on the system were presented along with a budget amendment to transfer these funds if/when the item was approved. 

Chair Cox opened the floor for discussion/questions/comments. 

After some discussion and at the request of Mr. Jessup, the Board moved this item to the Action Agenda for tonight's meeting. 

Chair Cox turned the floor over to Assistant Fire Marshal Atherton Jessup. 

Assistant Fire Marshal Atherton Jessup presented information on an application the Fire Marshal's Office (FMO) received for a new fireworks display. The application was for Dustin Ledford to conduct a Fireworks Display at Bella Collina Mansion, 9500 Mt Carmel Rd, Stokesdale, NC. The Fire Marshal's Office reviewed the application and plans and recommended that the Stokes County Board of Commissioners approve the request. If approved by the Board, the FMO would complete the application process and inspect the site before issuing the permit. 

Chair Cox opened the floor for discussion/questions/comments. 

After some discussion, the Board moved this item to the Action Agenda for the March 28, 2022 Board of Commissioners meeting. 

Chair Cox turned the floor over to Assistant Finance Director Lisa Lankford.  

Assistant Finance Director Lisa Lankford presented the offer to purchase surplus tax property 6962474949 Lot 1 Fulton Hill Acres. 

Chair Cox opened the floor for discussion/questions/comments. 

After some discussion, the Board moved this item to the Action Agenda for the March 28, 2022 Board of Commissioners meeting. 

Chair Cox turned the floor over to Assistant Finance Director Lisa Lankford.  

Assistant Finance Director Lisa Lankford presented information on the refinancing of the Nancy Reynolds/Community College loan. This would reduce the interest rate from 2.89% to 2.34% and save the County approximately $235K over the remaining years of the loan.

Chair Cox opened the floor for discussion/questions/comments. 

After some discussion, the Board moved this item to the Action Agenda for tonight's meeting. 

Chair Cox turned the floor over to County Manager Shannon Shaver. 

County Manager Shannon Shaver presented information on the possible implementation of courthouse security fees for private groups. Due to the increased security measures at the courthouse from an administrative order from the judge, security is required at all times when individuals are utilizing the courthouse. For private groups using the courthouse after hours, designated rates were being proposed for those groups to pay for the security provided by the Sheriff's Department. The rate being proposed was $30 per hour for each deputy covering the event and a requirement of a minimum of two deputies working security for each event. 

Chair Cox opened the floor for any discussion/questions/comments. 

After some discussion, the Board moved this item to the Action Agenda for tonight's meeting. 

Chair Cox turned the floor over to County Manager Shannon Shaver. 

County Manager Shannon Shaver presented information on the partnership with RiverStreet Networks for grant funding and provided a draft of the contract with them. Stokes County sent out a Request for Proposals (RFP) on December 2, 2021 for Broadband Services. Proposals were received from three different providers in response to the RFP by the deadline advertised. The Broadband Planning Committee that was created to discuss broadband expansion recommended the provider RiverStreet to the Board. After much discussion, the Stokes County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved RiverStreet Networks to partner with and contract with for the broadband project. A draft of the contract to seal this partnership was written and provided by County Attorney Browder for the Board's consideration and approval. 

Chair Cox opened the floor for any discussion/questions/comments. 

The Board requested that under the paragraph listed as number 12 in the contract the authorized representatives for Stokes County needed to be specified and clearly stated. With the inclusion of these changes, the Board stated that they were content with the contract and moved this item to the Action Agenda for tonight's meeting. 

All attachments presented on the Agenda are available in the attachments of the Agenda on the County Website and are available upon request from the Clerk, with the exception of the minutes approved which are located on the County Website under the minutes tab.

Chair Cox entertained a motion on the item as presented at tonight's meeting. 

Chair Cox entertained a motion on the item as presented at tonight's meeting. 

Chair Cox entertained a motion on the item as presented at tonight's meeting. 

Chair Cox entertained a motion on the item as presented at tonight's meeting. 

Chair Cox entertained a motion on the item as presented at tonight's meeting. 

With no further business to come before the Board, Chair Cox entertained a motion to adjourn.