County to eye bids for center
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 15, 2015 3:05 AM
Wayne County commissioners Tuesday morning could decide on an architect to complete the design of the proposed agriculture and convention center as well as which construction method to use.
In June, the county hired HH Architecture of Raleigh to design the first 35 percent of the center.
Commissioners decided to take that route to preserve their option of either using design-build or the traditional design-bid-build method of construction.
The company has submitted the initial designs, and Tuesday, County Manager George Wood is expected to recommend that the county use HH Architecture to complete the design.
Wood is asking that commissioners authorize him to negotiate a new contract with the company for the full design.
He also is expected to recommend that the board use the design-bid-build method to construct the center.
The meeting will get under way with an 8 a.m. agenda briefing followed by the formal session at 9 a.m. Both will be held in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse.
As proposed, the $16 million facility will house the Cooperative Extension Service, Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Wayne County Soil and Water and have classrooms and a large lobby.
It will be located on a 12-acre site on North Wayne Memorial Drive just north of Wayne Community College.
The city of Goldsboro is providing the land as part of an agreement with the county. An adjoining city-owned six acres remains as the site for a possible hotel.
The center's assembly hall is designed to accommodate 840 people when set up banquet style and 1,554 for assembly seating.
It also can be broken into four rooms of different sizes to accommodate crowds of 190, 210, 380 and 494 respectively.
In other business Tuesday, commissioners will consider adoption of a resolution establishing a policy for improvements to subdivision streets and the assessments to pay for them.
Over the past several months, residents from several subdivisions have appealed to commissioners for help with street repairs.
Commissioners had discussed using a state law that would allow the county to make the repairs and to then assess property owners.
But then last month the board voted 6-1 to delay any action until the state Department of Transportation completes a statewide assessment next year of subdivision streets and repair costs.
Commissioners cited the unknown costs and a fear that doing the work locally would embolden the state to shift all road maintenance to counties as reasons for their decision.
The board also appointed a working group of Commissioners Wayne Aycock, Joe Daughtery and Joe Gurley to study a possible policy.
In a memo to the board, Aycock, who is board chairman, said the policy deals with both concerns -- limiting the financial impact on the county and determining the order in which projects are approved.
The proposal is to limit the issuance of any debt for such projects to not more than $2.5 million in the first two-year cycle, Aycock said in the memo to the board.
"The Board of Commissioners shall determine future projects by the number of valid petitions received, the amount of money that can be borrowed without adversely affecting Wayne County's credit rating, and the willingness of N.C. DOT to participate in future projects," Aycock said in the memo.
"This also will assure that the county's credit rating will not be adversely affected. Our financial advisors, Davenport and Co., have assured us this should not hurt our credit rating in any way. And it should be noted that these bonds will be repaid by the benefited property owners within the subdivision, not with general county funds from other taxpayers."
The working group also is recommending that commissioners approve projects in the order that the petitions are declared valid and all public hearings have been conducted.
There may be a delay in the actual construction if the dollar value of the projects exceeds the allowed limit under this policy, Aycock said.
In other business,
* ABC Board Business Manager Mike Myrick will make a presentation about the ABC system and sales.
* Bobby Jones of the Down East Coal Ash Coalition will make a presentation regarding coal ash concerns in the county.
* Millie Chalk, Duke Energy government and community relations manager, will make a presentation.
* The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners November video update will be shown.
* Budget amendments will be considered.
Items on the consent agenda are: Application for 2015 Elderly or Disabled Property Tax Exclusion, 2015 Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exclusion and 2015 Present Use Value; budget amendments.
Public comments will be accepted beginning at 10 a.m. Speakers will have four minutes to speak on their topic of choice.